[ENTRY] 6269 Redbeard's Rocky Island Escape

[dilligan]

Join Captain Redbeard and Lady Anchor at their rocky island hideaway.
This cabin built into the side of a rocky mountain provides a quiet place for our pirate heros to take a well deserved break from plundering and looting on the high seas and enjoy the sunset.
Their island home includes many layers of defence from the pesky Imperial soldiers, from their pet crocdile hiding under the porch, to the trapdoor leading to the prison cell. A working cannon is located on the roof to ward off unwanted guests. In the event of intruders, Redbeard and Lady Anchor can escape through a second trapdoor under their bed and out though the tunnels in the island. But don't try to sneak in from the tunnel or you just might never be seen again.

The set contains 4 minifigs, Captain Redbeard, Lady Anchor and 2 Imperial soliders.
There is also a crocodile, monkey, parrot and 2 crabs.

*****Latest version images below ***** More images to follow *****

Struggling to get the lighting right with this one so its a bit dark

Please note some pieces have been hidden to show how the trapdoors work. These pieces would not be removable on the complete model.

 

Edited August 26, 2023 by dilligan
Typos, new images, updated rooftop canopy.

[Mazin]

Wow, this is a great set and one of those i'd like to buy right away, without any doubts! :) It's a real classic, yet still very original, as it's something we haven't seen in the franchise yet, i detect here this sort of a swampy New France, Louisiana, New Orleans vibe. Tho it could probably be some river hideout in the carribean just as well. Like Dominica they used for POTC.

And it's very well done. i love the build from outside, great ideas all the way, from left to right, from top to bottom. So many spots here i'd like to play with like right now. That coffe area on the roof, that chimney and fireplace, just what my characters would need for that cold rainy hurriace season. And a garage for a croc, i can feel this could be a recurring thing in a lot of scenarios.

Btw, would that garage fit that boat too? Just checking ;)

Most importantly, its got this iconic look that won't let you forget about it, after you;ve seen it once it will stay with you. With me at least ;) 

If they would make a proper Pirates animated show or a movie, it's one of those builds i'd definitely see in it, especially with all those features, and that collapsable bed, who would thought about that! And the fact that You've made it all easily accesible is very very appealing. Even the characters are somewhat spot on. I realy like that green lady. 

Two things i'd suggest for You to eventualu change - that sandy thing under the palmtree. I'd have to see how it would look in a life build or a better render, but right now it;s kinda like that tree was sitting on a beach ball. 

And perhaps You could add a little garden umbrella for that sitting place on the roof? I'm not sure if it needs anything, but i think it would be a nice touch, and it would balance all that reigning brown. I'm talking about a simple leaf from that palm tree or a small sail from a captured boat/vessel. Something that could give protection from borh sun and rain ;) 

And that's all from me. Boy, i realy hope to see more stuff like this from You. I would totaly like if it was just one building in a whole pirate village :)

If only those renders were more attractive for human eyes, some viewers might not like to look at them, as it's somewhat a struggle to focus ;) 

[iragm]

This is a nice build, with some very good techniques and great details!

This is done with LDraw, not Stud.io, right?  Kind of a shame, because Studio's renders are much better than this, and you're kneecapped yourself by hiding a great build behind bad pictures!

I love the trapdoors, especially the bed trapdoor.  That's not something I've seen before, and it's so well executed.  Excellent job!  It feels a bit like Fort Legoredo with the card table and the trapdoors to escape or jail.

A lot of stuff works great here - the spyglass, the table, the minifigures, the jail cell, the bottle over the fireplace, etc.  But, I do have some suggestions: the interior is much too brown and needs more colors to break it up.  The 1x2 masonry bricks don't exist in black.  The build is unfortunately a mix of classic (yellow sand, molded stairs, etc.) and modern bricks like the lanterns, door, and masonry tiles.  Lean one direction or the other, but this is awkwardly split down the middle, IMHO.  Of course, it is a very nice build overall, but I wish it wasn't so square when viewed from the outside.

All that said, this is a fun build with some great minifigures (the woman with the Ice Planet face!) and I look forward to seeing what you create next!

[durazno33]

I think what you have is a solid build. I do have a couple ideas. 

-When I look at it from the front, the build is very flat and square. I think it needs some variation in the height so that it isn't a square build. If you put an awning over the door to the jail, that would give some shape to the back.  On the top, you could also add some shade as it would be natural to want to sit on that bench in the shade. You could do this by draping a sail or other fabric at an angle from 3 or four vertical poles. 

This seems more like a house than a fort. Maybe remove the crenulations and put in a railing or something else to make it less fort like. The cannon is fine as a good pirate gentleman would keep his fine cannot to impress his house guests as well as keep back nearby ships.

