[ENTRY][LARGE] TAPU ISLAND + MEGA COMIC

[Marooned Marin]

QUICK INFORMATION

• Parts: 1867 parts (with minifigures, monkey and shark)
• Dimensions: W: 34cm L: 40cm H: 17.8cm
• Weight: 1300 grams
• Difficulty: Moderate Build (tested on one +11 years old)
• Type of set: For Display & Play

ORIGINS

I was re-reading the classic Robinson Crusoe some months ago and was drawn to the idea of somehow turning that story into a set. When Infamous Steve contest came along, I immediately knew what my large build was going to be.

The modular section approach came from the new Eldorado Fortress. I quite liked that idea in that set, however I found the inner (closed) section was not used fully. The whole set was orientated more on the exterior. On my part I tried to squeeze as much as possible within the island.

BACKSTORY
While designing the island my mind kept returning to the original story of Robinson Crusoe. What if Steve, like Crusoe, got shipwrecked on a cannibal island, but with the twist, the cursed cannibal island from which he cannot escape? Or maybe he can?

We start with the first two chapters of the story, already published inside the King’s Merchant raft, a small vessel loosely tied to this build. I plan to post the remaining chapters daily, one chapter per day.

Chapters are grouped inside the hidden / spoiler area. I did this to make the scrolling through topic easier, there is simply too much images for one post.

In addition to the first two chapters, let’s continue with Chapter 3 – The Island!

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1 - The King's Merchant (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

CHAPTER 2 - Déjà vu (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

 

CHAPTER 3 - The ISLAND (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

 

CHAPTER 4 - The STORM (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

 

CHAPTER 5 - NOT ALONE (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

 

CHAPTER 6 - The CAVE (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

CHAPTER 7 - The APPARITION (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

 

CHAPTER 8 - KING KAHUKA (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

CHAPTER 9 - The OFFER (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

CHAPTER 10 - SWEET REVENGE (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

 

CHAPTER 11 - The PLAN GONE BAD (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

 

CHAPTER 12 - ENDGAME (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE)

Spoiler

CHAPTER 13 - The CURSE OF TAPU ISLAND (Epilogue)

Spoiler

 

Edited August 15 by Marooned Marin
15. August - Chapter 12 & 13 (THE END) added

[Mister Phes]

Tapu Island along with Robinson Crusoe Steve has been incorporated into the Entries Index.

[YellowFrog]

Very nice build - I commend the modularity, and the shaping of the raft looks great, and the dark red works surprisingly well. Well done!

[Autumn]

This might be the best one yet. Lovely little island with lots of nice little features and details... and then you find out there's even more inside! I love the statues' faces and the colours are really vibrant and tropical. The underground areas really sell the adventure and mystery. Also, lol at the poor guy being roasted alive (is that family friendly?). It's just the right size for being a real playset and display piece in one with an abundance of extra features. Good job!

But this is also a critic contest. Therefore I must be critical. I will pick on the waterfall.

I get that there is limited space and can't create an entire river, but I think just pushing the source a little further back would make it a little more aesthetically pleasing. It kind of just pops out of nowhere with the rock edge being very straight edged, even making it a bit more rough and "rocky" could help.

Also there is a gap at the bottom of the waterfall which irks me a little. I don't know if there's a way to fill it in while still maintaining play function.

[BardDandelion]

This is really cool build, would fit perfectly next to new Barracuda and new Eldorado sets. Let's be honest - Islanders lack representation in current era of Pirates theme.

Making this build foldable and reconfigurable is a nice feature, this would add a lot to playability if this would be a set.

Trimaran is a nice ship of choice. Is dark red a reference to OG red canoes of Islanders?

[Horation]

I feel like there's a ton of lovely details in here, the prison cell is well designed, as is the treasure and the modular design.

I have two nitpicks, though.

First, the figures should all be yellow-skinned or all be real-life-skin-coloured, it looks weird when they are in several inconsistent colours.

Second, there are too many curved pieces in the rockwork, which doesn't work with the slopes, I would focus on consistency once again.

But the build looks awesome, and the vegetation is a fine example of islander MOCing, it looks just like an actual jungle, which is reminiscent of old timey sets.

[Marooned Marin]

@Mister Phes Thanks for adding this build into the entries index.

@Autumn

Thanks for your high praise. As for the roasting of the unlucky sailor, my nephew made me add that detail into the real build and when I did the photo-shooting I competently forgot to remove it. No cannibalism on digital version, only fish. 

The capital problem is the modularity of the design. Modular section dictates the boundaries, and in case of waterfall I could not go deeper because then it would overlap with second section, and when you rearrange the whole thing in a different way the small stream on the separate sections looks confusing. 

To be honest, designing this with modular approach was the real challenge. I kept thinking of Rubik's Cube. As soon as you make one section right, the next one was misaligned.

