SlyOwl

The contest was originally called Pillage the Village II: Times of Peace. We changed it to Pillage the Village II: The Calm After the Storm. This implies that there was a battle going on at some point, which you can either "refer to" in your MOC, or not, your choice. So this is fine. My only concern is that without the description, it looks a bit like undead skeletons are having a fight, so some cobwebs/explorers/less "action poses" (I'm basically talking about the two skeletons on top) may make it seem less violent. I might add that currently it looks a bit like a Castle MOC - the weapons etc. Pirates exploring the site of an ancient battle (presumably within a cave) would be fine, but a cutlass or two more wouldn't go amiss. A great start! In particular I love the swords bound to the wall

Streets of London Have you seen the old man In the closed-down market Kicking up the paper, with his worn out shoes? In his eyes you see no pride And held loosely at his side Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news So how can you tell me you're lonely, And say for you that the sun don't shine? Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London I'll show you something to make you change your mind Have you seen the old girl Who walks the streets of London Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags? She's no time for talking, She just keeps right on walking Carrying her home in two carrier bags So how can you tell me you're lonely, And say for you that the sun don't shine? Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London I'll show you something to make you change your mind In the all night cafe At a quarter past eleven, Same old man is sitting there on his own Looking at the world Over the rim of his tea-cup, Each tea last an hour Then he wanders home alone So how can you tell me you're lonely, And say for you that the sun don't shine? Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London I'll show you something to make you change your mind And have you seen the old man Outside the seaman's mission Memory fading with The medal ribbons that he wears. In our winter city, The rain cries a little pity For one more forgotten hero And a world that doesn't care So how can you tell me you're lonely, And say for you that the sun don't shine? Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London I'll show you something to make you change your mind

Y'know, this could be used in the PTVII... e.g. Meet the surgeon! - Mangled troops get repaired! - Not particularly violent, permissible parts usage...

PTVII: Creative Critic Start yer Creative Critiquing!

Creative Critic Classic-Pirates runs this challenge to promote good, constructive feedback and discussion about entries. What do I do? First, you need to express an interest in participating, by posting in this thread. You don't have to build anything: just the time and effort required. Then, evaluate what you like and dislike about a contest entry and relay the information objectively to the builder. The important point is to express honest opinions in a helpful manner, whether good or bad. If you can do that creatively at the same time, you just might have what it takes to win the fabulous prize. The best Creative Critics will provide ongoing feedback, so it's not necessarily a "critique once and then wait until contest's end to receive your result". Find ways to continually provide feedback and you'll have a definite advantage. Go the extra mile. Providing reference pictures/links (either Lego or otherwise) as a clarification/explanation would be an example of taking that extra step to help the builder improve their MOC. A high post count alone will not assist you in winning the Creative Critic award and excessive, short, or unhelpful posts may result in disqualification. If your idea of a good comment is: "That MOC looks awesome", you may find yourself in a spot of bother. Quality first, then quantity. How will it be judged? The staff will assess the Creative Critic Award on the following criteria: The usefulness of the information provided. The professionalism in which the information is conveyed. Correct spelling, grammar and punctuation (we will be lenient if English is your second language) The volume of quality creative criticism you provide.

Fantasy creatures and peoples are completely fine, but keep it to the pirate side - space pirates aren't allowed; borderline steampunk with POTC2 Flying Dutchmen dudes is... So skele pirates, shark people, merpeople, orc pirates, squid pirates, Space Police 2-converted(-but-not-space) pirates... most things go.

Very entertaining all round, and some great building skills displayed!

Thanks for the great tutorial I've had my own attempts at making headgear out of plasticine, casein, glue-gun glue etc. but none have been successful, so I'm looking to alternative means. I'm wondering, how durable is the finished sculpey piece? Would it be worth going that step further into silicon molding a sculpey draft for an individual part or not?

Yup, 8 studs by 8 studs, maximum size. Any size/shape within those boundaries is allowed - 8x6, 4x8 with a 1x2 protusion on the 8 stud long side etc. Preferably keep within the 8x8 bounds at all times, but as said, a reasonable amount of overlap is allowed, so 10x6 would be passable, but not 10x10, which belongs in the medium category. So it's a grey area, but trust your instinct, or if there's any doubt/confusion, just ask

Go for it! Details about the Creative Critic will become available soon.

