[ENTRY] 6265 Sabre Island Redux

[Yatkuu]

Hello everyone, I am happy to present my entry in the "remake a Classic Set category", Sabre Island Redux.

This is version 2.0 of my entry, after addressing the main comments and suggestions that I received from the Eurobricks community!

A big thanks to @zinnn; @Horation; @iragm; @Third Navigator and @durazno33 for their feedbacks!

Sabre Island Redux 2.0 by Gregory Coquelz, on Flickr

The main concerns were:

1. the water base was using a mix of wedges and rounded plates, making the contrast with the rounded sand base a bit confusing
--> this has been fixed with a wedges/straight angles only water base
2. the water base was too small to allow the boat to stand next to the dock
--> this has been fixed with a larger base on the dock side
3. the mix of white profile and dark red masonry bricks was too heavy
--> I find myself guilty of trying to "over-texture" my builds from fear of ending up with bland walls. This was a simple fix, remove the white profile bricks, and soften the impact of the dark red masonry bricks by adding a plate above or below them.
4. the small roof using 1x1 round bricks was too "thick"
--> While I liked my original solution, it was a also bit flimsy. In the end, I re-used the design from the new Eldorado Fortress for a more compact and simple solution. 
5. the soldiers had no way to get to the upper floors
--> this one gave me quite a headache as the original set did not include any ladders or stairs so I had to come up with a solution that would not change too much the original set look I was going for. At first, like any self-respecting AFOL,  I came up with an overly complicated solution using a rounded wooden staircase see here), but this felt more like a MOC than an official set and it was too different from the original set so I scrapped that idea. In the end, I used this simple 3-wide staircase just as the comments that I had received suggested!
For the access to the tower, I came up with this pivoting ladder as a solution that is both functional but also not too intrusive on the design.
As I was working through these changes, I had to raise the upper floor by a couple of plates, this allowed me to make the upper floor modular for easy access to the ground floor - yay, an extra play function!

Overall, I think this is a much better build than my original version. 

I rarely revisit my MOCs as I tend to loose interest as soon as I am done, but I am very happy with this result so a big thanks to the Eurobricks community for the feedbacks.

I have hidden my initial version of this build behind the below "spoilers" tag for anyone who wants to compare the 2.

Spoiler

Sabre Island redux by Gregory Coquelz, on Flickr

I used the original set as inspiration of course, but I also tried to keep the design consistent with the look of the Barracuda Bay and the new Eldorado Fortress set. I think it has around 450 elements, including the 4 minifigures.

I added a small play function, with an obligatory prison cell.

And as a bonus picture, here is a side by side comparison with the original classic set!

 

 

Thank you for watching and best of luck to all in the contest!

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Yatkuu
New version of the build

[zinnn]

I like it! But how is that palm tree attached to the base?

My only negative comment will be about the round brick-built roof - it looks too thick for my taste, using plates and maybe slopes (i.e. part 11477) would make it look more smooth and better overall.

[Yatkuu]

16 hours ago, zinnn said:

I like it! But how is that palm tree attached to the base?

My only negative comment will be about the round brick-built roof - it looks too thick for my taste, using plates and maybe slopes (i.e. part 11477) would make it look more smooth and better overall.

Thanks for the feedback! You raised a good point with the palm tree, I had forgotten to include an attachment point, this is now fixed (see below)!

For the roof... I kinda like it this way but I hear your point. I might try smthg else at some point.

[Horation]

An accurate update of a classic

Theme

This is a self-contained build, which works out great because it's a small set, the addition of a prison cell is a great idea, but while I love the dock, I'd try to make the water near it bigger so the boat can sit on it and be next to the dock (alternatively shorten the water for the same reason), you have everything else done perfectly : animal life, a treasure, an escape feature, a boat to move to and from the island, etc... Just fix that tiny dock issue and it'll be perfect.

