[WIP] The Black Pearl - 20th Anniversary

[Marooned Marin]

And so, I give you another Black Pearl MOC!

In my defence, I never really wanted to do the Black Pearl, seeing as there is no shortage of Pearls inside this forum and elsewhere, but I didn’t have a choice, they forced me to do it! But who could do such a horrible thing to a humble MOC designer? Well how about two persistent, annoying but all the while lovable nephews who just happen to be in love with the Pirates-theme? That’s who!

And now, the digital renders of the forced work so far.

 

ABOUT THE DESIGN

As many designers before me, I tried to mimic the real Pearl as much as possible, with deliberate exception of the main deck length. Here I decided to make a big step away from the original because:

1) The distance between the masts looks too wide for my taste and thus I feel the overall ship looks slightly out of proportion. In movies this is hardly noticeable, as our eyes are fixed on the constant action frame after frame... but during the design phase, this issue readily pops up like a Jack-Sparrow-in-the-Box.

Here is a broadside comparison against the artwork of the real Pearl, made for Disney by concept artist Jeremy Love.

 

2) Shorter mid-section ensures that the overall size of the ship is still within ‘playable category’ – meaning my 10year old nephew can still pick and carry the darn thing, and make swooshy sounds. I think that’s a good measure to have, if you are a ship designer and you are aiming to build semi-playable ships.

Here is a size comparison with the new Black Seas Barracuda, which most of you probably have.

 

ARMAMENT

The Black Pearl carries 22 cannons: 12 on the gun deck and 10 on the upper deck. Its full broadside contains 11 cannonballs. Like the original, the Pearl has no chase guns in her bow or stern, which gives her a tactical disadvantage, while her high speed only partially negates this handicap.

To maximise playability, and allow easy access to the gun deck, large section of the upper deck can be easily removed. More of the same applies for inclined quarterdeck, under which we find Captain Barbossa drooling over some 16^th century Apple products.

 

INFLUENCE & INSPIRATION

Here I want to highlight two Pearl designs which had a big influence on me during this project: Black Pearl by @-DoNe- , and Black Pearl Project by @papacharly. Both are terrific designs and light-years better than clunky hideous official LEGO Pearl (if I dare to mention that shipbuilding blunder of the decade... whoops, I guess I just did).

Thank you both for sharing your work inside the forum.

 

THE REAL BUILD

Digital design phase is for now finished, but I consider this still as [WorkInProgress] until I make the obligatory exciting test-build with real bricks.

The total piece-count without minifigures is 3020, and going through my brick storage I managed to gather ~1600 usable parts. Now all that remains is to find and obtain the rest of the parts, test the cursed thing and show it to the world.

I hope it will be ready for release by July/August of 2023, just in time to celebrate 20th anniversary of the POTC: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

[CaptainDarkNStormy]

Dude this is epic!

[F1stzz]

OK, NOW we're talking  I can already tell that I kinda like your take on the Black Pearl more than BrickMOCBay's one: absolutely love the work you've done on the cabin's outsides — truly wonderful, sleek & flawless build (which I'd like to copy someday, lol). You've also managed to make the sloped PoBB-style rear work a bit better with the sides, I wouldn't call the transition itself "completely seamless" yet — but it's a good improvement anyway  Figurehead — love the idea & implementation, almost everything about the bow is fine, tbh  Anchors are done masterfully: this is exactly what needs to be featured in a bigger builds instead of a standart LEGO anchor mold  Staircases are simple & elegant, just like one would imagine them to be in a TLG set that never came, lmao  Appreciate the use of a standart LEGO rope pieces, as well as overall accent on playability: this is what LEGO's all about in the end, innit?  "Awesome stuff" is my summary here, can't wait to see how the model will look in reality — should be mesmerising, I imagine 

[NOD]

This is a very beautiful version of the Black Pearl.   The hardest part to build, the ship's bow and stern are very nicely built. Many interesting details have been built, such as the stairs to the quarterdeck or the ship's lanterns at the stern. The available space in the captain's cabin was well used. I really like that part of the upper deck and the quarterdeck can be removed and reinstalled quickly.

[PxChris]

Bravo bravo @Marooned Marin!!

I'm on a bit of a Pirates of the Caribbean kick right now, so this is a real pleasure to see! You've seemed to capture the magnificence of the ship quite spectacularly.

I do indeed look forward to more progress as you move this model into the brick!

[Marooned Marin]

20 hours ago, CaptainDarkNStormy said:

Dude this is epic! 

Thank yee Captain! Your kind words bring joy to me heart!

18 hours ago, F1stzz said:

OK, NOW we're talking 

You really studied everything in detail

Thank you for your excellent summary, and constructive remarks. I agree with you, and I'm also bothered by slightly awkward transition of the sloped sides below the cabin, but every other alternative I tried (and I tried quite a number) didn't work with rest of the ship, especially the stern... so at one moment I had to chose lesser evil. I still have one idea, but I need to try that on the real build, hopefully it will work.

As for the rest, I'm glad you noticed all the small details and you approve what you see. Thanks!

2 hours ago, NOD said:

This is a very beautiful version of the Black Pearl.

