As I have perused the various discussion forums I have been shocked at the, by comparison, scathing reviews directed at the QAR as oppossed to the affection which is lavished on the Brickbeard's Bounty. Is this true? Is the BB truly regarded by this community as being a better ship than the QAR? And if so why?

As one who owns and has built all 12 of the official Lego ships I regard the QAR as being one of the better ships and the BB as much more in the middle of the pack. When compared to the QAR the BB is cartoony, has no front deck, has toothpicks holding up the sails, is smaller and contains far less detail. The only thing I see that is better is that the rear cabin is enclosed but its other deficiences outweigh that one plus in my mind.

So I am curious, do you like the BB better than the QAR and if so why? Or have I gotten the wrong impression?

I prefer the QAR, especially now that I have given it a second deck. I don't really like the old ships. as their lack of realism puts me off, whereas the QAR looks like a real ship.

I prefer the QAR, especially now that I have given it a second deck.

Do you have any pics of that? I built mine last night and I have to say I love it! The ship itself is fantastic but could do with a few improvements but thats just my personal taste.

As for BB, it's a set I dont own but was seriously considering buying. I love the shape, I love the closed cabin and I love the minifigs much more than the ones that came with the QAR. The only reason I now probably wont buy it is because i've recrewed my QAR with lots of classic pirates figs and will be modding the ship to suit my personal tastes and having two pirate ships and no imperial vessals seems silly!

Edited January 10, 201213 yr by charlieboy

@Charlie

My camera isn't working, but the upgrades are simple; The grey 2 by 4 plates above the cannon portholes (they'll only have four studs poking out), you can put platforms spanning the gap between port and starboard, but the bone railings will have to have black bricks put underneath them, so that they're at normal railing height (not the old height, which is really high, just 1 brick underneath each slant piece with bones), but leave an area around the main mast so it's not obstructed.

note; There will not be enough headroom in the gun deck for a minifig to stand

Also, when you've completed adding the deck, you can put cannons poking out between the gaps in the bone railing

I prefer the QAR, especially now that I have given it a second deck. I don't really like the old ships. as their lack of realism puts me off, whereas the QAR looks like a real ship.

Yeah I must confess that my affinity for the QAR is partially due to the modifications I did to it. I added a hold beneath the front deck, enclosed the captain's cabin and added a galley beneath the back in a manner similar to the Imperial Flagship.

Edited January 10, 201213 yr by TheLegoChronicler

I don't own any of the ships (but plan on buying both POTC ships later this year), but judging from pictures of all the ships (which I have studied extensively) I'd definately say the QAR is the prettier ship. The colours are better, the sails are heaps better and the size is more impressive. BB does have a much better rear, though the cannon there kinda ruins it. I also like the BB figs more, but that's purely due to them being yellow instead of fleshie. I must admit that I'm impressed by the QAR minifig torsos (and the cool tan hat).

QAR is by far a better ship IMHO.. beatiful sails, not cartonish and childish ones.. lots of details, a lot bigger, and mean looking, better crew, better colour scheme, overall, if I could give a grade based on 1 to 10 for each one, I'd grade the BB bounty with a 5, and the QAR with a 8.5 - 9.. even the name of it's captain, brickbeard, is something that I don't like either :P

QAR! I have both, and I would not buy a second BBB, but I am buying a second QAR. 1000+ parts in the QAR versus the 500+ in the BBB speaks for itself. Plus, if you order QAR on Amazon like I did, it's only 99 bucks, which is a steal. And of course, the skull sails on the BBB are, IMO, absolutely horrendous.

Edited January 10, 201213 yr by Napoleon53

Oh. to buy another QAR. Curse you, dream of a Border Collie, for making me devote my life to a dog!

The design on the QAR sails is amazing, also. Crossed swords under a crown, what could be better?

Edited January 10, 201213 yr by Captain Blackbeard

The design on the QAR sails is amazing, also. Crossed swords under a crown, what could be better?

And the QAR sails don't have a honking ugly copyright thumbing your eye. If you look extremely closely, there is a copyright, but I had the set for a few days before I even noticed.

And the QAR sails don't have a honking ugly copyright thumbing your eye. If you look extremely closely, there is a copyright, but I had the set for a few days before I even noticed.

Gotta admit I haven't noticed it, 'til you mentioned about it hehe

...

Is the BB truly regarded by this community as being a better ship than the QAR? And if so why?

You will see that this community has very different opinions about it as well, I'll show you,

I prefer the QAR, especially now that I have given it a second deck. I don't really like the old ships. as their lack of realism puts me off, whereas the QAR looks like a real ship.

I don't really like the new ships as their lack of realism puts me off, the black seas barracuda, that one looks like a real ship.

So you see, my opinion is the complete opposite of Captain Blackbeard's and yet I call on the same argument that he calls on to justify his choice,

the only sensible thing I can say about this is that there is no better ship, the ships are not so different, it are the people who make the difference.

