New project - Tall Ships - Carl H.

When I was a youngster, my brother and I mostly played with Space Lego and built accordingly.  As I grew older and Lego changed from toy to hobby for me, I became a Castle collector, and while I dabbled here and there with other themes (most recently Superheroes), I was content with creating little minifgs hack and slash armies.

Long story short: I very recently got bit by the Pirate bug.  So here starts another chapter in my ABS plastic addiction. :)

The biggest Pirates theme set I ever owned was Sabre Island.  While my recollection is hazy on specifics, my brother and I added a few small sets and minifig packs to that as well.  The problem is I have a hankering to build and display some actual ships.  Might be the influence of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (a guilty pleasure of mine), or the excellent C.S. Foresters Horatio Hornblower series (which I just started re-reading), but the thought of having a Lego frigate or ship of the line seems really appealing to me at present.

Of course, my decision comes too late to take advantage of the POTC sets, but such is life.

I envision my project centered around one of the two classic imperial factions.  With that in mind, I went though my collection and came up with a couple of forces to choose from.  I discounted pirates for the moment, and why will become clearer in a later post hopefully.  Once I pick a side, I will steadily work on both their navy and a harbour fort/town.  Luckily, my castle collection should prove very compatible with the latter.

So, here are my two choices, based on the minifig soldiers I own:

THE BLUES

THE REDS

It should come as no surprise that the blues can easily be called "French" and the reds "British".  That was a deliberate design choice on my part, even while constrained by what I had on hand.  Admittedly, recreating the Royal Navy is a more appealing prospect for me, but sourcing out parts for the Blue soldiers will prove a far easier task.

Of course, I have no plans to crew my ships with soldiers but rather with generic-looking press-ganged sailors.  What that entails I am still thinking on, though it is putting the cart before the horse (as I have no ships for them to sail atm).  But this project has my enthusiasm already, and I need little excuse to play with Lego is this manner anyway.

Lastly, I have my prototype Post Captain /  Admiral:

He is decidedly Royal Navy looking if I go for historical accuracy, though he stills needs some work (I might have to invest in the gold epaulets to tie him together better).  I guess this means I am leaning towards the Reds at the moment.

We'll see which way the wind blows next post.