Fort Portugal

[kinggregus]

Hi Everyone,

I am pleased to share with you my latest MOC. When I had saw that a new pirate line was coming, I really wanted to try my hands at building a fort.

I figured that it would be fun to do cliffs in another color than grey. I got inspired by the coast in Algarve to make the cliff in dark orange. I also decided to be very creative in naming my fort, and decided for naming it Fort Portugal.

As I wanted to enjoy the build as much as possible, the fort is built on both sides. I have also added some play features. This fort took approximately 4 months to build. It is build on two XL baseplate and this is by far my largest build. Unfortunately, unless I move to a new house, I would not be able to build anything bigger.

I hope you will like it. Better quality pictures are on my Flickr.

Under the kitchen is a barrel, with a secret passage. The passage leads to a secret entrance in the cliffs but also to cave where the sirens are protecting an impressive treasure.

The fort is also home to a prison where the most ferocious pirates are held. The pirate captains have the honor of a private cell. The gate of the cell can be opened.

Here is an overview of the back. I have shown the play feature included. For the purpose of these pictures, I did not show this MOC in the dark (I could not get good quality picures). However, there are lights in each of the prison cells, in the towers, in the command area, in the kitchen and in the cave.

Final picture of the MOC.

I hope you enjoyed!

[Sebeus I]

Impressive playset!

I love the way it's cut out on the backside.

The secret barrel passage reminds me of a Tintin comic

Awesome work

[kinggregus]

Impressive playset!

I love the way it's cut out on the backside.

The secret barrel passage reminds me of a Tintin comic

Awesome work

Thanks for the swift comment. I feel quite proud to receive such positive feedback from one of the best ship builder I know.

I have been re-reading Tintin lately, this is perhaps where my inspiration came from :)

[Graham Gidman]

Absolutely stunning! The best build I've seen in this theme....ever.

[kinggregus]

Absolutely stunning! The best build I've seen in this theme....ever.

Wow, that's quite a compliment! Thanks a lot, this is greatly appreciated

[2maxwell]

Wow this is really amazing. I really like the idea of building the one side. It allows you to build something on a massive scale without it having to actually be, you know, massive. Did you actually manage to get the barrel opening to lead down to the cavern? Because I couldnt quite see it in the picture.

[kinggregus]

Wow this is really amazing. I really like the idea of building the one side. It allows you to build something on a massive scale without it having to actually be, you know, massive. Did you actually manage to get the barrel opening to lead down to the cavern? Because I couldnt quite see it in the picture.

Thanks a lot. I am glad you like this method.

Yes, I did manage to have the barrel lead to the cave, THere is even a stair. Unfortunately, this is quite something which required a lot of effort to make but is noticeable only from a very specific angle, which is not worth taking picture :).

[Gary The Procrastinator]

A wonderful, detailed, and impressive build from every angle. Just looking at it makes you want to break out the figs and set up a pirate attack. And posting all the shots is great, shows you really put in some thought making it top-notch 360 degrees around. Great stuff!

[ManInATopHat]

Wow, that's amazing! I love your custom redcoat flag. You've put so much thought and detail into the many play features, it's really awesome. I like the orange and white cliffs as well, and the fort design is very cool. To me it's more of a Spanish style fort that one would see guarding the shores of a harbour, because it doesn't have the much more common start fort design. Unique, detailed, beautiful. Stupendous work.

[__________________________]

I love it!

You should try specific scens for POTC>

[2maxwell]

Thanks a lot. I am glad you like this method.

Yes, I did manage to have the barrel lead to the cave, THere is even a stair. Unfortunately, this is quite something which required a lot of effort to make but is noticeable only from a very specific angle, which is not worth taking picture :).

Very cool, and I totally get it. Btw, every time I see the title, I read it as Fortugal

[James Wellington]

Wow! Amazing fort. I love the cliffs! :thumbup:

[Mr. Townsend]

What a magnificent fortress! It is so impressive to see a large build like this filled with so many details. You even have the bird in the cage. The dark orange cliffs contrast the bright white fortress and make it stand out. Most exciting build!

[kinggregus]

A wonderful, detailed, and impressive build from every angle. Just looking at it makes you want to break out the figs and set up a pirate attack. And posting all the shots is great, shows you really put in some thought making it top-notch 360 degrees around. Great stuff!

Hi Gary, what a compliment. Indeed, I'd like to make a pirate play set in the future. I will see if time allows as my wife is expecting our second child.

You have no idea how hard I tried to make it nice from all angles. I even went as far as tiling the ceilings.

Wow, that's amazing! I love your custom redcoat flag. You've put so much thought and detail into the many play features, it's really awesome. I like the orange and white cliffs as well, and the fort design is very cool. To me it's more of a Spanish style fort that one would see guarding the shores of a harbour, because it doesn't have the much more common start fort design. Unique, detailed, beautiful. Stupendous work.

Thanks a lot. I figured that it was better to make the flag brick-built as the flags on bricklink were too expensive and seemed to be too small.

I love it!

You should try specific scens for POTC>

Thanks TheLegoExpert. Actually, the upper prison is loosely based on POTC. You may remember this scene where Jack Sparrow is held in the prison cell and where the dog holds the keys to the cell.

