Now that the Infamous Steve Contest is disappearing over the horizon, we shall be exploring some of the winning entries.
Commencing with third place winner of the Small Building Category; “From Merchant to Pirate” by Yatkuu.
A gorgeously lit vignette, with attention focused towards blue-steel ambience contrasting against bright, yellow minifigure visages.
Our hero Steve has found himself in a pickle! But how was he trapped within jarred in the first place?
Yatkuu writes:
Being a Small Building Entry, Yatkuu was limited to 200 parts…
Parts count, highly textured walls are extremely parts intensive and I wanted to keep this one under the 200 elements limit. Granted, there are not 200 elements visible in the final shot and the non-visible parts could have been optimized to offset the overall parts count – but I didn’t want to overthink it all because I wanted to keep it simple. The main focus is meant to be on Steve/the prisoner and I didn’t want the rest of the piece to be too distracting.
Lighting and camera position are everything – here be a Work In Progress shot!
Legend has it this cell is tucked away in the brig of Yatkuu’s “Hermit Fortress” – despite the fortress being a blue coat Soldier stronghold, while Steve’s sentry here is an Imperial Guard.
Sebeus posed the question:
This one picture invites the viewer to want to see more but I suppose it is only this perspective?
Yatkuu responded:
Obviously, with 200 elements I could not really build a castle (here’s a behind the scene look at the build)… but I would like to think that this prison cell is actually located in the basement of my “Hermit Fortress“.
In regards to how the lighting was achieved…
SevenDeadlyStreamers queried:
May I ask if you achieved this effect with a phone camera or a dedicated camera?
Yatkuu responded:
I shot this in the afternoon with sun shining in from the right and leaving a small gap open in the cell ceiling to give the “ray of light” effect. The camera was laid flat on the table and I covered it and the front part of the build with a blanket to shield it from the outside light and used my phone as small light source under the blanket to make the guard visible. I was hoping the yellowish light of the phone would give it a latern-like glow – I’m not sure I achieved that, but this was the 40th attempt and I decided it was good enough!
The Backstory
What happened to Steve between his last appearance as a merchant at the Imperial Trading Post and his transformation into a pirate aboard Captain Redbeard’s Skull’s Eye Schooner?
Well, if you were to ask him, his stories would vary, often depending on his rum intake that day.
Once, he claimed to have traveled to China, where he made a fortune in the silk trade, only to lose it all in a game of dice. Another time, he boasted of rescuing an Indian princess from an arranged marriage, only to find her “quite a handful”, as he put it.
The truth, however, is much more mundane.
Steve was caught with goods on which he had “forgotten” to pay taxes and was sentenced to a year in jail.
But Steve never wallowed in self-pity. He took this setback in stride, using his time in jail to plan his future and contemplate revenge against the Imperials…
The Infamous Steve Contest
This contest was another joint-venture between the LEGO Pirates Forum at Eurobricks and Classic-Pirates.com held during mid 2024.
The objective was to continue the story of Steve, one of the LEGO Pirates theme’s rarest and most enigmatic minifigs.
Yatkuu selected 40715 Alien Pack as the prize
The third place winner of the Small Building Category received a LEGO set of their choice to the value of 20€.
Tied in Third Place
Yatkuu’s entry was met with fierce competition, tying in third place with “Steve Origins: Meeting Redbeard” by Oky at 24 Votes each.
A sudden death tiebreaker vote was launched to resolve the draw, with the first entry to receive 10 votes declared as third place winner!
“Steve Origins: Meeting Redbeard” by Oky almost claimed third position
It was a grueling, neck and neck race, but “From Merchant to Pirate” eventually edged into the lead, winning 10 to 8.
About the Builder…
Yatkuu or (Gregory Coquelz) is a Belgian LEGO artist and zombie.
Like most talented AFOLs, you’ll find him on common haunts like Flickr and Instagram, where ye may observe the full extent of his building talents.
He has a tiny amount of activity happening on Facebook, Pinterest and X, if those platforms are more to yer liking.
Yatkuu is actually a floating head immersed in LEGO
Yer also may subscribe to his YouTube channel if you prefer a more audio/visual style of presentation.
Upon more than one occasion his creations have been featured in the trade press, by the likes of Brick Journal and Briques Mag.
And to round out his impressive list of accolades; he’s also a LEGO Ideas 10K Club member… but we’re still waiting for him to submit a pirate-themed creation to vote on.
Build! Build! Build!
If you like constructing designs dreamed up by AFOLs you’re in luck!
Instructions for a dozen of Yatkuu’s builds are available on ReBrickable
Or, if yer wish to acquire the parts as well, Planet GBC has the designs packaged as complete sets ready for purchase.
What Do Yer Think?
Are yer enamored by the beautiful lighting and photography?
Do yer agree with this entry is worthy of third place? Should it have ranked higher? Or should “Steve Origins: Meeting Redbeard” taken the third position?
“From Merchant to Pirate” by Yatkuu
Come forth to the LEGO Pirates forum to discuss From Merchant to Pirate… or spare a few kinds words to congratulate Yatkuu!
