Set Sail With JMBricklayer’s Black Pearl (40002)

Welcome to another alternative review, with the JMBricklayer Black Pearl (40002)!

This one we saw early and all of my fingers were crossed, hoping that I would get to review this it. As a massive fan of pirates and the sheer allure of The Black Pearl. (initials the same as The Brick Post) I just had to have this set. 

Firstly a massive thanks to JMBricklayer for sending this set over to me for review, I truly appreciate it.

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The Box & Instructions:

To kick off the review we shall take a look at the instructions. Now you may think this part of a review is not important, but as all alternative brands are different they also have a different approach to how they lay out instructions. In this set JMBricklayer have really excelled with the ease of following the steps, as they show the whole build with each step in colour but what has been previously built greyed out. This really does help visually and just works.

The set consists of 5 numbered bags but this is split in total to 26 bags over the 5. There are also 2 unmarked bags containing the sails and the large hull parts.

The Build:

This one starts with the hull of the ship and you build the main deck first and its fast to see this one is bigger than the last ship JMBricklayer sent which was a smaller scale Flying Dutchman. This one is more in keeping with the scale you would be used to from the leading brand. The set goes together quite easily but there can be the odd stiff piece here and there. The build process for the main hull is very easy & straightforward. It gets a little more complicated when you come to the captains cabin at the rear of the ship as the connection points are again a little stiff. Mine was too stiff to connect so I had to take a plate apart, install that first and do a bit of a re build to make it work. This was the only part in the main build of the actual ship I had any issue with.

Once the main ship is built it is time for the masts there are a lot of pieces in these parts. Out of the 5 bags 2 of them are the masts alone, they go together easy enough and look really good with the technique used, the instructions could be showing this stage a little better as when you need to build 6 it tells you to build two then another two then your last two. The reason is two you tilt left, two stay straight and two to the right.

As these are mostly connectors and axle pieces they can be delicate but it’s strong enough if you are not heavy handed.

There is one part I never look forward to in JMBricklayer sets and this is the use of flexible hoses. There is one saving grace in this set in that you get a 1:1 scale cut reference. (Although this still isn’t completely accurate but you can do tiny cuts from there and it works).

Something that had to be included in this review is the latest brick separator from JMBricklayer. It’s a mad looking giraffe type thing which made me chuckle when I saw it. I couldn’t help but think if it was a skull and crossbones it would have been more apt for the set.

A good point on this one is there is not a sticker in sight! The hull of the ship is printed and printed well.

There is one part on the finished vessel that is hard to miss and doesn’t look the best and that is the wires for all the lights while through the build are hidden really well are just stuck on the back under the captains cabin and really stick out to me.

All negatives aside this is one of JMBricklayer‘s best sets to date and the ship theme should be one they concentrate on in my opinion as this one works really well if just those little loose ends are tidied up they would be right up there with the top dogs with these sets.

The Scores:

• Build quality 8/10
• Display 10/10
• Instructions 9/10
• Prints/stickers 9/10
  Lights 6/10

In conclusion, this is by far the best set I have built from JMBricklayer and I am really impressed with the final model look overall (ignoring the light wires at the back). I give this one a solid 8 out of 10.