[LEGO IDEAS] Return to Sabre Island

[tongesbricks]

Hi everyone! This is my first post on the forum. Hopefully, I'm doing it right.

Growing up in the 90s, I fondly remember the late 80s and early 90s LEGO Pirates sets. I had a few of the smaller sets and the iconic Eldorado Fortress. As I grew up my interest in Lego faded in the late 90s before I returned to the hobby in about 2013 with 10192: Medieval Market Village. Since then, I've enjoyed building with my kids and experimenting with my own creations while we play together.

I recently discovered the amazing Bricklink Studio, which led me to create my first Lego Ideas submission. Return to Sabre Island is a modern homage to the iconic sets of my childhood and, particularly, the titular set 6265: Sabre Island. Part of the impetus to create this set was to give the Blue Coats a base on par with the Pirates of Barracuda Bay!

 

Presenting...

Return to Sabre Island

https://bit.ly/sabreisland

SUPPORT NOW!

The Imperial Guards have stood watch over Sabre Island for decades. A captive pirate has warned that the Black Seas Barracuda will sail again one day soon. Are the Imperial Guards prepared for the battle that awaits?

 

A broken floorboard in the prison cell provides an ingenious escape route for the pirate through the rocky ocean cavern below the fort. Will he pull off the escape and find the treasures hidden throughout Sabre Island, or will the Blue Coats thwart his plan?

 

Mysteries abound on Sabre Island. Can the curious girl discover the hidden treasures before the pirate? What secrets does the old man in the tavern know about the island? Is there more to the man who runs the market than meets the eye?

 

Answer these questions and much more in... Return to Sabre Island!

 

Set highlights

• 2999 pieces
• 10 Minifigures
• Modular fort with a prison cell, planning room, and two cannon emplacements
• Modular dock with a market, Imperial Guards' office, tavern, and inn
• Admiral statue to remind the guards of their duty
• Bell tower to warn of pirate raids
• Spot the hidden rodent and cheese
• Timber model ship
• Hidden treasure
• Secret trapdoor under the market
• Tavern access from the Guards' office
• Broken floorboards for a sneaky escape from the prison
• 64 studs x 32 studs, including modular pin connections from the dock
• Off-stud, SNOT, and plenty of other unique building techniques to enjoy
• Plus many more play features!

If you're interested in seeing this idea turned into a set, I would absolutely love your support. Please feel free to copy the images and share on socials. Thank you!

Also, please let me know if you have any tips or suggestions on how I could improve the build or help promote it. Always happy to learn!

Easy link to use and share Return to Sabre Island:

https://bit.ly/sabreisland

SUPPORT NOW!

 

SUPPORT NOW!

 

 

[Yperio_Bricks]

Shut up and take my mon.. err vote

[tongesbricks]

On 1/29/2023 at 10:18 AM, Yperio_Bricks said:

Shut up and take my mon.. err vote 

Haha thanks!! Just added some box art...

[zinnn]

Totally loving this, I've just voted for it too :)

[Yperio_Bricks]

Oh yeah, with the box art it looks even better

[CaptainDarkNStormy]

This is awesome! The addition of the little port town complements the fortress quite nicely. I also think the cave under the fortress is a nice touch.

Well done sir!

[Mister Phes]

4 hours ago, tongesbricks said:

Haha thanks!! Just added some box art...



Beautiful!

Have we frontpaged this yet @Captain Braunsfeld and @Jack Sassy?

[NOD]

I like it very much!  It looks like Venice in the Caribbean. The different buildings are detailed and beautifully constructed. I like the wooden footbridge between the islands.

[Marooned Marin]

Great reenvision, (I better add this to my 'To-Write-About' list) and great introduction to the forum, welcome aboard

Now @tongesbricks if you can find time to answer I would like to ask you a few questions which will be of value to you in the long-run.

Q1: How many parts and how long did it take you to design this?

Q2: Are you planning to build it with real bricks anytime soon?

Q3: Do you have Instagram or Flickr account where we can follow your work?

Q4: Have you ever read Classic-Pirates.com?

[Mister Phes]

35 minutes ago, Marooned Marin said:

Great reenvision, (I better add this to my 'To-Write-About' list) and great introduction to the forum, welcome aboard

A dedicated LEGO Pirate journalist wastes no time to jump on hot MOCS - this is how it's done folks!

[Jack Sassy]

A lovely submission, that box art certainly gives it more of the Classic Pirates charm. Good job! 

4 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

Have we frontpaged this yet

Nay, but I haven't had the time to frontpage the one before this, so, If in the meantime @Captain Braunsfeld wishes to frontpage this astounding model, so be it. 

[tongesbricks]

2 hours ago, Marooned Marin said:

Great reenvision, (I better add this to my 'To-Write-About' list) and great introduction to the forum, welcome aboard

Now @tongesbricks if you can find time to answer I would like to ask you a few questions which will be of value to you in the long-run.

Q1: How many parts and how long did it take you to design this?

Q2: Are you planning to build it with real bricks anytime soon?

Q3: Do you have Instagram or Flickr account where we can follow your work?

Q4: Have you ever read Classic-Pirates.com?

Thanks! That's great news.

