The Armada never had a large base set, like Eldorado Fortress, or Imperial Trading Post.

But what if they did?

Here's my take on what a large Armada fortress could have looked like. Every single part, with the exception of some minifig faces, are all parts that would have or could have been available in 1996 when the Armada were released. There are approximately 550 parts, so it's not quite as large as the Imperial Trading post, but not far behind.

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

I'm extremely happy with how this turned out. IT was the first entry I actually built, but was waiting on a couple Bricklink orders to arrive before I could take pictures.

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

I really feel that I captured the essence of a 1996 set. I used the Mystic Mountain Time lab and Fort Legoredo as my inspiration, both of which are from 1996 and are large playsets.

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

As you can see, the rear opens up, and the side docks can be removed. I built the two side docks identically. If Lego were to do such a thing, they likely would have done the same.

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

All closed up without the side docks. I kinda like it better, but half the idea behind this was to use both island baseplates.

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

See? The docks can be connected to make one, longer dock!

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Oh, and I made it so the Armada Flagship can dock at it, and Armada Sentry can be added onto it, or even two, one on each side!

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Quick! Take the treasure when no one is looking!

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Hey, what's this over here?

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Oh no! It's a trap!

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

You'll never get our treasure!

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Should we go back for Red?

No! Let's escape while we still can! Stick to the Code!

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

I went through about 5 variations of the sail before I finally got one to my satisfaction.

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Between this, my Cross Bone Clipper entry, and another ship I'm working on, I think I need a break from this colour scheme for a boat.

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

"Set" Includes Armada Admiral, Armada Captain, two Armada soldiers, and three scallywag pirates!

And a couple more shots showing off the modular nature of the build:

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

Let me know what you think! I like it, and feel like it's my best entry, but what do you think?

EKnight

Excellent design!  The closed up without the docks pic is great with good proportions.  It looks formidable but could still pass for an official set.   I've very impressed with your ability to build in different time periods and still respect the design language of the time.

The influence of the Time Cruisers and Legoredo sets is there and is a welcome presence.  I feel like the docks would be a bit repetitive to build, I might downsize them or scrap them altogether.

I also like how it connects with the official sets.  I'm not sure about the red sloping roof, it seems to slope up, not down.  I might get rid of it in favor of a flat roof with railings like the Armada Sentry has.

10 hours ago, Elephant Knight said:

I like it, and feel like it's my best entry, but what do you think?

This is not as strong as your Cross Bone Clipper remake, which is unquestionably one of my top 3 favorite designs in this contest.  This design is as solid as you can reasonably get with 1997 parts and techniques, but it simply isn't as visually interesting as the modern ship is.  Or, perhaps I just like ships more than bases.  Either way, you should be proud, all your designs are wonderful!

 

Spain fort, There was never been exist, But you showed us one good like real released set. 

use of bigger parts make this fort cool, and parts like ladder >> reality and I like that.

fort is not much big but needed much time to look all of it's detail, trap door... You made great fort.

While I have never really liked the Armada minifigs or the old style of the sets, I really love this entry, I do believe it is your best so far. Some suggestion I have is to raise the docks up by one brick, that it. Anyway, Happy building :)

5 hours ago, Rogue Redcoat said:

While I have never really liked the Armada minifigs or the old style of the sets, I really love this entry, I do believe it is your best so far. Some suggestion I have is to raise the docks up by one brick, that it. Anyway, Happy building :)

If I were to raise the docks up, then they wouldn't match the height of the Armada sentry set, which was something I really wanted to do.

8 hours ago, iragm said:

Excellent design!  The closed up without the docks pic is great with good proportions.  It looks formidable but could still pass for an official set.   I've very impressed with your ability to build in different time periods and still respect the design language of the time.

The influence of the Time Cruisers and Legoredo sets is there and is a welcome presence.  I feel like the docks would be a bit repetitive to build, I might downsize them or scrap them altogether.

I also like how it connects with the official sets.  I'm not sure about the red sloping roof, it seems to slope up, not down.  I might get rid of it in favor of a flat roof with railings like the Armada Sentry has.

This is not as strong as your Cross Bone Clipper remake, which is unquestionably one of my top 3 favorite designs in this contest.  This design is as solid as you can reasonably get with 1997 parts and techniques, but it simply isn't as visually interesting as the modern ship is.  Or, perhaps I just like ships more than bases.  Either way, you should be proud, all your designs are wonderful!

 

Thank you for your kind words! The red sloping roofs I feel is needed, mostly for the colour. The fort was pretty bland and colourless without the red, the little bits of green and the yellow and blue island plate didn't pop enough for me.

I like ships more than bases too, and have had a lot more practice building them. And of course, trying to match 90's aesthetics, one can only go so far.

EKnight

Right, sometimes I forget how the old sets use to be. 

If this were a real set the aftermarket prices would be through the roof!

