Getting my Pirates layout setup

[PxChris]

2 hours ago, Ultimo said:

That's simply fantastic. Memories of looking through the early 90s catalogues are returning to my mind!

Thank you!

[jan kusters]

This has grown into an awesome display!

[PxChris]

6 hours ago, jan kusters said:

This has grown into an awesome display!

Thank you kindly!

I'm pretty happy with it myself!

[evancelt]

Impressive collection @PxChris! All my sets have long been parted out into pieces - fun to see them together again!

[PxChris]

I've always been very fond of the small Imperial fort featured in the 1990 LEGO Ideas Book 260 so I gathered up all of the pieces for it from my extra parts and built it so that I can display it eventually alongside all of my official Bluecoats sets. Unfortunately I don't have room in my current layout (as evidenced in the pictures above) but I'll have it ready for when I either do a re-arrangement of the layout or if I do a larger display at a convention or something.

(The only thing I don't have to be able to display this 100% complete with all of the other sets is an extra Governor minifigure.)

 

 

On 4/24/2021 at 6:54 AM, evancelt said:

Impressive collection @PxChris! All my sets have long been parted out into pieces - fun to see them together again!

Thanks Evan! I'm always impressed by all of your MOCs and you definitely put the pieces to good use. I'm not much of a MOC builder myself (though I do dabble from time to time) so I get my enjoyment out of the display of official models. 

[PxChris]

Well, it just didn't seem right to have the Imperial fort from the 1990 LEGO Ideas book 260 and not to have the little Pirate ship as well... So I remedied that today! 

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by PxChris

[jan kusters]

On 4/26/2021 at 3:56 PM, PxChris said:

I've always been very fond of the small Imperial fort featured in the 1990 LEGO Ideas Book 260 so I gathered up all of the pieces for it from my extra parts and built it so that I can display it eventually alongside all of my official Bluecoats sets. Unfortunately I don't have room in my current layout (as evidenced in the pictures above) but I'll have it ready for when I either do a re-arrangement of the layout or if I do a larger display at a convention or something.

(The only thing I don't have to be able to display this 100% complete with all of the other sets is an extra Governor minifigure.)

 

 

Thanks Evan! I'm always impressed by all of your MOCs and you definitely put the pieces to good use. I'm not much of a MOC builder myself (though I do dabble from time to time) so I get my enjoyment out of the display of official models. 

Ow this one is good! I am looking for a small soldiers-base for my Pirates, and this one is surprising complete! A small dock, a building that could be used for quarters or a brig, and even a watch tower. I love these small builds anyway (that small boat looks pretty good too, and with brick build sails!).

Stupid thing; I have collected scans of all those old Idea books, but I keep forgetting to go through them when I need something...

At present I am looking at two rather cheap old Imperial sets for my display (Sabre Island and Broadside's Brigg). A quick check looks like they provide 3/4 of the parts for this fortress, with some extra possibilities. Throw in a couple of rock burps for missing panels, and I should be there...

Although I keep having my doubts about those often used rooftop canons...

 

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by jan kusters

[PxChris]

I've been experimenting around a bunch with adding some "action" to my classic Pirates layout. Firing cannons, exploding barrels, and a lot of translucent studs for some more dynamic water. It's hard to tell from the photos, but I've also tiled the ships a bit with some strategically placed plates underneath. Looks better in person to me at least.

This is very much a work-in-progress stage and really just playing around with various ideas. But I definitely feel that it helps the layout! Thoughts?

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by PxChris

[Jack Sassy]

A good call.  We'll see how the battle is going to end... 

[PxChris]

Was thrilled to be able to add the Ladybird storybooks from 1990 to the collection! They pair so spectacularly with The Golden Medallion comic.

 

[PxChris]

I haven't been posting frequent updates to here about my layout but I have been continuing to work on it over the past year and a half with the goal of having a huge (at least 6 feet of table space) Classic Pirates layout for our Bricks Cascade convention here in Oregon. These plans are finally starting to come to head as official theme planning for the convention (which is in March 2022) has begun. The plans for the display have continued to morph and grow over the months and I'm very excited to see all of this come together in a display that really shows off the awesomeness that is Classic Pirates!

