[ENTRY] 1872 Imperial Guard Camp Remake (Mini Set)

[thewatchman]

Just a small 50 part mini recreation of the Imperial Guard Camp.

I made a few executive changes; such as the section of rock now has a little more decoration being an old islander head.

And the soldiers are made using the nutcracker bodies and legs to try match an imperial guard attire.

Hope you all enjoy!

Edited August 7, 2023 by thewatchman
Small changes

[Horation]

Theme

The minifigs look excellent, with the nutcracker torsos being really fitting for such a purpose. The simple fire is the only play feature, though the mystery behind the ancient statue is another, so good job on that front. However, the soldier should have a musket instead of a sword, as this would add both variety and accuracy (soldiers had muskets while officers had swords), and the officer is holding the fish using an illegal technique ; make him hold it with his hand if at all possible.

Build 

The statue is a brilliant addition ; it is simultaneously believably abandoned looking (asymmetrical) and detailed enough to my taste. The well positioned fire is both good for play AND stability. The small ''tree'' is pretty good with these parts. But I'll recommend moving the soldier in the pictures so he doesn't hide the tree, and I'd make some of those small round 1x1 LBG tiles DBG to add variety 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Horation
added full review

[Mister Phes]

This is a fresh take on a somewhat obscure set!

4 hours ago, thewatchman said:

And the soldiers are made using the nutcracker bodies and legs to try match an imperial guard attire.

Was there any particular reason you used Nutcracker? parts  Was it due to lack of Imperial Guard torsos?

[thewatchman]

31 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

This is a fresh take on a somewhat obscure set!

Was there any particular reason you used Nutcracker? parts  Was it due to lack of Imperial Guard torsos?

Absolutely was. 
 I quite like the nut cracker uniform as a captains version of the red guard torsos, especially with the printed legs. 
 Just feels more “modern” I guess: 

[thewatchman]

2 hours ago, Horation said:

Theme

The minifigs look excellent, with the nutcracker torsos being really fitting for such a purpose. The simple fire is the only play feature, though the mystery behind the ancient statue is another, so good job on that front. However, the soldier should have a musket instead of a sword, as this would add both variety and accuracy (soldiers had muskets while officers had swords), and the officer is holding the fish using an illegal technique ; make him hold it with his hand if at all possible.

Build 

The statue is a brilliant addition ; it is simultaneously believably abandoned looking (asymmetrical) and detailed enough to my taste. The well positioned fire is both good for play AND stability. The small ''tree'' is pretty good with these parts. But I'll recommend moving the soldier in the pictures so he doesn't hide the tree, and I'd make some of those small round 1x1 LBG tiles DBG to add variety 

 

 

Fantastic review, like most of your others!

 I was gonna add a musket but I’m literally dead on the 50 part limit, I should probably remove a leaf and add that, the fish on the sword is a call back to the original set, With the 1x1 round being slid over the sword! Was incredibly difficult working with such limitations, and trying to keep studs visible was really hard too. 

[Rogue Redcoat]

This is awesome, the parts that I love are the islander head, the minifigs, and the fire, my only suggestion is to get rid of the rod with all the leaves on it, its not very visible and does not add much playability to the set. Other than this your good, Happy building :)

Edited August 6, 2023 by Rogue Redcoat

[iragm]

The statue is pretty cool, but it dominates the build and changes the spirit of the set from "Imperial Guard Camp" to "Islander Ruins".  There's unfortunately no way around that, but I like the head regardless.  I have only two real complaints: 1) the tree thing uses a lot of parts, and while the green is a welcome color, I think that a small or large foliage piece, combined with a 1x1 with stud on side,  might accomplish more with half the number of bricks.  2) the logs for the fire are vertical; logs don't really burn like that.  If the guards are making a teepee fire, I'd want to see that shape created a bit more deliberately.

All in all, this is a very nice recreation, the nutcrackers without their stupid hats work well as modernized redcoats, and the fish on the sword is a great nod to the original set.  Well done!

[thewatchman]

1 hour ago, iragm said:

The statue is pretty cool, but it dominates the build and changes the spirit of the set from "Imperial Guard Camp" to "Islander Ruins".  There's unfortunately no way around that, but I like the head regardless.  I have only two real complaints: 1) the tree thing uses a lot of parts, and while the green is a welcome color, I think that a small or large foliage piece, combined with a 1x1 with stud on side,  might accomplish more with half the number of bricks.  2) the logs for the fire are vertical; logs don't really burn like that.  If the guards are making a teepee fire, I'd want to see that shape created a bit more deliberately.

