Even though LEGO Ideas still restricts submissions of any Pirate-ship concept, dedicated pirate smugglers builders are always skilful in finding a loophole in any oppressive system, LEGO Ideas included. For the time being, here in 2022, that loophole for sailing ships is the ‘History’ category.

Hailing from the Isle of Man, a Eurobricks veteran and accomplished builder, Greg3 shares his LEGO Product Idea submission of “The Yacht Peggy”, the oldest surviving schooner and one of the best preserved examples non-military 18th century craft.

The sails made of plates are a bit heavy to be waved around during the light play. Luckily, they can be easily removed and added back

Greg3 writes:

I’ve always been interested in local history, especially that relating to the sea, so building a LEGO version of the Peggy seemed a great idea! I based the build on her post 1802 appearance with a brick built hull (which took some experimenting with but it’s pretty sturdy… it’s even quite swooshable!).

I went for a minifig scale and included a crew, removable guns and cargo. Being minifig scale means it can also be “played with” and used as part of a larger display or layout. Despite being from a later period, I think she’d look good as part of a pirate layout or any harbour/port scene up to the modern day.

The term “Minifig Illusion Scale” is used to describe an approximation of a life-size vessel scaled to relative to the height of a LEGO minifigure. This conversion, however, presents a challenge for builders since minifigures are not proportional representations of the average human. In other words, minifigs are too short and too wide – the front of their torso is a mere 2D representation of a 3D body!

Imagine you enlarge your Captain Redbeard minifigure to match your height, say around 182cm (6 feet). Now stand next to him and compared yourselves. side by side. The girth of his waist would be ridiculously out of proportion compared to yours. Savvy?

To achieve the build in minifig scale, Greg3 used available blueprint of the real Peggy and aimed to match 1 stud for every foot. The real life vessel is 27ft long

When builders aim for accurate representations at Minifig illusion scale, they must accept sacrifices in length or width, or sometimes both. Fortunately, in terms of shipbuilding, the smaller the real-life vessel, the smaller the sacrifice in conversion to LEGO MOC.

This is useful knowledge to bare, should ye wake one day and feel emboldened to scale down Lord Nelson HMS Victory – you’ll face some hard decisions in achieving the optimum proportions during that endeavour!

What is a Schooner?

The Peggy, the oldest surviving schooner engaged in a fight with an imaginary foe.

A schooner is a type of a sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged, and in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast.

The name “schooner” first appeared in eastern North America in the early 1700s. The name may be related to a Scots word meaning to skip over water, or to skip stones.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A model of the schooner Peggy at the Nautical Museum in Quayle’s house

The Tale of Peggy

Built in 1789 for a prominent local businessman and politician, George Quayle, The Peggy was originally fitted with 6 oar-ports and a schooner rigged sail plan. She was also one of the first vessels to be fitted with sliding keels. These three keels could be raised or lowered depending on the conditions to maximise speed and stability.

The centre minifigure is a splendid representation of George Quayle based on the portrait in the top-right of the above image

In 1796, Quayle sailed The Peggy over to England and took part in a regatta on Lake Windermere with great success. During an eventful return journey, he survived a storm thanks to Peggy’s sturdy design.

The technique used for hull is eye catching and quite sturdy, it’s almost swooshable*

*Swooshable is a term used to describe the robustness of a LEGO MOC, particularly when the builder handles it like a traditional toy and role plays sounds as though the creation was in motion.

In 1802, the Peggy underwent modification; raising the sides, filling in the oar ports and removing the sliding keels. She was transformed into a pure sailing vessel, more seaworthy and greater, yet limited capacity for cargo or passengers. She was also armed with 6 light swivel guns and 2 larger stern chaser cannons.

The Peggy, fully equipped with 6 swivel guns and 2 stern cannons… Bluecoats beware!

Some Bluecoats have suggested these changes imply that Quayle was involved in criminal activities, such as smuggling, especially because he had a private dock and a boat house cellar.

