[ENTRY] 1464 Pirate Lookout Reborn

[Elephant Knight]

I obviously had to do a take on my first ever Lego and Pirate set, Pirate Lookout. for the Small Set Category. Contains 35 parts.

Pirate Lookout V.2

Version 1:

Spoiler

 

Pirate Lookout. by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

With a name like Pirate Lookout, I knew I had to upgrade the set in a way to better match the name, so I replaced the barrel with a crows nest, and the flintlock with a spyglass (And a bottle of rum!). I feel it still keeps the spirit of the set with a modern flair!

Pirate Lookout. by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

 

EKnight

Edited August 5, 2023 by Elephant Knight

[thewatchman]

Now this is what I wanna see more off!!

 This great, and a lovely small set reminiscent of smaller boxes pirate sets!

Pros:

instantly recognisable as pirate lookout

the inclusion of the crows nest for the lookout

Great small rock build

cons:

id like to have seen maybe a smaller footprint for the build, with a slightly less uniform shape.

all up a fantastic rebuild!

[MstrOfPppts]

Now this is a really cute set! Instantly recognizable and perfectly modernized with the newer sloped rockwork and fantastically upgraded with the crows nest, which is the whole point of the name.

I agree it would maybe look better with a more irregular shape for the island. And in this case I would stop by two plates of tan. Skip the water like in the originals. It saves some parts for an official set and gives the owner decision to either stick it on a blue baseplate or make it part of a larger island without forcing the idea in child's head it is a small island. Also the pole for the flag is mounted a bit silly. Would suggest using a clip to hold it by the side instead of just sticking it in a few leaves.

Otherwise a really great job on such a small scale set!

[Horation]

A much improved small set

Theme

A small set which was really weird initially but which works better here, I like the little details but, for the sake of conflict, maybe consider a crocodile or an octopus?

Build

The overall look is a bit weird; it's an island but the water doesn't go all around it? Also the rock colours seem a little strange considering the clean island, I'd say expand the water all around the island, remake the island with some wedges and the likes to give a random shape (it currently looks like an actual circle) and finally, move some of that rocky foliage to the ground to shake things up.

Edited July 17, 2023 by Horation
repetition and mistake removal

[Elephant Knight]

You were all clamoring for a better shape, and here I am, delivering! I've update the first post with the updated entry.

5 hours ago, Horation said:

Also the rock colours seem a little strange considering the clean island

I'd say the rock colours seem right in line with what Lego does, So I left it as is. I tweaked them a tiny bit to have a better flagpole attachment, but that is all.

EKnight

[MstrOfPppts]

Awesome! In my eyes a tiny perfection. Although I see where your original idea for the pole attachment came from but the original is not built according to the instructions :) It's very nice to see it next to the original for comparison!

[iragm]

This is really great!  I actually like the water from version 1, but to each their own.  If you're leaving the water, I would have put rounded plates on all the corners.

I would swap the yellow crab out for a red one so there's more contrast between it and the sand.  There's very little else I can suggest here; everything feels like an official set.

The accessories lend themselves very well to storytelling, which is nice to see.  Excellent work overall! 

[Elephant Knight]

3 hours ago, MstrOfPppts said:

Awesome! In my eyes a tiny perfection. Although I see where your original idea for the pole attachment came from but the original is not built according to the instructions :) It's very nice to see it next to the original for comparison!

Alas, that is what happens to 28 year old Lego sets that I got when I was barely 3 years old. Sometimes I forget that isn't the correct way.

14 minutes ago, iragm said:

I would swap the yellow crab out for a red one so there's more contrast between it and the sand.  There's very little else I can suggest here; everything feels like an official set.

I wanted to, but was unable to find a red crab, pretty sure I own a couple, but couldn't find them. I do agree it would be better.

EKnight

[Horation]

On 7/16/2023 at 5:53 AM, Elephant Knight said:

I'd say the rock colours seem right in line with what Lego does, So I left it as is. I tweaked them a tiny bit to have a better flagpole attachment.

The problem isn't that they're out of line for a Lego set, it is that the rest of the island is too clean (light tan sand, yellow crab, etc...), so the nice rocks look a little out of place, I'd seriously recommend just 1 or 2 pieces of foliage /(and a grey brick to hold 'em) being moved to the island base (which looks much better by now, good job!), it would avoid monotony

[zinnn]

29 minutes ago, Horation said:

The problem isn't that they're out of line for a Lego set, it is that the rest of the island is too clean (light tan sand, yellow crab, etc...), so the nice rocks look a little out of place, I'd seriously recommend just 1 or 2 pieces of foliage /(and a grey brick to hold 'em) being moved to the island base (which looks much better by now, good job!), it would avoid monotony

I disagree, the rock looks fine as it is, I’ve been to many sandy beaches that had some random rocks around. IMHO the set looks great.

[Horation]

24 minutes ago, zinnn said:

I’ve been to many sandy beaches that had some random rocks around.

The problem isn't the presence of random rocks around, it's the lack thereof.

