[MOC] Eldorado Lighthouse - Alternate Build of 2 x 31138 Beach Camper Van

[Wurger49]

LEGO’s remake of the 1989 Pirates classic appeals to many nostalgic hearts, the 10320 Eldorado Fortress is a modular build with the classic yellow and white walled buildings.

I decided to create the Eldorado Lighthouse from two sets of the LEGO Creator Beach Camper Van 31138. The lighthouse sits on the hazardous shoals near the entrance of the Eldorado Fortress harbour, on high tide most of the sandbanks are submerged making waterways very dangerous from running aground. The model is 40 cm/15.7 inches tall.

Instructions are available on Rebrickable: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-152684/Wurger Bricks/eldorado-lighthouse/

I started with the idea of utilizing the hinged plates to create an enclosed building that can be opened up, unfortunately after building the base, I realised that I don’t have enough yellow and white bricks. That idea is scrapped and simple structure with an open back is designed, with the focus on height.

A small jetty leads to the gate of the light house. Two dinghies are used to bring in supplies and replacement soldiers due to the shallowness of the waters. The lighthouse is built on a rocky platform where its sides are built from grey, white, and tan slopes and tiles. The base of the lighthouse is yellow like a classic LEGO castle, I was surprised that I didn’t have enough yellow pieces so had to use six vehicle mudguards for the walls, they do however create a brick pattern with the nougat bricks. One of the mudguards are used to create the portico. 1x1 white tiles are also used to show patchworks on the walls. One straight corner going up to the lighthouse tower and one round corner to the battlements.

White battlements are added to give defense capabilities and visually match with fortress. The imperial soldier’s quarters on the ground floor, red banners hanging off the walls. The lighthouse keepers stay on the first floor with patterned tiles and kitchen. A bed and desk with a candle is put on the towers for play value, and small ladders give kids the idea of jumping and climbing inside the towers. SNOT techniques are used to add some decoration to the walls and roof.

1x1 tan plates, 1x2 tan round plates and 1x1 reddish brown round plates are used to show exposed bricks where the white plaster has cracked, they give a visual break to the monotonous white walls and help with the shortage of pieces to build up the height of the tower.

Two red stripes on the tower give high visibility during daytime, I used up all of the red bricks and luckily they are just enough. 1x1 round quarter tile are used to show patch works on the wall. The top level of the tower has round corners due to the pieces I had to build with, and slimed the profile of the tower at the top as it should in real life. Lattice fences sitting on cut-out slopes formed the railings on the platform, double trans-clear panels formed the lantern house. The light is built using red and yellow modified bricks combined with trans-orange slopes.

I had a lot of medium azure bricks left, plus wheels, tyres and windscreen as the original set is a camper van, so I built a 2 seater Beetle look alike car with oversize wheel arches with a lot of slopes pieces. My son said Eldorado Lighthouse is a tourist attraction landmark in the present day, with tourists driving their cars to visit this heritage site.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Wurger49

[Eggyslav]

Haven't you read the rules? The entries must be Pirate themed. As far as I'm aware, there were no cars during the Golden Age of Piracy. No crossovers with City! Or Creator for that matter.

[zinnn]

While the car definitely shouldn't be there, I appreciate the attempt at alt build using two of those sets. I'd love to add some texture to this lighthouse but I understand it's limited to the pieces available.

[Wurger49]

2 hours ago, Eggyslav said:

Haven't you read the rules? The entries must be Pirate themed. As far as I'm aware, there were no cars during the Golden Age of Piracy. No crossovers with City! Or Creator for that matter.

This is an alternate build from 2 vehicle sets, the main focus is to build the Eldorado Lighthouse. After that is finished, I had a lot of car pieces left so I built a car from them.

2 hours ago, zinnn said:

While the car definitely shouldn't be there, I appreciate the attempt at alt build using two of those sets. I'd love to add some texture to this lighthouse but I understand it's limited to the pieces available.

thank you mate, yeah, tried to add as much as I could from the pieces available. 

[LetsBrick]

I agree with above, I think you should have omitted the car for entry to the contest.

Apart from that, you've done well with the colour scheme. Is there any way you could fill out the rooms of the lighthouse? Either with some minibuilds or just some pirate minifig accessories from outside the two sets.

[Wurger49]

21 minutes ago, LetsBrick said:

I agree with above, I think you should have omitted the car for entry to the contest.

Apart from that, you've done well with the colour scheme. Is there any way you could fill out the rooms of the lighthouse? Either with some minibuilds or just some pirate minifig accessories from outside the two sets.

Thank you mate, I have changed the title to MOC now, the each tower levels has a piece of furniture inside but does feel lacking as you have pointed out. 

[zinnn]

@Wurger49 I suggest you should re-post this idea with the car in the Town subforum, and then reuse this thread, and add some more Pirates' elements to your MOC.