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I am a fan of large sailing vessels, and I have several around the house, and a
large appetite for shipbuilding supplies...
BUT:
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7075 Captain Redbeard's Pirate Ship 134 elements, 4 figures, US$40, 2004 LEGO > SYSTEM > Pirate > 4+ | | | $A50, 132Pcs Am I crazy? Thats nearly 38c a piece!
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Well, perhaps I am crazy, but then I am a fan of sailing vessels in general,
and it is a large vessel for a low price.
I bought it recently at the Lego warehouse sale, and stood with it in my hands
pondering its value for ten minutes. Id resolved when I first saw pics of it
to buy it if/when it got to $A40, and I really couldnt see that it was
worth $A50 (and probably not even $40). In the end, my wife made the decision
for me (or maybe she was just impatient to get away from the warehouse) and
insisted I buy it.
It comes in a *big* box, and my first impression on opening that box was a
lot of big parts, and a lot of empty space between them. The three hull pieces
(or is it six? The decks arent joined to the hull parts as they are in the
traditional pirates bow and stern pieces) were preassembled into the full hull.
The hull pieces are w i d e. Sure, there is only one centre section, but
thats 16 studs long, (as against traditional pirate centre sections which
are eight), and the bow and stern are longer than the old ones, so the hull
assembly is longer than the RBR, and around the same size as a BSB, only
wider, so it *looks* shorter.
Assembly is quick (heck, theres only 132 pieces, so it had better be): I
think the current pirates line does well in letting little kids have a big
pirate ship... building a BSB, SES or RBR is a task beyond most little kids
attention span. And its easily rebuilt when it breaks during play too.
There are new parts aplenty: The masts (2 new pieces, a main and a topmast
(which is also used for a bowsprit and mizzen topmast), new ratlines (narrow
and straight the same length as the old long ratlines), the one piece
sterncastle (a lovely piece, but way too narrow for this vessel it looks
much better on an old style narrow hull see my
Revenge), a huge single piece
quarterdeck (16x16), a 12x14 pulpit (bow railing), a decorative skull and a
wonderful new carriage for the large technic/castle/alpha team cannon
(affectionately known as slugthrowers to locals in Sydney - and possibly
further afield).
The new masts are nice, and as an exercise I replaced the old style masts
on one of my Port Brique vessels (as yet unseen on lugnet) with the new one.
Not too much re-engineering required, just the construction of a sleeker top
to replace the 4x4 technic brick.
The mizzen mast is a black 2x2x8 jack stone column under a topmast section.
Functional (and cleverly stepped in a 4x4 technic brick for stability), but
ugly. I cant think of a better solution for a mid sized mast with such
strength short of making a new piece, but it really should not be square (and
groovy!).
Arms are one piece, brick sized and click hinged. (Too heavy for their
length for my taste). The sails are different, and nicely packaged. The
mizzen sail is much maligned appearing from photos to be a sort of triangular
square sail (ie triangular in shape, but rigged squarely), but the truth is
that its not equilateral, it is much closer to a lateen sail (though the arm
is on the wrong edge), swing it around 90deg to the mast and it looks better,
or better yet, turn the mast 90deg. The only problem in rigging the mizzen
fore and aft is that the arm interferes with the hoist on the main.
(You may recall Lego doesnt do well with mizzen sails: official pics of the
Armada flagship have the mizzen rigged *backward*!).
Although the fact of a new pirate flag is good, I think the design is a bit
goofy. But once again, this is pirates for kids a bit cartoony is good.
I havent mentioned the figs. Theyre an improvement on the original Jack
Stone figs (articulated wrists, moulded fingers), and again a bit cartoony.
They suit the target market, I think. I was disappointed that their wasnt a
single minifig firearm included. The pirates aboard this ship deserve more
than a single cannon and a couple of scimitars! In any case, when I rebuild this
vessel, itll be recrewed with minifigs. The big figs are okay, just not my
thing.
There has been some negative comment on the new one piece railing (8x3x2) that
is used not only as railings, but as gunports (in combination with 4x4 plates
with two clips as gunport lids). Not useful for much, beside railings, but at
least there are eight of them so you can get a decent total length. (Im
thinking they might be good as railings along a sea wall or similar). They
wont be featuring on my own vessel based on the 7075, but Im not throwing
them away either.
The colour scheme of 7075 is not appealing to me: red, grey, black, brown and
green just doesnt work for me. Just swapping out the green would be good. And
the black too. And maybe the brown for good measure ;-)
The part that I like least is the one piece quarterdeck, brown, 16x16, with
curved sides to match the bow/stern hull deck (The deck part of the stern piece
is the same as the deck piece of the bow, only the hull shape is different).
