jan kusters

Ha, fantastic! It is a great design and build! Grin, a great build for Halloween with a skeleton crew too!

Hi Comrade, Like you, I am new to the Pirate theme (that launched looong after my junior brick building years), and a wanted to start with that. I learned a valuable lesson last year when I made a similar start in Lego Classic Space; just buying randomly bricks that seemed to fit in at Bricklink was problematic. Many bricks work well, but mostly in combination with certain other bricks that are less clearly linked to a theme. Lego designs usually have a 'certain way of building' behind it, and until I got a good idea about that, I ended up with a lot of 'how do I do that?' and slow builds due to ordering missing stuff again and again. So this time I decided to approach thins differently; I started with buying 2 big sets (the 3in1 31109 Pirates set, and the 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay set). Entr'acte: work station finally ready for action... by Jan Kusters, on Flickr The basic idea was to get a whole bunch of bricks that work together well in one go. I could also learn from the instructions from those sets since modern Lego construction is rather different that what I was used to (did I mention I am older than Lego wheels?). But my main goal is still to most moc or modify stuff, and more or less tell my own story in bricks. Because building the sets was not my main goal, I started with simply sorting all those bricks into drawers straight away, without building the sets. With all this done, I had a pretty clear idea of what I had, and I could start with sending little-me out on his nautic adventure... The Briney Brick... (2) by Jan Kusters, on Flickr So far, it had been working out great, and pretty much as I had hoped. I combined it wit one of the 3in1 sets I bought a year ago (31088, Deep Sea Creatures) in several ways, both using official builds and mocs I found on the web). The Briney Brick 6 (b) and more sea life by Jan Kusters, on Flickr I also build the Skull Island from the 31109 set (which turned out to look a lot better and more fun in real life that I had expected) before using the skull in an own design Island Entr'acte (bis): Skull Island from set 31109 by Jan Kusters, on Flickr 6 Months into it I am having a great time, and all is working as I hoped. I am still buying stuff to add, but now I know what I need, and it is all a lot easier to test little ideas on the fly. At this moment it appears I have -without realising it at first- re-created one of the huge pirates/islander sets of way back one (Enchanted Island, set 6292). Pirates on a small Island, using more and more driftwood to build bigger rafts and a hut for example, and Islanders on a big Island that includes the full build Idol that is suggested in Barracuda Bay, a shrine for Spinoza the original Pirate theme monkey (here somwhat hidden behind a tree) and the treasure cave with skull... Yo-Ho Ho Ho and seasonal wishes to all... The Briney Brick 28 (bis): seasonal break... by Jan Kusters, on Flickr

Aw man I love this in all it's simplicity!

I think this looks fantastic! Have you tried the Skull from 31109? It looks surprisingly good (with minor alterations) and does not take many 'important' parts. I bought both sets, and I am still slowly working my way up to things. So far a few of my Pirates have ended up on a smaller Island with a raft, but they are collecting driftwood for a bigger build...

I only started with pirates this year. The double feature Pirates of Barracuda Bay set and the 3in1 pirate set are a great way to get into the theme. I would be very happy with a new fortress with soldiers set, or a harbour with merchant ship set. And I would really love some smaller additional sets in the 20-50 bucks range, like smaller brick build boats.

there is a sky-pirates-skeleton-ship over at Rebrickable by Madmocs (from the 31109 pirate ship set) that I do like a lot... Not mine, but I might be interested at building it one day.

I like it a lot, it has all the play functionality, and it looks great!

looks great! I love the boat! And for the crab-sail, the solution for the spars is pretty nice too.

I really like the mod with the 'doubled' for- and aft cabins! Much better proportions over all! I think this also shows the strength of a fully brick build; it invites for this kind of 'deep' modifications. With the classic builds with big hull parts, it is just too inviting to just slap in another section and end up with a stretched limo-look.

I think that is starting to look awesome!

looks good, love to see more of her!

Great little build! I miss the smaller ships in the pirate theme...

Ben will send over some bottles when the tide is right. Could George send over some coconuts perhaps? Piña Colada for all?

He looks happy about finally some peace and quiet... I imagine a string of islands, al with one tree and one lost soul... The Briney Brick 7(b): It's by Jan Kusters, on Flickr You made a fantastic tree indeed! Those parts look great for a massife shrubbery or 'wall of jungle' I think. But mine is a Rumtree....

Great ships, but I like that junk especially!