[BDP] Privateer Frigate Fortuna

[BrickPerfection]

On 3/28/2025 at 4:13 PM, Mister Phes said:

That's brilliant!  That's exactly what we need!

In addition to the promotion of Fortuna, do you mind if the photo is added to the Classic Pirates fan gallery?

Thanks for bringing it up!  Sure, go ahead! Please list me as BrickPerfection though.  

Edited March 30, 2025 by BrickPerfection

[Mister Phes]

11 hours ago, BrickPerfection said:

Thanks for bringing it up!  Sure, go ahead! Please list me as BrickPerfection though.  

Of course!  With links to your social media profiles too.

I'm writing a series of articles which covers the evolution of the Fortuna from Series 5 to 7.

And will publish them strategically to coincidence with key BrickLink Designer Program dates.

That way we can familarise Fortuna with AFOLs long before the Crowdfunding phase starts... and keep reminding them it's coming!

There were a couple more photos I was hoping to use to help keep things fresh - rather than recycle the first photo in every article.

[Franco Clarke]

Congratulations on being selected, very well deserved. I'm looking forward to adding this one to the fleet. 

[BrickPerfection]

On 3/31/2025 at 3:01 PM, Mister Phes said:

Of course!  With links to your social media profiles too.

I'm writing a series of articles which covers the evolution of the Fortuna from Series 5 to 7.

And will publish them strategically to coincidence with key BrickLink Designer Program dates.

That way we can familarise Fortuna with AFOLs long before the Crowdfunding phase starts... and keep reminding them it's coming!

There were a couple more photos I was hoping to use to help keep things fresh - rather than recycle the first photo in every article.

Thank you so much! I'm sorry for the late reply, I was actually super busy refining Fortuna. I'm extremely pleased with the improvements, but cannot reveal anything for now.

Yes, feel free to use that photo! If you want to have the full history, you could start with that and have the ships that I built for Classic-Pirates and the Pirate MOC Forum as the next stepping stone before the BrickLink Designer Program! Unfortunately, Captain Green Hair's Build a Frigate tutorial is missing as a result of Brickshelf being down.

Fortuna is registered for Brickbuilt Sydney (May 31-June 1), and hopefully I can show an updated model then. I was thinking of doing a side-by side comparison of the models from Series 5, 6 & 7 and the pre-production model, but I'm not sure when I can pull this off - it depends on getting permission from BrickLink and the BDP Team. Brickbuilt might be just a tad early; we'll see!

The other thing that I was super keen on showcasing is custom fabric sails, and how you can make them to look more realistic than e.g. the productions sails of the Endurance. Ideally, I could have a thus customised Fortuna at Brickvention Australia 2026 where BrickLink would also show the model as an upcoming set.

7 hours ago, Franco Clarke said:

Congratulations on being selected, very well deserved. I'm looking forward to adding this one to the fleet. 

Thank you, I'm pleased to hear that!  

[Mister Phes]

3 hours ago, BrickPerfection said:

Fortuna is registered for Brickbuilt Sydney (May 31-June 1), and hopefully I can show an updated model then. I was thinking of doing a side-by side comparison of the models from Series 5, 6 & 7 and the pre-production model, but I'm not sure when I can pull this off - it depends on getting permission from BrickLink and the BDP Team. Brickbuilt might be just a tad early; we'll see!

This is great news!  Keep us updated.

The article for Series 6 Fortuna is mostly done, and another for the Series 7 will commence work sometime in the future.

But we have plenty time as  crowdfunding still another 10 months.

[BrickPerfection]

What a pleasant surprise to see the prototype - please note this is not the final model - filmed at Fan Media Days in Billund (starting at 10:18):

The most noticeable change are the Minifigures, again not final - but a good indication of what will be included.

Edited October 3, 2025 by BrickPerfection

[GeoBrick]

5 hours ago, BrickPerfection said:

The most noticeable change are the Minifigures, again not final - but a good indication of what will be included.

I think I spotted 5 different minifig torso's: both Vending Machine pirate torso's, new Steve, a kind of fairy princess torso (the mauve one) and a black torso on one of the booms.

[BrickPerfection]

Here's a few screenshots of Fortuna's intermediate prototype that was shown at Fan Media Days in Billund, Denmark - taken from Bricksie's video that I linked above!

 

 

[Mister Phes]

4 hours ago, BrickPerfection said:

Here's a few screenshots of Fortuna's intermediate prototype that was shown at Fan Media Days in Billund, Denmark - taken from Bricksie's video that I linked above!

Thanks for the update!

Look's like the new Camilla torso design belongs to an entire Imperial faction! 

[GeoBrick]

"intermediate" prototype? Do you plan to change things still?

The shrouds look good. At least, in this version they seem sufficiently stretched.
Was there ever a sunroof above the captain's cabin? If so, it seems its changed out with a chest. And it looks like you added chaser guns. Didn't spot them in the video.

[BrickPerfection]

On 10/3/2025 at 8:36 PM, Mister Phes said:

Thanks for the update!

Look's like the new Camilla torso design belongs to an entire Imperial faction! 

The unpredictable Privateers, sailing under the flag of Bluecoats, Redcoats or their own! 
I'm so grateful for these new torsos! They look so sharp with dual-molded legs and tricornes! 

On 10/4/2025 at 1:52 AM, GeoBrick said:

"intermediate" prototype? Do you plan to change things still?

The shrouds look good. At least, in this version they seem sufficiently stretched.
Was there ever a sunroof above the captain's cabin? If so, it seems its changed out with a chest. And it looks like you added chaser guns. Didn't spot them in the video.

