I decided not to make a separate post about 2.3.16; it's brick-for-brick a mirror image of 2.3.15. There are photos of it in the Google drive if you want to see them, but it would be a redundant post. I did note one interesting this; despite having the exact same contents, the bags were packed very differently. When I arrange my mise-en-place, I keep bags separate. That is, everything in one small pieces bag goes on one plate. There's no particular benefit for me to do it this way, it's just convenience. But it does mean you can easily see the differences in how they were packed. As a reminder, here's the mise-en-place for 2.3.15.

And here's the same set of bricks but packed for 2.3.16.

Why are the pieces bagged so differently? I don't know. The 2x3 orange plates and the 1x2 tan brick aren't even in the small pieces bags at all anymore, while the 2x2 black tiles have moved there. The pieces that are consistently packed as small across both stages are sorted differently. I don't know enough about manufacturing to fully understand this, but it seems to me like it would be cheaper and faster to re-use the same packing strategy for two sets of identical pieces, so does that mean Lego intentionally introduced inefficiencies in the packing process to provide a more varied build experience? Again, I have no idea what I'm talking about here; there probably are valid reasons for doing it this way, I just don't know what they are. And I'm not sure I have a particular point here, beyond just noticing an interesting thing. Anyway, here's a completed photo of 2.3.16, and then we'll get into stage 17.

So, here's 2.3.17, starting with another mise-en-place, this time with some different bricks.

I started by adding a row of mid-deck portholes to each side of the ship.

Then we finally get an answer to the discussion prompt from two posts ago about what the floor with no furniture is going to be, or at least get as much of an answer as we're going to get. (Sorry for presenting what turned out to be an extended cliffhanger; I hadn't realized that we weren't going to get an answer right away. Also, to the person who suggested shuffleboard courts to me on Discord, sorry, you're wrong, but I wish you'd been right.)

I think we had a similar level in box one, though I didn't recognize it after 2.3.14, because I think box one's was completed all in one stage. I'm not sure what these mostly-empty rooms are supposed to be, but my thought is that they're second class cabins with antechambers.
Trivia break!

The next level up appears to be larger first class cabins with antechambers.

Next I added supporting plates for the upper deck, like I did in box one.

And then added the row of windows, again like in box one.


And that was 2.3.17. Here's a finished shot with the tiny rooms lit up.

I hope these are still fun to read. I'm getting to the point in the build where I'm rebuilding similar things to some of the previous stages, so I worry that this is getting repetitive. It's definitely still fun to do, but I imagine that reading about it probably isn't quite as engaging. I will keep blogging, because it's fun for me, and because I think the little differences between similar stages are interesting, if nothing else. But obviously feel free to come back in a week or three if you want to skip ahead to more new stuff as I build the stern. If you are still here, though, thanks for reading!
Discussion prompt: When you need to do repetitive work, how do you stay engaged?
And here's the same set of bricks but packed for 2.3.16.
Why are the pieces bagged so differently? I don't know. The 2x3 orange plates and the 1x2 tan brick aren't even in the small pieces bags at all anymore, while the 2x2 black tiles have moved there. The pieces that are consistently packed as small across both stages are sorted differently. I don't know enough about manufacturing to fully understand this, but it seems to me like it would be cheaper and faster to re-use the same packing strategy for two sets of identical pieces, so does that mean Lego intentionally introduced inefficiencies in the packing process to provide a more varied build experience? Again, I have no idea what I'm talking about here; there probably are valid reasons for doing it this way, I just don't know what they are. And I'm not sure I have a particular point here, beyond just noticing an interesting thing. Anyway, here's a completed photo of 2.3.16, and then we'll get into stage 17.
So, here's 2.3.17, starting with another mise-en-place, this time with some different bricks.
I started by adding a row of mid-deck portholes to each side of the ship.
Then we finally get an answer to the discussion prompt from two posts ago about what the floor with no furniture is going to be, or at least get as much of an answer as we're going to get. (Sorry for presenting what turned out to be an extended cliffhanger; I hadn't realized that we weren't going to get an answer right away. Also, to the person who suggested shuffleboard courts to me on Discord, sorry, you're wrong, but I wish you'd been right.)
I think we had a similar level in box one, though I didn't recognize it after 2.3.14, because I think box one's was completed all in one stage. I'm not sure what these mostly-empty rooms are supposed to be, but my thought is that they're second class cabins with antechambers.
Trivia break!
The next level up appears to be larger first class cabins with antechambers.
Next I added supporting plates for the upper deck, like I did in box one.
And then added the row of windows, again like in box one.
And that was 2.3.17. Here's a finished shot with the tiny rooms lit up.
I hope these are still fun to read. I'm getting to the point in the build where I'm rebuilding similar things to some of the previous stages, so I worry that this is getting repetitive. It's definitely still fun to do, but I imagine that reading about it probably isn't quite as engaging. I will keep blogging, because it's fun for me, and because I think the little differences between similar stages are interesting, if nothing else. But obviously feel free to come back in a week or three if you want to skip ahead to more new stuff as I build the stern. If you are still here, though, thanks for reading!
Discussion prompt: When you need to do repetitive work, how do you stay engaged?