Now that the third and second place winning entries of the Infamous Steve Contest‘s Small Building Category have been covered, let’s jump onboard the first place winner!
“The King’s Merchant” by Marooned Marin finds Steve castaway upon a raft, with little more companionship than Spinoza, a chattering monkey… and a ravenous shark.
But why in Poseidon’s name is Steve drifting upon a raft, rather than sailing his sleek Cutter?
Well, there be plenty of backstory so let’s get into it!
Marooned Marin writes:
Like all Small Building Entries submitted to the Infamous Steve Contest, Marin was restricted to 200 parts…
While I was writing a story synopsis for my [LARGE] build, a raft idea popped into my mind. I needed a small vessel which will carry hero of the story, Steve, to the island of many hardships. What started as something simple and insignificant suddenly turned into a standalone design. And here we are.
The model was inspired by the fantastic raft thread, here on Eurobricks forum, named Rafts Rafts Rafts by Zinn. Many nice designs there, I warmly suggest giving it a thorough read.
Steve be headed to the “island of many hardships“, ay?
What possible interpretations could we make from that?
The Build
As per Marin’s standard procedure; the build was designed in BrickLink’s Stud.io before later being constructed with physical LEGO parts.
Physical Build
Since the Classic Pirates love to do things in reverse, let’s look at the physical build first!
Specifications
- Parts: 155 parts (with minifigure, monkey and shark)
- Dimensions: Width: 11.2cm / 4.4″ | Length:18cm / 3.15″ | Height: 17.4cm / 6.85″
- Weight: 64 grams / 45oz
- Difficulty: Easy Build (tested on one +11 years old)
- IMPORTANT: Model does not float
Digital Build
Now let’s inspect some digital renders…
Here be Steve and Spinoza, followed by a shark, eager to join them for lunch
The original sail was comprised of two plate pieces
How Spinoza “ended up with Steve on a raft is quite another story” – guess we need to wait for the prequel!
Design Evolution
Like all great feats of engineering, the raft underwent a generous amount of revision, aided by the helpful feedback of the Creative Critics.
YellowFrog observed:
Nice raft.
I particularly commend the Technic base, I haven’t seen one like it.
One critique would be that the attachment to it looks a little disjointed, though, and breaks the illusion of a log raft.
Marooned Marin Responded:
The Technic base idea came from yards on my ships, which are all built from Technic connectors, and what is a makeshift raft then a bunch of yards and beams string together.
To be honest, going through all the raft designs, I was surprised that none tried this approach, so that gave me extra motivation to do it as best as I can.
The log raft became even more “log-ier”
Marooned Marin continued:
Let me now address the troublesome points.
-> The big 6×8 plate
I agree with the critique, it’s definitely the weak spot of the whole design.
It’s main function is to give the raft sturdy structure. Secondary function is to serve as a studded floor where we can attach barrel, container, and where our minifigure can walk, sit etc…
As I still need the plate for the mast and barrel (not to mention the rigidity of the structure), perhaps this could serve as a compromise. See the [above] image.
Base of the raft – on the right you can see what connectors go where.
Marooned Marin continued:
This way there are still two studs for the minifigure to stand, sit or whatever… the structure is still sturdy, and the texture of the base is clearly visible.
Marin succeeded at omitting the plate from the deck
The original sails were another point of contention, being comprised of two somewhat obscure plate pieces.
Perhaps, back in the day this technique would have flown (6257 Castaway’s Raft anyone?), but in the modern age we strive to evolve, just as the old masters did (6261 Raft Raiders, anyone?)
Christophh asked:
I am curious if the cloth sail is one from LEGO or self-made? Please let me know!
Marooned Marin responded:
The sails are custom made. I used old piece of cloth, dipped in black coffee and sprayed with some strong hair-lacquer to give it stiffness.
The fabric sail was also adapted for the digital version…
Towards the Black Seas Barracuda – what fun could be in store?
Here be an animated 360 degree rotation…
The Backstory
If yer familiar with Marin’s past work, yer know he sails that extra nautical mile by providing elaborate backstories for his creations.
Here I would like to share first two chapters of a long comic. These two chapters will shed some light on Steve’s situation. The remaining chapters will be posted in the [LARGE] Tapu Island topic, hopefully next week.
Chapters are grouped inside the hidden / spoiler area. I did this too make the scrolling through topic easier, there is simply too much images for one post.
For those who would rather enjoy comic in a PDF format here is readily available link: DOWNLOAD HERE
Enjoy!
A beautifully illustrated comic awaits you!
This be Steve in Chapter 1 – but where does he end up?
Download the the first chapter in PDF format, the eponymously titled “The King’s Merchant“, or head to the LEGO Pirates Forum, for the second chapter, Déjà vu.
The Infamous Steve Contest
The Infamous Steve contest was the successor to 2023’s Return of the Classic Pirates contest.
Once again the Classic Pirates invaded (and overwhelmed) the LEGO Pirates Forum at Eurobricks with marvelous contest entries.
Marooned Marin selected 31144 Pink Exotic Parrot and 76915 Pagani Utopia
With more flexibility granted towards the execution of the builds, entrants were challenged to submit creations revolving around the escapades of Steve.
The first place winner of the Small Building Category received a LEGO set (or two) of their choice to the value of 50€.
The Infamous Steve Contest yielded many fantastic entries – which creations do you like best?
About the Builder…
Marooned Marin is based in Dubrovnik, Croatia, a town with old world charm and stunning coastal vista which also include a gigantic fortress… or two.
Marin has to put up with this awful view everyday
If you’d like to connect with Marin, follow him on Instagram and you’ll be treated to beautiful photography of his recent builds, plus a Work In Progress images so you may gaze upon what’s sailing over the horizon. Or if you prefer imagery larger, follow him on Flickr, or rob browse his BrickSafe.
Build! Build! Build!
And if yer like what you see, perhaps you’re tempted to build these creations for yerself.
Building instructions for many of Marin’s creations are available on ReBrickable, so you can steal learn his building building techniques to incorporate into yer own MOCs.
Blog! Blog! Blog!
Despite English not being his primary language (that’s actually Croatian), he’s contributed many fine Blog Posts to Classic-Pirates.com.
You could write about MOCs too!
So if you’ve ever aspired to write about beautiful LEGO Pirate builds, but felt that yer English written skills are not up to scratch, Marin has well and truly demonstrated that is not a limitation to prevent yer from blogging!
Give it a go – yer might surprise yerself!
What Do Yer Think?
Are you impressed by Marooned Marin’s presentation standards? Or do yer prefer to focus upon the build, rather than the extended media?
Onward to Tapu Island!
And what of the build itself? Has Marin’s clever use of log pieces and material sail elevated the finished design?
Well, before you visit Tapu Island, make port in the LEGO Pirates Forum to discuss The King’s Merchant.
And imbibe some celebratory rum to commemorate Marin’s victory…
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