Horation

I see you moved the head a little on young Ironhook, which is good, but now there are two pictures where we can see him without his head at all, which is a little strange, maybe take those pictures and stitch 'em once more so they fit better? Because, headless Ironhook wasn't on my pirates bingo card...

A fun little idea, reminds me of the dalton brothers, one would almost expect them to be waring striped prison uniforms... The build looks exotic, with all those bottles, one feels like they have been thrust into the lab of some mad scientist! If there is something I can suggest, It might be a few sheets covered in writing (ex: a tile with a sticker or a print of a bit of text on it) or some alchemy textbook, as it would do wonders for the setting. In addition, maybe some hint at the mechanism used, like a lever or a wheel, to at least give us a hint at the genius behind Redbeard's contraption. The figures are all adding a decent bit of much-needed colour to the scene, but I find it to be a shame that one of them is facing sideways from the camera. Maybe you could make him look like he's turning to observe is fellow redbeards? Overall, an absolutely strange but fitting origin to the mysterious man.

Aye, some battlestar galactica toy with a firing cannon hit a kid in the eye, there was a lawsuit... and as a result other companies chose to pull out most of their shooty toys, or at least put a big warning on them. Even then, I quite like them, and it fits the armada theme well, since they are kind of the spanish, who were kind of rich, so they could probably decorate their weapons more

A pleasant short background story, fitting for such a character as Steve. The rockwork is quite frankly some of the most creative I've seen, you use so many parts, which could have looked quite disjointed, but doesn't ; the dish piece looks like a rounded rock, the shark is just a really clever addition, and there is a good use of angles to improve the setting to a sufficient level. However, @thewatchman is correct in his critique of the colours, I think some greens would help. Ideally dark greens so as to not ruin the the atmosphere too much. There's also an element I find a little strange : there a skeleton blocking the path at the bottom, which is indeed helping set the tone, but how did Steve get past him? He either would have jumped over him (he doesn't look like a gymnast though...) or he'd have moved him aside (and the skelly wouldn't be completely blocking the path, which is an easy fix). A kirk (in Scotland) means a church, if that is what you meant, perhaps some hint of a chapel or of some spiritual challenge ahead would help send that message, alternatively if you meant captain kirk, consider adding a tribble or two...

I believe the whole point of the critiques is to give you feedback so you can re-do the build, though if I were you, I would probably let @Mister Phes know when it was updated, so that the updated picture is shown in the index.

That's a brilliant idea! I even think there were a few "south american ruins" sets in that range, so it would be quite fitting. But what do you think? @SevenDeadlyStreamers

I also reached 25, but I haven't checked who did it first. So it will come down to a first-past-the-post contest. When did you have internet problems? (So we can check and see if it happened before I had reached my 25th post)

Well space constraints are a part of the game, and if it doesn't fit, you must acquit, so I understand if it ruins the picture too much, maybe have Redbeard be ducking a chair someone is throwing at him?

Eurobricks unfortunately doesn't host picture, but this thread might be of use to you. Good idea with the hinges! (if I am visualising it right)

The point you make about the clouds is accepted (De gustibus non est disputandum), and I quite like the new and improved foam, it is original to say the least.

A fun little idea, here the prose is what brings out this entry, because the build feels a tinge lacking ; if this is a colonial office, why is the officer on a small island? Perhaps it is a very low budget fort. But even then, one does feel like more depth could be created with a bit more detail, like some barrels or maybe a stack of papers (ideally a comically oversized one which the official is trying to process). Overall, a good idea which could use some small improvements.

I see, maybe add a ghost or some other reference to old castle sets? I mean this is in the jungle so a reference to (clearly European) classic castle factions would be bizarre, but some small detail like my suggestion could very well work among the nostalgic audiences around here.

Good to know, glad to know the cannon issue will be fixed. If I can suggest something for any future, it would be a prison cell of sorts using a grill piece to represent the cell door. Good to know for the file.

When's the latest update on scores coming? Who's in the lead?

Otherwise, another suggestion I can make is expanding the pier (maybe making it damaged which could accentuate the abandoned look) on the side and adding a boat, this'll create the desired expansion for the door and will help show the ancient importance of this outpost.

Other than that , you could simply end up adding a mini Steve on one of those 1x2s (a 1x1 transparent brick approximation of him, or a custom sticker like in the mini imperial trading outpost I've seen in another post in this contest). This would make it look like a raft or a boat which he's escaping on, and would comply with the "Steve must be in the build" criterion

The lightness of details is actually a strength of your design, as it looks more retro (as one would expect from Steve's childhood memories...), don't worry, I once stacked twenty boxes in such a small space and the exterior (which is what most people will see) still looked the same. But otherwise, try putting one "big" thing to distract people with ( like a gem, or an animal on the decks, like a rat).

Totally reasonable, if you can't get any, I'd merely recommend trying to take a picture from an angle which minimises the antistuds we do see, or, if you are ok with cheating, using some putty or bluetack, you could "glue" (temporarily) some regular tiles and that would fool most of us (though it would require cleaning up after, and I don't know how easy it is to find it in your region).

If you want to simply remove them, it'll help, as the build is more than detailed enough to compensate for their disappearance, or alternatively, go fully for the damage and lower one of the masts, it would make the boat look more consistently ravaged by the battle.

If you want a 5-minute fix, I can suggest replacing those slopes with regular bricks of the same colour (and adding a little greebling to make it credible), this'll make it look like there's more to the island than meets the eye, and people do quite like a mystery...

Glad to see you liked it, another suggestion is to add some torches on the tower to further add to the dangerous feel. Other than that, I would also like to see a ladder, if practicable, since it would improve accessibility for the figures (and is one of my pet peeves for any build).

Understandable, as it does accentuate the loneliness effect, albeit I do hope you'll consider using reverse tiles on the inside (the ones with studs on one side instead of antistuds). That way you get a SNOT-er interior which better fits your intentions. If you look at the first few picture, you can see the problems this causes near the cannon holes, as it looks a little strange to have white antistuds showing and is the one flaw of using plates instead of bricks for boat hulls.

A good backstory, but as others have said, the lighting is not quite professional, a tip would be to but a sheet of paper behind for a uniform background and a "studio" look. The details are well placed (for instance, the bottom rocks are dark grey, as expected), but one big flaw bothers above all else : Steve isn't bald, but he's got no hairpiece! Add a hat, please, or it'll look weird.

An actually large large build for a change. I find it impressive you made such a large build in so little time. But I feel like it results in a bit less attention to certain issues. For instance, there's no way that tower would have fallen off so cleanly but ended up in a strange position like how you've made it seem. Simply rotating that tower would already be an improvement, and making it look like there's rubble from the fall near it would improve the build even more. Also, as others have said, too much green. It does look abandoned, but a few other colours (like beige, or I don't know, gold like in lost treasure) could work well, and please do change the armor on the soldier to something else, it is unlikely that moss would grow all over it so perfectly, so I'd use some other colour for contrasting purposes. But a complete job is done, as it looks like a jungle

Brilliant photography skills, and proof that a picture is worth a thousand words, great job! Great contrast is present between the small bit of the outside with a happy seagull and the interior of the fort, where the soldiers are as depressed as anyone, drinking away their days. I agree that the lack of texture is affecting this build. I will also add that we can hardly see the mouse/rat in the cell, maybe put it closer to him?