The model is completely finished, but what was shown at Fan Media Days isn't the latest version. I think this is the first time that BrickLink has shown BDP models at this intermediate stage.
Honestly it's a bit surreal that my ship was shown to Fan Media in Billund, Denmark. 
There's two 5264 clips missing at the headrails, they're meant to be connected; probably forgotten during the test build.

Good spotting there!   Indeed, getting the shrouds to be just the right tightness without bending the masts was a whole project in itself! Like so many other things with this ship.
You're very correct, there used to be a skylight above the captain's cabin, but it was removed to make space for a storage chest. That became necessary because I wanted to be able to 
store every Minifigure utensil & weapon somewhere on the ship, and the number of Minifigures has increased as well. Fortuna has always had chaser guns.

[Mister Phes]

On 10/5/2025 at 7:03 AM, BrickPerfection said:

The model is completely finished,

I realise I mentioned this in the inbox, but in the interest of adding more to the discussion here:

A Classic-Pirates.com article for the Series 7 version of Fortuna is underway  but there is trouble finding a suitable photo for the Featured Image.

That sheet/curtain in the background of the Series 7 photos is not holding up well in comparison to the seascapes used for the Series 5 and 6 versions.

Is there a digital render with a transparent background?  That would make inserting an entirely new background much easier.

 

Comparing that to what we created for Thieves of Tortuga...

 

[BrickPerfection]

35 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

I realise I mentioned this in the inbox, but in the interest of adding more to the discussion here:

A Classic-Pirates.com article for the Series 7 version of Fortuna is underway  but there is trouble finding a suitable photo for the Featured Image.

That sheet/curtain in the background of the Series 7 photos is not holding up well in comparison to the seascapes used for the Series 5 and 6 versions.

Is there a digital render with a transparent background?  That would make inserting an entirely new background much easier.

Yeah, I agree that Series 7 pictures are not quite as good as those from Series 6... I won't use that backdrop anymore.
I sent you a link to a render of the Series 7 version from January 2025 that I have never shown. There aren't many changes compared to Series 6.

By early January 2026 the official pictures for the final models should be out; that's what you used for that beautiful edit of the Thieves of Tortuga.
They should be easy to work with and much higher quality than anything that I can produce... Photographing my MOCs has been a lifelong struggle 

[Mister Phes]

26 minutes ago, BrickPerfection said:

They should be easy to work with and much higher quality than anything that I can produce... Photographing my MOCs has been a lifelong struggle 

Real photography does bring a higher level of authenticity to the design if you're able to achieve the necessary quality...

But digital renders are much cleaner and far easier to incorporate background imagery, especially if they have a transparent background.

Inserting builds into appropriate environments makes them far more eye-catching, like how you presented the Series 6 version:

[Mister Phes]

On 10/6/2025 at 4:44 PM, BrickPerfection said:

I sent you a link to a render of the Series 7 version from January 2025 that I have never shown. There aren't many changes compared to Series 6.

Thank ye for that!  

A  background is being designed with an homepage to the Caribbean Clipper box art, albeit this background artwork is quite modernised.

And here's the inspiration...  there image resolution suits modern 1920x1080 standards... and clouds are toned down... and the water is more reflective... but hopefully the essence carries over...

 

[BrickPerfection]

On 11/24/2025 at 4:16 PM, Mister Phes said:

Thank ye for that!  

A  background is being designed with an homepage to the Caribbean Clipper box art, albeit this background artwork is quite modernised.

 Marvellous! You did a mighty fine job with the background, Mister Phes!    
Hits right home with the inspiration and I love the arrangement of all the elements!

Sadly, the BDP program features only plain white backgrounds; that keeps it "fair" so that no set is advantaged or disadvantaged by background design.
Unfortunately it doesn't; allow for this sort of flair and world building that we all know and love from Classic Pirates!

For context: The render is of the version submitted to BDP Series 7 but was never shown before. Mister Phes designed the amazing background artwork!

[Mister Phes]

1 hour ago, BrickPerfection said:

 Marvellous! You did a mighty fine job with the background, Mister Phes!    

Many thanks!  But it's not quite finished yet... there's still the bottom-left corner...

The Caribbean Clipper has a treasure chest and a couple of cannon balls.

But what would be appropriate for the Fortuna?

I thought maybe a captain or admiral minifigure looking toward the ship...

 

[GeoBrick]

4 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

Many thanks!  But it's not quite finished yet... there's still the bottom-left corner...

The Caribbean Clipper has a treasure chest and a couple of cannon balls.

But what would be appropriate for the Fortuna?

I thought maybe a captain or admiral minifigure looking toward the ship...

 

Maybe an adversary gazing at the vessel that just marooned him there?

A beautiful render of the Fortuna, Mister Phes.

[Mister Phes]

8 hours ago, GeoBrick said:

Maybe an adversary gazing at the vessel that just marooned him there?

A beautiful render of the Fortuna, Mister Phes.

Thank ye GeoBrick!  Great idea, but it would need to be a minifig or something included with the set 

[BrickPerfection]

On 11/27/2025 at 1:59 AM, Mister Phes said:

Many thanks!  But it's not quite finished yet... there's still the bottom-left corner...

I thought maybe a captain or admiral minifigure looking toward the ship...

Fortuna comes with a treasure chest too... 

The crew has been thoroughly upgraded of course, but the chest is still there; and it still holds gold coins! 

[Mister Phes]

20 hours ago, BrickPerfection said:

The crew has been thoroughly upgraded of course, but the chest is still there; and it still holds gold coins! 

That treasure chest looks different!

The shade of brown is much lighter and the lid is much flatter than previous treasure chests.

Is it possible to get a shot of that chest front-on against a plain background?

[Franco Clarke]

The classic styled boxart is beautiful, it's a shame that won't make it to the final retail box.