[SR - FB] The El Barro Fortress

[Fraunces]

Somewhere in the midst of the Brick Seas... One will find a place where parrots, monkeys, sea rats and traders all live together in harmony under the protection of the code [more of a guideline really] ;

 

Captain K; Hey! How come we never find any hidden treasures anymore and never take anyone's ship! I thought we were signing up to the pirate faction? We had more fun taking bluecoat-booty during the Terraversan war.

Lothario Fraunces; We are sea rats; and you lot signed up to the Fraunces command. Therefore, take notice: we are more than mere unintelligent sea-robbers, we gather & build, we store & we trade; it is called capitalism! Pure and simple. See it as upgraded stealing! Did none of ye read Smith?

Lefeau; 'Who?'

Lothario Fraunces; Silence you unwashed baboon! Now gather round and hear us out; I believe New Nassau to be the perfect place to enhance our operations around these waters. The seas are bubbling with war and the supply steams grow greater everyday. If we can't overprice our goods to needy colonist, another warring faction will bid even more for our mostly fair-begotten booty.

With all the employed Sea Rats gathered, Fraunces enlightened his henchmen on how to proceed. The meeting was held deep under the fortress, in his personal wine cellar. 

This is also the place where the most valuable goods are stored safe behind bars.. The fortress on top serves as a fortified Sea Rat trading hub and black market exchange site, strategically build between the Sereen Cay and the secret rovers hideout in the new seas, Black Rock. On top of the old rudder of the sunken Octopus I, plans are drafted to take advantage of the seas while the other factions wage war against more uninteresting factions.

Suddenly; a crackling sound disturbs the marketing-pitch;

Pirate Lefeau; 'Why is that wall moving? Who's there?'

Lothario Fraunces; That's a small trick of ours. This fortress is via a secret cave network connected to all our mayor hubs in this town. In case of an attack you know, or if we need to move peculiar items around.. So don't hang it on the high clock! Captain K, I believe this is one of your crewmates just arriving now from the docks bringing my long-awaited invitation to join the Sea Rat of the Year Award in 623!

 

This fortress is of commercial interest to the Fraunces Family; it is a long awaited house for serious trade for the free merchants who are passing through. The builders where compensated for their troubles with double rations of grog. The result is most impressive:

 

 

 

 

The El Barro Fortress: rum barrels from all winds being brought in, musicians come and play in the central square, high-dining on top of the entrance tower, the Sea Rat flag waiving smoothly in the wind, all a buccaneer can ask for.

 

More pictures here matey;

Spoiler

The wine cellar from above, notice the hidden door opening up to the watery cave system of the town to transport messages and good out of sight of the populace:

The locker;

The way to the main ground, also the storage for weapons;

 

The cook in the round tower:

 

The backside: Notice the hidden passage under the main gate;

 

 

 

 

 

And yes, ofcourse heavily influenced by a childhood favorite: the famous bluecoat Eldorado Fortress. Hope you like my pirate-adaptation.

Edited June 14, 2023 by Fraunces

[CapOnBOBS]

3 hours ago, Fraunces said:

And yes, of course heavily influenced by a childhood favorite: the famous bluecoat Eldorado Fortress. Hope you like my pirate-adaptation.

I LOVE your pirate adaptation of it! That is my all time favorite lego set and this is a BEAUTIFUL update. Every little detail throughout is great! I see all the little elements of the original brought back in really well executed detail. The working crane, the rounded tower. THIS really is a beautiful build!

[NOD]

From all sides it is a beautiful fortress! Very nice how the fortress was integrated on the rocky ground. I like the architecture of the different towers and buildings. The wine cellar is beautifully built and well furnished. The secret cave network is a great idea. Great story, you have my vote for the Sea Rat of the Year award in 623.

[Yperio_Bricks]

I can only second the others! It's really a great build and a great reminiscence of the Eldorado fortress, updated with todays bricks and techniques.

My favorite part is the crane (tower) and the wine cellar with its big barrels The custom flag looks great too!

[Professor Thaum]

Hats off mate !

A great lovely build.