All in all, this is a very nice recreation, the nutcrackers without their stupid hats work well as modernized redcoats, and the fish on the sword is a great nod to the original set.  Well done!

You have nailed every complaint I have about this myself!

 I might make a few subtle changes to this because I was considering doing away with the bush entirely to free up brick space. 
 With a 50 part limit, almost 20 of those are taken up by minifigs and accessories alone. 

[Horation]

15 hours ago, thewatchman said:

Fantastic review, like most of your others!

 I was gonna add a musket but I’m literally dead on the 50 part limit, I should probably remove a leaf and add that, the fish on the sword is a call back to the original set, With the 1x1 round being slid over the sword! Was incredibly difficult working with such limitations, and trying to keep studs visible was really hard too. 

If you must remove a leaf, the one to the left (on the islander statue) is the one that looks the most out of place.

[thewatchman]

1 minute ago, Horation said:

If you must remove a leaf, the one to the left (on the islander statue) is the one that looks the most out of place.

Yeah I actually wanna get a grey slope tile on top to tie those parts together better also. 

[thewatchman]

Implemented some feedback changes 

[iragm]

Looks great now, well done on taking feedback!  Although, I kinda miss the fish-on-a-sword thing from your first build.

[Horation]

I like the new version : the extra musket, the added details on the rocks (more DBG) and (sorry @iragm,t'is my fault) the officer is now legally holding the food item! I think it is ready for voting!

[Rogue Redcoat]

I agree with the others it looks perfect now :)

[Mazin]

Nice! Very simple, but well thought, with lots of play values. Having those grey element tranformed into a statue was a briliant move, it creates this sort of exotic charm, where lots of adventurous schemes can be start up. I like those minifigs too, but only from the legs up ;) As much as i don't mind having more details on torsos, heads and shakos, I still believe that Lego should mean simplicity, and thus I'm not realy a fan of those shoes ;)   

If it wouldn't exceed parts limit, i'd add one simple element for color, like a flag, parrot or somesuch. 

Also, maybe Your office could be given a partisan, instead of one of his tradition weapons, that is if You'd have proper parts of course ;)

[thewatchman]

For those who care this is how the guard torsos look with nutcracker arms and legs.

 

[Rogue Redcoat]

4 hours ago, thewatchman said:

For those who care this is how the guard torsos look with nutcracker arms and legs.

Ouch, I used to think it would look great but it almost looks like his pants are falling down, I think lego failed to make sufficient coat tails. 

[MstrOfPppts]

What an awesome recreation of such an odd set! The minifigures work as great updates in my eyes, though the original head is a bit silly with the pinkish cheeks. Brick with studs on all sides exists in reddish brown and would probably look better than the black one in the middle of the fire place. And also I miss the bush (:

Other than that a very strong entry!

[Aanchir]

Oh, this is delightful! You did a wonderful job with the campfire — it can be surprisingly difficult to make a convincing stack of firewood at a scale this small! And the islander statue is a creative idea of how to make that rock column feel a little bit more exciting and less like "filler". I do wonder, though, whether you kept any clips in the back as a place for the soldiers to hang up their weapons, which was the rock column's function in the original set? It seems like there should be room for that without detracting too much from the appearance.

I somewhat miss the yucca bush from the original set, since those were a familiar sight to me on trips to the beach from my childhood, so seem appropriate for this type of coastal setting. And yet I realize there's not a lot of space left to include one on this reduced 8x8 circular base. So unless you can figure a way to make the base wider without losing detail elsewhere, I suppose it's probably a reasonable sacrifice (this piece could maybe work, but I realize there's a good chance you don't have one since it's new for this year in Brick Yellow/Tan and has only been in four sets in that color).

The nutcracker torsos and legs are a clever replacement for the old-school redcoat torsos, although from a historical standpoint they seem more reminiscent of Russian uniforms than the British, French, Dutch, or Spanish uniforms you might expect to see in an 18th century Caribbean setting. But when I was a kid, I certainly wouldn't have known any different — so in that respect, they're perfectly serviceable!

[durazno33]

This is really nice. I think going out on a limb with using the nutcracker minifigure looks distinguished. It makes this stand out from the other builds that stuck to the blue and red imperials. 

[omby54]

Super ! J'aime beaucoup la reprise d'un set avec les gardes impériaux. Les figurines sont superbes !

Le rocher qui prend l'apparence d'un visage est top ! 

[The Reader]

Great! I love the statue‘s head!