Quayle’s house in Castletown, now the Nautical Museum with a boat house and a cellar where the Peggy was stored

However, others argue that Quayle was also an officer in the local Imperial Guards defence force, and this was at the height of the Napoleonic wars. So the armament may have been to provide protection from Soldiers French privateers. Either way, when George Quayle died in 1835, The Peggy was simply bricked up in her boat cellar and completely abandoned.

The Peggy’s boat cellar where she was stored for almost 200 years

Then in 1935, a hundred years later, she was rediscovered in excellent condition along with her masts, spars, guns and even the original sliding keels. In the 1940s/50s Quayle’s house became the Nautical Museum with the Peggy, still in her boat cellar, as the museum centrepiece.

The extraction of the Peggy from her home with the crane in 2015

In 2015, the increased risk of flooding and gradual deterioration condition of the boat saw The Peggy moved from her home. She was taken to a temperature and humidity controlled facility where modern technology is being used to thoroughly examine and document her structure, while stabilising and restoring any damage.

The real Peggy is due to return to public view in 2025, until then we can enjoy her LEGO alternative

Not Familiar with LEGO Ideas?

LEGO Ideas is a website which allows users to submit their MOCs (My Own Creation) and if they manage to attract 10,000 supporters, the creation may become an official LEGO set available commercially, or it may be rejected during the review process.

As we need more Pirates ships, ahem, historic themed sail boats turned into official sets, Classic-Pirates are counting on you Pirate fan to do your duty! Click on the SUPPORT button and give your thumb-up for this creation.

The inspiring artwork of the Peggy of Castletown on her journey to become an official LEGO Idea set

About the Builder…

Greg3 is an accomplished builder who sails to us from the Isle of Man, a place packed with great history and breathtaking locations which would inspire even a non-builder to build something awesome! His strongest influences are real historical places, objects, and events based on historical warfare.

Far from being a beginner, one of the Greg3’s designs was turned into a kit by Brickmania. For his other LEGO work you can always visit and follow Greg3 on his Instagram account, or Flickr profile.

Before we part our ways, visit us on LEGO Pirates forum, or write your comment about this creation by clicking the big red shinny button below. If you don’t have time for writing, and you are all about building and playing, then go ahead and join BoBS (not BOOBS), the best game for Adults AFOLs ever made.

LEGO® Minifigures Series 23 (71034) brings us a new array of minifigures and from this selection the “Nutcracker” might be a suitable inclusion to your Imperial Guard or red coat army.

Inspired by the 1916 story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by Prussian author E. T. A. Hoffmann, the premise revolves around a girl’s favourite toy; a solider known as the “Nutcracker”, who magically comes alive to defeat the evil Mouse King and transports her to an enchanted kingdom populated by dolls.

While the source material may be somewhat removed from the Pirates of the Caribbean setting which LEGO Pirates draws it’s influence, the minifigure still offers a variety of elements relevant to the theme.

• Shacko
• Torso
• Epaulettes
• Legs
• Sword
• And head – if your soldier has rosy cheeks from drinking too much grog

But you may want to give him a haircut and exchange that walnut for a musket with a stock made from walnut timber.

Is this minfig an army builder? Or maybe just a higher ranking officer? Or is he not worthy of your army at all? Tell us in the LEGO Pirates Forum…

Official Statement

Here’s the complete line-up.
They’re all happy and smiling so why wouldn’t you want to collect them all?

The official LEGO Minifigure Series 23 webpage* states:

Delight a child or Minifigures fan with these LEGO® Minifigures Series 23 (71034) blind bags for ages 5+. This unique series features a great lineup of fun characters to collect and display or to take independent or group play in unexpected new directions.

Inspiring collection of fun LEGO Minifigures
Children and adult fans get to say “Hi!” to a limited-edition range of imaginative characters, including Nutcracker, Sugar Fairy, Green Dragon Costume, Snowman, Reindeer Costume, Holiday Elf, Turkey Costume, Cardboard Robot, Popcorn Costume, Wolf Costume, Ferry Captain and Knight of the Yellow Castle.

