Mister Phes

Thank you for sharing your first MOC with us! I love how you've also incorporated Sabre Island and Bounty Boat... and even the recent lighthouse set into the layout. But where be all the pirate's cannons? How are they to defend themselves against all those marauding soldiers?

Based on that statement, Europa would need to exist in some capacity prior to 1989 to compete for the winning place. And a later page states "Pirates were chosen over Western and Europa" That video is quite useful. Thank you for bringing it to my attention - there's even a link to a PDF version of the book. Can we post screenshots here without violating some intellectual property law? Because technically the YouTuber is already doing that and we're just analyzing select frames of his video for critical purposes. Here are a couple of other pages relevant to Europa:

That is correct. From my understanding those sub themes were inspired historic naval powers but their actual affiliation/nationality is entirely fictional. So perhaps it's not accurate to state "The Blue Coat Soldiers are Officially French" and should be revised to "The Blue Coat Soldiers are based on French naval forces"

Thank ye - his name has popped up a lot in my research.

Did you happen to catch the name of the designer?

A Classic-Pirates.com account has been created to you and a confirmation Email has been sent to the same Email address as you use for Eurobricks. A Welcome Topic has been created for you in The Shipyard - so please post in that topic to confirm access has been successfully granted.

Thank you for that information - assuming the Archives File Date is the same year as the development. That is indeed what I'll do... but I'm currently communicating with Block magazine in regards to their back issues containing Pirates. So I'll get that sorted out first.

I completely understand about life commitments! If you'd just like to take a peak "behind the scenes" I can set you up with a Classic-Pirates.com account and grant you access to our secret production forum known as The Shipyard. Am I able to use the Email address associated with your Eurobricks account to register a Classic-Pirates.com account?

Why weren't the kids taking photos? Try all of them are see which one works best! Thank you for sharing your photos - glad you enjoyed the experience!

Thank you for those details. How many builders will be participating? And where is display likely to be presented?

Nonetheless, it's great to observe how this ship has evolved over time. I'd love to author a blog post around it and send it out over the Classic Pirates social network.... But I'm a bit stretched for time at the moment. You've got quite good written skills - is blogging beyond your ability?

It's been 3 hours... where are the photos?

She's finally launched - this has been well worth the wait! But didn't this begin life as an Imperial Ship? Or am I thinking of something else?

This looks exciting! To give us some perspective on size, what are the measurements of that layout?

Well, they could, if they purchased a copy of the magazine and extracted the information. But that would be plagiarism. I'm writing writing a brand new article using Blocks magazine and various other sources for reference. That's not what the official LEGO' website states on its Pirates History page. Maybe other language versions of that page have different information, but the English versions states: Alongside the Pirates are Governor Broadside’s blue-coated troops whose task it is to fight the Pirates. These forces are based upon the French navy and marines of the colonial era and are known as ‘Imperial Soldiers’ by fans Which make sense, because LEGO Pirates have a Caribbean setting and the French were involved in that region, whereas the Danes were not. But maybe information exists elsewhere that states otherwise... That would be great! There are so many more questions that could be asked on how LEGO Pirates came to be... I've researched as widely as possible (more than just Blocks Magazine), but the information is limited. In the Blocks magazine interview, Neils provides details on the creation of the pirates, but there is no information whatsoever on the Soldiers. So who created them? And what was the process? This image of an unreleased prototype theme named Europa features the blue coat soldiers, and even the Governor Broadside minifigure. Maybe my understanding of how LEGO themes are developed is flawed, but I assume they would not use the Governor Broadside minifig for two different themes. So my theory is this Europa theme was developed in tandem with Pirates but Europa didn't make the cut, so they used the Soldiers as part of the Pirate theme instead. But it would be fantastic if Neils could provide more information on exactly what happened.

WHEELS!!! It gets WORSE, not better! Like all these recent pirate-themed sets that are far removed from the classic style: use the parts for building something that is.

Typically, through good I stumbled upon Brick Fanatics Issue 10 has exclusive Pirate interview! Now where to get a copy of Issue 10 almost 4 yeas later? I'll just copy your quote to this topic for safe keeping.

Exactly. A real classic-inspired set. Not another novelty pirate-themed exclusive or some bizarre fusion of science fiction, fantasy and pirates in outlandish colours (exactly what this Nightmare ship is). A set that looks like an updated version of something we saw in the 80s and 90s is what the fans really want.

That's not actually a good thing in my opinion. Well, that's the entire point of this forum, and the related Classic Pirates blog and social media profiles... the sets should actually be pirated themed in the vein of the classic sets from the 80s and 90s... not spaceships with a few elements thrown in to make them look piratey.

Don't think we'll bother running it through our news cycle though... or should we?

I don't even remember what I was referring to - after all, I only made that post... 16 years ago!

A good sunset or sunrise could result in phenomenal photography! But don't let me tempt you further...

That's what I was going to suggest - bring a small table or some form of stand you can setup. If you like I can create a blog post for the Africa. I can even use this as a training exercise to break down my process to provide you with a better understanding of how to formulate MOC blog posts.

You're proving to be quite the talented builder! You've adapted the La Candelaria to LEGO form nicely with an Imperial Guard makeover, much to the chagrin of the Imperial Armada, given the inspiration was originally a Spanish ship. Two things: The sails - maybe it's just me, but crisper sails with a cleaner edges would work better on Imperial ships with sleek hulls. Those particular sails would work better on a pirate ship that's seen a bit of action and has battle damage. The background - I mentioned this in the Facebook Group but haven't checked it again since, but the photo appears to be taken too far back from the water. Is it possible to position the ship closer so only the ocean is visible in the background? It would enhance the presentation by eliminating or minimizing the rather rather drab area concrete we currently see.

That's exactly what point 4 will be elaborating upon. Thank you for that information!