Build

The new island has more depth and better foliage cover, but still very similar to the original, while the fort's colour choice is perfect, period. The little ''sandbag'' wall for the gun works much better than the original, even if it is a little unrealistic (creative liberties like this don't bother me). But I do have a pet peeve of mine here : the soldier has to jump to go down and fly to go up, consider a ladder, albeit I'll concede my nitpick here. I think the roof is fine, but tell me @Yatkuu , are you considering filling that area near the barrel with a ''sandbag'' wall? I understand it would be different from the original, but it would be better defended, so it's something to consider.

[iragm]

This is awesome!  Nice work fixing the tree.  I think the sloping roof is great as-is.  If you must change it, I'd copy the roof design from the new Eldorado.

There is an arch that's hanging over nothing on one end, and a small issue with the water: you've mixed-and-matched rounded and wedge plates in medium azure.  Either go all wedge plates like Barracuda Bay to contrast the rounded sand above, or all rounded plates to match the sand above.

I love the rounded wall at the base, especially the damaged part done in dark red.

I dislike the use of both white log profile bricks and dark red masonry bricks.  At the scale of this set, the dark red masonry bricks are a bit large.  One technique would be to soften their very rectangular shape by placing a single dark red 1x1 plate directly above or below them.

All in all, this is a really great design and I love all the details like the coral under the dock, the toucan, the prison cell wall and the look of the dock.  I would absolutely buy this if it were an official set.

[Third Navigator]

Good set, you remake last set 6265 with new parts and also added more like pier to last one. 

one i wanted to recommand is about verisimilitude, adding stairs or ladder to make minifig climb to 2nd floor will makes this better.

If I was you, I added 3studs-width stairs between cannon and jail.

Of course, It is still a great piece of work, just like you did.

[durazno33]

Excellent remake!

I don't have much to say to make it better. Just an idea. Looking at the building from the side, the brown rifle blends in with the brown wood behind it. Maybe changing the gun to a black or dark grey color would make the gun stand out a bit more.

 

Great job! I'd love to see this as an official set.

[Yatkuu]

On 7/7/2023 at 11:30 PM, zinnn said:

... the round brick-built roof - it looks too thick for my taste...

Fixed! Thanks for the suggestions!

On 7/8/2023 at 5:55 PM, Horation said:

... while I love the dock, I'd try to make the water near it bigger so the boat can sit on it and be next to the dock (alternatively shorten the water for the same reason)...

... the soldier has to jump to go down and fly to go up, consider a ladder, ...

Fixed! Thanks for the suggestions!

On 7/8/2023 at 7:07 PM, iragm said:

... a small issue with the water: you've mixed-and-matched rounded and wedge plates in medium azure.  Either go all wedge plates like Barracuda Bay to contrast the rounded sand above, or all rounded plates to match the sand above...

... I dislike the use of both white log profile bricks and dark red masonry bricks.  At the scale of this set, the dark red masonry bricks are a bit large.  One technique would be to soften their very rectangular shape by placing a single dark red 1x1 plate directly above or below them...

Fixed! Thanks for the suggestions!

On 7/9/2023 at 11:58 AM, Third Navigator said:

...adding stairs or ladder to make minifig climb to 2nd floor will makes this better...

Fixed! Thanks for the suggestions!

22 hours ago, durazno33 said:

Looking at the building from the side, the brown rifle blends in with the brown wood behind it. Maybe changing the gun to a black or dark grey color would make the gun stand out a bit more...

The re-design removed that issue! Thanks for the suggestions!

[Horation]

Wow, good job! The colors are better, the dock is larger, the staircase works with the rest of the build (and uses the space for something, avoiding any wasted area). Overall a great update of a great MOC

[eldiano]

This is an amazing set, perfect size and GWP sized set for sure!! 

[thewatchman]

Well let me preface this by saying this is in my top 2 entries so far.

 I never had sabre island as a kid but always thought it looked cool and this redesign is great!

pros:

 fantastic recreation of the base, especially using the green!

Great dock design

love the rounded half wall

cons:

This is really nitpicking but the colour distribution of the tower walls could benefit from a more even modern approach using the rounded red plates offset to look like bricks, rather than the 2015 dark red brick. 

and as much as I hate it… the barracuda palm tree should be the el dorado one!

still very very close to my top choice, fantastic entry!