Surprise!
Each finely crafted, highly detailed LEGO minifigure comes in a sealed ‘mystery’ bag and includes a collector’s information leaflet, making a great little gift that will put a smile on anyone’s face.

When Can I Buy It?

Remember these are blind bagged so this is the packaging you need to look out for

Minifigures Series 23 will be available on LEGO.com* from September 1, 2022.

* This is an official affiliate link provided by Rakuten Advertising.

But this is NOT an Imperial Minifig!!!

The Classic Pirates have deceived me!  ARRRRRRGH!!!

Wait, no they haven’t!

“Imperial” is defined as something relating to an empire. During the period in which “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” was set, Russia did very much have an empire. To be precise, this empire lasted from November 2, 1721, when the Russian Senate conferred the title of “Emperor of all the Russias” upon Peter I, until the abdication of Nicholas II on March 15, 1917. Like most empires,  it fluctuated in size, but at the time of the Nutcracker, the Russian Empire spanned Poland, Finland and a good chunk of Transcaucasia (a region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia).

Oh look! It’s a depiction of Russian Emperor, Nicholas II and his Imperial Russian forces at the time of the Napoleonic Wars

So the Nutcracker is absolutely an Imperial minifigure, but no, the Nutcracker is not intended to be an outright representation of an Imperial Guard.

The “Imperial Guards” being a fictional army invented by The LEGO Group and debuting as a sub theme of LEGO Pirates in 1992. Presumably they were inspired by the British Empire’s iconic red coat army uniform which had a considerable presence throughout the Caribbean and during the Age of Sail, the historic time period from which LEGO Pirates draws the most influence.

Despite this popularity, red coat soldier uniforms are not exclusive to the British Empire and have been used by various nations throughout the past few hundred years.

Nonetheless, the Classic Pirates have brought the Nutcracker minifigure to your attention because it includes elements relevant to Imperial Guard MOCers and army builders. With very little modification, the Nutcracker can be repurposed as an Imperial Guard or an entirely new Imperial-inspired faction.

And that’s the great thing about LEGO – it’s a medium intended to have its parts swapped and/or combined so the builder can create whatever they like, irrespective of whether the resulting creation was the intended design of the official set or minifigure.

What Do Yer Think?

Is this soldier worthy to serve in Admiral Woodhouse’s army? You decide…

Have you gone absolutely nutty for the Nutcracker? Do you think the nut has gone rotten in the shell? Or will he put a smile on your face in pure delight?

You be the judge!  Share your thoughts on this new minifigure with the Classic Pirates in LEGO Pirates Forum.

The Pirates of Barracuda Bay was a ground breaking set for the LEGO Pirate universe. Not only was it a shipwreck island which transformed into a remake of the 6285 Black Seas Barracuda, but it updated the Pirate theme with a gorgeous new design aesthetic. Some builder’s applied this new aesthetic to remake classic sets, while others applied it to their original creations.

As plague swept the earth during 2020, Astral Bricks used his time in confinement very productively. He felt once the ship was constructed, the remaining parts of Barracuda Bay were too insubstantial, so he added to them… quite a bit! In fact, he made some upgrades so significant, his MOC no longer resembles the original set – in a good way!

So let us take a look at what can be achieved with a few extra parts and a bit of imagination.

A cutting-edge rum delivery system – because walking next door is not convenient

The pirates have taken over a Caribbean sea fort
Who’s construction next to Barracuda Bay somehow went unnoticed

Next door is a spooky island hideout, complete with a crystal cave.

Security guards the dock with cutlass and oar

Astral Bricks writes:

Gave my LEGO pirates a custom upgrade.
Uses the base and key elements of Pirates of Barracuda Bay.
The original set locks away the ship’s interior, so I moved some of those details to my build as well.

After refurbishment, the new Jose’s Inn is a classic combination of bar, and grill.

