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1.1.3: Black Legos are hard to photograph
Nov. 20th, 2021 10:47 pmA short stage today, in which I build the top of the hull, in a set of two (and one half, sort of) sub-assemblies for each side of the ship. (I did everything in this build twice; mirror-imaged the second time for the other side of the ship, though I didn't fully photograph both sides.) Much of this stage was black-on-black, and I have a very minimal photography setup (i.e., my phone camera and the same standing lamp I use to light my build space while I'm actually building), so it didn't photograph very well, but I'll do my best to walk you through it.
Also, my table is here! Here's a photo of the new setup, ready for the next stage. (I actually took this an hour or two after tonight's build, so the lighting might be a bit different.)
Mise-en-place:
The plate on the right is just 40-or-so copies of one piece; we'll get into why later.
The first sub-assembly:
The top right bit, with the 1x1 piece on top of a round 1x1 and the black plate with a hole in it right below that, is the first of many uses of that plate of 40 copies of the same piece. You may be able to tell what it's doing; if you can't now, you will as the build progresses. (Feel free to comment below letting me know when you figure it out.) Also, I didn't get a great shot of this, unfortunately, but that round 1x1 has a peg sticking out of the back of it, which, when placed on the main build (as in this next photo), fits into the brown hole you can see near the top front of last build's final photo.
I believe, based on the photos on the box, that the curved piece that is shorter than the pieces around it is going to end up being a space for the anchor chain to rest, with the anchor hanging down from the gap.
Another neat note that I again didn't get a great picture of: see that bright red bit sticking out the top, that's obviously going to be covered up in the final build? This side had bright red supports like that going down the length of the ship; on the mirror image, they were green. Everything else was the same color on both sides, even the bits that will end up being covered up, but the build instructions consistently had this one piece red on the port side and green on starboard.
Speaking of those red and green pieces: I'm always fascinated by how these stages are packaged. If you refer back to 1.1.1, you'll recall that most stages have a bag or two full of small parts, which I don't bother sorting, and instead just dump out on the plate(s). If you look at this build's mise-en-place, you'll note that the green 1x3s came in the main bag, but the red 1x3s (which are identical in every way except color, including the fact that there are three of each of them) were in the small piece bag. Why? itisamystery.com (but if you think you know, please do let me know in the comments).
Moving on: here's the next sub-assembly. I've left the final sub-sub-assembly separate for the photo, so you can see how those 40 identical pieces actually interact with the rest of the build. (Can you tell what they are yet?)
(That TITANIC print is in fact a printed piece, and not a sticker; I believe there are no stickers in this entire build. There are definitely none in the first box.)
And this last bit, the half-a-sub-assembly I referred to in the introduction, which as a small all-black sub-assembly was very difficult to photograph well, but I thought the way it is affixed to the rest of the build is kind of clever. In place, it looks like it's a continuation of the band I attached in the last photo, but it's actually not connected directly to that band at all. The only attachment points it has to the rest of the build are the studs sticking out of it, that fit into the bottoms of two brown 1x1 pieces seen here (on their sides, but the part you can see would be the bottoms if the brown pieces were studs-up).
And that's it! Here's a final shot looking down the port side.
I hope you enjoyed this short build! Like I said, let me know when you figured out what the 40 identical pieces are for (or if you're still not sure).
Discussion prompt, inspired by that final sub-assembly's connection points: Have you even encountered something that looked like it was built one way, but on closer inspection was actually built differently? (I'm going to keep trying, because I know people like these, but I don't promise that they're all going to be particularly good questions, as this week illustrates.)
I think I may put a bonus photo in the comments this week.
Also, my table is here! Here's a photo of the new setup, ready for the next stage. (I actually took this an hour or two after tonight's build, so the lighting might be a bit different.)
Mise-en-place:
The plate on the right is just 40-or-so copies of one piece; we'll get into why later.
The first sub-assembly:
The top right bit, with the 1x1 piece on top of a round 1x1 and the black plate with a hole in it right below that, is the first of many uses of that plate of 40 copies of the same piece. You may be able to tell what it's doing; if you can't now, you will as the build progresses. (Feel free to comment below letting me know when you figure it out.) Also, I didn't get a great shot of this, unfortunately, but that round 1x1 has a peg sticking out of the back of it, which, when placed on the main build (as in this next photo), fits into the brown hole you can see near the top front of last build's final photo.
I believe, based on the photos on the box, that the curved piece that is shorter than the pieces around it is going to end up being a space for the anchor chain to rest, with the anchor hanging down from the gap.
Another neat note that I again didn't get a great picture of: see that bright red bit sticking out the top, that's obviously going to be covered up in the final build? This side had bright red supports like that going down the length of the ship; on the mirror image, they were green. Everything else was the same color on both sides, even the bits that will end up being covered up, but the build instructions consistently had this one piece red on the port side and green on starboard.
Speaking of those red and green pieces: I'm always fascinated by how these stages are packaged. If you refer back to 1.1.1, you'll recall that most stages have a bag or two full of small parts, which I don't bother sorting, and instead just dump out on the plate(s). If you look at this build's mise-en-place, you'll note that the green 1x3s came in the main bag, but the red 1x3s (which are identical in every way except color, including the fact that there are three of each of them) were in the small piece bag. Why? itisamystery.com (but if you think you know, please do let me know in the comments).
Moving on: here's the next sub-assembly. I've left the final sub-sub-assembly separate for the photo, so you can see how those 40 identical pieces actually interact with the rest of the build. (Can you tell what they are yet?)
(That TITANIC print is in fact a printed piece, and not a sticker; I believe there are no stickers in this entire build. There are definitely none in the first box.)
And this last bit, the half-a-sub-assembly I referred to in the introduction, which as a small all-black sub-assembly was very difficult to photograph well, but I thought the way it is affixed to the rest of the build is kind of clever. In place, it looks like it's a continuation of the band I attached in the last photo, but it's actually not connected directly to that band at all. The only attachment points it has to the rest of the build are the studs sticking out of it, that fit into the bottoms of two brown 1x1 pieces seen here (on their sides, but the part you can see would be the bottoms if the brown pieces were studs-up).
And that's it! Here's a final shot looking down the port side.
I hope you enjoyed this short build! Like I said, let me know when you figured out what the 40 identical pieces are for (or if you're still not sure).
Discussion prompt, inspired by that final sub-assembly's connection points: Have you even encountered something that looked like it was built one way, but on closer inspection was actually built differently? (I'm going to keep trying, because I know people like these, but I don't promise that they're all going to be particularly good questions, as this week illustrates.)
I think I may put a bonus photo in the comments this week.