Now as for my presonal opinion about the QAR versus the BB,

I prefer the QAR as well, the sail plan is superior to the one of the BB and the sails itself are a lot nicer as well (and on that point I'm on the same side as Captain Blackbeard )

Edited January 11, 201213 yr by Sebeus Iniwum

No need to turn this into a clash, Sebeus. Your opinion doesn't concern me. Neither ship has a second deck, yet both has guns (not so many on the BB) so neither is realistic. Except, the QAR was easier to modify.

QAR for me, it looks much nicer, have more sails and is easy to MOD. The only bd thing about QAR is the cabin, its too small.

Captain Becker

-BB's cannos have movement mechanism. QAR's cannons not. One point to BB

-BB's has a really cool poop deck. QAR's stern is a bit empty. One point to BB

-QAR's sails are much better than BB's(BB's sails are terrible). One point to QAR

So, for me:

BB: 2

QAR: 1

I prefer BB, then. By the way, I think QAR has 12 pockets, so it could have 6 or 12 cannons...but it has only 3...too bad.

-BB's cannos have movement mechanism. QAR's cannons not. One point to BB

...

Good point, I didn't take that into consideration but still, QAR beats the BB, the QAR has a smaller ppo deck but that's also more realistic for such a tall cabin.

No need to turn this into a clash, Sebeus. Your opinion doesn't concern me. Neither ship has a second deck, yet both has guns (not so many on the BB) so neither is realistic. Except, the QAR was easier to modify.

No clash at all

Now,

As I have perused the various discussion forums I have been shocked at the, by comparison, scathing reviews directed at the QAR as oppossed to the affection which is lavished on the Brickbeard's Bounty. Is this true? Is the BB truly regarded by this community as being a better ship than the QAR? And if so why?

I could be wrong but perhaps you confuse the Black Seas Barracuda with the Brickbeard bounty (BSB - BB)

both ships have the same colors of sails so it's very possible,

Personally I would spot the difference instantly, the BSB is superior to the BB in every aspect (IMO).

Anyway, I think a lot of members here prefer the black seas barracuda over most other ships.

Anyway, I think a lot of members here prefer the black seas barracuda over most other ships.

Design-wise, I think only the newest Imperial Flagship is better than the BSB - though I think several ships generally have a better color scheme, as I'm not too fond of the yellow and, especially, old grey in it. I prefer the colors of both the BB and the QAR to the BSB by far.

Good point, I didn't take that into consideration but still, QAR beats the BB, the QAR has a smaller ppo deck but that's also more realistic for such a tall cabin.

If we talk about realism, QAR has lots of skeleton ornaments...this is not realistic. By the way I don't understand why that smaller poop deck is more realistic for such a tall cabin

Actually, it is realistic. What kinda pirate captain would leave his ship unadorned? Blackbeard simply added the bones of those he slain onto the ship. No harm done (figuratively)

Besides, it looks good!

If we talk about realism, QAR has lots of skeleton ornaments...this is not realistic. By the way I don't understand why that smaller poop deck is more realistic for such a tall cabin

Stability, the typical tumblehome of such ships,

the higher a deck is located, the thinner it is, check out other galleons and see for yourself.

Now ofcourse the official lego ships generally don't care much about the tumblehome, the prefab hulls are already a hystorically unaccuracy when used for a waterline model so I suppose it's not usefull to take this quality into considerations when discussing official LEGO ships

The bottom of the hull approximates the waterline, but those new-ish City ships, with the buoyant hull, are really neat! I'm getting the police boat so I can use its hull to build a yacht, I've already made the sail. Unfortunately, I made a simple big triangular sail, not the rectangular-ish sail that most large yachts have, but oh well. I don't have much fabric left.

Yeah I like BB better myself. It is classic LEGO Pirates (2) and has better figs a nicer color scheme and is not lacking in much.

Actually, it is realistic. What kinda pirate captain would leave his ship unadorned? Blackbeard simply added the bones of those he slain onto the ship. No harm done (figuratively)

Besides, it looks good!

QAR.. according to the movie, or to some official images on the internet, hast indeed lots of skeletal ornaments, or hanged skeletons.., but not in the places 4195 lego QAR has..it doesn't bothers me much, but it could certainly be better placed.. fortunately, it brings enough material for us to make the neccesary mods :P

Edited January 15, 201213 yr by Yawgmoth

I prefer the Brickbeard's Bounty myself. It has more features to play with, such as the accessible cabin and so on. However QAR has much better sails. But overall BB is still better.

I have to say that I prefer the QAR. Both ships feel a bit empty but, the QAR is a lot easier to modify, probably why Lego put those grey shelves on the QAR to begin with, and the QAR has much better sails. The cabin inside BB is more spacious but is also more empty whereas when you put a door on the QAR cabin and put in a chair it looks a lot better and although is difficult to play with I think it still works. As far as the cannons are concerned none of Lego's large pirate or imperial ships come with all of their cannons and QAR does have the capacity for double the amount of cannons than the BB. The only thing I like better about the BB is the mermaid figurehead and then again I really like the flaming skeleton on the QAR.