26 replies to this topic

[Mister Phes]

I've noticed there's been heaps of ship MOCs lately so for something different I've posted an Imperial Fort MOC by David Tabner (whoever he is).



He writes...

This is my small cannon fort which I have named Fort Beckman after Sir Martin Beckman who was the later Chief Engineer to the King (Charles II).

This fort's primary purpose is coastal defence; either in protection of a port or strategically positioned to prevent a enemy landing.The fort's primary armament is a battery of 8 cannon set in linked casemates on the first floor. The battery commander's post is the protected raised platform on the forward ramparts. From there he can direct the fire of the battery of cannon. The battery is the objective purpose of the fort. The rest of the fortification serves to protect the battery from infantry assault.

Flanking fire is provided by four bastions plus scarp galleries on the long walls. The fort has two access points. The first is the main doorway on the long left hand side which is protected by flanking fire from one of the main bastions and a scarp gallery. The second is the small sallyport at the rear of the fort which is protected by crossing fire from the two rear bastions and from the crenelations on top of the wall and bastions. The fort has 30 loopholes (rifle firing ports) and 22 crenelated ports.

This design evolved into a larger fort built along the same principles (Fort Boarhunt). It divides into two sections for transport and storage: 1, the main battery; and 2, the curtain wall and rear bastions. This fort did not last long and was demolished.



For more images visit


Yes, he has other interesting MOCs but lets keep them for another day in another thread and just focus on the MOC here.

[snefroe]

i think it's very nice. sure, it doesn't really have much details to it, but a real fort never has esthetic things hanging on walls, windows... it's solid, it's meant to defend a port or so...

i think a fort like that needs to have cannons. without those the fort will be bombarded by cannons from enemy ships...

it reminds me more of desert forts in Africa. it surely has the color for it...

[Mister Phes]

snefroe1, on Oct 22 2005, 01:47 AM, said:

i think a fort like that needs to have cannons. without those the fort will be bombarded by cannons from enemy ships...

I'm guessin ya didn't have a good look at the other pics...

[snefroe]

mister_phes, on Oct 21 2005, 03:53 PM, said:

I'm guessin ya didn't have a good look at the other pics...

ooops... you're quiet right! :P

[Norro]

This thread deserves a wide reply  :-D . I don't care for the colour of the MOC and while it is realistic it isn't pleasing to the eye  (which I like in Lego renditions.)

Ignoring Phes' advice:
He has some nice castle MOCs in there... :)

        God Bless,

                Nathan

[Mister Phes]

Yes, the fort itself does look a bit bland but perhaps if it were amongst natural surrounds like a blue sky and palm trees it would look more interesting...  Hmmmm...  I could experiment here...

[Norro]

mister_phes, on Oct 22 2005, 03:51 AM, said:

Yes, the fort itself does look a bit bland but perhaps if it were amongst natural surrounds like a blue sky and palm trees it would look more interesting...  Hmmmm...  I could experiment here...

I don't think Lego's tan compliments their earth colour selections well...

       God Bless,

              Nathan

[MattZitron]

Fantastic.

It means I can live my dream of having the John Claude Van-Damme film Legionnaire in Lego!

[Mister Phes]

I've been playing with Bryce...  Its the first time I've inserted a 2D image into a 3D image within Bryce so I didn't really know what I was doing.  The final result isn't brilliant as it could use cleaning up and lots of tweaking but I really can't be bothered.  You'll get the idea...



I've inserted the fort into a CGI Caribbean sand bar environment and added a couple of LEGO palm trees (Same ones from my avatar extended version).  Plus I added a CG BURP since I couldn't get the stupid thing to sit flat on the island so I needed something to hide the corner hovering in the air.

[Norro]

Good work! But I still don't think the colour is great for lego scenery...

       God Bless,

              Nathan

[Mister Phes]

I don't mind so which within the context of the environment its intended for, however being a traditionalist I'd prefer the old yellow and white combination myself.

[Dreamweb]

Surely, we haven't seen original Lego soldiers/imperial guards buildings using tan bricks, but it's good to come up with something new on the subject.
This fort has a very military look - no decorative motifs, a utilitarian design, and looks extremely sturdy.

[Mister Phes]

Yes innovation is hightly recommended because if we kept seeing the same old things over and over we would get sick of it very quickly.

And indeed you're right Mr Dreamweb, Alfred Looz would be proud of the design of Fort Beckam!

