Legostein

Thank you for your praise! I will do my best expanding the series. Hello again! As requested there is an expansion for Volcano Island! There was once a pirate ship that came too close to Volcano Island when suddenly and unexpectedly its volcano began to erupt. Since then the volcano is spitting fire, and the abandoned pirate ship also seems to burn forever. The crew managed to escape and made their way to lagoon island (see above) where they settled down and built shelters and store supplies for seamen who also have shipwrecked (by storm or volcano). ... making the best out of an unlucky situation.

Thank you for your comment! I will gladly answer the question about the cabin. There is not much space inside, just enough for a trunk map and a rum bottle. All of my ships have a hatch in the cabin's roof, so does the Lucky Seashell, but it's very narrow in there. Thank you! I tried to keep it as flat as possible, as real boats usually have more decks, and the cabin often does not stand out at all. It's a compromise between real boats and playset building. Your comment nails it perfectly. That's exactly why I enjoy building these so much. To enhance an continue the old pirate waves. Thank you, Sir Governor! Thank you for your kind words! In fact you are right! These ARE football torsos. To keep it fair within the crew, they all have number "3" on back. Can you imagine how many photos I had to take to finally have turned all minifigures in the way you can't see their backs? Thank you for the praise! Actually this is the largest little boat I have built so far. Usually being specialised towards mini modeling, even this moderately sized ship, is big for me.

Hello everybody! Today I would like to introduce Captain Fortunitas and his crew of the "Lucky Seashell" - a three-mast privateer barque! All images on FlickR. Thanks for stepping by!

Hello again! I guess it's better to update this topic instead of creating a new one. There are two more islands for our little corner of the ocean! Following are the pearl atoll and lagoon island, giving seven islands of different type in total now. Pearl Atoll The pearl atoll lies more in the outer ocean than the other islands of the group. You need several days to reach it. You will find a big pearl population here, famous for their golden pearls. But watch out, they're not easy to get, as there's a group of sharks patrolling around the island. Lagoon Island Shallow sands allow to enter the lagoon with a narrow boat when there is highwater. The lagoon is not permanently occupied. The pirates have built up some cabins with supplies of all kind that serve as shelter for shipwrecked sailors.

Hello everbody! After having shared some alternative factions in the style of a classic pirate world (Explorer Fleet, Governor's Guard, Order of the Lily, Trade Guild), you might wonder 'And where are the pirates'? They are present everywhere on the small islands in our corner of the ocean. I'd like to share some simple island ideas with you here. I used mainly big pieces (which seem to be a little disfavoured in recent times) to show that even these pieces deserve a chance in the parts universe. Thanks for stepping by and see you soon! Volcano Island A hot and dangerous place that even the pirates don't like to visit that often. All plants have been dried out by the heat. Only a dragon would like it here. Click image to enlarge. Mountain Island A nice yellow beach with a small mountain in the background. Rocky at its feet, more vegetation can be found on the higher levels. Here the pirates can find fresh water, too. And maybe a treasure as well? Click image to enlarge. Cliff Gate A rocky little island, dangerous to travel by. Legends tell there's a hidden cavern with a treasure in there. Many boats have sunk trying to find the secret entrance. Click image to enlarge. Mangrove Island A mangrove "forest" surrounds this little island. The plants grow so fast that it's difficult to reach the inner island. Be careful while you try, otherwise the mangroves will catch you. Click image to enlarge. Click image to enlarge. Big Beach Island A bigger island with a lovely light yellow beach of fine sand! Also the place where the pirates love to meet: The rum bar has open all hours! The pirates also installed a small lookout post on the small hill of the island. Click image to enlarge. Click image to enlarge. Click image to enlarge. Click image to enlarge. Click image to enlarge. Click image to enlarge.

Very smooth-looking maxifigure! You embedded the hinges and moving junctions very clever! The ear construction is particularly nice, as well as authentic details like the eyepatch (nice use of the boat underside stud!) and the ear ring! (we might need a rat smiley...)

Everything looks right for this lovely built boat! The building technique and original parts use is on a very high level!

This would be wonderful! But let's expand the playset diorama by some locations and more factions... See you arr-ound!

... 'Have some fun' would be the answer of course! The following was just a little fun challange to myself: Can we build something cool when taking two of the Juniors sets 10679? The creation is - of course - not the most impressive one; but remember it's a Juniors set with less than 50 parts of very limited variety. Here are some facts of the set: Set number: 10679 Release Date: 2017 Piece Count: 46 (52 with extra pieces) Minifigures: 2 (each has his own hat gear!) Price: around 10 €/$/£ (new, 2017); used price today probably in the range of 10-15 €/$/£ Availability: Still plenty of them available on the secondary market (Click image to see larger version) Next is what I came up with: Fortunately each of the figures (a living and a dead pirate) comes with its own hatgear. This enabled to build 4 unique figures. There are practiacally no leftover pieces, Particularly difficult was to build proper benches into the rowboat, as the juniors layout used a brick AND a plate on top. For the building I tried to create something with more depth than the orginal stone wall. Eventually one of the rowboats had to be used as floor and railing at once for the first floor. (Click image to see larger version) That's all! Thank you for your interest! See you around! (Click image to see larger version)

Thank you for the kind comments. Glad to hear that, thank you. There is still more to come. There will be some island locations next, followed by some minor factions. Thanks, that's exactly the idea behind it. Give the theme sets a classic "old-styled" look. I'd also like to show that you can still build great mocs even when using big pieces (like rock panels or those huge round bricks from Belville). That's very kind of you, thank you. I will soon complie all these sub-themes on a simple web page. There you willalso be able to read the full story for the factions and locations.

Hello everybody, here I'd like to share another 3 new factions for a classic pirate playset world, just for the record and complete the series. Self-imposed challenges are to not use any torsos, heads or sail pieces of the already existing pirate series to bring in more variety and creativity. The Governor's Guard: The largest faction of our edge of the ocean. A protection force for all citizens of the island group. They have several settlements, and two medium-sized ships. All Images on Flickr. The Order of the Lily: A peaceful mid-sized faction. They are keepers of culture and knowlede and have their base in an old abbey. They only have an ancient cog for trading purposes. All Images on Flickr. The Trade Guild: The trade guild has a large port and many ships. Notes: I like Fabuland pieces. Hence these are used here and work out nicely. The ships' sails are really tan (whereas the sails of the official Imperial Trading ship are rather nougat than tan; which is confusing as they're listed as tan on Bricklink). All Images on Flickr. Have a nice day and rest of the week everyone! Arrr.

Thank you everyone! I am glad you like it. I hope you are prepared for the next factions...

I also find the idea to use corner panels as tents very creative!

Thank you everybody for the comments! Before we expand the yellow-colored Explorer Fleet theme, I would like to introduce to the other factions first. I have not given any names (yet), as I still need to get used to the tendency to name every minifigure in the newer official playsets (for example in the city line). But you are right, the major commanders and pirates already had names in the classic times as well. So please be patient with me, our alternate pirate world has just begun growing. See you around all!

Thank you for the explanation. We will see what time will bring. Maybe you can send me a message, as I don't want to drive this thread to off-topic, which is most popular faction, and which faction needs most support. Thank you! Time is the limiting factor, as for many things that are fun besides real-life. I have an idea, however, for a MOC that I have not built yet, which would fit in there.