Just a couple suggestions. Happy building!

[MstrOfPppts]

A very nice concept! I really like the positioning and the shape of the build and the idea is quite original. Also the interior is nicely built and the trap door bed is a new for me. (:

On the other side I think it does need a bit more detail, the rockwork is too repetitive using the BURPs and LURPs and the palm tree is really positioned out of place. Also it doesn't benefit much from the baseplate decoration since it almost covers it completely.

And weren't decent renders a requirement for digital entries? Not familiar with the software you used, but my eyes hurt a bit from looking at the images ...

[Rogue Redcoat]

A great start for an entry, my suggestions are held up by the fact that you seem to be going for a 1990s look but the entry still includes some updated parts and the newer redcoat minifigs. @dilligan As for the photos I believe that If you download Studio Download [BrickLink] you can import your entry and make higher-quality renders than the one you have. For the rest of the build, I would add some brick build rock, a light grey top with a dark grey bottom, after this, I would revisit the bottom of the tree. Overall I love the look it just needs to be refined into something greater I would consider going with either a 1990s look or a new look like Eldorado. Anyway, I look forward to any updates, so happy building :)

[dilligan]

Hi everyone, thanks so much for all the feedback, I really appreciate it. There's been some great ideas to improve the build. I've spent the last couple of days importing it in to studio and updating it. Hopefully I can get pictures of v2 up shortly.

[dilligan]

On 8/23/2023 at 3:09 AM, Mazin said:

Wow, this is a great set and one of those i'd like to buy right away, without any doubts! :) It's a real classic, yet still very original, as it's something we haven't seen in the franchise yet, i detect here this sort of a swampy New France, Louisiana, New Orleans vibe. Tho it could probably be some river hideout in the carribean just as well. Like Dominica they used for POTC.

And it's very well done. i love the build from outside, great ideas all the way, from left to right, from top to bottom. So many spots here i'd like to play with like right now. That coffe area on the roof, that chimney and fireplace, just what my characters would need for that cold rainy hurriace season. And a garage for a croc, i can feel this could be a recurring thing in a lot of scenarios.

Btw, would that garage fit that boat too? Just checking ;)

Most importantly, its got this iconic look that won't let you forget about it, after you;ve seen it once it will stay with you. With me at least ;) 

If they would make a proper Pirates animated show or a movie, it's one of those builds i'd definitely see in it, especially with all those features, and that collapsable bed, who would thought about that! And the fact that You've made it all easily accesible is very very appealing. Even the characters are somewhat spot on. I realy like that green lady. 

Two things i'd suggest for You to eventualu change - that sandy thing under the palmtree. I'd have to see how it would look in a life build or a better render, but right now it;s kinda like that tree was sitting on a beach ball. 

And perhaps You could add a little garden umbrella for that sitting place on the roof? I'm not sure if it needs anything, but i think it would be a nice touch, and it would balance all that reigning brown. I'm talking about a simple leaf from that palm tree or a small sail from a captured boat/vessel. Something that could give protection from borh sun and rain ;) 

And that's all from me. Boy, i realy hope to see more stuff like this from You. I would totaly like if it was just one building in a whole pirate village :)

If only those renders were more attractive for human eyes, some viewers might not like to look at them, as it's somewhat a struggle to focus ;) 

Thanks so much. I appreciate the feedback. The boat should fit in the 'garage', but if it didn't it would be a very minor change to make it work. The sand mound under the tree is gone. It was an attempt to make a bit of a sand dune to sit the tree on cause I ran out of "land" on the baseplate, but it did look too round and weird. I wasn't rapt with it myself, so was happy to try something different. (Not sure its any better). I did add a canopy up top. Its probably not to what you were thinking but I really liked the idea of a shade sail. If I had the skill to do it, i would have put a sail across from two posts at the back and the also connected to the chimney. Unfortunately I am new that this and it was beyond me. I've really only done 2 other mocs and the 2nd one I got stuck on and kind of left it. Ironically the first one I did was after I built PoBB and thought it really needed an imperial fort to go with it. Seeing as Eldorado my favourite set as a kid, I built a more modern version of that with no baseplate and submitted it to Ideas. Unfortunately I hadn't read the fine print about no more pirates sets so it got rejected. I may post it up here after this competition ends.

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by dilligan

[Mazin]

Thanx for answering and i'm Very happy that You liked my thoughts :)  

And nothing to worry about, i think You did a terrific job for someone who's just started. I'm not sure how far this one will go, but it was and still is one of my favourites. And i hope You'll share those upgrades with us :)

Can't wait to see Your other design posted.

 

[dilligan]

On 8/23/2023 at 9:07 AM, durazno33 said:

I think what you have is a solid build. I do have a couple ideas. 