Wow! Amazing fort. I love the cliffs! :thumbup:

Thanks James! I am glad you like them as they took the most work. I tried to use a mix of SNOT and Stud on Tops to give this effect. Also, slopes in dark orange and medium dark flesh tend to be expensive.

What a magnificent fortress! It is so impressive to see a large build like this filled with so many details. You even have the bird in the cage. The dark orange cliffs contrast the bright white fortress and make it stand out. Most exciting build!

Thanks Mr. Townsend. I am glad you took the time to appreciate the details. As for the bird in the cage, it actually comes in one piece . Here is the Bricklink linkfor that piece. It is one of the piece I really wanted to use.

Edited March 20, 2015 by kinggregus

[Captain Hannibal Joost]

Great "refresh" of this kind of building! I love the idea of movable part and light, and really love all the details.

However, it will be hard to display on an event or exhibit and show front and back side?

[Simon_S]

Very impressive! I love the dark orange cliffs, they look great. It's also nice that it's not only a facade

[dr_spock]

This is most impressive. The play features look fun. I think the prison may be missing some bluecoat prisoners.

[Capt Wolf]

Fantastic MOC! You succeeded with your cliffs of another color! And all the features you built-in are impressive. You've really created something to inspire other builders.

[Kolonialbeamter]

Spectacular! Can't take my eyes off of it

Pointing out all the great things about it would take a very long while... but... the cliffs! I just couldn't resist mentioning them in particular

This fort is worthy of an exibition!

Brick on!

KB

[Captain Edward]

Impressive playset!

I love the way it's cut out on the backside.

The secret barrel passage reminds me of a Tintin comic

Awesome work

What one if I may ask? I've got a lot of those..

Back to the topic! It has been a while since I've seen redcoat fortress. And it's marvelous, especially the PotC reference. I never really succeeded making a good pirate fort for my minifies.. Might just need to give it another try

-Regards, Captain Edward

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Great fortress. Makes me rework my own fortress immediately

A very fine creation. Pictures are a bit small here, but fine on flickr.

[Umbra-Manis]

Very impressive. I like the cut away design!

[LittleJohn]

Simply incredible! The dark orange and white look amazing!

[ArchitectureFan]

This is a great fortress. I like the many levels and how you have brought them to life.

[kinggregus]

Great "refresh" of this kind of building! I love the idea of movable part and light, and really love all the details.

However, it will be hard to display on an event or exhibit and show front and back side?

Thanks Captain. I agree that is has been a while we did not see a fortress. Glad you like it.

Unfortunately, I have never attended a Lego convention. Seeing the impressive work of other MOCer, I am also not certain there would be an interrest for this kind of build.

Very impressive! I love the dark orange cliffs, they look great. It's also nice that it's not only a facade

Thanks for commenting Simon. As a matter of fact, building it both ways made it very fun. It was definitely more challenging as I needed to plan ahead and make sure everything fit.

This is most impressive. The play features look fun. I think the prison may be missing some bluecoat prisoners.

Thanks Dr. Spock. Indeed, but no prisons is big enough to imprison all these Bluecoats...

Fantastic MOC! You succeeded with your cliffs of another color! And all the features you built-in are impressive. You've really created something to inspire other builders.

Thanks so much Capt Wolf. This is such a nice a comment. I would be delighted to see other builder try their hands on building cliffs based on actual sites.

Spectacular! Can't take my eyes off of it

Pointing out all the great things about it would take a very long while... but... the cliffs! I just couldn't resist mentioning them in particular

This fort is worthy of an exibition!

Brick on!

KB

Thanks so much! As said above, I never considered exhibiting any of my MOCs (as a matter of fact, they are destroyed after a couple months). Maybe, I ll keep this one in mind before joining a convention.

What one if I may ask? I've got a lot of those..

Back to the topic! It has been a while since I've seen redcoat fortress. And it's marvelous, especially the PotC reference. I never really succeeded making a good pirate fort for my minifies.. Might just need to give it another try

-Regards, Captain Edward

Hi Captain - you should definitely give it a try. This build was by far my favorite and most rewarding.

As for the Tintin reference - there are quite a few Tintin with secret passage. However none with a barrel. To name a couple albums with secret passages, I can think of Flight 714 or Prisoners of the Sun. Would we not love a Tintin theme?

Great fortress. Makes me rework my own fortress immediately

A very fine creation. Pictures are a bit small here, but fine on flickr.

Thanks a lot Captain. You may not know it, but you were among those builders that inspired me to try my hands at doing something pirate related. You are one of the person who keeps this forum alive thanks to your frequent builds.

Very impressive. I like the cut away design!

Thanks. I am glad you like it. I agree that it adds another level of fun.

Simply incredible! The dark orange and white look amazing!

Thanks a lot littlejohn! As you mention the colors of the cliffs, there were actually three additional colors used to add variety: tan, dark tan and medium dark flesh.

This is a great fortress. I like the many levels and how you have brought them to life.

Thanks ArchitectureFan! It is true that while I was advancing through this project, I was also creating a story. This is how the levels are more or less interconnected and brought to life.