Spitting Image

“A build, no matter the size, can spark many feelings and emotions in anyone,” says Adam 'Aequotis' Berry, one of the builders behind this magnificent Spitfire reproduction! He’s right, I think, as I remember a Minecraft replica of cheeseburger and lose my focus entirely.

Mmmmmm cheeseburgers, with the cheese, on the burger. MMMMMMmmmmm... what was I writing about again?

“I feel scale is subjective,” Adam says, causing me to come back to reality with a notably tasteless jolt. I wipe the drool from my face and try to scrub all trace of the greasy, delicious burger from my mind. “A city is certainly more significant than a plane, but think of this plane as me and my girlfriend trying something new together.”

Aequotis has a lot of experience with Minecraft builds - he’s the owner of Cubed Community, the building team behind Westpoint, which we’ve featured on the site previously. However, he’s happy to be making something a bit different from his usual landscapes or environments. Especially as, this time, his partner Elisthetic is helping him out.

“The Spitfire is a thing of beauty,” Adam explains. “Ever since childhood I have found planes to be that one thing that keeps me dreaming. Luckily, one day, my girlfriend turned to me and said, ‘hey, let’s build it in Minecraft!’ So, one day later, we finished the Spitfire and poof! Here it is.”

It’s a remarkable achievement for a day’s work, too, given that they’ve made it using the actual dimensions - something Aequotis isn’t necessarily able to do with his other builds. “Actual dimensions are unreachable at the scale that cities are made, where typically one block is equal to a metre,” he explains.

Equally, it’s exactly this that appeals to him. “I got into Minecraft by accident, actually,” he says, “researching designs for an architectural class three years back. I happened upon some structures made of blocks and it piqued my interest. I decided to get involved; try my hand at the legendary block game! What compels me is the new friends, experiences and being able to build stuff that’d take waaaaay too long in real life. I’d rather not build a city by hand, if you get me.”

We do.

With his community of likeminded block builders, Aequotis is able to achieve amazing feats of architecture. However, he says his dream build is his part-built solo passion project - the mysterious medieval woodland, Catalné, which we’ve also featured previously. (What can we say? Dude’s prolific and precise in equal measure.)

“It’s a massive project and a dream I’ve had since childhood - a massive medieval wonderland. So far it’s expanded beyond ‘big’, managing to blast my older solo projects out of the water, having hit a size of 2000x2000 blocks. All hand-placed.”

So, given that he’s already making his Minecraft dream, what’s next on the horizon? What could possibly compete with Catalnè? “After that’s finished, I think I’ll likely try a city reminiscent of Turkey. The architecture and diversity truly interests me and I’d like to mix things up with a modernist touch.

“Typically, I work on multiple maps at the same time, while making small projects and tiny builds to spark imagination and keep me motivated. You never know what will pop up, since the possibilities in Minecraft are endless. This Spitfire took around four hours of planning, then two hours of building. At one point we realised the wings were on upside-down after an accident, though.”

So, bearing that in mind, what advice would he give to novice builders just spreading their wings (geddit? WINGS – LIKE ON A PLANE!!!)? “My best advice is always practice and look at images. Doing a build straight off the starting line is gonna end badly. It’s best to plan first, observe similar builds and form ideas. Try replicating a build style you’re interested in. Apart from that, just asking a friend for advice and talking about stuff is an excellent way to conjure new ideas. Plus, keep chocolate nearby as it’s brilliant brain fuel - yep!”

I’m glad he just said that, because to make up for the glaring lack of cheeseburgers around the office, I’m now stuffing my face with chocolate. I’ll have to wrap this article up soon as a result ‘cos now the melted remnants have smudged into the keyboard and all the keys are stuck and Tom's threatened to fire me if he catches me licking it clean again.

While I do that, why don’t you go and check out Elisthetic and Aequotis’ build and, if you want to keep up to date with what they’re doing, follow Elisthetic or Aequotis on Twitter and at his CubedCommunity website?

Render by Droolie