1. The submission was 2,999 pieces... however, on the box art, I added the parrot in the palm tree, pushing it to 3,000. My original submission was 4,600 pieces so I was kindly informed by LEGO Ideas that the limit is 3,000. The cull to get down to that limit was pretty brutal. I ended up swapping out a lot of 1 x 2 bricks for larger bricks and also lost some details, two rooms and a rooftop next to the tavern. It took about a week to design while working on it for a few hours daily, then another week of tweaking once the first submission was rejected. The rendering took a while to get the hang of. Having to leave the computer overnight to generate the renders meant that a couple of days passed just trying to get the right images. I also had trouble lighting the rooms adequately for the close-up shots. I learned a lot along the way!

2. I would love to build it with real bricks. I know there are a few colour variants in there that don't exist, so I'd need to swap those out. I think I'll try and make a version of it one day once I have acquired most of the bricks required.

3. I have an Instagram account @tongesbricks. I set it up a few years ago but haven't been active. Now that I've discovered Bricklink Studio, LEGO Ideas, and seen some of the other designs and support from the community, I might have to post more often!

4.  I've inadvertently visited the website a few times and discovered some great builds. Recently, I've read about "Armada Port” by BrickHammer and “Forbidden Island” by Elusys Ra Arwal. I probably first came across it when The Pirate Bay hit 10k votes and later became Pirates of Barracuda Bay.

[Mister Phes]

5 minutes ago, tongesbricks said:

3. I have an Instagram account @tongesbricks. I set it up a few years ago but haven't been active. Now that I've discovered Bricklink Studio, LEGO Ideas, and seen some of the other designs and support from the community, I might have to post more often!

That sounds like a fantastic idea!

Is this your first LEGO Pirate themed MOCs, or do you have others waiting to be shared?

[tongesbricks]

6 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

That sounds like a fantastic idea!

Is this your first LEGO Pirate themed MOCs, or do you have others waiting to be shared?

Only the MOCs already on my Instagram. I've created a few others over the years for my kids to enjoy, but they typically only last a few weeks before dissolving into the LEGO bucket to emerge as another creation!

Edited January 29, 2023 by tongesbricks

[Mister Phes]

Well, let's add a big fat Support Now button to this topic to further encourage people to support!

 

SUPPORT NOW!

[zinnn]

23 minutes ago, tongesbricks said:

1. The submission was 2,999 pieces... however, on the box art, I added the parrot in the palm tree, pushing it to 3,000. My original submission was 4,600 pieces so I was kindly informed by LEGO Ideas that the limit is 3,000. The cull to get down to that limit was pretty brutal. I ended up swapping out a lot of 1 x 2 bricks for larger bricks and also lost some details, two rooms and a rooftop next to the tavern. It took about a week to design while working on it for a few hours daily, then another week of tweaking once the first submission was rejected. The rendering took a while to get the hang of. Having to leave the computer overnight to generate the renders meant that a couple of days passed just trying to get the right images. I also had trouble lighting the rooms adequately for the close-up shots. I learned a lot along the way!

wow. do you have any photos of the original design?

[Marooned Marin]

1 hour ago, tongesbricks said:

The rendering took a while to get the hang of.

Your rendering skills are great now, and I really like the box-art image.

Thank ye for extensive answers, and don't hesitate to share WIP (work in progress) pictures with us, we always love to see how-to behind great builds.

Of course, you have my SUPPORT on LEGO Ideas

[A_Forest_of_Lego]

I was already supporting it on Lego Ideas! This is an amazing design!

[tongesbricks]

Thank you for all of your kind words of support! I'll dig up some of the original renders to share too. I think I have some of the build process also.

[Mister Phes]

5 hours ago, tongesbricks said:

Thank you for all of your kind words of support! I'll dig up some of the original renders to share too. I think I have some of the build process also. 

That would be fantastic!

Classic Pirates endeavors to provide exclusive behind-the-scenes imagery and builder commentary in its blog posts.

We let nothing go to waste because there are enthusiastic LEGO Pirate fans who love all the details!

[tongesbricks]

Hi everyone, here are some progress renders along the way as I was learning Studio.

My first-ever render!

I worked the fort out pretty quickly; however, you'll see some slight adjustments between this and the final model.

You can see the larger building that had to be cut down to squeeze in under Ideas' 3,000-piece limit:

Taking shape...

This was pretty close to the final ~4,500-piece design. You can see the additional tower that ended up being removed, along with the rooms below it. 

I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but the 1 x 4 gray fence pieces used throughout the fort windows are a nod to the original Sabre Island :) 

This was the final (rejected) submission! As you can see, there was additional detail throughout... so it was a shame to have to remove it to make the piece limit.

Can you spot the rat's nose poking out under the roof?

Could there be hidden treasure behind that overgrown grate on the wall?

 

And here's inside the prison cell... you can see the sneaky crack in the floorboard to the water in the cave below. The plate can be easily removed by picking up the bucket.

[Marooned Marin]

9 hours ago, tongesbricks said:

Well, you were forced to do more with less, and looking back and forth the original and the final version, I say you have certainly done excellent job during the downsize.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

This must be fun to build!

And I would add a monkey...

Congrats! And welcome to Eurobricks!

[tongesbricks]

Amazing!! Thank you. I really should add a monkey... I'll have to see which pieces I can remove to squeeze one in :)

[Mister Phes]

3 hours ago, Captain Braunsfeld said:

And I would add a monkey...

You and your monkeys!

But good work frontpaging this