TheCosmicTravelers

I also voted for 6277 as it is the closest set to a proper port and is one of the few Pirates set that depicts civilians and merchants rather than just Pirates/soldiers/Islander factions

Although the truncated governor's office is my main criticism with the set, there are several other small changes from the original set that I dislike. The openings in the walls are now too small for cannons (even most brick-built ones). Moving the crane tower back from the corner leaves an unsightly gap in the walls as well as making the steps going up from the dock now have an awkward turn at the top. This opening looked much better in the original set as the crane tower itself essentially acted like a gate structure for this alternate entrance. I also don't like how the ship's sail arrangement has been altered from a topsail sloop to a spanker sail that looks both too small and too high. On the other hand, I think the newer set improved on the front cannon emplacement (which was horribly exposed in the original set) and the crane itself looks and works a lot nicer (even if it is a bit oversized for minifigs). I actually like the inclusion of the ship instead of another row boat (though this likely precluded the inclusion of a small Imperial flag) but feel a merchant sailor would have been more appropriate. I wonder if 6277 might not have been a better choice for a remake as a bustling port with docks may have proven more popular than a smallish (at least in comparison with both recent pirate ships) fort.

There are 2 different MOCs on Rebrickable (both free) that address this flaw, if you want some inspiration. The other major flaw I have with this set (besides having too few soldiers) is that awkward gap in the walls in front of the crane tower - one can easily close it with some extra bricks, plates, and tiles to fill in the gap but then the stairs leading up from the dock are pointless (and defensively questionable). Either a small gate needs to be placed here or the crane tower itself needs to be moved forward to act as the 'gate' (as in the original Eldorado Fortress).

I think part of the problem is the type of Pirates set. For many people, a largish pirate ship is attractive and iconic (both for play and display). Putting aside nostalgia for past sets/themes, something static like an Imperial base or a Pirate hideout would likely only be of interest to the general population as a world-building setting for the pirate ship to interact with (e.g., somewhere to raid/rescue prisoners/store your booty) - you still need to have a pirate ship for these sets to reach their full potential (aside from those interested in fortifications). At the moment, the only easily available pirate ship is the Creator 3-in-1. After the pirate ship, the next logical set would to be have a large Imperial/Armada ship (such as a frigate or galleon) as an opponent. In my opinion, it is important that this ship be larger than the pirate ship as it allows the player to sympathetically view the Pirates as the scrappy underdogs. Ship to ship chases/combat are far more iconic in the public eye than having the pirate ship interact with a static base. If LEGO were inclined to go further, a large civilian merchant vessel would also be a nice set, both as a display piece (for those that like models of sailing boats) and as a target for the pirate ship to attack. Detailed sailing ships (both military and civilian) are likely the type of Pirates set that would have the most widespread appeal independent of a pirate ship and Pirates setting. Unfortunately, for these ships to be sufficiently detailed to be good display pieces, they would probably be priced way too high for them to be affordable for the general public; perhaps minifig packs could be sold separately from the actual ship sets to help lower prices and satisfy both those only wanting ships as display pieces and those wanting army-builders?

I take it back; looking at illustrations of galleons (and the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Carribbean), this sail arrangement was in fact used. I guess I am just used to seeing lateen sails on their own.

I love it! One small criticism: I don't think the sail arrangement of the mizzenmast (square sail above a lateen sail) looks particularly nice. Either replace the lower triangular sail with a quadrilateral spanker sail (as on the Barracuda Bay ship's mainmast) or remove the upper square sail and use a larger triangular sail (as on 6286).

@thewatchman For 6286, the gray is a unfortunate side-effect of those hull pieces. The green gunport covers do add a welcome splash of color to the model; I'm not sure what other colors available at the time would have worked here (blue or yellow similarly don't fit the color scheme, black or grey look too drab, red may be a bit too much, perhaps white??). My main issues with the 6286 are that the mizzenmast is set too far aft (masts should continue down below decks for stability but this one is located on the overhanging part of the stern deck) and the side windows of the cabin are completely open.

A medium/large civilian merchant ship for the pirates to rob comes to mind (the closest official one we have is the small ship in 6277 (the remake ship in 10320 can also work if a civilian crew is provided)). Speaking of 6277, a large port (with docks, cranes, and warehouses) that is not directly part of a soldier fortress would also be nice. @Mazin: Exactly, pirate ships would not have been large warships like many MOCs that I see - for one thing those would likely be too slow/unwieldy to catch most prey and the large crew needed to man such a vessel would be expensive (both in terms of necessary supplies/provisions and in terms of dividing up any booty/plunder into shares)!

Tricky question, the best LEGO Pirates ship for me is a tossup between 21322 and 6286, but the best LEGO pirate ship (as in a ship for pirates to use) is probably ironically 6271 - it looks fast, maneuverable, well armed, and is still somewhat small (smaller vessel => shallower draft enabling hiding in/fleeing to shallower waters; also requires less crew to sail => more available for fighting/boarding and less splitting of the booty!)

