[ENTRY] 6281 Pirates Perilous Pitfall Remake

[bmohnsen]

Overall photo: 

 

Album of close-up shots: https://www.flickr.com/photos/163555704@N06/albums/72177720310672241

 

 

 

 

[Mister Phes]

Finally someone remade it!

I guess it doesn't have the boulder activation feature...

[MstrOfPppts]

This is one of the sets I would never think of when it comes to discussing classic pirates! On flickr you can see that the boulder is in deed there, though a bit smaller. There are quite some nice play features also but I don't think that the dark tan was the best color choice for the rockwork. I would have preferred gray with green on top. I really like the build for the bridge, though I would increase the spacing between the rocks and the ship so that the whole bridge would hang rather than two planks just lying on the pier. The palm tree is nice though a bit parts intensive for a LEGO set, but the tree looks out of place for not looking too tropical yet on the other side very LEGO like. (:

Another thing that needs an upgrade are the minifigs. With some figures in the image it's not clear weather a fig is an armada guy, a pirate, armada pirate or a knight pirate. ;)

I also really like the take on the custom base for the cannon but it does look a bit flimsy.

[Mazin]

As a modern remake i guess it's a fine a job, but then the original was an extremely weird set, and this one definitely retained that craziness. I mean, there's definitely plenty of stuff going on, plenty of parts, it's sort of a mixture of brutalist architecture, children as acting architects and effects of the battle of Singapore ;) So in short, i didn't realy like the original, and since You've done Your work quite well, i should probably judge Your set equally and dislike it too ;) 

But i guess maybe not every sets is meant to be loved. Tho, this one could definitely see few changes to gain more love. Even if it's a remake, it could be better than the classic, no one says it needs to be the same.

Like, i think it would be better if You'd decide to change the color pallete and make the whole thing look more continuous, cause right now we have that huge pile of mud or whatever it is, some green, a wooden tower, a big rock and some wreckage. I'm not saying that You can't keep all those elements, but... it could be visually more appealing, more consistent and not look like a structure built by 4 different constructors separately and then mered together ;) And it's also a bit blured at the same time. Like that boat totaly looks like if it was just pulled out of that mud. So i'd use a different color for it, to make stand out more.

You know, since this is a wreckage area, maybe You could incorporate some elements from the ship in the mud? Like that they would be visibly sticking out of it, to make a suggestion that it was just covered by some land fall, or that pirates simply used their own shovels to throw some sand on it, to make a bridge between that wooden tower and the rock.

And with all that massive mud/land formation, it seems there would be a huge volume of space under it ha? Therefore i guess it could fit at least a little secret stash, or real treasure room, armory, etc.

And am i wrong or is this set modular? I mean, i believe that left part of Your creation is not connected to the right one. There's a clear crack in the middle of the mud area. Does it mean that it could be set up differently? Or is it just the way it was built that some parts aren't tied up together? :)

But i see some ideas here that are quite new to this contest. There's a bridge which can be folded. That's a nice one thought!

There's also a some trap operated by a monkey (?). So i wonder if it's a real thing that can be activated somehow, by stepping on same brick or pulling/turning one element? Or is it just a line left in there that we can simply use freely to play? :)

And that builder is someting! Haven't seen it in different entries. I wonder how does it work tho? I see that there some palm tree leaf sticking out of the rock area, that may be also a walking plank? Is this a thing that trigger the builder to come down and crash unlucky intruders? Or maybe it is a walk-the-plank thing indeed?  If it is than i think this set could use some crocodile or a shark to finish the job, cause it wouldn't make much of a sense to force someone to walk a plank in these shallow waters ;) Shark or a croc would make a slighlty different story ;)

And should You decide to go with a croc, then that prison cage in the rock (?) could be used as it's own pet room, perhaps? It doesn't realy look like a place that could keep any prisoners from escaping anyway. If it's supposed to stay as a jail, they could i suggest securing that entrance properly? I mean, with a door that wouldn't leave that huge gap above it?

And as there's probably a lot of loose parts from the wreckage laying around, then that prison gate could be probably made with use of those elements. 

And with the wreckage itself. Hm... it's hard to turn it into something better, cause i guess it's supposed to be sticking out of the water just a little bit. So there's nothing realy that could be done there if You realy wanna keep it that way. The only thing that could help to use those 3 flooded compartments would be either imagination, or if You'd decide to pull that vessel out of the water a bit more. In that case You could turn them into something usefull and more playable, after all, it's not obligatory for remake to use the same size, height, lenght as the original etc. It's just that i cant help thinking that these compartments could be turned into some cool area, separate or connected. Like a flooded crocodile's nest with sleletons, where unwanted folks could be dropped into. Or a prison could be moved in there from it's current location. Or it could serve even as captain's personal office, if it would be dried up, or a fish pond, or a wildlife preserve with some fauna and flora realy taking over. I see that there's already a crab, so maybe it's just started. It's just that there's nothing there except of unusable remnants of the ship. 

On the other hand all that wreckage still got an impressive sail. But i'm not realy a fun of it. I understand that You probably wanted to do a sail, but didn't have a proper one, and did Your own. But i'd suggest using all those red and white pieces to incorporate them into Your land. To add more color to it. Perhaps it could be used to form a red carpet for Your captain, so that he wouldn't have to walk on all that mud? ;) 

Oh, and probably the easiest way to make it more attractive, one that is screaming, is to replace that little pirate flag with a proper one :) It's just a bit tiny for that location, don't You think? Tho i know that this place is inhabited by crazies, therefore they might just do things a bit differently ;)  

[iragm]

4 hours ago, MstrOfPppts said:

I don't think that the dark tan was the best color choice for the rockwork. I would have preferred gray with green on top.

I agree, it's a large wall of monotone dark tan that takes away from the rest of the set.  I would have preferred dark gray, with some plant life and maybe a waterfall like the original baseplate had.

I do like that you kept the play features of the original, and the rope bridge is a big improvement over the original (which just made no sense, yours is how a rope bridge should retract).

The minifigures don't really work for me, especially the knight helmets feel a bit of out place.  But, there's a great many things that are well executed here; the dark tan boat is especially nice.  I love the oarlocks on it.

Keep up the good work, with a few modifications this will be a really nice entry!

[bmohnsen]

I sincerely want to thank each of you who posted (and those that will post) for taking the time to write such detailed reviews - I find them very helpful as I work to improve my Lego skills.
 

[Rogue Redcoat]

As others have said it's a great set let down by the rock work, I would go light grey on top and dark grey on the bottom, and swap that nicely built canoe for a rowboat. Also, I would revisit adding the giant rock, like the original, and keeping the bridge brown. Other than this I would like to see the tree a little bit more full and a second one in place of the other tree as it is not very tropical. the little fort could be changed back to brown and of course, those minifigures need a revisit to make them look a bit more like updates of the originals. As for the sail, it looks ok now but I would love to see a custom updated original anyway, you have a great start there and even if it's not finished for the contest you could always post it as a Moc, so happy building :)

Oh and welcome to the forum 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Rogue Redcoat