-When I look at it from the front, the build is very flat and square. I think it needs some variation in the height so that it isn't a square build. If you put an awning over the door to the jail, that would give some shape to the back.  On the top, you could also add some shade as it would be natural to want to sit on that bench in the shade. You could do this by draping a sail or other fabric at an angle from 3 or four vertical poles. 

This seems more like a house than a fort. Maybe remove the crenulations and put in a railing or something else to make it less fort like. The cannon is fine as a good pirate gentleman would keep his fine cannot to impress his house guests as well as keep back nearby ships.

Just a couple suggestions. Happy building!

Hi, I appreciate the suggestions. I definitely agree, it was too square. v2 is on the way and is a lot less square. I added a small awning above the jail and switched out the upper BURPs for more texture. I've added a shade up the top. Ideally a triagular shade sail from the chimney to two posts at the back would have been my preferred solution, but ran out of ability and time to do it, but that is a great suggestion. I can see what you're saying by changing the top to more of a wooden look, but my original vision had crenulations at the top so I decided to keep it that way.

On 8/23/2023 at 5:51 AM, iragm said:

This is a nice build, with some very good techniques and great details!

This is done with LDraw, not Stud.io, right?  Kind of a shame, because Studio's renders are much better than this, and you're kneecapped yourself by hiding a great build behind bad pictures!

I love the trapdoors, especially the bed trapdoor.  That's not something I've seen before, and it's so well executed.  Excellent job!  It feels a bit like Fort Legoredo with the card table and the trapdoors to escape or jail.

A lot of stuff works great here - the spyglass, the table, the minifigures, the jail cell, the bottle over the fireplace, etc.  But, I do have some suggestions: the interior is much too brown and needs more colors to break it up.  The 1x2 masonry bricks don't exist in black.  The build is unfortunately a mix of classic (yellow sand, molded stairs, etc.) and modern bricks like the lanterns, door, and masonry tiles.  Lean one direction or the other, but this is awkwardly split down the middle, IMHO.  Of course, it is a very nice build overall, but I wish it wasn't so square when viewed from the outside.

All that said, this is a fun build with some great minifigures (the woman with the Ice Planet face!) and I look forward to seeing what you create next!

Yeah, you're spot on, this was done in LDraw. I've since imported it into Studio for v2, thanks for the tip. It's taken me a lot longer cause I'm not as familiar with the inerface but the results do look amazing in comparison. I changed the masony bricks to dark red. I think black looks better but if they aren't available, then so be it. I made some minor colour tweaks inside, too as it did kind of blend in together. There's probably a lot of other colours I've done that don't exist but ran out of time to check. I couldn't really decide between classic and modern, unfortunately, as there's bits and pieces i wanted to do from both so it is kind of a mashup. Agreed it was very square and I guess that was from the use of so many BURPS to keep the piece count down. I did some changes to make the shape a bit more 'organic', but that compromised the space I had on the top. Oh well, I think its a better product now. Thanks again for the tips and suggestions.

On 8/23/2023 at 7:24 PM, MstrOfPppts said:

A very nice concept! I really like the positioning and the shape of the build and the idea is quite original. Also the interior is nicely built and the trap door bed is a new for me. (:

On the other side I think it does need a bit more detail, the rockwork is too repetitive using the BURPs and LURPs and the palm tree is really positioned out of place. Also it doesn't benefit much from the baseplate decoration since it almost covers it completely.

And weren't decent renders a requirement for digital entries? Not familiar with the software you used, but my eyes hurt a bit from looking at the images ...

Hi, thank for the feedback. I've reduced the number of BURPs and added a bit more random rockwork and made it a bit more  of a "natural" shape. I have imported the original version into studio and I'm generating new renders. They should be available soon.

Edited August 25, 2023 by dilligan

[durazno33]

I like the awning a lot. It adds a lot of interest to the shape and to the story. Looks good!

[dilligan]

17 minutes ago, durazno33 said:

I like the awning a lot. It adds a lot of interest to the shape and to the story. Looks good!

Thanks. Having issues getting the bed trapdoor in the right position for the last render. Will have to do it tomorrow morning.

[iragm]

This latest update is a huge improvement!  I might consider a palm leaf roof like smuggler's shanty had, instead, since the shingle(?) texture isn't very piratey.  But, the shape of the canopy really breaks up the square look.  And I like the dark red chimney.

[Rogue Redcoat]

@dilligan my eyes are saved ;) Anyway, I love the updates, the dark red chimney was a great call and the bottom of the tree looks better now, anyway I look forward to any more updates, and as always, happy building :)

[dilligan]

9 hours ago, iragm said:

This latest update is a huge improvement!  I might consider a palm leaf roof like smuggler's shanty had, instead, since the shingle(?) texture isn't very piratey.  But, the shape of the canopy really breaks up the square look.  And I like the dark red chimney.

