A diver descends… A boat bobs in the waves… Schools of fish circle in unison... and a pair of crabs quarrel on the sandy seafloor.
All these dynamic elements come to life on my newest build, “The Shipwreck.” This kinetic vignette, which shows a scuba diver encountering and documenting a centuries-old wreck lodged into a coral reef, features a treasure trove of mechanical functionality, all contained within a rocky base and masked with vibrant detail. Let’s take a “deep dive” into this scene’s backstory, design choices, and functionality!
Backstory and Conception
I built this bespoke model on commission, but also with a good degree of artistic freedom. My client reached out because her mom—a scuba enthusiast—absolutely loved Christian and my LEGO Masters build “Beneath the Surface.” With its moving parts and high level of detail, our submarine scene really captured her imagination and brought her joy. My client, a thoughtful daughter, therefore wanted to reproduce a version of ”Beneath the Surface” as a one-of-a-kind gift for her mom.
I knew it wouldn’t be feasible to exactly replicate “Beneath the Surface” for a few reasons. First, that build was dependent on a halved old-fashioned diving helmet, which I didn’t have the wherewithal to acquire (and definitely not to cut in two), and which would’ve cost oodles to ship for weight reasons. Second, nearly every build from LEGO Masters has long since been disassembled, the component bricks returned to the Brick Pit for use in future seasons… even if I’d somehow been given access to “Beneath the Surface” again, there wasn’t a build left to see! The best I’d be able to do with the “Beneath the Surface” concept was recreate it inexactly, probably at a smaller scale.
Therefore, I pitched my client on a slightly different concept, one where we’d establish a minifigure version of her mom as the protagonist of a new underwater adventure. This premise, ”The Shipwreck,” would allow us to preserve all the aspects of “Beneath the Surface” which were most important to my client: the surface/seafloor dichotomy, a high level of detail, and—of course—a host of complex mechanical motions. The new idea, while allowing me to build something more practical than a carbon copy of “Beneath the Surface,” would also enable me to produce a more unique and individualized model.
Luckily, my client jumped enthusiastically on board with this updated subject! We agreed on scale, budget, and the basic elements for “The Shipwreck,” but then the client left all the finer details up to my discretion. I really enjoyed working on this “blank canvas,” and ended up with a creation that made both me and my client very happy.
Design Choices
I opted to build in a similar composition to “Beneath the Surface,” with a detailed, rocky seafloor (ideal for disguising functions), a hovering waterline with a boat atop it, and a sturdy, structural wall to space the two out from each other.
On “The Shipwreck,” these three main sections slide together and apart like puzzle pieces, which made transportation of the finished product easier and safer.
When designing the surface of the water, I turned what was essentially a flat plane of blue plates into something more dynamic and textured by adding trans-blue tile and trans-clear slopes in wave patterns. I like the stylized look that these decorative parts accomplish.
The waterline portion does not protrude as far as the seafloor portion does for two main reasons: stability and visibility. If the waterline—which is only 2-3 plates thick—had extended further out over the rest of the scene, it may have started to bow downward, and it also would have overshadowed or impeded views of the more colorful portion of the build below it.
I wanted to bring tons of color to the coral reef, but had to exercise a little restraint, too. An easy trap to fall into when building in a large palate is using too much color, or using color indiscriminately. I made sure that every “species” of coral I built came in a discrete color, and also that it was repeated at least one other time elsewhere on the base, to lessen any visual confusion.
The exception to this rule are the two brain corals, which—in their classic red and blue—have each other as partners.
I’m pleased with the diagonal angle I achieved on the front portion of the shipwreck. Tiles with Technic pegs sticking up horizontally pin the keel of the ship’s gutted hull in place. Considered with the straight portion of the ship (the part with the steering wheel), the shipwreck looks perfectly broken.
I scattered some miscellaneous crates, chests, and barrels over the wreck to indicate the unclaimed cargo that makes this eerie site worth exploring.
It was fun to include tons of little details all over “The Shipwreck.” One of my favorites of these is the figurehead still in place underneath the old boat’s bowsprit.
I also decked out the sea-corroded wood in barnacles, represented by those 1x1 round plates with holes, and wavy bits of seaweed.
The branching, spiky plants here use a technique I pioneered in my first ever underwater scene, a small Finding Nemo build. I used it again for a The Little Mermaid build. I like how it looks, and how it helps achieve a sense of motion and an illusion of suspension which, for me, help create the sense of being underwater.
The back wall of the build is tiled up in blue, with flat dark seaweed and some bubbles dotting its surface. Although the backdrop is flat and definite, I think it helps suggest breadth to this underwater world.
The schools of circling fish are the part of “The Shipwreck” that most closely mirror this build’s inspiration, “Beneath the Surface.” As was the case on the LEGO Masters build, I’ve geared the two groups to swim in opposite directions and at different speeds, the better to preserve the illusion of lively, rather than mechanical, impetus.
The least visible function (which is also my favorite!) is the fighting crabs on the seafloor.
I decided to include the crabs when I recognized a cavity in the base rife for shoehorning in some extra gears and pistons. I had to tear apart and reconstruct the “Technic knot” in the base countless times as I refined and polished this function. There turned out to be enough room for only one crab, not both, to move.
It felt obvious to me to make the diver minifigure move; in a scene full of moving parts, I had to ensure that our protagonist didn’t get lost in the shuffle!
The swimming movement was the trickiest engineering challenge on “The Shipreck.” While I could make the axle move ascend/descend with relative ease, tiny inefficiencies manifested as vibrations which, by the time they reached the diver minifig, were pronounced enough to be quite distracting. I had several extra support mechanisms to tighten the whole mechanism so that the motion would smooth out.
The bobbing boat mechanism is almost identical to that which Christian and I employed in “Beneath the Surface.” However, rather than fixing the back of the boat to a hinge—which, on the LEGO Masters build, resulted in a backward tilt, I’ve here rigged front and back to raise and lower in tandem, lifting and dropping the boat on a level.
I had a lot of fun replicating my client and her mom as minifigures. I love designing custom characters in the minifigure medium, but this was one of the first time I tried to replicate specific, real people. Plus, I think these two have a great family resemblance!
I was so glad to acquire that duck floatie, which is a pretty exclusive and hard-to-find brick, for this build. It really lends the figure of my client so much character.
Here’s the magic switch that turns “The Shipwreck” from a static to a kinetic model. While painted-on arrows aren’t common on real underwater rocks, I included this printed tile so that my client would know which way to flip the switch… if it’s flipped in the opposite direction, all the functions still work, but the fishes swim backwards!
This part of the base actually hinges open. I made sure that the battery box was easy to remove and replace, so that when the one I included here became exhausted, it wouldn’t be too much hassle to refill.
Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions or thoughts about this model, feel free to leave them in the comments below. Or, if you’re interested in a custom model like this, reach out to me about commissioning one of your own!