1.2.6: Tiny beds

This stage had a bunch of little tiny fiddly pieces, which means I didn't get that many pictures. I was building up the cross-section that's going to end up being visible when the ship is split into three parts. As always, here's the mise-en-place.


Honestly, I mostly include this each time because it amuses me to call it a mise-en-place; I think these photos of bricks laid out are probably less interesting than the photos of the actual build, and I'm not as good as I'd like to be at taking knolling photos (or, more precisely, I'm not as patient as I'd need to be to get them the way I want them to look). Do people like them, or should I not bother including them in future stages?

Anyway, then I added a cabin on the left, the bottom of the grand staircase in the middle, and the tile floor around the pool on the right.



And then I just made two cabins on the next floor, and made a different set of rooms on the floor above. I liked this stage; it was fun, and it's neat to see the tiny rooms. But it's not particularly interesting to describe.



I'm not sure what the red-floored rooms are supposed to be. Nicer cabins with larger beds, perhaps? But no doors makes that less likely. I've done a cursory bit of research, and this cutaway doesn't appear to match precisely what I'm seeing in any diagram; I think this is not intended to be a precise match, as much as just be inspired by the actual Titanic layout, but the model designers must have had some idea of what they intended these rooms to be. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Anyway. Here's one final shot, with the last layer added.


Like I said, not many photos. Sorry there's not more this time. I will note this is the first time I've seen an obvious error in Lego build instructions, and it's a repeated error. I didn't get photos, because it wouldn't be clear from the photos what the error is. See the light grey 2x6 brick sticking into the center of the model above? There are two of them stacked on top of each other, with some 2x6 plates sandwiched between them. In the build instructions, each step has a graphical depiction of the parts you'll need for that step, and then a diagram of the model with those pieces added and subtly highlighted so you can tell they're new. For the 2x6 bricks, they were each added to the model one or two steps before the piece was included in the parts list. Not a huge deal, and not hard to figure out, but I know Lego has an extensive QA process, and I'm surprised that got past QA.

Discussion prompt: Tell me about an error you made in a creative project, or an error you encountered in instructions for a creative project. How did it affect your experience of the project?

1.2.7: 40 more identical pieces

Another repetitive stage this time, creating two identical copies of everything for the two sides of the boat. Some more interesting bits than the last stage, I think.

I've been told by at least one reader that the mise-en-place photos are in fact appreciated, so they shall continue.


First I built this end piece.



Then this side panel, which attaches to the build via two clips. I like when Lego builds include chunks like this that clip into place, and aren't attached to any studs.




Then I duplicated all of that work on the other side, which I didn't photograph, though you can see it in the background of the next photo. Finally I made these panels for the top of the sides of the hull.



And with a black tile for the strip on the right side, and a red curved piece on the bottom (and those same two pieces mirrored on the other side, not pictured), this stage is complete.


I'm not sure why that gap on the bottom isn't filled in yet. I looked ahead in the instructions, and it's going to stay open for a few more stages before it gets covered, even as the things around it do get covered. Not that it's a problem, just a thing I noticed. I'm curious how Lego designers decide when components get added. Obviously there's some order that is dictated by practicality; I couldn't have attached these side panels until there was something to attach them to, and until I was finished accessing the internals of the build on this section. But this gap, as far as I can tell, doesn't still need to be here; it's just going to stay open for three or four more stages. And as mentioned in a previous post, there are steps that have one or two bricks right next to steps with dozens of bricks, so it's not a matter of keeping the piece count even across the build, or something like that. I'm sure it's somewhat arbitrary and I'm overthinking this, but it's fascinating to me nonetheless.

Discussion prompt: Have you ever been fascinated by an utterly unimportant detail?

1.2.8: More repetition, but interesting

Ok, getting this out of the way: yes, this is my second post in one day. I actually built 1.1.7 last night, I just didn't have time to post until after I got home from Thanksgiving dinner. Then immediately after posting, I went on to this evening's build.

This was a fun stage. As the title says, we're still doing some of the more repetitive elements of box 1, but we're getting back to some of the more interesting bits, and I think we're done with the boring bits for the rest of the box.

For this mise-en-place, I decided to arrange the small pieces as well. I'm not sure why I never thought to do this before; it's great and I wish I'd been doing it all along. I'm also laughing at myself for saying I was too impatient for good knolling and then almost immediately spending more time on it than I have in the past.


The build started with these orange pieces. In the final boat, only the edge of them will be visible. Hubris and extravagance aside, the actual Titanic must have been a beautiful ship, and I love the ways this set is incorporating little details like this. Using the edge of plates to get this effect is delightful, and while the plates are kind of obnoxiously orange, just the edges contrasted against the black is quite nice (as you'll see below once the tops of them have been covered up).


Next I added another layer of tiny rooms.

I'm intrigued by the small ways that the non-symmetrical pieces are affecting the build, which will be difficult or impossible to see in the completed build but are apparent here. E.g., you'll note that on the starboard side, the bed has a 1x1 golden round stud that I'm thinking of as a nightstand next to it, but on the port side, because the doors are all the same piece with the hinge to the left of the door from this angle, there's no room for that, so the port cabin has just a bed and no other furniture.

Trivia time!

I'm just now noticing the choices the translators appear to have made in this passage. I wonder, given these particular choices, and especially given that the Spanish translation includes a clause that isn't at all present in the other two ("en este primer viaje", "on this first trip"), whether rather than translating from a pre-written text in one language, the authors for each language were given something like a bulleted outline of facts to convey, or something like that. Now I want to get copies of the build instructions from foreign markets and see how they were localized.

Anyway, back to the build. After adding another layer on top of that one (which you'll see in a moment), I made these eight identical things.

Which I then added to the main build, along with some other stuff.


Remember this gap between the white portholes and the top layer; it will become important in a few moments.

Another layer next.


And now my favorite part of this stage. I built these four identical tower things...

...which I then turned on their sides and slid into that gap from before to create little windows.


I did the same thing again with two shorter towers for the remaining gap.


And here's the final picture of this stage, with the shorter towers inserted.


Like I said, I think this is the last of the repetitive stages of this box; next I'll build the bridge and funnel, then put the two pieces together, add side panels, and make stands for this third of the ship. I hope this continues to be as fun to read as it is to build.

Discussion prompt: What's your favorite use of (or intentional lack of) symmetry in art? I think my favorite (or maybe I just have ships in danger on my mind because of this model) might be Hokusai's The Great Wave, with the way the wave takes up almost the entire left side and none of the right, and Mount Fuji in the background acting as a sort of pivot between the two sides. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, definitely click the link; it's a beautiful print, and you almost certainly have seen it before, whether or not you recognize it by name.)