[evancelt]

Excited to see pics of the display you put together Chris!

[AViewToALego]

On 4/26/2021 at 3:56 PM, PxChris said:

I've always been very fond of the small Imperial fort featured in the 1990 LEGO Ideas Book 260 so I gathered up all of the pieces for it from my extra parts and built it so that I can display it eventually alongside all of my official Bluecoats sets. Unfortunately I don't have room in my current layout (as evidenced in the pictures above) but I'll have it ready for when I either do a re-arrangement of the layout or if I do a larger display at a convention or something.

(The only thing I don't have to be able to display this 100% complete with all of the other sets is an extra Governor minifigure.)

 

I love it! it's so brilliant in it's simplicity. One of the things I liked about the early Pirates were the consistency in the color schemes. You could buy a couple of Broadsides Brig's or Sabre Islands and combine them to create something that somewhat resembled Eldorado fortress. And, of course, they were more generous with minifigures back then. Imperial Soldiers rule!!

 

[zinnn]

On 5/25/2021 at 2:46 PM, PxChris said:

 

 

LOVE THIS!

[PxChris]

On 12/10/2021 at 1:11 PM, AViewToALego said:

I love it! it's so brilliant in it's simplicity. One of the things I liked about the early Pirates were the consistency in the color schemes. You could buy a couple of Broadsides Brig's or Sabre Islands and combine them to create something that somewhat resembled Eldorado fortress. And, of course, they were more generous with minifigures back then. Imperial Soldiers rule!!

 

 

22 hours ago, zinnn said:

LOVE THIS!

Thank you both.

I have been hard at work on my large layout for the convention coming up in March. The primary Pirates layout will be a minimum of 6 feet in length, but I can easily go up to 8 feet if I have enough continuous table space. I've been working on a large amount of ephemera and additional things such as informational plaques to add to the display to really flesh it out. I'm also taking the initial steps to experiment with adding some lighting to the display.

In addition to all of that, I've also taken on adding a full display layout of the Islanders! This has been a fun secondary addition to add into my plans.

I really can't wait to see the culmination of all of this coming together and to be able to show it to you all!

[Filibbooo]

This is soooo nice. Really classic! Never "old-fashioned"! This pirates periode was the best up to now!

Really a precious collection!!

[SBCMayor]

I know it's been over 3 years since someone has commented on this post, but to @PxChris bravo!!! This setup you have is just awesome. I've what you did with the mirroring Sabre Island outposts, and I was actually going to do the same thing with them flanking the Lagoon Lockup!

Did you ever get the Rock Island Refuge set? 

 

[PxChris]

12 hours ago, SBCMayor said:

I know it's been over 3 years since someone has commented on this post, but to @PxChris bravo!!! This setup you have is just awesome. I've what you did with the mirroring Sabre Island outposts, and I was actually going to do the same thing with them flanking the Lagoon Lockup!

Did you ever get the Rock Island Refuge set? 

 

Better late than never... 

Yes, I have long since completed collecting the entirety of the 1989-1997 Classic Pirates theme!

You might want to check out some of the other updates on other threads I've made since.

 

[SBCMayor]

2 hours ago, PxChris said:

Better late than never... 

Yes, I have long since completed collecting the entirety of the 1989-1997 Classic Pirates theme!

You might want to check out some of the other updates on other threads I've made since.

 

Thank you for sharing those! I might have found them eventually over the next couple weeks, but it helps to have them all in one place! I'll def check them out! 

 

I'm not looking to do anything over the top. No conventions, I'm not boxing it all up to set up a display for others to enjoy. I think that is very commendable though. Sharing this with others is awesome and you never know who you're going to inspire when you do something like that. I just don't have the bandwidth and while I definitely have the passion, I'd actually consider myself a novice when it comes to collecting. 

I have a room in my home that is more or less a dedicated Lego room and along one wall I have a countertop that is 23" by 138" so a nice size for an easily assembled display. It'll be against a plain white painted wall backdrop, and I've wondered how realistic it would be to try to capture that same purple/grey style sky in the background of the original set box art and instructions (I'm actually color blind so light purple/grey may not be the actual color scheme but it's what I see). I'd love to print that on some nice firm stationary and just tack it to the wall behind the setup. We'll see though.