" I'd seriously recommend just 1 or 2 pieces of foliage /(and a grey brick to hold 'em) being moved to the island base "

"move some of that rocky foliage to the ground to shake things up.  "

The rocks wouldn't look strange if there were other such rocks all around the island @zinnn

[zinnn]

2 hours ago, Horation said:

The rocks wouldn't look strange if there were other such rocks all around the island @zinnn

I see your point, but because this set is supposed to be small, with low piece count, I don't think there's a need for more rocks. Personally I'd even try to get rid of one of the layers of sand (tan plates), to reduce the piece count even more :)

[Horation]

Well, I think you're right (for the purpose that is intended here), maybe I'm just expecting even the smallest builds to be turned into 3000+ pieces masterpieces, oh well I'll try to keep that in mind.

[Elephant Knight]

One reason I kept it to one rock is the original set had only a single rock. Adding more rocks would stray too  much from the original set. It's such a tiny set, that even small changes can drastically change the look of the set.

11 hours ago, zinnn said:

 Personally I'd even try to get rid of one of the layers of sand (tan plates), to reduce the piece count even more :)

Reducing to one plate level would exponentially increase the difficulty in keeping a non symmetrical shaped island. Everything in the set is pretty much a tad larger than the original, so I have no issue with it being two plates think.

EKnight

[Rogue Redcoat]

Just adding one layer of sand and one layer of water would add a lot to the build. Other than this maybe you should give the pirate some gold and perhaps return his pistol. other than this the entry is great. Anyway, Happy building :)

[Mazin]

Lovely! Simple, yet quite entertaining set.

I can already see few possibilities for both story and ways kids could play with, at least, ways my inner kid would play ;)

I mean, the location of crow's nest tells me that this whole island might be submersible and this poor guy is more of a shipwreck or a mutineer sentenced to loneliness at sea and he just go stuck in there, on it's very top. Thus, his crows nest can be used for safety, every time tide sinks the island, as well as for... fishing perhaps? Thus, maybe adding some fish would nice? Tho perhaps he prefers to fish for crabs ;) And since there is already a flag pole, he can probably use it as both, a spear for fishing/crabbing and as a paddle.  

And then there's his bottle, obviously could be used to send a message, couldn't it? If only he could write and would have something to write with him ;) But hay, this is a kid's toy and every kid have inexhaustible sources of imagination to play even with things aren't included in a particular set ;)   

[Aanchir]

Neat to see an attempt at re-imagining such a small and simple set! The colors of the island also feel very nicely balanced, and feel true to the spirit of the original model while still adding greater realism with the more varied shades and tones.

While version 2's asymmetry is a big visual improvement and helps it echo the original set more strongly, I feel like it would be more "set-like" if the bottom layer were made of larger plates instead of a mix of large and small ones. One way to solve that could be to add a layer of plates representing water like you had in version 1. Or if you really prefer to keep it waterless like the original set, you could simply make some changes to the bottom layer of sand. But this is a very minor personal hangup on my part, so if you prefer to leave it as-is, that's also totally fine!

The "crow's nest" is a very creative touch, and also offers some play potential, since it can potentially be removed and used as an improvised "boat"! Perhaps that's how this pirate floated to this sandy islet in the first place. And especially now that you've offset it from the islet's "center", it feels like a very fitting re-interpretation of the barrel from the original set design. Both this choice and the choice to swap the original set's pistol for a spyglass really help the model feel even more true to its name!

The crab is also a very appropriate creature for a small set like this, and adds some potential conflict — the crab can try to pinch the pirate for trampling all over its island habitat, or the pirate could hunt the crab for his dinner (as you appear to have shown in your second photo)!

Great MOC overall! As tempting as it is to focus on updating larger scenes, you really did a great job with this smaller one, and certainly made the most of the opportunity. It kind of inspires me to try re-imagining some of these smaller pirate sets myself!

[Elephant Knight]

On 7/28/2023 at 11:19 AM, Aanchir said:

Neat to see an attempt at re-imagining such a small and simple set! The colors of the island also feel very nicely balanced, and feel true to the spirit of the original model while still adding greater realism with the more varied shades and tones.

While version 2's asymmetry is a big visual improvement and helps it echo the original set more strongly, I feel like it would be more "set-like" if the bottom layer were made of larger plates instead of a mix of large and small ones. One way to solve that could be to add a layer of plates representing water like you had in version 1. Or if you really prefer to keep it waterless like the original set, you could simply make some changes to the bottom layer of sand. But this is a very minor personal hangup on my part, so if you prefer to leave it as-is, that's also totally fine!

The "crow's nest" is a very creative touch, and also offers some play potential, since it can potentially be removed and used as an improvised "boat"! Perhaps that's how this pirate floated to this sandy islet in the first place. And especially now that you've offset it from the islet's "center", it feels like a very fitting re-interpretation of the barrel from the original set design. Both this choice and the choice to swap the original set's pistol for a spyglass really help the model feel even more true to its name!

The crab is also a very appropriate creature for a small set like this, and adds some potential conflict — the crab can try to pinch the pirate for trampling all over its island habitat, or the pirate could hunt the crab for his dinner (as you appear to have shown in your second photo)!

Great MOC overall! As tempting as it is to focus on updating larger scenes, you really did a great job with this smaller one, and certainly made the most of the opportunity. It kind of inspires me to try re-imagining some of these smaller pirate sets myself!

I tried to keep the bottom layer of sand to a minimum of parts, but since I was also trying to go for an asymmetrical build, it was difficult. Especially with my very limited selection of tan wedge plates.

I hope to see some such MOCs! I love hearing that I have inspired others to MOC.

EKnight

[durazno33]

Your build looks like a polished set pull right out of a poly bag and assembled. Well done.