Theme

The play features are good, but I must suggest the use of an extra soldier and one fewer pirate-I just expect more soldiers than that in a fortress. As for the modular-ish aspect, good idea! 

 

Build

A good choice of colours, with a nice variety despite the limitations. I think the walls are a little bland, even for the time, maybe a few pieces of that traditional foliage? But then again that's what castles used to look like so I guess that's ok. As for the docks and the surrounding areas, they work well, even with my modern eyes I see little for critique, but I'll recommend some extra cargo boxes and barrels to spice things up (and add a proper storage rack for muskets, please*).

*or let me know where it is if I missed it!

On 7/20/2023 at 2:22 PM, Horation said:

If this were a real set the aftermarket prices would be through the roof!

Theme

The play features are good, but I must suggest the use of an extra soldier and one fewer pirate-I just expect more soldiers than that in a fortress. As for the modular-ish aspect, good idea! 

 

Build

A good choice of colours, with a nice variety despite the limitations. I think the walls are a little bland, even for the time, maybe a few pieces of that traditional foliage? But then again that's what castles used to look like so I guess that's ok. As for the docks and the surrounding areas, they work well, even with my modern eyes I see little for critique, but I'll recommend some extra cargo boxes and barrels to spice things up (and add a proper storage rack for muskets, please*).

*or let me know where it is if I missed it!

Aftermarket prices for all larger sets are sadly through the roof. I debated whether to add another soldier or not, but the line up of minifigs seemed to be enough for that time era.

I would have like to use a couple more of the printed panels to spice up the walls a bit, but I only had the one corner and one wall to work with.

There are a couple musket 'racks' on the ramparts, as seen in this picture:

Armada Fortress by Elephant-Knight, on Flickr

It's a design feature shared by the small Armada Sentry. I tried to incorporate as many design features as I could from that small set.

EKnight

I was thinking of larger ones (like in 10305, for instance), but this is more era accurate, I'll concede that point.

Wow, something very original in here finaly:) I like Your idea and delivery, both the fortress, the ship and the rest look nice, appealing AND they do indeed look like something that could come out back in the 90s... but... i have two big issues with it from the very first sight. 

1. Yur ship takes attention from the Fortress! What i mean is, since You called it the Fortress i do believe it should be the most important part of the attraction, the Fortress should be something that people would immidiately look at and what they would dream of, not the ship, the ship should be just an addition, a cool looking addition, but still, just a bonus. Like they did with recent remake of the Eldorado Fortress for example, everyone looks at the fortess, that the baby they want, but the ship that has been added is only an addition. So... perhaps You should change the name to make it a double set "Armada Fortress vs the Notorious Raider" perhaps? Or something like that. The thing is that ship is not only big, it's a hurricane of eyecatching elements, it's colorful and got a big pirate crest on a sail... and what can the Armada people offer to fight that visual battle? Their flag isnt very appealing, never was. So the problem is that with it's specifil structure and static colors it's overshadowed by the vessel to be honest. 

2. Red as a dominant color for both faction is a bad choice as it blends them together and makes pirate look like if they were spanish militia ;) And maybe that's their goal? Maybe they do want to blend in to reach the fortress. I don't know. And those colors do look attractive even as they are. But, i do think there should be much more differnce between them.

So that's my main issues. I'd say that Fortress itself could see a bit of revamping as well. As i sad, it looks very static, I'm sure people would have fun playing with it, but it's just like one big block of white, bulky and tall. I understand that having high wall make this place much safer, but for the good of the presentation, i think it would be better if there was more life and action, play values in it's lower parts and that the whole structure wouldn't look so historicaly accurate". Perhaps You could make it look as if it was still being build? That it's an old wooden fort being replaced by a new construction, where an ancient brown deteriorating palisade meets the white fresh walls? Maybe soldiers could have some defensie positions in the lower part so that pirate couldn't just sneak by the walls and hide from defender's sight? I mean, You have some small windows in thos walls. Maybe muskets could be installed in some of them?

Also, as with every big Lego building that's designed for battles, it would be useful if some of it;s walls were destructuble. You know, were a part could be remobed with a click of a button. Maybe there's a secret entrance into the fortess as well?

Also that jetty could use some more action, it's looks very simple and maybe that's how it should for a 90s set, but it's not an area i'd call attractive.  Maybe there could be a small wall/palisade on it or on it's sides, so that intruders couldnt just jump onto it from the water?

And the water itself could be protected by some wildlife, a crocodile would fit perfectly in there as it has this swampy vibe ;) 

Anyway, those are just my suggestions how i could 'improve", it's still a good engineering work with nice use of these baseplates and modular elements. Besides, we finaly have an Armada Fortress in the Lego Universe! ;) So i guess i would dream about that back in the day. I dont like the Armada faction that much anymore, but it's still part of the Pirate Lego heritage ;) 

 

9 hours ago, Mazin said:

Wow, something very original in here finaly:) I like Your idea and delivery, both the fortress, the ship and the rest look nice, appealing AND they do indeed look like something that could come out back in the 90s... but... i have two big issues with it from the very first sight. 