Thank ye @NOD, it's always pleasure to hear positive comments from a ShipExpert like yourself. I too love the lanterns on the stern, they seem somehow wicked and give a ship more sinister feel. 

1 hour ago, PxChris said:

Bravo bravo @Marooned Marin!!

Thank ye Chris, and thanks for promotion on Instagram! You are the best!

Now, question for all of you @CaptainDarkNStormy @F1stzz @NOD @PxChris : what do you think, should I go with battered sails like in the first movie, or normal patched sails?

[PxChris]

11 minutes ago, Marooned Marin said:

Now, question for all of you @CaptainDarkNStormy @F1stzz @NOD @PxChris : what do you think, should I go with battered sails like in the first movie, or normal patched sails?

I would vote for patched sails.

[F1stzz]

23 minutes ago, Marooned Marin said:

Now, question for all of you @CaptainDarkNStormy @F1stzz @NOD @PxChris : what do you think, should I go with battered sails like in the first movie, or normal patched sails?

+1 for the patched sails: I don't recall seeing too many versions of the BP with those, encountered someone giving it a try only once, actually, on Instagram 🤔 The guy's nickname is pira.the_ships, I believe, and he simply went with a hand drawn patches. It'd be interesting to see what's on your mind 

P.S: OR u can bring the cursed crew of traitors back, make Barbossa their captain again — and go with the battered sails just for the sake of a proper anniversary celebration, lol

[CaptainDarkNStormy]

6 hours ago, Marooned Marin said:

Now, question for all of you @CaptainDarkNStormy @F1stzz @NOD @PxChris : what do you think, should I go with battered sails like in the first movie, or normal patched sails?

I vote for patched

[A_Forest_of_Lego]

It looks awesome!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

What a great creation. The overall shape is excellent. And you have included a monkey 

[Marooned Marin]

2 hours ago, Captain Braunsfeld said:

The overall shape is excellent. And you have included a monkey

Oh what an honour to be on a frontpage again!  Thank ye @Captain Braunsfeld , and if you recall form the movie, the monkey's name is Jack

Your thoughts Captain, patched or battered sails?

Same question @A_Forest_of_Lego (thanks for comment )

12 hours ago, F1stzz said:

pira.the_ships, I believe, and he simply went with a hand drawn patches

Found him, and they do look good but I suspect they are made from paper. I am also drawn more to the patched version, and I will think about how to do it (while I wait the missing parts).

 

I also have to mention I'm in need of the POTC minifigures, and oh boy they are expensive on Bricklink and Ebay. Any suggestions? Anyone?

[Yperio_Bricks]

Wow, the ship looks beautiful Can't wait too see the real life version!

[Viper Knight]

The whole time I was saying in my mind "Nice shadow-ship"!

[Fraunces]

Beautiful ship indeed . Make the comic longer next time 

[NOD]

I would have left the sails as they are, but because you asked I choose patched sails.   

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Go for patched.

Or ask Jack. Always good to ask the expert 

[BrickGirl]

This is stunning! Thank goodness your nephews nagged you 😆 amazing job. Can't wait to see it in all its 'real' brick glory! 

[Marooned Marin]

Thank yee @Yperio_Bricks @Viper Knight @Fraunces and @BrickGirl

Oh yeah, about the comic... I just love that scene in the movie and (while avoiding real work) got an idea for perfect introduction for my MOC. 

Then it is decided, I'll go with the patched sails, and hopefully manage to produce something similar to this.

 

 

[Pirate_King_1982]

Great work, kudos. Do you think you’ll make instructions available on Rebrickable? I’d happily pay for instructions as I’d love to build this awesome rendition of the Pearl. Great work either way though, keep up the great work.

Edited March 9 by Pirate_King_1982

[Marooned Marin]

11 hours ago, Pirate_King_1982 said:

Do you think you’ll make instructions available on Rebrickable?

Thank yee, and the answer is yes, as soon as I make sure everything is right with the design, I plan to produce and offer building instructions to the world (June/July).

Like before, Eurobricks members will will get special 25% discount code. I'll let you know when it gets available

[BrickGirl]

32 minutes ago, Marooned Marin said:

Thank yee, and the answer is yes, as soon as I make sure everything is right with the design, I plan to produce and offer building instructions to the world (June/July).

Like before, Eurobricks members will will get special 25% discount code. I'll let you know when it gets available

That sounds awesome! I'm not sure my bulk will stretch to building it, but will be a good excuse for a bricklink order!

[Elephant Knight]

Very excellent rendition! I kind of want to go and visit my own MOC. It's 8 years old, but I still consider it one of my better ship MOCs.

EKnight

[Marooned Marin]

2 hours ago, Elephant Knight said:

excellent rendition! I kind of want to go and visit my own MOC.

Thank yee very much! I consider HMS Midway  to be the best of your ships, but for others who are not familiar with your awesome shipbuilding record so far, here is yours Black Pearl.

I like the left version better. Can you tell me which one ended as the final? Left one, right?

[Professor Thaum]

Left version is better.

 

Awesome Black Pearl !

All that pics are gorgeous !