JMBricklayer Ghost Ship The Flying Dutchman (40001) Review

ARGHHH Mateys – This be a review for all ye pirate lovers out there! But all is not as it seems in the spooky season…

It’s Brick McBricksworth here writing another JMBricklayer review for The Brick Post! This one is a very, very exciting one for me as it is one of my favourite themes, PIRATES! Not only that this one is fitting for Halloween as it’s a little spooky!

The set JMBricklayer have graciously sent me is Ghost Ship The Flying Dutchman (40001) Let’s have a look at it now shall we?

We have discounts for Amazon US buyers, use JMBBP40001 during check out here. This grants you 15% off from 27th October, this lasts for one month.

For Worldwide buyers, use thebrickpost15% to get 15% off here. The code is long-term and can be used against all non-sale items.

The Box & Contents:

As I have come to realise with JMB is their box art is really quite amazing. The attention to detail in the box art is just spot on, after all they want to grab the attention of potential buyers wanting a new building experience and as I have found in the past this one does not disappoint either. The layered print works really well at catching the light on parts of the box dragging your eye to it making you look at it, thus catching your attention in the right way so you see what is on offer. In this case what is on offer is one of my personal favourite themes. (Yes I will still write a non biased review even though I love a pirate set!).

The set comprises of 1100 pieces and is for ages 14+. The instructions are well presented and extremely easy to follow. There are easy to follow prompts in parts where the build would seemingly get a bit difficult or confusing helping you “sail” on through with ease. The paper they are printed on is of a very high quality and the colour matching in the ink is really good. There wasn’t a time in any part of the build where I was left scratching my head thinking which colour piece do I need.

The Build:

It starts as you would expect at the bottom of the hull and essentially you build up from there but along the journey you will encounter many build techniques. During this build you will install a full light kit, you may be thinking “I have never built and installed a light kit” or “this is going to be way too difficult”, on the contrary, it is possibly the easiest light kit I have ever installed, (I have installed a LOT of light kits). As I said before the instructions are detailed in these parts helping you along the way. One thing to bare in mind with a light kit is the wires, although really tough for their tiny size, they are susceptible to being cut if you push the pieces around them too tight. As the clutch power on JMB is really good you don’t need to force pieces together around the light cables, they will hold.

The Bow of the ship has a lot of detail and is made up of many small pieces giving it a very detailed appearance. Although in parts it is not fully connected as this would have spoiled the look and the angles JMB have gone for. You can‘t grab the ship from the front or you will inevitably be having to rebuild the front end you just crushed with your hand. If you want to hold the model, always best to go for the middle as this is the strongest part. You also have to be careful when picking up the ship as there are a couple of small pieces on it which can fall off as they are placed on the ship and not connected.

Now to actually look at the middle of the vessel (the keel for all you nautical folks out there). The port and starboard sides are littered with cannons and one of the longest stickers I have seen in a brick model! I will talk about the stickers later on, you may be surprised what I have to say about them. The ship really starts to look great as you move to the stern. Where just to look at looks great, but knowing how this part on either side at the rear is built, is where you appreciate how much work has gone into the design. The lights in this part look amazing too. The whole rear of the ship is just a really well built high detail area of the ship!

On to the top now where you will find what you would expect on a boat, sails. These are all made of fabric and some are printed with a Davy Jones logo on them. The sails are purposely made to look torn and these have been done really well in my opinion. JMB even provides string in this set just to give the sails that bit more of an authentic look. Again the instructions are exceptionally helpful in how to place the strings on the masts.

Lights:

The light kit on this as I have touched on earlier is a simple plug and play kit and is powered by USB. The lights are strategically placed inside trans green pieces mainly to give it that extra spooky feel. There is one inside the hull to give a slightly duller but eerie feel! This light kit looks best in a dark but not pitch black room to give that full ghostly look!

Words can’t express just how much detail is in the build so please enjoy the photos of it to really capture how good it looks.

Stickers:

This set has a small amount of stickers and yes you know if you have read my reviews by now I am usually critical about stickers. In this set there are a small amount of easy to apply stickers that don’t look garish on the flags at the top of reach of the three masts. But on each side there is a massive sticker that runs pretty much the whole length of the vessel! This is where I am going to surprise you right now because even though it is across multiple pieces and that is my biggest gripe with a sticker it glows in the dark!!! The sticker GLOWS IN THE DARK! Yes I realise I said that twice, but these stickers are such a cool thing to have on a ghost ship that lights up, but can then carry on lighting itself after all the lights go out on the stickers, outweighs the fact the stickers go over multiple pieces! Well done JMB!

Is this set my favourite JMB set I have reviewed so far? Yes.

Was it still an impartial review? Yes. (I mentioned stickers, didn’t I?)

Would I love to review more ships and vehicles that JMB produce? You know I would!

Why are pirates so cool? Because they arrrr!

If there is ever a set you want to get if you love pirates this one has almost everything you would want, so don’t delay. We also have a couple of discount codes and links available.

For Amazon US buyers, use JMBBP40001 during check out here. This grants you 15% off from 27th October, this lasts for one month. For Worldwide buyers, use thebrickpost15% to get 15% off here. The code is long-term and can be used against all non-sale items. 

Ratings:

The Box/artwork 8.5/10

Instructions 10/10

The brick quality (colour and feel) 9/10

Techniques 9.5/10

Stickers 9/10!!!

I give this one an overall build and final look 9.5/10