Its good for the model (nice and solid), but will be of limited use otherwise.
If it was grey rather than brown, it would be much, much more useful.
(Id want two so I could fully deck the hull!).
The pulpit is an odd bit too. I think Ill be struggling to find a use for
this, although the skull as figurehead is probably better than a more
traditional one for a 4+ set.
Its a nice part that the hoist comes pre-rigged the thread tied to the
hook and the drum, with the thread already wound on to the latter. Similarly
with the anchor: No need to tie it yourself another plus to allow assembly
by smaller kids.
Ive started stripping my 7075 in preparation for a proper rebuild. The 8
guns a side will fit using standard Port Brique spacing (2 wide gunports, 2
studs apart), itll be two masted, using old style masts, and it will be nice
and wide!
Overall, I think its a good buy for $A50, and Im pleased I bought it. (The
RRP of $A99 was a bit steep!). Sure,
its no Black Seas Barracuda, but it also has only 132 parts and only cost me
fifty bucks. It is a different ship for a different market, after all. If
youre into pirate ships, its worth getting there isnt much street-cred
(or is that sea-cred?) in its standard form, there is a wealth of parts
(and new and different parts at that), that will give you a lot of
shipbuilding resources.
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| sterncastle (score: 0.345) |
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The Revenge
Long time readers of .pirates may recall the pirate sloop Revenge (formerly the chasse maree Azelma), which was, for a time, the only pirate presence in the waters surrounding Port Brique. The old revenge was a simple vessel, built during the great building boom of 1803. She had a number of features that Port Brique regarded as innovative at the time, but are now - correctly - considered quite dodgy. (Look how the ratlines are secured to the hull! Eek!)
| | The old Revenge
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Another pirate ship, the nameless
brigantine of one Captain Redbeard, was recently brought into Port
Brique as a prize and promptly stripped down. Some of parts were
regarded as useless (no doubt designed by Eise the younger)
by the more conservative shipwrights and promptly discarded.
Pirate Captain Jane Hookhand had always longed for a proper looking
ship rather than the flush decked Revenge, so she (and some of her
more nimble crew - those with no more than one missing eye and no more
than two missing extremities) broke into the shipyard and grabbed the
discarded sterncastle from the brigantine.
For the next few weeks, Captain Jane careened the Revenge and, with
the help of some shipwrights borrowed (techically, kidnapped) from
Port Brique, she rebuilt the sloop into a proper looking pirate ship.
Sure, it only had one mast still, but it looks the part - and has a proper
sterncastle, an accessible gundeck, and more sail area besides:
Like the original Revenge, this one uses the Flybo hull with a centre
extension of inverse slopes - although its now a six stud extension rather than
four to allow for the tall slope tumblehome with two gunports aside (I dont
seem to have any 2x1x3 tall slopes in green).
Apologies for the blurry pics. But until Im at home, at the right time,
on a sunny day, theyll have to do!
(Ill post a review of 7075 seperately. A
much maligned vessel.... but its a pirate ship, and there are some great
parts in there, so its definitely worth getting - at the right price!)
Adieu
Richie Dulin
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| sterncastle (score: 0.345) |
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In lugnet.pirates, Nelson Yrizarry wrote:
Wow! A Galleon! What a beautiful ship (especially the two decks of guns and the
ornate sterncastle). That looks like a complete diorama the builder has there -
complete with sculptured sea and island, and sea-creatures! I wish there was
more pictures :(
What a treat! Thanks, Nelson.
Aaron :)
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| sterncastle (score: 0.326) |
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Its a beautiful ship. Im impressed. Not only is it an actual merchant ship
(they tend to be too rare, since most ships are pirate or military), its very,
very pleasing to the eye. Details like the gold decoration on the sterncastle,
the doors and hatches, and the railing really make this MOC stand out.
The angled surfaces give it a very authentic look. Im not sure what type of
ship it is, though. If you added a gaff, on the mainmast, itd be a small brig,
though.
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| sterncastle (score: 0.312) |
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In lugnet.pirates, Justin Harvey wrote:
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after getting back to the theme I aways loved. (pirates) I made this ship,
enjoy. HMS Victoria is a 32 gun man of war. more pictures are coming. :-)
http://www.harveynet.nu/justin/gallery/legos/pirates/hmsvictoria.html
http://www.harveynet.nu/justin/
:-)
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Ahoy!
32 guns? Nice work getting so many guns in!
And very nice work on the sterncastle... Ill swing the old spyglass onto her
shortly!
Cheers
Richie Dulin
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