The idea behind the waterfall is that it can be be raised (pivoted) during the play, as it serves like an secret entrance to the cave beneath. But I'll see what I can do to minimise the gap while still allowing the free rotation.

@YellowFrog @BardDandelion

Thank you both!

The dark red was the colour of choice because the main part (the huge wedge) does not come in reddish brown. We have white, medium nougat, black or dark red option. I went with dark red because of the reference to red canoes of Islanders. (Good catch BardDandelion)

Dark red also gives more serious tone, and it blends nicely with reddish brown - several parts are indeed in reddish brown.

@Horation

-> The colours

In this contest I tend to use digital renders to showcase the design, and only add an image or two of the real-build to show it was tested in real life.

Sadly, I don't have any real Islanders minifigures, so it was either do the photos without minifgures or use what I have. And one thing people hate in this forum is MOCs without minifigures. I also noticed now that I have competently forgot to add my version of Steve minifigure on the real build! What a blunder.

-> The Rock work

I kinda like the slope + curved slope combination, but I'll give it a go in a different file and play around with only slopes and see what happens.

Thank you for your input and effort you are putting into this contest, and I'm glad that you find the overall design of the island awesome.

[Horation]

@Marooned Marin putting an effort to make a physical entry is always appreciated, even if there's a theoretical better result from an infinite supply of parts. You said that the Steve figure can be made for real parts? As always you make figures that look custom even when they're made from real parts.

As for the rocks, it's your MOC, so if you end up disliking the alternative, keep it as it is (to quote @BardDandelion "builds should be decided by the creator, not by comittee"), and you have a point in your favour in the fact that real-life rocks sometimes are rounded due to water erosion, so it's not a dealbreaker by any standard.

Always appreciate it when builders even take the time to reply to critics, irregardless of the final decision.

 

[thewatchman]

This is simply incredible.

 I always love the builds you submit online here Marin, but this might be my favorite.

so much detail and multi layout feature are just 10/10. This would look perfect on display and looks like a fun build / play set.

I can’t compliment this nearly as much as it deserves!

The modular nature is always a huge plus, the statue redesigns and of course the waterfall all look incredible, but the standout for me is the brick built canoe!

Great build and thank you for sharing!

[BardDandelion]

@Marooned Marin Oh, yeah, now I see this. I'm not always glad with this fancy, very specific, almost <insert that tiresome argument> parts that LEGO is constantly introducing but you proved that this big wedge from not-Ford car set may be very usefull. Its shape fits perfectly as a hull of small boat. The upgrade of color from red to dark red fits nicely with usage of PotC natives instead of classic yellow Islanders.

[Marooned Marin]

CHAPTER 4 - The STORM <- now available - see the first post

 

14 hours ago, Horation said:

You said that the Steve figure can be made for real parts?

 

Here he is. This is the best that I can do with my real Steve minifigure.

Oh, and congrats on reaching the first 100 comments.

13 hours ago, thewatchman said:

I always love the builds you submit online here Marin, but this might be my favorite.

You are too kind with your praise, and I can't express how much your nice comment has made my day.

Thanks matey!

5 hours ago, BardDandelion said:

I'm not always glad with this fancy, very specific, almost &lt;insert that tiresome argument&gt;

I've always wondered how the process for introducing new part in LEGO goes?

Like, is there a mob of designers organising a rally in front of the corporative HQ, marching, shouting and demanding this one new part from CEO and his gang of cronies, who stay walled up in their meeting room, until someone finally submits.

Or... is there one person with such immense power who simply wakes up in the morning and says, right... today I'm gonna introduce a new part and those puny designers better put it in good use, or else!

 

[YellowFrog]

Transferring digital builds into physical ones without extensive bricklink orders is often underwhelming, but here you do a great job. In fact, the physical minifigure is better, in my opinion, than the digital one!

[NOD]

Beautiful little island and a great comic!  I like the waterfall which is also the entrance to the cave. The rock formations with plants, flowers and palm trees are very well built. The path to the plateau is also very good. The cave with the different rooms is built with many details. A very beautiful double outrigger canoe.

[BardDandelion]

@Marooned Marin I believe that there is a limit of parts that may be produced (and kept in stores) at the same time. By part I mean shape and color combination (blue 1x2 plate and red 1x2 plate are two different parts). They introduced that rule after they almost bancrupted in early 2000s. Maintaining endless number of shapes and colors must be a logistic nightmare.

For some reason they add new and new shapes and colors almost every month which is a bit weird. I would rather get some already existing shapes in already existing colors. It's crazy how many basic parts are not available in colors that already exists for a decade (plates, brick modifies etc.).

[YellowFrog]

5 minutes ago, BardDandelion said:

I would rather get some already existing shapes in already existing colors. It's crazy how many basic parts are not available in colors that already exists for a decade (plates, brick modifies etc.).

I do agree with this one. But I think this short-term part production creates exclusivity, which creates FOMO for part collectors, which creates people buying more sets.

