Elephant Knight

Aftermarket prices for all larger sets are sadly through the roof. I debated whether to add another soldier or not, but the line up of minifigs seemed to be enough for that time era. I would have like to use a couple more of the printed panels to spice up the walls a bit, but I only had the one corner and one wall to work with. There are a couple musket 'racks' on the ramparts, as seen in this picture: Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr It's a design feature shared by the small Armada Sentry. I tried to incorporate as many design features as I could from that small set. EKnight

Hello and welcome! To the right people, those sets are indeed worth something, especially sealed. Bricklink is a great resource for buying and selling Lego, though you may wish to sell it somewhere else, like ebay. https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=8811-1#T=S&O={"iconly":0} There is no 8766, so it must be a typo? EKnight

And here is the final end result! I am very pleased, but not completely satisfied with the end result. A little tweaking here and there may be done, but for now, I am ready to present it! Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Unlike most of the ships I have built in the last decade or so, I actually made an interior for this ship! And it's easily accessible! Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr The sides can be easily removed for access to the gun deck Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Crossed Bones by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr And here's a shot of the whole Crossed Bones fleet! The Crossed Bones Fleet by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr WIP: EKnight

I went and made a few changes, added a brig below, changed a few colours. Go look at the first post for pictures! EKnight

This was purely just for fun. EKnight

2015, having so few sets, and only one ship, didn't have much to go off of. The dark tan stripe is there to stay, unless I change the deck colour entirely. Trying to go for a set aesthetic, even the 10210 di it similar, just much better blended. Definitely too much blue in some areas. I will for sure go and tinker around to try and get a better balance. Hmm, one use thinks cabin is too detailed, one thinks it's not enough. I've always had a hard time filling out cabins, so I think I'll average out and say it's good Thank you all for your insight. I had a lot of troubles getting a colour scheme to look half decent. My choice for regular blue was to balance the regular red of the Brick Bounty. In regards to the copious amounts of brown in some areas, I felt that the brick bounty was the same, so I tried to emulate that. I do agree that as a whole, the color scheme needs improving. I will definitely go and try to make the cabin removable and add something there. A prison, for one of the rebellious sailors, perhaps? Thanks again for all the feedback, this was one MOC I really wanted it. EKnight

I know I said I wasn't planning any boat builds.... but things changed. When thinking about what I wanted to build, I wanted to do a MOC in the style of every era of Pirates. Classic, 4 Juniors, 2009, and 2015. Most of the ideas for each era came easily to me, but I had to think about what 2015 needed. I realized 2015 had large and small, connectable bases for both the pirates and bluecoats, but the bluecoats were left without a ship to battle the Brick Bounty. So I built them a ship. I went big, like how the 2009 wave had 10210 Imperial Flagship. That is also why I used the name Caribbean Clipper. Updated! Caribbean Clipper 2015 V.2 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr I've done a few changes. Shortened the nose on the hull so it's smaller, and less blue. Continued the gold stripe on the cabin as well as changed the windows from black to white. It's also removeable now with a brig for those unwilling sailors. Caribbean Clipper 2015 V.2 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Caribbean Clipper 2015 V.2 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Caribbean Clipper 2015 V.2 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Caribbean Clipper 2015 V.2 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Caribbean Clipper 2015 V.2 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Caribbean Clipper 2015 V.2 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr I didn't change anything on the interior of the cabin, as I felt it perfectly fine. Nor did I change the minifigures, as the current line up fits with the official sets of that year. Caribbean Clipper 2015 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Caribbean Clipper 2015 V.2 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Version 1: Caribbean Clipper 2015 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Next to the Brick Bounty. I don't like that ship. The sails just aren't positioned in a way that looks good. Same sails as the Black Pearl or Queen Anne's Revenge, but the yardarms aren't built the same, and it just doesn't look as good. This is likely my last entry, but I do have one more idea up my sleeve. I dunno if I'll get around to it though. It's a small one, so maybe. EKnight

That is a wonderful shipwreck! It's quite the vast upgrade on the set, but I still recognized which set. EKnight

Thank you! It was actually harder than I thought trying to build something so simple, yet cohesive. And I did have a lot of fun building this and posing the figs. Hmm, I guess the budget ran out for the crocodile... It does look a little out of place, but two of the 4 Junior pirate sets did the same, though one has a crane, the other a sail. But neither really had any other shipwreck parts. I simply see it as a pole with a lookout on top. EKnight

Now this is what I was hoping to see more of! MOCs that fit the style so well, people question whether or not it existed! I have one of those baseplate extra, and contemplated doing something with it, but I doubt I could have done half a good a job as this. Excellent work, my favorite entry so far! EKnight

Whoops, I guess I forgot to take a picture with a barrel sitting there with the latest update. I've edited to show a picture that I took with the second update. EKnight

That is a good point about the cannon. I can't recall any instances of Lego doing a full on brick built cannon. I guess the SES kinda did though... There is no interior of the "cabin". Not really enough room to do anything other than store a barrel of ill gotten gains. EKnight