Start yer building! Behind the Helm #9 ~ Pillage the Village II

The pirates finally got tired of pillaging, plundering and looting, and decided to partake in more civilised hobbies, letting life return to normal for the poor afflicted soldiers, civilians, islanders and sea monsters: a period of peace and prosperity has arrived! From taking tea with the Governor to bombarding their sweethearts with barrages of roses, this next chapter of the Pillage the Village saga explores the unchartered waters of peaceful pirates, impotent imperials, carefree civilians. Do they polish the cannons, or polish off the rum? Race their rowing boats, or repair the harbor? Chill out under a palm tree, or cut it down to build a shack? Explore foreign territories, or the local brothels? This doesn't have to be pirates - islander, armada, civilian and imperial MOCs are all welcome too. You can even show the hobbies of Mr Kraken, should you want... But brutality and violence are unwanted in this new (temporarily) civilised era: whilst one drunken pirate punching another is acceptable, a full scale brawl is a step too far. Take this as the benchmark for the upper level of brutality permitted. Hunting and fishing have a slightly higher level of violence permitted. Remember, judging is done by a public vote, so appeal to your audience! Need inspiration? Check out the MOC Indexes - in particular the Land-based MOCs - a wealth of ideas and techniques to explore. The Rules: The contest will run from September 25th to November 30th One entry per person per category which can be modified/replaced up until the deadline. 3 categories: Small (8x8 maximum), medium (16x16 maximum) and large (16x16 minimum) It does not have to be on a square template. A reasonable amount of overlap is allowed (staff's discretion), but no expansion of the base by stacking plates or bricks (like this) Full customization is allowed, including decals, string, sails, 3rd party customs (e.g. Brickarms, Brickforge). Cutting and painting are permissible, but as the contest is judged by public vote, these may not be popular. We suggest visiting The Great Pirate Torso Library and the Sail Library Resource. All building techniques are allowed, including tiling and SNOT bases. No minifig limit. No clone brands No digital entries All entries must be new creations that have never been displayed anywhere before. The staff's judgment is final. Violations may be mentioned in the discussion thread, or not. At the end of the contest, violations will be disqualified OR subject to a penalty as determined by the staff. Please avoid this by clarifying any rules which you don't understand in this thread. You may be required to provide additional photos. Post 6 pictures (maximum size 800x600). You can link to an external gallery, where there are no image limitations. See these tutorials for help with resizing images and deeplinking. Important: Each entry will be posted in its own thread, like you would with a normal MOC. All entry threads are to be created in the LEGO Pirates MOCs Forum. The thread title should be the title of the ENTRY. The description of the entry thread should be "PTV2 Contest Entry - Large/Medium/Small". Judging will take place by a public vote. Each person can pick their favourite 3 entries, in order per category. This will happen by posting, not by voting in a poll. One must have joined Eurobricks before or on November 30 to be eligible to vote. The Prizes! Behind the Helm #9 ~ Pillage the Village II

In a contest with different size categories, it's best to have one unified theme overall, within which people have flexibility - if their medium entry turns out too big, they can enter it into the large category, and so on. But give me a few minutes, and the rules will be up! All Shipyarders will be allowed to enter both the contest and Creative Critic. Zuloo and Erdy, unfortunately, have been involved in the planning, so won't be allowed, but we may just have a staff contest too...

Pillage the Village II: Prize Pool Head on through...

Hey boy, what be this? Yup Yanks, that's an Advent Calendar!

Thanks for the interview, Mark I enjoyed reading it; so much so that my sister and I added a fair few arrs, garrs and yarrs to our game of badminton today!

Signed in blood! My favourite theme, lifeblood of the all little children who aspire to be a swashbuckling corsair, cannot die!

Avast there! Starting September 25th Launched!

You've got a really nice MOC going there Brickster! My 4 years of learning spanish are finally starting to pay off (Although why the French flag in what seems to be a south American/Mexican setting?) I like the buildings, especially how you've got similar styles without repeating any techniques - I often find putting more than 2 buildings together runs me completely out of ideas. The tower is ace , although I'd recommend shifting the clock up 2 plates or so, so it doesn't overlap the window. The subtle use of the sidewalk/platform is a neat way to keep the intense detail flowing without obscuring stuff behind it. it works really well, especially the broken planking. It wouldn't surprise me to see you putting in some sort of function which pops the undead officer up through the planks... I'm surprised you haven't put any IJ fedoras in there - I think they fit in well with a Wild West context. Good job!

Arrr! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Interview with ITLAPD founder Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers Join the celebrations here Sign our petition to keep LEGO Pirates And what be this?

Update from Steve Witt:

2 Indy sets - the new Chauchilla Cemetery Battle set aswell as the Temple one. I wouldn't be surprised to see an Armada figure in a Vintage Minifig Collection at some point, though. No people, that's not a "gut feeling", just pure speculation

Exactly. I'll just amend the title to give more freedom for speculation. After all, there are hints it there will be new sets at some point in time. Sooner than you think or not.

This has got a lot going for it The Benz is coming along nicely, and the hide fits the film great. Could you have some sort of lever on the bottom of the car which can be rotated so that it presses against the insides of the wheels/tyres, thus locking them in place with the friction? I'm thinking one of these recessed into the bottom of the car, with some sort of technic beam/connector thing on it which can rotate to press against the wheels or not.

Not for my sake, but for the sake of the MOCs and their builders that would not otherwise emerge from the other side of the Atlantic, I hereby sign this petition!