[snefroe]

i like the tan colour for the pirate theme. it's closer to sand stone than the bright yellow bricks which are quiet unusual for a building anyway. i think Phes' pic briliantly shows how well these tan fortresses blend into the background, it gives, in any case, a better impression of the real thing than the yellow castle of so many years ago.

i do hope that, if the company decides to create a new pirate theme one day, she will use these tan bricks. :oD and i also hope she will try to build fortresses like the one we've seen, but i guess, i'll already be very happy if we get a simplified version

[Mister Phes]

From the majority of pictures, movies and doctumentaries I've seen the forts are made from grey massonary.  

Kinda like this...





And this...





And this...

[Bloody Jay]

It's ok, but I think it has a bit of "Big Gray Wall" Syndrome going on, whether or not it's historically accurate.

[Sting]

I don't like it. I prefer Eldorado Fortress for its nice colors, or anything from those(err... THAT 1990) idea books. I like the smaller more "Official Lego Set-like" bases that people make... not a fan of ridiculously large models(except some amazing Castles I have seen... but those are just giant "Offical Lego Like" MOC's basically..

If that made ANY sense...

[Mister Phes]

Our masonary wall discussion seemed to have went off topic long enough to warrant a new thread.

So to continue that discussion go to Avoiding "Big Grey Wall" syndrome

Is spawning new threads from off topic posts working for everybody?

[Dreamweb]

Yes, this solution is much better than deleting off-topic posts  :)

[Mister Phes]

Yes I thought so, although they don't usually get deleted, its usually just closed.  I thought that was wasted potential!  Threads are like pot plants.  Sometimes they grow shoots big enough to be planted in pots of their own...

Now back to our topic...

Sting, on Oct 26 2005, 03:51 PM, said:

I don't like it. I prefer Eldorado Fortress for its nice colors, or anything from those(err... THAT 1990) idea books. I like the smaller more "Official Lego Set-like" bases that people make... not a fan of ridiculously large models(except some amazing Castles I have seen... but those are just giant "Offical Lego Like" MOC's basically..

If that made ANY sense...

Mr Sting, could you provide an example of Smaller more "Official Lego Set-like" bases that people make...?

[snefroe]

Sting, on Oct 26 2005, 05:51 AM, said:

I don't like it. I prefer Eldorado Fortress for its nice colors, or anything from those(err... THAT 1990) idea books. I like the smaller more "Official Lego Set-like" bases that people make... not a fan of ridiculously large models(except some amazing Castles I have seen... but those are just giant "Offical Lego Like" MOC's basically..

If that made ANY sense...

i would be ok with a castle like eldorado if the design would be a lot better. Let's face it, Eldorado is anything but a real castle, it's a collection of a gate, a prison, a pile of rubbish that reminds me of this structure called "tower" and a few bricks that are supposed to be a wall...

sure, the white and yellow looks great...

[Mister Phes]

Elorado Fortress has been slammed!!!

But that's completely true, its not a real castle, its a fortress  :D

[Norro]

snefroe1, on Oct 25 2005, 07:56 PM, said:

i like the tan colour for the pirate theme. it's closer to sand stone than the bright yellow bricks which are quiet unusual for a building anyway. i think Phes' pic briliantly shows how well these tan fortresses blend into the background, it gives, in any case, a better impression of the real thing than the yellow castle of so many years ago.

i do hope that, if the company decides to create a new pirate theme one day, she will use these tan bricks. :oD and i also hope she will try to build fortresses like the one we've seen, but i guess, i'll already be very happy if we get a simplified version

Yellow bricks work for sand in the right scale...(in my humble opinion). See "Cliffton" in my sig.

       God Bless,

              Nathan

[Mister Phes]

Are they yellow Mr Norro?  If I'm looking at the right thing!

The yellow on the building looks very vibrant...






While the yellow on the ground looks more tan to me...




Is that just the lighting or are you referring to something else?

[Sting]

mister_phes, on Oct 26 2005, 02:51 PM, said:

Mr Sting, could you provide an example of Smaller more "Official Lego Set-like" bases that people make...?

Why yes, actually, the pictures you have are amazing examples of this - lots of colors, not ridiculously large(at least from what I can see!), the idea books are prime examples... any of the lego Castles themselves, besides a few stupid things(6090 ROyal Knights Castle, for example. The throne is totally open to attack... it doesnt have a single wall if I recall... just arches...)

This is a work of art! Beautiful!


Wait, now this is a sweet castle... its ridiculously large, but it has some VERY nice details... just picture a smaller version of that... it could be a fort too...

And yes, the El Dorado Fortress needs work, but its a good place to start.