[Rogue Redcoat]

First, the moc looks great with the Series 10 soldier. Here are my suggestions for your entry, first the colors look good except for the yellow. Second, you might want to add one more pirate fig to rescue the other. This said the wall around the cannon looks great (almost like sandbags). Anyway, Happy building :) 

[Mazin]

Lovely simple set, looks both modern but with classic Lego soul, so i realy admire that :) That's all Lego should be about, giving something that can look as a car, fort, ship, plane, but shouldn't be too detailed as Lego sets are not supposed to be proper models and then kids' imagination should add everything else to any set, so that it would be completed :) So well done! I like both versions actually, not sure which type of a roof i'd pick, so i hope You'll include that abandonded version in Your other moc some day, ha? :) 

And the staircase is so nice too, i don't even mind the lack of any handrail, its good enough the way it is. Fine job with the jetty as well. I'm not sure if i'd include prison, with such a small outpost it would be more logical to turn that room into something that would serve garrison's own needs and make soldier's duty more pleasant. But then again, it's a cool story-building section, so it's not a waste to go with it.

Honestly, if they would ever make a cartoon set within Lego Pirates i'd love this build to be included, more than the original, it's just as it would be made for it. From the front side at least, well, most sides, it's not that interesting from the back, as shown on the 3rd photo, as it's just one continous structure with nor real playvalue in there, and very little space on the island from here. But then, it fall into the classic way sets were build, back of almost every location was largely neglected. I'm not saying that it doesnt look nice, it does! But it's just that i don't think i'd play with this part of the set too often. One way to improvie would be to add pieces that would help climb up perhaps? Some protruding elements, or cracks in the wall, or vine climbing up the wall, so that intruders could use it to climb too. Or a maybe a some fishing net could hang from there, as soldiers are probably hungry and could use some shark jerky, dried octopus for lunch ;)   

I'm not so fond of that retrenchment by the cannon tho, it looks as if it was built out of chains You know, anchor chain to be more specific. Or maybe that's the idea and soldiers decided to make a use of elements from some nearby wreckage? Anyway, I'd switch it to something that could pass as bricked wall or a small palisade. Tho i do like the color You've chosen for it. 

[MstrOfPppts]

Although I'm much into realism and often miss stairs in real LEGO sets I think that in this case they are a bit redundant. It looks like they were rushed into the build with the unfinished wedge connected to the balcony. Such a big intervention needs more rearranging and design in my opinion. Already the pulled out first floor changes the shape of the original a bit and the stairs only add up to that. They would probably look better along the longer wall but again, some more thing would need to move then. Otherwise I think a ladder would be fine here as well. As for the wall around the cannon, I'd try to mix in some regular plates and some 1x1 round plates to make it look more like a curved brick wall rather then like it is knitted. As always, not a big fan of the sloped sands, but LEGO seems to have made quite a big impression with those in the Barracuda set. Else I really like the overall looks of this recreation.

[Aanchir]

Oh, the circular bartizan around the cannon is very lovely indeed! You did a great job giving the island some depth while still keeping the sandy shores and grassy center from the original printed baseplate. The higher flagpole is a great touch as well, ensuring that sailors can tell even at a distance who controls these shores. The jail cell and pier are also very thoughtful additions that help give the fort more detail and play value. And I love that you even included some coral/sea life like in Barracuda Bay (a feature I now almost wish I'd included in my own entry)!

The one detail I'm least keen on is your decision to make the stairs the same color as the tower. I feel this makes the model somewhat less recognizable as a new version of that particular set at first glance, since it gives the whole structure a more horizontal composition (kind of like 6263 Imperial Outpost), as opposed to vertical composition of the original set's lookout tower. I wonder whether wooden stairs (matching the dock) might have been a more fitting choice.

[Rogue Redcoat]

Awesome, I love all the updates, I would just swap the dock for black color instead of reddish brown, anyway 

[F1stzz]

@Mister Phes I believe this entry is missing in the Building Entries Index topic 

[Mister Phes]

10 hours ago, F1stzz said:

@Mister Phes I believe this entry is missing in the Building Entries Index topic 

I believe you're correct - thank ye!