If I were to raise the docks up, then they wouldn't match the height of the Armada sentry set, which was something I really wanted to do. Thank you for your kind words! The red sloping roofs I feel is needed, mostly for the colour. The fort was pretty bland and colourless without the red, the little bits of green and the yellow and blue island plate didn't pop enough for me. I like ships more than bases too, and have had a lot more practice building them. And of course, trying to match 90's aesthetics, one can only go so far. EKnight

The Armada never had a large base set, like Eldorado Fortress, or Imperial Trading Post. But what if they did? Here's my take on what a large Armada fortress could have looked like. Every single part, with the exception of some minifig faces, are all parts that would have or could have been available in 1996 when the Armada were released. There are approximately 550 parts, so it's not quite as large as the Imperial Trading post, but not far behind. Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr I'm extremely happy with how this turned out. IT was the first entry I actually built, but was waiting on a couple Bricklink orders to arrive before I could take pictures. Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr I really feel that I captured the essence of a 1996 set. I used the Mystic Mountain Time lab and Fort Legoredo as my inspiration, both of which are from 1996 and are large playsets. Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr As you can see, the rear opens up, and the side docks can be removed. I built the two side docks identically. If Lego were to do such a thing, they likely would have done the same. Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr All closed up without the side docks. I kinda like it better, but half the idea behind this was to use both island baseplates. Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr See? The docks can be connected to make one, longer dock! Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Oh, and I made it so the Armada Flagship can dock at it, and Armada Sentry can be added onto it, or even two, one on each side! Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Quick! Take the treasure when no one is looking! Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Hey, what's this over here? Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Oh no! It's a trap! Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr You'll never get our treasure! Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Should we go back for Red? No! Let's escape while we still can! Stick to the Code! Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr I went through about 5 variations of the sail before I finally got one to my satisfaction. Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Between this, my Cross Bone Clipper entry, and another ship I'm working on, I think I need a break from this colour scheme for a boat. Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr "Set" Includes Armada Admiral, Armada Captain, two Armada soldiers, and three scallywag pirates! And a couple more shots showing off the modular nature of the build: Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr Let me know what you think! I like it, and feel like it's my best entry, but what do you think? EKnight

Thank you! I have no plans to put it onto Rebrickable, it's not really my thing. I don't think I could make it stick out any less. I feel it would loose a lot of the smooth lines at the back. EKnight

One reason I kept it to one rock is the original set had only a single rock. Adding more rocks would stray too much from the original set. It's such a tiny set, that even small changes can drastically change the look of the set. Reducing to one plate level would exponentially increase the difficulty in keeping a non symmetrical shaped island. Everything in the set is pretty much a tad larger than the original, so I have no issue with it being two plates think. EKnight

Alas, that is what happens to 28 year old Lego sets that I got when I was barely 3 years old. Sometimes I forget that isn't the correct way. I wanted to, but was unable to find a red crab, pretty sure I own a couple, but couldn't find them. I do agree it would be better. EKnight

You were all clamoring for a better shape, and here I am, delivering! I've update the first post with the updated entry. I'd say the rock colours seem right in line with what Lego does, So I left it as is. I tweaked them a tiny bit to have a better flagpole attachment, but that is all. EKnight

Sorry to double post, but I've updated it again, just a small one, with a better sail. I printed it onto some canvas, and it looks WAY better than the previous cloth one. Cross Bone Clipper Revamp V.3 by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr First post has updated images as well. EKnight

I obviously had to do a take on my first ever Lego and Pirate set, Pirate Lookout. for the Small Set Category. Contains 35 parts. Pirate Lookout V.2 Version 1: EKnight

Well, Both Loot Island and Cannon battle of that wave have plants growing straight out of the rocks, so it's perfectly within the set design. as for the repetitiveness of it, well, Lego themselves tends to do repetitive stuff like that I guess I nailed the 2009 design. I agree that that palm tree trunk is not very good, but, that's the palm tree used in that year, so it's what I did. Yeah, looking at it again, the walls do seem very plain. I originally thought the stickers that were on the parts, the same ones from the soldiers fort, would help break it up, but yeah, it's quite flat and blank still. EKnight

I ordered mine pretty much the minute the GWPs became available. Disappointed that the Double VIP points didn't apply, but got enough freebies to help negate the costs. It shipped the next morning, so I should be seeing it Friday at the latest. can't wait to build it! EKnight

Travel back to 2009 for my next entry! It was a shame that the Imperial fort form that year was modular, but never had any additional sets to go with it, So I solved that problem with the Imperial Guard Tower! I would have loved to show it connected to the actual set, but I was unable to build the set, mostly due to some important parts being used in the MOC... It's not much of an interior, but it's still more than what the fort offered us. Loot Island, where the island baseplates are from, didn't make use of the hole in the ground, so I had to add some buried treasure here, even if it is at the foot of the Imperial's Guard tower. EKnight

I am solidly in the Red Coat camp, though I cannot deny the sharpness of the original figs. My second oldest Lego set was Sea Mates, the version with the red coats, and never had any blue coats until that Bricktober fig was released in 2010. So yeah, solidly a redcoat here.

Swapping out the dark bluish grey for white is an interesting idea. I would have to get one of the hull parts used in white first. I never even though about using the 2x2 triangular tiles. It's such a useful and versatile part. I will definitely look into that. The lantern idea is also a good one, and I like the connection to 10210. Thank you! EKnight