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

Very impressive. Once again, I love the comic style of presentation. I really like the modularity of this set, and all the brick built features are top-notch. The trees, rock faces, statues are all well done. I guess if I were to give a critique it would be something about the canoe. I feel it could use a splash of colour. Maybe some red like the old school Islanders canoes or maybe a flag or two. 
Regardless, this is an epic build, well done!

[Horation]

@Marooned Marin, the method involves a number of "frames" (spaces in the factory). A recolour or new design = 1 frame, a new print is 1 frame, but keep in mind this is 1 frame per side you print on, so two-sided heads and torsos need more frames.

Each department has a number of new frames each year. But they are able to share frames.

[Marooned Marin]

@YellowFrog

If you like the minifigure, I used someone named Argus Filch from Harry Potter series -> link

I got him sometime ago and had a feeling that it will come handy one day. I really liked the tattered look of it.

@NOD

You are a legend, and I always love to hear from you! Thanks so much!

If you love the comic, stay tuned, new chapter will be posted every day, and story is about to get really interesting.

@SevenDeadlyStreamers

Thanks for the praise and suggestion of lively colours.

I was thinking about trying adding this sail, instead of the plain custom one. What do you think, would that work?

@Horation and @BardDandelion

That's really interesting and thanks for the input, the production process and usage of parts that way makes sense.

While we are on the note of the parts, during the design of the raft and the island, I used a BDP series 6 pallet most of the time. I entertained the idea of somehow submitting the final design on the next series program in September. However, as the island grew I kept discovering less and less parts available either in colour or even in shape. And we are talking about basic parts, like plates and bricks and slopes. By the end I gave up on the idea and simply started to use all parts still available in desired colours.

For those who are reading this and wonder what it's all about, Bricklink designer palette is based on the parts and colours which will be produced and available in the next year or two. This means, for our example, if there are no more pirate torsos in the new pallet (as such is the case), LEGO is not planning to produce any in the mentioned period. Things could change in 3 months when a new parts pallet is released, maybe they will bring pirate stuff back, we need to wait and see.

[Marooned Marin]

CHAPTER 5 - NOT ALONE <- now available - see the first post

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

1 hour ago, Marooned Marin said:

CHAPTER 5 - NOT ALONE <- now available - see the first post

Thank you for the notice! I’ll go check it out now. 

[Christophh]

Hey! I really like this style of build, the island and islanders and everything! I have been thinking about building my own Moc, and if i do so, i will definitely be doing something similar to this. I love the figures and details, and i also enjoyed this comic you wrote to your Moc! Grear work!

[Marooned Marin]

CHAPTER 6 - The CAVE <- now available - see the first post

.....

@Christophh Thank you! I'm happy to hear that you like it.

When you finish your Islander MOC, be sure to share it in the forum, and by the way, welcome to the forum.

.....

CANOE DESIGN UPDATE

@SevenDeadlyStreamers got me thinking about lively colours on the canoe, so I got an idea of using the original Islander cloth sail. After some CAD work, I managed to import the sail into the Studio are here is the result.

Obviously I needed to rework the gaff (a spar attached to the mast), so it can hold the triangular sail. 

I would like hear your thoughts which version do you find better looking, custom or the islanders.

@Autumn  @YellowFrog @Horation @BardDandelion @thewatchman

[Christophh]

2 minutes ago, Marooned Marin said:

CHAPTER 6 - The CAVE <- now available - see the first post

.....

@Christophh Thank you! I'm happy to hear that you like it.

When you finish your Islander MOC, be sure to share it in the forum, and by the way, welcome to the forum.

.....

CANOE DESIGN UPDATE

@SevenDeadlyStreamers got me thinking about lively colours on the canoe, so I got an idea of using the original Islander cloth sail. After some CAD work, I managed to import the sail into the Studio are here is the result.

Obviously I needed to rework the gaff (a spar attached to the mast), so it can hold the triangular sail. 

I would like hear your thoughts which version do you find better looking, custom or the islanders.

@Autumn  @YellowFrog @Horation @BardDandelion @thewatchman

Yeah! I'm very looking forword to this challenge and i hope i have enough pieces to build😅. I also love that you included the islanders sail to the canoe, it revives the old theme even more and it is a great addition.

[Horation]

After consideration, I have to say I quite like the sail, I was a bit concerned that it was strange when put sideways. But it looks as though lightning is coming from the kahuka symbol on the flag, so that's quite cool!

[Autumn]

Ooh, I quite like the islanders' sail on it! It's a tough one, really. Your first version looks like something from a licensed set but this one looks more like an original Lego theme with the sail and yellow skin tones. I agree with Horation that it's a little odd being sideways but that is still my preference.

One technical thing I'm not keen on is using hinges for the boom. I know it's just a moc but in a real set it is still likely to move about especially as with use over time which could damage the sail. I would replace it with an angled technic connector (https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=32192#T=P) for added stability and longevity.

Edited August 9 by Autumn