[MOC] Bluecoat Fort - Inspired by Eldorado Fortress

[Pimbo]

As a kid, drooling over the early 90's Lego catalogues, I imagined the Eldorado Fortress as having a vast complex of dungeons and storage rooms inside that large raised baseplate. Before heading off to the Dark Ages of college, I had been thinking about building a huge imperial fortress. To allow access to the interior, it would have to fold open.

So, when I started building again a couple of years ago, this project was first on my list.

The fort, situated on a hollowed out rock (because bluecoats apparently are incredibly crafy engineers).

The rear provides access to the interior. Most openings are large enough for a humand hand.

The sides of the fort come off...

...to provide total access to the interior.

I really enjoyed the challenge of building this largest building I had ever built, thanks to excess time and my discovery of bricklink. But during the build I discovered I had little inspiration to create a nice and detailed interior. And, looking back, my skills were really basic. Oh well, at least it has some cool play features....

A large set of doors is built into the rocks at the front of the cliffside...

...allowing access for small boats to the little docking area inside.

Once offloaded, supplies can be hoisted through several floors to the storage room, using a crane.

On the other side of the fortress, the small windows of the dungeons can be seen. But it would be hard to place a minifig in them through the prison doors on the inside...

..so the dungeon outer wall just comes off, revealing the interior.

Most of the interior is just... empy rooms and hallways... but you can spot the bunk beds, dungeons and governor's office.

The dining room

The armory

The rotatable 48-pounder.

The fine men of the classic bluecoat army.

This has been an excellent study in large scale building, and it has taught me that I really need to pay more attention to interior detail. Since then, I have built some classic castle things, but for now, I'll stick to sci-fi, there's a lot more freedom when it comes to detailing.

More pictures in the brickshelf folder here http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=535371

Thanks for viewing, and victory to the bluecoats!

(..since I don't have any redcoats)

[Staslegomaster]

That's an amazing creation! I know bluecoats are the first rivals of LEGO pirates. Well-well...so many details and everything is well done. One needs time just to see everything, But how long did it take you to creat it?

[Rconn0]

Looks great, I love how you kept the classic pirate color scheme.

[Hartfan]

Looks great. Impressive build...

[Captain Dee]

Aha! You posted it...

I agree that it is pretty basic, but it's still a nice fort and the height of the build really makes it look imposing. The first pic in particular really shows this well. Even though the interior may not be highly detailed, it still has some good features and plenty of usable play space. The dining room and governor's office are nice. Overall it looks like a fun project, and the ship in some of the pics gives it a good seaside feel. Good work.

[Cousarmy0001]

I love it!

You've sacrificed detail in favor of playability, which I fully appreciate in a set. You've added things that would make this an AWESOME official set, though. I LOVE the dungeon dock and the hoist, for instance. It reminds me of several classic sets, that had cranes or hidden passageways that made the sets a lot of fun. The armory is also a pretty cool idea, I might add.

It appears to be nigh impregnable, as well, unless the pirates or filthy redcoats know about the secret entrance...

[Dopplercb]

That is so amazing!

[Sigolf Brimabane]

Some of the details look pretty crude (but that goes with the old childhood lego supply I guess, like my first stuff after coming out of my dark ages), but there are nice bits as well, and it makes a really good overall impression! Looks very cool. :)

[Pimbo]

That's an amazing creation! I know bluecoats are the first rivals of LEGO pirates. Well-well...so many details and everything is well done. One needs time just to see everything, But how long did it take you to creat it?

Thanks! I don't remember how long it took me to build, but it was very relaxing to build Lego after a long workday and some whole weekends. I don't have deadlines for my Lego my current project is over a year in the making...

Some of the details look pretty crude (but that goes with the old childhood lego supply I guess, like my first stuff after coming out of my dark ages), but there are nice bits as well, and it makes a really good overall impression! Looks very cool. :)

Yeah, one of the reasons the interior is so sparse is, a pirate age interior requires a lot of brown. I didn't have a lot of brown at the time, and I had all of it reserved for a huge pirate ship (which I never built). Fortunately, brown is ample available right now. The next historical build will be better!

[ejred]

That's a great fort--huge!

I like the vibe--it says "play, explore and have fun!" rather than "I'm a display model that will fall apart if you breathe on me--don't touch!"

[grum64]

Now that's what I call Awesome!

[Pimbo]

That's a great fort--huge!

I like the vibe--it says "play, explore and have fun!" rather than "I'm a display model that will fall apart if you breathe on me--don't touch!"

Exactly, when I build, I build stuff that's sturdy. None of that fancy stuff held up just by a tile half stuck in a clip.... I can tell you that this fortress was sturdy like a surfstruck rock. But then off course, it has the best architectural shape for it, somewhat of a pyramid.

But still I'll be darned if I let any kids near my creations!

[Staslegomaster]

After looking at the pictures more attentively I can say the dining room with the fireplace are super! But why are the shields red-and-white and with lions? - These are symbols of British redcoats. What about blue shields with crowns? - I saw such ones in LEGO Castle 2009.

[Pimbo]

After looking at the pictures more attentively I can say the dining room with the fireplace are super! But why are the shields red-and-white and with lions? - These are symbols of British redcoats. What about blue shields with crowns? - I saw such ones in LEGO Castle 2009.

I just thought they had an aristocratic look about them - just the kind of thing you would expect in a fortress run by a governor. But aristocratic families could have moved around on the world map between the middle ages and the classic pirates era anyway. Castle 2009 came out in my dark ages - I dont think I own any of it.

But it's interesting to think what would have become of the classic castle factions and families, a couple of centuries later in the classic pirate age!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Huge and classic - well done!

[Tezclatipoca]

Very good build !

It has such a good vibe. It is like it was an expand of official pirate sets of the 90's

Good job !