Perhaps @Captain Braunsfeld could have a look ? 😉

[Ross Fisher]

Lovely build. Really nicely done!

[Keymonus]

Awesome fort! The El Dorado vibes are clear, the photos are great (especially the one from the base of the tower) and nice details all over the build! As always happens the narrow corridor and the closed room must have been very difficult to photograph, but the result is nice! I’m looking forward to seeing where your story will go!

[Fraunces]

On 12/25/2022 at 3:29 AM, CapOnBOBS said:

I LOVE your pirate adaptation of it! That is my all time favorite lego set and this is a BEAUTIFUL update. Every little detail throughout is great! I see all the little elements of the original brought back in really well executed detail. The working crane, the rounded tower. THIS really is a beautiful build!

Thank you, means a lot, I saw your build as well but I wanted something more compact like the original. So many ideas float around on the internet so I incorporated a lot of stuff from other builders as well. Glad you like it.

On 12/25/2022 at 4:27 AM, NOD said:

From all sides it is a beautiful fortress! Very nice how the fortress was integrated on the rocky ground. I like the architecture of the different towers and buildings. The wine cellar is beautifully built and well furnished. The secret cave network is a great idea. Great story, you have my vote for the Sea Rat of the Year award in 623.

 

thanks a lot for the comment, and yes, the basement took more time than I wanted it to, it was difficult to make it modular. But reading your comment I am happy I took some more time for the basement. Ok, so let's see if we have any more participants for the contest  I'll see if we can set up a small mini-challenge 

On 12/25/2022 at 3:02 PM, Yperio_Bricks said:

I can only second the others! It's really a great build and a great reminiscence of the Eldorado fortress, updated with todays bricks and techniques.

My favorite part is the crane (tower) and the wine cellar with its big barrels The custom flag looks great too!

thank you, glad you like it !

On 12/26/2022 at 12:06 PM, Professor Thaum said:

Hats off mate !

A great lovely build.

Many thanks comrade! 

3 hours ago, Keymonus said:

Awesome fort! The El Dorado vibes are clear, the photos are great (especially the one from the base of the tower) and nice details all over the build! As always happens the narrow corridor and the closed room must have been very difficult to photograph, but the result is nice! I’m looking forward to seeing where your story will go!

Thank you for the kind words, it took some time making some good photographs which is difficult for everyone I imagine. But at some point i just put them online, fairly happy now, but I'll try to improve as always in future updates to my sigfigs story 

[Kwatchi]

Lovely

[Kai NRG]

This is really cool, lots of stuff going on!  I love the way you did the sandy beach and the red roofs really add some fun color!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Fine entry! 

[Krol Zmija Sebastian]

Great construct.

[Fraunces]

On 12/27/2022 at 8:13 PM, Kwatchi said:

Lovely

 

56 minutes ago, Viper Knight said:

Great construct.

 

On 12/28/2022 at 6:55 AM, Kai NRG said:

This is really cool, lots of stuff going on!  I love the way you did the sandy beach and the red roofs really add some fun color!

 

14 hours ago, Captain Braunsfeld said:

Fine entry! 

That's amazing! Thanks guys for the praise. It was a lot of fun building it and even more to know more people like it. Thanks a lot.

[BlackGloveBricks]

Always enjoy a modern take on the classic Pirates theme. 

Nicely done here! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

[LM71Blackbird]

Nice to see the Fraunces' are exploring more options for honest trade!

Impressive build with lots of cool details. I'm always a fan of big builds and the scale is well excuted.

[Fraunces]

On 12/31/2022 at 3:11 PM, BlackGloveBricks said:

Always enjoy a modern take on the classic Pirates theme. 

Nicely done here! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

you won't have to wait long, plenty of ideas on the brick seas...

thanks for the comment.

On 1/4/2023 at 12:18 AM, LM71Blackbird said:

Nice to see the Fraunces' are exploring more options for honest trade!

Impressive build with lots of cool details. I'm always a fan of big builds and the scale is well excuted.

me too, and thank you for the kind words. 

ahh yes, there is that strange word with many meanings again; 'honest'.. Might look up the exact meaning someday in the library of Bastion, if there even is one