La Isla de la Muerte

[BHs]

La Isla de la Muerte

Redbeard could not sleep. It was yesterday that he commanded his ship and his loyal crew. And today only a few laths and barrow were between his only leg from the water and hungry sharks. From a bunch of comrades only two were spared. Ant the treasure. The most important thing, apart from his beard and his hook, of course.

The evening battering of waves drove him onto an uncharted island. On the horizon, the silhouette of the dreaded “Sea Hawk”, the conqueror of his bark, glimpsed in the last rays of sun. Our brave captain, commanding only a bunch of planks, ordered immediate landing on the unknown land.

“We land and bury our loot” he ordered “and let any of you spill any words, I will…” he did not manage to finish his threats as the raft hit the shore.

Meluzine, who once made any pirate amours’ on far Tortuga, started to salvage out of water any object that the gracious sea sent from the sinking bark.

And on the land, deck hand Kajko started to dig the hole with vigor. The movement awoke true interest from the inhabitants of the island, who began to descent the palm trees. In the moonlight, or maybe in the afterglow of the luminescence, other sea creatures emerged from the deeps. Or was it just Redbeard’s hallucinations? He thought he saw… no, sirens are nothing but myths to scare the kids, too much grog last time – he explained to himself.

”Dig faster, it’s strange here…” he muttered. Redbeard wanted to add something which could not be easily put into a quote here, when the island roared in terror! The volcano has awaken!

The island, on which our brave captain R. disembarked, indeed hides several surprises. The cave, upon which a “happy” (and permanent) inhabitant dangles. Mysterious statue carved in the volcanic rock. The volcano itself, which when active, embraces the ocean in bloody glow within miles.

The casting was quite a challenge. On one hand – the MOC was supposed to be as realistic as it could be, on the other hand – I just wanted to have sirens. So I do have a pair of them, poncing around on a rock. As for the pirates, should I choose a new crew, some license sets perhaps? Finally, the answer was choosing the road of classic form – the members of set no. 6251 in particular. That was my first set of Pirates, bought long time ago from money earned from selling recycling paper :).

What was most curious about the build? Perhaps “sewing” – if you look closer to the raft, you will see, that our pirate Meluzine ably sewed three barrows each side into the net. All fastened with the rope.

What was the most difficult? Perhaps the water. From technical reasons (the MOC could not exceed 48x48 studs in solid build) I had to go around some conventions. The blue baseboard was needed to place the smaller rocks in front of the cave (see the teeth?). Later on it was the case of bestrewing (flooding?) the island with trans-clear and trans blue elements. In proper order to simulate the depth. Also, we have a form of biofluorescence on the surf, which of course is rather poorly visible on the photos.

The island has two highlighted zones – the volcano and the “eyes” of the cave. Both done on the Lego lightbricks. Can you guess where the push switches are located? It’s best to search on this photo:

For the very end – three overall photos of the island:

Full gallery on Flickr.

[BrickOn]

Wow, stunning build, lots of details, I really like the rocks of the island itself! Do the pirates make it off the island? It looks like the last visitor didn't make it!

[blackdeathgr]

Tightly packed delicious details :)

[Staslegomaster]

You surely spent much time (maybe sleepless but creative nights) to build the MOC. Very detailed indeed and shown from different angles for curious fans to look at. Judging by what you created, you are a long time LEGO fan, just as I am. Hope to know your opinion on my creations. Good luck.

[Kolonialbeamter]

Great MOC and a fun to read story, a fierce looking monster volcano... and I think one of the monkeys must have the remote control for the light function

Brick on!

[Captain Dee]

You've built a very good island complete with classic pirates lore. The design and techniques are nice and the level of detail is really good. I also like the dark and forbidding atmosphere of the photos. Good work.