Multiple lookouts and telescopes help the pirates keep an eye on things…
Yer know, in case the Soldiers decide to reclaim their fort

Astral Bricks writes:

The original Barracuda Bay set feels empty when the ship is assembled, so I upgraded my crew’s living quarters. Includes a spooky island, innovative rum delivery system, bar and grill.
Thanks to @mevitsbricks for supplying the extra parts!

Some of the pirates prefer the simpler life – although, Tattooga has always been a bit fishy

Completely unrecognisable to the original build… and that’s a good thing!
Not that the original was bad

About the Builder…

The Classic Pirates have no knowledge of Astral Bricks (Jordan DeVries) ever visiting the LEGO Pirates Forum. His MOC was stumbled upon using Google Image search, impressed by what he’d built, we created a topic in the forum on his behalf.

He does appear to be quite prolific builder who posts his creations to Imgur and Instagram so be sure to check those out, particularly if you’re interested in Star Wars and scifi builds.

But if you’d prefer to to say in the realm of LEGO Pirates, come and discuss his Barracuda Bay upgrade in the LEGO Pirates Forum.

Back in mid 2020 Supersick_ burst onto the LEGO Pirates MOC scene with this upgraded 6285 Black Seas Barracuda, he named “Big Orra“.  This was just a small taste of what was to come!

Big Orra eventually evolved into the Fer Maiden and he dazzled us with his talents once again with the Barracuda Brig. But for now, let’s take an in depth look at his very first ship project…

Supersick_ writes:

Frigate Barracuda “Big ‘Orra” – during quarantine I ordered 2x @lego 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay and built my first MOC from the combined pieces. The original released in 1989 -and the whole pirate theme – was a huge part of my creativity as a kid and it felt great to do an early-18th century frigate homage to the Black Seas Barracuda.

Her sails are full, her hull is sleek and she lives up to her Barracuda name. She carries 16 main cannons on her gun deck, another 6 lighter shot on her weather and quarter decks and 2 bow chasers for a total of 24 guns.

The stern even has a figurehead!

All the guns on that broadside is enough to drive fear into the heart of Governor Broadside!

Features a modular hull for easy extension

The Captain’s Cabin has a desk big enough for at least two treasure maps!

On the bridge the fancily decorated navigator is at the helm

The gun deck is well crewed and there’s enough firepower to take down any Imperial Guard vessel who may stand in their way!

Feisty wenches woman the upper deck – ready to take on marauders!

About the Builder…

Supersick_ (Lindsay Ross for those who prefer real names) made a splash in mid 2020 when he debuted on the LEGO Pirates scene by sharing some awesome MOCs in the Classic Pirates Facebook Group. Since then, he’s joined the LEGO Pirate MOCs Forum and posted some great ships, including the Fer Maiden and Barracuda Brig, not to mention he’s provided some fantastic advice to other ship builders.

To keep up with his latest work follow him on Instagram, and building instructions for (some of) his ships can be found on ReBrickable.

Got any questions? Want some advice from the man himself? Plot a course to the LEGO Pirates Forum for further discussion!

Jack Sassy may be the New Kid on the Boat (in other words he blogs for Classic-Pirates.com now), but he’s had a rather long affiliation with LEGO Pirates.

So he’s no stranger to whipping up nifty little MOCs like “Treasure Cove” which looks something akin to the Pirates of the Caribbean sets released back in 2011. Think along the lines of 4181 Isla De Muerta only with slightly less detail.

Jack Sassy writes:

Ahoy, everyone,

Today I present to you my newest MOC and also my first topic on this site – Treasure Cove.

Thank you for your time to read this post and tell me what ye think about this build, criticism is always open to a certain point.

Jack Sassy

The back of it…

Looking down  you get a complete overview of the cove

The Story

The two characters established here are Albert Van Der Graff, a noble Dutch pirate sailing in the West Indies during the early 18th century, and his comrade, helmsman – John Bones. Together they have sailed into this dark cove to find a lost treasure which could be worth a few dozen reales. While maybe before there were some natives guarding the place before, nowadays it seems they all have disappeared, the only evidence of their presence are the poor souls who tried getting the treasure for themselves.

