Tag Archives: Pirates

Avast, me mateys! If ye be lookin’ for LEGO on the high seas, you’ve found the place where X marks the spot. Here be a treasure trove of sailing ships, garrisons full of imperial scalawags, and other such nautical nonsense. Walk that plank and dive into the wonderful world of LEGO Pirates.

Brickmaster and commander

For someone who grew up with the old Pirates LEGO theme, it’s always gratifying to see the theme’s evolution at the hands of able builders. Case in point: “Redcoat Navy Brigantine” by Evancelt Lego. The Imperial Navy sets sail in a slick, stylish vessel that pays homage to the original theme while really hoisting the yardarm a few notches in terms of detail and accuracy.  This incarnation of the pirates’ nemesis has a distinctly Napoleonic feel. The deck hums with activity while bayonet-wielding marines stand at the ready. I love those brick-built furled sails, which are almost indistinguishable from cloth, and the trans blue and white tiles standing in for a serene sea. Is the Navy on the trail of pirates, or do they have another mission in mind?

Redcoat Navy Brigantine

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This little fortress is big on details

Miniaturizing a large set (either for budget reasons or just because a microscale version looks so darn cute) is a common enough practice among LEGO builders, but most of the time the miniature versions don’t stay at minifig scale. “Eldoradito Fortress” by. Ciamosław Ciamek keeps most of the major features of the larger 10320 Eldorado Fortress (itself a remake of the classic set of the same name), so it stays true to its storied pedigree despite its smaller size. We’ve got the winch, jail, tower, cannons, dock, stone ramp, rowboat, and palm tree. There’s even a solitary guard, though he looks as though he’s probably overdue to be relieved. The only feature that doesn’t make it into the smaller version is the ship (which would be tough to shrink down much further anyway).

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Should any of ye be wishin’ ta beg for mercy, Captain Hutt will hear yer pleas

Any fan of pirate history knows the legend of the Jade Eye’s Return, and how young Duke Wavewalker and his ragtag crew fell into the hands of the nefarious Captain Hutt while fleeing the Imperial armada. Joe (jnj_bricks) pays tribute in LEGO to the memorable scene on the shoals of Cancun where Duke and crew were taken by skiff to the all-meaty shark pit. Joe’s clever mash-up was made for a challenge to blend Star Wars with history, so taking the plank-walking Sarclaac scene back to the golden age of pirates is a perfect fit. The skiff’s brick-built hull is a lovely design and Joe’s technique for partially submerged sharks is brilliant, nesting the upper jaw over a grey dome and using triangular tiles for the dorsal fins. What sells the scene is the excellent remix of minifigs. Of course, pirate Chewie would use Hagrid’s beard.

The Shark Pit

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Swashbuckling and derring-do aplenty in this LEGO adventure

It’s been a rough day for the merchant Steve. He’s just onshore to make a buck or two; unfortunately, he arrived at this idyllic Caribbean harbor town just in time for it to fall victim to enemy attack. Now he must join forces with the pirates of Captain Redbeard if he wants to get out before things get really rough. That’s the tale told in LEGO by Nicholas Goodman in this thrilling scene called “Escape from the Imperial Trading Post.” The thing is, I probably didn’t need to give you all that backstory. The build itself tells the story wonderfully, with a scene that feels ripped from a blockbuster movie: the pairs of combatants locked in desperate combat, the whitecapped waves crashing against the rocks, the palm trees swaying in the breeze. The cliffs have a natural, rugged look to them, and the fort’s whitewashed walls have just the right amount of weathering. Let’s hope Steve makes it to his ship okay; those cliffs look a little dicey.

Escape from the Imperial Trading Post

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A year-long LEGO Castle project documented on YouTube

One of the perks of having friends in the LEGO hobby is being able to see their projects develop over time, transforming from rough sketches and multi-colored foundations to beautiful works of art on their way to a convention. And over the past year, we’ve had the chance to look in on Caleb Schilling‘s process as he developed his Island Castle build over on YouTube. The work was on display at Brickworld Chicago this year, and the completed work is quite a sight to behold! Featuring an array of earth tones, a gorgeous galleon, and an army of conquistador-style minifigures, this scene displays an overwhelming number of interesting techniques bringing it to life. My favorite among them has got to be the design of the large palm trees, relying on 1×1 slopes to create bands of texture running up the bent trunks.

The Island Castle

If you’d like to go back to the start with Caleb, he’s got all 8 videos lined up in an Island Castle playlist over on YouTube for every LEGO Pirates and Castle fan out there.

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Just an itsy-bitsy taste of nostalgia

If you need a little more nostalgia in your life, you can get some teeny-tiny doses from these LEGO builds by Rick Brickham! Rick has taken on the challenge of miniaturizing a number of classic LEGO sets from years past. Not only are these great representations of the larger sets, they are examples of great building techniques in their own right. Let’s take a look at each build individually!

Click here for some close-ups!