Agreed. I was experimenting with palm leaves on a much earlier version and they were a bit fiddly, so I took the easier option. I have added them in now and they look much better and add another splash of colour. Still working on the rest of the renders but the main image is updated.

[Glowboy]

I like the use of the classic base plate! It fits perfectly! :)

[MstrOfPppts]

Definitely a major improvement from the first version! One aesthetical comment would be to heighten the chimney over the top leaves roof so that it doesn't smoke inside the shack.

[dilligan]

6 hours ago, MstrOfPppts said:

Definitely a major improvement from the first version! One aesthetical comment would be to heighten the chimney over the top leaves roof so that it doesn't smoke inside the shack.

Thanks. You're right about chimney. I should have made it higher when I added the canopy but I didn't even think about it. Unfortunately I have run out of time to redo the renders, but thanks for the suggestion

8 hours ago, Glowboy said:

I like the use of the classic base plate! It fits perfectly! :)

Yeah, it was just about spot on except I ran out of space for the palm tree.

[dilligan]

Thanks everyone for the support, great suggestions and encouragement. Its been fun and a learning process for me.

[Mazin]

Did You pull out of the contest or is Your entry not listed in the index, cause i can't find it? @Mister Phes could add this one please? 

Also, is there a chance You could reupload those pics that Youv'e used earlier in Your original presentation? In a separate post or something... I don't mind the fact that You've edited Your post of course, but I'd realy like to be able to look at those previous renders again :)

Edited August 27, 2023 by Mazin

[dilligan]

23 minutes ago, Mazin said:

Did You pull out of the contest or is Your entry not listed in the index, cause i can't find it? @Mister Phes could add this one please? 

Also, is there a chance You could reupload those pics that Youv'e used earlier in Your original presentation? In a separate post or something... I don't mind the fact that You've edited Your post of course, but I'd realy like to be able to look at those previous renders again :)

Hi, haven't pulled out of contest as far as I know....

Original images from LDraw are below. I took them out cause they were hurting people eyes :)

[Mister Phes]

31 minutes ago, Mazin said:

Did You pull out of the contest or is Your entry not listed in the index, cause i can't find it? @Mister Phes could add this one please?  

There's been so many entries it's easy to some - so that's why the entrants need to tag me to ensure their entries get added.

But you've done that for a couple of entrants so they have much to thank you for!

[Mazin]

16 minutes ago, dilligan said:

Hi, haven't pulled out of contest as far as I know....

Original images from LDraw are below. I took them out cause they were hurting people eyes :)

Thanx, i actually like those original renders more :)  Tho, new ones are probably more "prefessional" looking, even as it's lost a bit of its charm this way. I'd totaly say You should go with what Your heart tells You to do, rather than listen to all those brick-obsessed purist radicals ;) 

Anyway, good luck in the contest. 

14 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

There's been so many entries it's easy to some - so that's why the entrants need to tag me to ensure their entries get added.

But you've done that for a couple of entrants so they have much to thank you for!

Thanx, a free copy of each set i defended from being lost from the poll would be a nice gesture indeed ;) :P  

[Mazin]

HERE ARE MY FINAL THOUGHTS AND REASONS WHY I'VE DECIDED TO RANK THIS SET AT THE 2ND PLACE IN THE MAIN BUILDING CATEGORY

I'm still a bit mad at Dilligan for listening to whispers from the darkside and altering his original vision, despite the fact it was a great set, as those changes didn't realy help to make the RRIE more attactive, the roof got smaller, and even that sun/rain protection i've proposed got slighlty too big and raised to whole stucture a bit. BUT it's still an awesome and unique project within this Contest and the whole Lego Pirate world. It's got the right look for tha classics and soul and brings some novelty to the franchise as this kind of riverside/swampy/port building was never done before and so it's a complete novelty, that offers plenty of fun. Kids who will be lucky to grab it wil have a chance to play with a one of a kind multifloor hideout that is not oversized yet, and provided great accesibility to every corner, and every corner is better than another, offering lot's of great play features, with that collapsing bed being one of my favourites. And it's not just a toy set, it's  the type od architecture i'd like to live in. It's got great docking spot for two boats, a chimney, fireplace, nice cosy bedroom, and an awesome place to sit and relax on the roof. I'm not sure if i'd like to have my own prison and a pet crocodile tho, but i'd certainly grab into that if i was a pirate character. 

And there's even Indiana Jones or some other adventurous fellow making a cameo ;) Who wouldn't opt for that? :)