Is that Albert rowing? or John?

Mooring the boat to the “jetty” – if that plank counts as a jetty

It’s secured good and tight as they embark on their adventure

Hey! Look! The treasure is on that unconcealed shelf about 3 feet away…

The adventure beings… Albert and John begin their quest, determined to find the treasure at all costs!  Equipped with a lantern (not that there’s much of a cave to explore) and an axe (won’t be much use for that either given there’s no foliage or protection concealing the treasure) they will not fail their mission!

Who might that poor unfortunate soul be? Is it Captain Jack Sparrow? Well, it’s not Ironhook because he doesn’t have a hook.

If yer ran someone through with yer blade, yer’d remember to reclaim yer blade, wouldn’t yer?

So is that yellow thing supposed to be gold?

Behold! The treasure! A pair of sapphires with mystical powers!

The treasure itself is a bit of a cheap trade seeing as it’s only a couple of red crystals… but sold to the right person… one might be able to buy themselves a proper vessel.

It would probably be a better treasure cave if it was concealed with a vine or something…

And this is how everything holds together….

After removing the rowboat, the water blue base plates are revealed, however Jack did not see fit to connect these plates otherwise “there wouldn’t be a place for the boat“…  Now we’re uncertain why that is, because from our understanding, the boat sits on top of the plates.

Knowing this wonderful engineering feat, wouldn’t it be fun to pick this MOC when you needed to relocate it?

About the Builder…

Jack Sassy has been sailing around the LEGO Pirates Forum for some time now and has recently been press-ganged recruited to the Classic Pirates Blogging Crew so be sure to check out his Blog Post on “Crown Dominion Fortress“.

He’s also an accomplished builder with a Flickr account filled with glorious MOCs, so make that be your next stop!

And if you’re compelled to discuss “Treasure Cove” with the Classic Pirates and Jack Sassy himself, hit the red discussion button below.

There are different approaches to building LEGO ships. Before starting, one must think about the desired outcomes… playability versus realism. Should the hull start at the waterline or does one wish to construct the whole keel? LEGO prefabricated hull pieces or brickbuilt? These and more are questions answered by Lukas Diemer‘s astonishing build “HMS Argonaut”.

HMS Argonaut! Quite the vessel she is!

Builder writes:

My goals were different for different projects. Problematic was that sometimes they changed within the building process. Most of my European themed finished ships ended up in a similar category. The HMS Argonaut made her first appearance in 2015 as a side project, while I was building a 74 gun ship of the line. The idea at that time was to build a ship, using only prefab hulls and get closer to a LEGO set style approach. The same approach I started the ship of the line with and the same reasons I later changed to achieve some route closer to modelling than to integrate playability. There always were some deviations. Also there are lots of beatiful decorated frigate cabins out there, but I just had to use the same old windows with barely any decorations. My 38 gun frigate from the beginning on was limited in some design choices that I wanted to copy from my 74 gun ship of the line as to make them recognizable as being from the same builder. Both for example use jumper plates to form the tumblehome. Both use the same gratings and belaying pins as well as similar mast tops. As for the name, same as with the HMS Bulwark, there were ships named HMS Argonaut, but just coincidentally.

And here be the stern side of HMS Argonaut. Lovely colours on the windows accompanied by a nameplate below!

Lukas learned before commencing construction, it’s easier to start with a real life ship reference and ideally plans, than it is to just start building, and then later attempt to implement realistic features and characteristics.

Look at all that rigging. There has been put much love and care into building this mighty vessel!