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It takes many pieces to make One Piece’s Whitebeard

The pirate adventure series One Piece is overflowing with larger-than-life characters, but Edward Newgate, aka Captain Whitebeard, aka “The Strongest Man Alive,” takes excess to new heights. To recreate this honorable ally to the Straw Hats in LEGO, builder lavishlump had to go big. Believe it or not, this model of the 666cm tall pirate emperor is to scale with the custom minifig of the captain’s number one, Marco the Phoenix.  Lavishlump employs tiles to great effect to capture the captain’s chiseled physique, and the slight gap between plates in his head perfectly aproximates Whitebeard’s perpetually squinting eyes. The classic Islander horn piece makes for a dynamite mustache. But my favorite detail has got to be the use of a pearl gold handbag to connect the blade and shaft of Whitebeard’s massive naginata weapon.

Lego Whitebeard

With hundreds of colorful characters, dozens of whimsical pirate ships, and fantastic ports of call, One Piece and LEGO go together like skulls and crossbones. I hope to see many more LEGO tributes to Luffy and crew’s adventures on the Grand Line.

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Black Falcons are on the move

LEGO ships come in various shapes and sizes and are captained by different factions. Builder Andreas Lenander transports us to a scene where the Black Falcons are embarking on an adventure. The builder shows off with the construction and placement of the sails, as I’m sure those things weigh quite a bit. Undoubtedly this portion of the build presented a challenging task as well as a unique approach to a frequently visited part of a ship build. Brick-built sails are not unique, but the approach here diverges from the often-seen use of borrowed capes and other fabrics and provides depth and volume to the overall build. Although the sails are great, a closer look at each shipmate intrigues me as I try to determine where the hairpiece was borrowed. I see a couple of familiar options- Ariel? Leia? Finally, the water caught my attention. Although the approach is simple, it almost seems obvious now. I don’t know if this builder utilized a groundbreaking approach to depicting water via LEGO bricks, but I sure enjoyed seeing it for the first time here.

Perilous journey

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A gilded chapel for repentant pirates

The LEGO Pirates theme might not have the range of sets that we’ve seen in City, Space, and Castle, but for many AFOLs, the Pirates flame still burns as bright as Captain Redbeard’s chin whiskers. For several years now, builder Marcin Dski (Sleepless Night) has been expanding on an original series of dockside modular buildings that bring to life the Golden Age of Piracy in stunning detail, and their latest addition is this majestic chapel. The façade features some attractive use of gold elements for detail work, but my favorite section has to be the powder dome, ribbed with flex tubes and cupola. Sleepless Night’s modular pirate journey started with a re-imagining of their favorite classic set, Lagoon Lock-Up. From there, they added Captain Redbeard’s mansion and a custom house, and now this lovely chapel to tempt freebooters with its golden façade. Here at TBB we are excited to see what other historic additions Sleepless Nights adds to this bootyful tableau.

Chapel from the Golden Age of Piracy

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Cast off to 1996 with the Space Pirates

Captain Redbeard sails again on this LEGO model by Okay Yaramanoglu! This whole build is a love letter to the classic Pirates set Red Beard Runner from 1996, with everything from the masts and crane to the fast-flying escort and hyper-cannons mirroring the details of the original set. The pair of rowboats used as “air” intakes is an inspired decision, and Yaramanoglu has added some great greebling around the deck using various small and textured parts. That said, those sailors on the prow are starting to turn blue. Maybe someone should get them a spare oxygen tank?

Red Beard Space Runner

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From the depths... of space!

Ahoy LEGO Pirates fans! If this terrific scene of peril an’ plunder rings familiar, it should, especially if ye’ve been hitting the bricks since at least 2009… Still not seeing it? Take off your cosplay patch and feast both eyes on Ben Spector’s loving redesign of 6240: Kraken Attackin’ built for the Eurobricks “Space Pirates – Back to the Caribbean Galaxy!” competition. Every bit of character from the original is represented here, with added spicy space-y flavour – from the crate full of loot about to be lost to the deep, to the colourful plumage on the pirate’s flighted familiar, handsomely reimagined and lending a little air support here as a faithful mount. (A weather eye will have already spotted the repurposed scooter chassis element. No lubberly LEGO builder here!)Krakkin Attackin'
Ben really didn’t miss a detail from the original, all of them amped up and expertly crafted as you’d expect from both a contest entry and a modern LEGO set redux from a skilled builder.
If this cracking creation fills your sails, cast yer’ deadlights on the Brothers Brick archives by clicking the links below, for more ship-shape Pirate and Space-themed builds.

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Yo ho ho and a LEGO bottle of rocket fuel

Seeking their fortunes across the stars, this renegade band of LEGO rapscallions aren’t just smugglers. They’re full-on space pirates, at least according to builder Librarian-Bot. Inspired by the 1993 set 6268 Renegade Runner, this creation was inspired by the “Space Pirates – Back to the Caribbean Galaxy” competition happening over at Eurobricks. The ship’s sail has been transformed into a large beveled wing, still striped in black and white. A large rocket engine has been added to the schooner’s aft section, and the large cannon mounted below the ship looks devastating!

Renegade Voidrunner

Check out the engines and figs!

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