Shiver me timbers.... You just gotta get one of these...

[twrchtrwyth]

Sadly unavailable outside the UK.
Then again, I shouldn't forget I'm trying to quit this hobby. ::

Are you really serious about quitting? :

[warrenpeace]

Agggh. Sliced through my index finger trying to remove the mega-blok bobbles with a Stanley Knife!! There was much blood. Conversion work temporarily suspended.

Must be karma for piracy of the coffee stirrers. :wink:

Try wirecutting pliers instead.  They are safer.

Got one of those Chinese junks, but the cost was $40 US for me. (~20 pounds)

[Col. Aubrey Bagshot]

Just our of interest, has anybody else looked at the whole megabloks range?

They seem to do a LOT a pirate ships!
Including a 'dead/ghost' ship which may look jolly nice if one had a dead pirate army....  

As for the scale planking, at least it was only a stanley knife and NOT a dremel...
I've done that in the past and that really smarts....

Any pix yet?

[uti long smile]

Lucid - Any pix? Of the mutilated finger? You are one sick puppy! This is not Frothers you know  :wink:

I'll try and post some Junk pics tonight though! I started thinking I could plank over the top, but then thought cutting them off and filling the holes might be better (if unfortunately longer) process. Still not sure although the finger is looking very worried about the prospect of going 'under the knife again'....[/quote]

[warrenpeace]

Just our of interest, has anybody else looked at the whole megabloks range?

They seem to do a LOT a pirate ships!
Including a 'dead/ghost' ship which may look jolly nice if one had a dead pirate army....  

I've got four of them, including the Black Pearl, the Flying Dutchman, the Stormstalker, as well as the Chinese junk.  Unfortunately, none of them are built up yet.  

The "Captain Cutlass' Stormstalker" is a brown sloop with light brown sails. It had some fantasy bits that can be left off.  That same hull came out as "Admiral Skathe's Predetor," in different colors and with a different figurehead.  If you can acquire either variant of that sloop, it's a worthwhile purchase, though it's necessary to do something about the fantasy rotating cylinder forward.  It has the advantage of a one piece lower hull.  After complaints from the toy lobby that there wasn't enough assembly to create fun for the kids, the Pirates of the Carribean line came out with hulls that we modellers have to glue together.  That's inconvenient.  Any variant of the Mega Bloks sloop is better in that aspect.

The Black Pearl looks pretty good as is, though it needs another sail aft.  Somebody posted some pictures on this forum of one that was painted brown and extensively modified.

The Flying Dutchman has one of the best hull shapes of the lot, if you prefer waterlined models (not necessary for me).  It could also use another sail aft, though one needs to find a wispy nearly transparent one to match the ones that came with the model.  It has a lot of fantasy elements in the hull details, but that only makes it a great ship for skeletal or zombie or undead pirates.  That's what I'm going to use it for.

For the dead ghost ship, are you refering to the "Dread Eye's Phantom," one that has an outer frame of bones?  That's a truly spectacular ship!  It's an extreme fantasy, but it's also a great ship for skeletal pirates.  I missed it when it was initially on the shelves at local toy stores, but a fully assembled model of that ship on display at a toy store is what got me thinking about Mega Bloks ships initially.  I believe that it was re-released at some point.

Mega Bloks was supposed to be working on a really massive ship.  I'll have to search for the article...  ahh! found it!  It's the "Blue Beard's Avenger":

http://www.action-figure.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=ImageBank&file=index&id=58462

Won't that be something if it's ever actually released!!!

Warren

[Col. Aubrey Bagshot]

Wow!

Warren gives chapter and verse on Megabloks pirate ships....
I think we could all learn a thing or two from the info he gives, but the main thing is how perfect the ships seem to be for 28mm figures.

Also, because they are toys, they are sturdy enough for war gaming (GW style) an NOT models that can break.

It makes you wonder why other manufactures bother to make pirate ships for 28mm figures?

But at least we have a choice...

[warrenpeace]

I wrote to Mega Bloks and got the sad word on "Blue Beard's Avenger" and "Dread Eye's Phantom" which I'm posting here for your benefit:

Dear Consumer,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Although the Blue Beard's Avenger was shown in a publication it was cancelled prior to production and not sold in any retail stores. The Dread Eye's Phantom on the other hand is now a discontinued set that is likely to be difficult to find. Unfortunately it is not possible to order directly through us.

Kind Regards,



Anne
Consumer Services
Mega Brands Inc.
1-800-465-6343

[uti long smile]

Saw a few examples of the Mega-Bloks kits at Salute last week so decided to invest. I managed to get the Dread Eye Phantom and the Stormstalker from Ebay all for just over £30 inc P&P.

I've now cut off all the bobbles from the Junk using some clippers which was much quicker (and caused less damage to the finger!).

Half the holes are filled with Milliput and I'll see how part of the deck section paints up before deciding whether to cover it over in either 'stirrer' planking or planked plasticard.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Col. Aubrey Bagshot]

The Bay of e....

I too have been sailing its waters blue and picking up the odd megabloks ship...
But alas, I didn't get to salute this year... Was it worth it?

As for the small armada I have taking shape, I tip I would pass on is wash the whole model BEFORE trying to undercoat and then paint...

I can only assume that being a 'toy', and a second hand one at that, children's fingers must contain more oil than a small arab state...

Although I must confess I got so fedup washing the first ship, that after that I just put it in the dishwasher.... De greased it brilliantly.... But not a modeling technique you hear of all that often...

Apart from the degreasing, I would only add that they paint up rather well, and that with the inclusion of a few resin canon from minimi ( which are a HUGE bargain at £1 each ) megabloks ship are really jolly good!