Lukas Diemer on his Rigging:

With rope and cloth there often is more agreed upon leeway, though in the end it is one‘s own decision that matters. hntrains commented that the ropes steal the show. That is somewhat true as my focus was shifting more towards the rigging. On the first ship I was hesitant to use the sewing machine, as I didn‘t think myself competent enough to work decently with it. So I let my father do the sails for the ship. Unfortunately though, my father is less artistic and didn‘t use a pencil to mark parallel lines on the cloth. Once I did the sails myself for various smaller ships, I realised, mine were more dedicated and I started adding reeflines. Tideous work like doing all the knots can be quite meditative. My rigging is often complimented and I can gratefully accept praise. But still it is only a selection of sheets, halyards, shrouds, lines and ropes. For example, I left out the clewlines completely. Some also have recommended to use strings in black or brown, that might look better. Working in three dimensions and using a functional rig helps a lot to understand how the sails work and my two dimensional ship drawings and paintings benefitted hugely, as now I understand what the purpose of the rope I‘m drawing is.

As ye can tell, the rigging was achieved with a goodly amount of thought put into it. Are yer rigging skills as good? Do not worry, I won’t have ye handed to Imperial Guards and hanged judge ye if yer skills aren’t as good, for there is always room for practice and time for improvement.

And here be another angle of this marvelous vessel! Those broadsides are looking hungry to pound some pirate vessels!

There is a perfect balance ‘tween brick-built and prefab hull!

While there is indeed a good balance ‘tween brick-built and prefab hull, Lukas says that there could have been a better outcome:

My 74 gun ship of the line is quite straight throughout the broadside. Here some more research beforehand would definitely have helped, though I would not have achieved such a broad stern. For the hull of a frigate I would probably recommend another technique. Who knows, maybe in the future I maybe will build the L‘Hermione or the Shtandart. What sometimes still bother me is the Stern. I started with prefab hull parts only. Then I had to widen the hull, using sloped bricks. At some time I had to lower the black stripe. The old brown bow I had didn‘t allow for that. So I came up with my own solution and on the finished vessel the gapes that were created don‘t look so bad. I feared worse. What remained was the stern. Looking back now I should just have gone over to brickbuild everything and maybe even use only black parts.

A Closer Look

Not only does HMS Argonaut look magnificent, but she also has a bustle of activity occurring on the upper deck.

Some soldiers have lined up on the main deck, perhaps an inspection?

Here we get a glimpse of what the gun deck – the brick-built cannons are another point which demonstrate this is a project with much love and care put into it!

The Admiral is giving orders to the sailors, or be that an officer?

And here be the helm, that lad near seems rather suspicious!

Soldier inspection – all soldiers must be fit for duty on board a ship the caliber of HMS Argonaut!

The cannons get an inspection too! All of them must shine in order to meet the necessary standards!

HMS Argonaut has proven to be capable of taking on a multitude of enemies, even Captain Redbeard and his crew. Fear not, if yer on Imperial Guards‘ side, there is nothing to worry about, they’ve got you covered! Now we shall end the story (for now) with this mighty vessel sailing away to further adventures!

And there she goes! May the winds blow fair!

About the Builder…

Lukas Diemer or Wellesley or Fehron Argonaut (as he is known on Flickr) has been around on Eurobricks for a rather long time. As a matter of fact, this year marks his tenth anniversary on the forums and some of ye may have noticed his well-established MOCs long before. He has made brief appearances in LEGO Pirates MOC Sub Forum but mostly he contributes models to the outstanding role-playing pirate game, Brethren of the Brick Seas. Besides Eurobricks, he can also be found on Flickr, so don’t be shy and inspect that account with awe and enthusiasm, for he has shared some beautiful vessel MOCs on there!

I suppose ye would be wishing to leave a comment about what a masterpiece this MOC is, if this be so, ye can do it in the dedicated Eurobricks topic for it. Alternatively, ye can give up the gold and turn yerself in hit that red button below to discuss it further. If this magnificent vessel has made ye thristy for more magnificent pirate MOCs, do consider visiting LEGO Pirates forum and Pirate MOCs subforum… I promise, ye will not regret it! (that much!)