Option B as painting the upper hull of warships black seems to have been common in many navies at the time. Wood regularly exposed to the elements (like that used for the hulls of sailing ships) would definitely have been tarred or painted for waterproofing/protection. Although then I would be tempted to change the gundeck stripe from white to yellow and recolor some of the yellow accents to blue or black.

I vote for the Barracuda, since it can be easily reconfigured as a sailing ship which looks and plays better than a fortress! Genuinely curious, what color(s) would wooden docks in the 18th century Caribbean have been in real life (thus limiting wood type and wood treatment techniques to what would have been available)? Modern wooden docks tend to be some shade of brown but I don't know how much this color is due to some sort of staining/painting that keeps/makes the wood that color. I don't live near an ocean and the few wooden docks I can personally recall were generally old/weathered and thus more of a greyish color. I assume a well-maintained wooden dock in the past would have been painted or otherwise tarred somewhat regularly for protection (which also raises the questions of what paint colors would have been used for something utilitarian like a dock in the past and what role do more modern aesthetic tastes play in our expecting wooden things to look "naturally" brown as opposed to being painted with a different color)?

One of the things I dislike most about many LEGO ships (and plenty of MOCs) is that pronounced aftercastle. If not designed properly, it can look like an unaerodynamic box was just plopped onto the stern. On real sailing ships with elevated sterncastles (post-middle ages), there was usually a gradual increase in elevation, with a partially elevated quarterdeck (containing the ships' wheel) between the lower main deck and the fully elevated poop deck. Placing the ship's wheel on this intermediate height deck could also fix another issue I have with many official LEGO ships - placing the ship's wheel on the high poop deck often results in the mainsail blocking the forwards view of the helmsman! While the multiple decks are often dispensed with for simplicity, well designed LEGO ships may attempt to hide the abrupt increase in deck height by adding something along the sides to mimic this gradual increase (I think the original 6285 Barracuda does a much better job at this compared to 10210 Imperial Flagship). Alternately, the stern deck may only be partially elevated (i.e., less than a minifig's height) or not elevated at all (as seen in the clean lines of a frigate). I imagine partially elevated stern decks may not be very popular with designers due to the difficulties in also having a pleasant minifig-accessible stern cabin underneath (though enclosed decks were often rather cramped in real life and may have had hatches that necessitated ducking to pass through).

I recently built this set and here are a few thoughts and comparisons with the original 6276. While some major improvements have been made, some new issues have also unfortunately been introduced. I like the modular system with its underground chamber/tunnel system although I do wish it was a bit less haphazard. The crane (though a bit too high for minifigs to operate) looks and works a lot better than the extremely basic crane in the original set. The lowest cannon turret also looks far better than the unsightly exposed cannon in the original set. Like many, I dislike how the remake truncated the governor’s office and upper tower. Fortunately, Trikus has released free instructions for upgrading this section on Rebrickable, although I think the crenellations at the rear of the governor’s office are too low (this was an issue with the original set as well) and the front window is now set too high in the MOC (luckily, these are both easy enough to change). There is now an unsightly gap in the walls at the front right corner of the fortress. There was an opening here in the original set as well but there the dock steps directly led to the crane tower with its columns and arches framing the entrance into the fortress. This arrangement looks far better than the remake, which now just has an awkward gap at the corner of the walls (the crane tower has been moved back a bit so that it no longer stands directly at the corner). The regular openings in the walls have also been modified from inverted teardrops to slits. These openings are now unfortunately too small/narrow for placing cannons (even smaller custom-built ones) for a more armed fortress. The included sloop is a good recreation of 6277’s merchant ship, but I think LEGO missed an opportunity by not including a merchant sailor minifig like in 6277 as this ship does not otherwise really look like a bluecoat vessel decoration-wise. I do not understand the alterations made to the sail arrangement as 6277’s sail rig made sense as a topsail sloop (large fore-and-aft mainsail with a smaller, higher square topsail). Here the fore-and-aft sail has been shrunken and elevated to become a spanker sail directly behind the square topsail. Besides negating crew access to the fore-and-aft sail’s booms without going aloft (an otherwise key advantage crew-wise for this type of sail versus square sails), the sail arrangement now looks off proportionally, being both too high and small for the new ship.

I agree with IRAGM about this probably being the most accurate modernization of 6274 in the contest. I like how you've expanded the stern deck to be longer (the original was too short and wide (kind of like the ship overall)), thus making your enclosure of the cabin underneath look better than some other MOCs/MODs of 6274 that I've seen. I love that you've added a ship's bell. I also agree that the main issues are issues with the original set (these may not bother some but for those who (somewhat) know sailing ships, they stand out like a sore thumb - there are very real practical reasons why you never find them on real ships!).

Extravagant design! I think a mosaic for the interior cabin is fine; the officer cabin of navy ships often had a tiled floor so having a mosaic design would have just been an upgrade. However, I do think the mosaic on the exposed poop deck should be replaced, as I'd imagine that would be slippery and easily weathered by the elements. What is the point of those flags at the very bottom of the stern? If those are gunports for stern chasers, I'd imagine they would be swamped by anything less than perfectly still seas. I agree with the point about the jibs; you may also want to move the square sail on the mizzenmast above the spanker sail instead of directly in front of it (though this is not a huge issue).