1. Yur ship takes attention from the Fortress! What i mean is, since You called it the Fortress i do believe it should be the most important part of the attraction, the Fortress should be something that people would immidiately look at and what they would dream of, not the ship, the ship should be just an addition, a cool looking addition, but still, just a bonus. Like they did with recent remake of the Eldorado Fortress for example, everyone looks at the fortess, that the baby they want, but the ship that has been added is only an addition. So... perhaps You should change the name to make it a double set "Armada Fortress vs the Notorious Raider" perhaps? Or something like that. The thing is that ship is not only big, it's a hurricane of eyecatching elements, it's colorful and got a big pirate crest on a sail... and what can the Armada people offer to fight that visual battle? Their flag isnt very appealing, never was. So the problem is that with it's specifil structure and static colors it's overshadowed by the vessel to be honest. 

2. Red as a dominant color for both faction is a bad choice as it blends them together and makes pirate look like if they were spanish militia ;) And maybe that's their goal? Maybe they do want to blend in to reach the fortress. I don't know. And those colors do look attractive even as they are. But, i do think there should be much more differnce between them.

So that's my main issues. I'd say that Fortress itself could see a bit of revamping as well. As i sad, it looks very static, I'm sure people would have fun playing with it, but it's just like one big block of white, bulky and tall. I understand that having high wall make this place much safer, but for the good of the presentation, i think it would be better if there was more life and action, play values in it's lower parts and that the whole structure wouldn't look so historicaly accurate". Perhaps You could make it look as if it was still being build? That it's an old wooden fort being replaced by a new construction, where an ancient brown deteriorating palisade meets the white fresh walls? Maybe soldiers could have some defensie positions in the lower part so that pirate couldn't just sneak by the walls and hide from defender's sight? I mean, You have some small windows in thos walls. Maybe muskets could be installed in some of them?

Also, as with every big Lego building that's designed for battles, it would be useful if some of it;s walls were destructuble. You know, were a part could be remobed with a click of a button. Maybe there's a secret entrance into the fortess as well?

Also that jetty could use some more action, it's looks very simple and maybe that's how it should for a 90s set, but it's not an area i'd call attractive.  Maybe there could be a small wall/palisade on it or on it's sides, so that intruders couldnt just jump onto it from the water?

And the water itself could be protected by some wildlife, a crocodile would fit perfectly in there as it has this swampy vibe ;) 

Anyway, those are just my suggestions how i could 'improve", it's still a good engineering work with nice use of these baseplates and modular elements. Besides, we finaly have an Armada Fortress in the Lego Universe! ;) So i guess i would dream about that back in the day. I dont like the Armada faction that much anymore, but it's still part of the Pirate Lego heritage ;) 

 

Thank you for your thoughtful response!

That is a very good point, and one I did not think about. The ship definitely draws the eyes from the fort, but the fort on it's own is a bit bland. I added the ship for various reasons, mainly to add play value and conflict, but also to add colour. But, as you pointed it, perhaps it adds too much colour?

I don't mind that they both share red, I think they are both distinct enough. and all the official sets used red as well, for both pirate and Armada.

I wanted to add more play features, but never once did I think to add an exploding wall or something! And quite a few sets at the time had such features, too. Hmm, something to think about...

I really should have thrown a shark or crocodile in...

EKnight

The fort doesn't look bland at all when one considers Elephant Knight stuck to the 90s building techniques - and he really incorporated maximum playbility with said techniques. The problem is ever since Barracuda Bay release it's hard to look at a Pirate "Island" or piece of land without it being in a 3/D, brick build format. The near 2/D, classic Island layout is just hard to appreciate now. Even the old 3/D raised baseplates are hard to appreciate in modern times, but I still love them for their sheer simplicity. For example, building the rock base over and over again on the latest Eldorado fortress became tedious, but the advantages of those bricks are many fold. A trade off. 

Anyways, I really enjoy your Fortress and think the contrast of colors is quite good overall - white for the Armada vs. black on the Pirates. Works. I just built the new Eldorado Fortress and your MOC mirrors many of those features in such a good way. Despite the expensive wall pieces and hard to get figures, your fortress might be a bit cheaper or a tie with the new Eldorado's price (a tad expensive).

I like how you used the printed island baseplates. That is clever. Way to tie in the other sets from that theme. It very much looks like the set we never got in that theme. 

A couple quick things:

In your second and third picture, your green soldier on the wall is looking into his helmet instead of straight forward. It looks kinda funny and is a quick face turn.

And your black cannon balls are hard to distinguish as cannon balls and not just parts of the building (due to the floor being black). If you changed the color to light gray, they would stand out a bit more.

The Imperial Armada have always needed a solid base of operations for a long time! I can't think of a good critique for this, but it deserves recognition.

This is awesome and would make a cool set. It has a real classic feeling. I realy like it!