[MOC] Watch tower for the Dragon Fortress (new photos added - see post from 23th October 2025)

[The Reader]

This is my latest MOC, a watch tower for the Dragon Fortress (set 7419), meant as an extension for the Adventurers' Orient Expedition subtheme. I got the inspiration for this MOC from Ninjago set 71795 "Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores". The tower is a bit taller than the Dragon Fortress itself. Instead of the red horse battle helmets (part 6125) I used modern cattle skulls (part 13695) for decoration. The tree is built in the Dino Island subtheme style. 

As always, comments and critics are very welcome.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2025 by The Reader

[Slegengr]

@The Reader Great side build for the Dragon Fortress!
The tower is immediately recognizable from the source reference.  Stepping the roof in at each level gives such a great appearance and shaping to the tower.  That is a nice inclusion with the roof over the doorway similar to the original Ninja sets from the late 90's.  I also like the basic, mostly empty interior much the same as sets of that era where they could be expanded upon and detailed according to the preferences of each builder.

Though they are a bit chunky and simple, the trees in the style of Dino Island are okay here with a nice tie-in to other Adventurers designs.

One thing I'd like to see is the use of this printed panel instead of the plain dark gray one:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=30156px2#T=S&C=10&O={"color":10,"ss":"US","rpp":"100","iconly":0}
It also would be nice if the tower actually connected directly to the original set somehow... maybe that is for a later day with the addition of a wall extension that ties into the fortress battlements.

A new piece to me is the cow skull piece in red; I was not aware that existed (probably due to Ninjago somewhere along the line?).  Though I do not like it quite as well as the original Dragon Masters horse headgear, it does work well enough as a modern replacement.

Over several years now, I've had plans to expand upon the original sets similar to this (especially for the Dragon Fortress), but I have not had the time yet to actually build from my dreams yet.  Most of my LEGO time today is spent sorting vintage sets and building them with my nephews.

Edit: I just read your description and realized I did not read it before commenting, so a few of my points are redundant from your description!

Edited October 2, 2025 by Slegengr

[Feuer Zug]

Solid build fitting of the time period and style. Well done.

[The Reader]

@Feuer ZugThank you very much!

@SlegengrThank you so much for your detailed feedback. 

On 10/2/2025 at 11:48 PM, Slegengr said:

The tower is immediately recognizable from the source reference.  Stepping the roof in at each level gives such a great appearance and shaping to the tower.  That is a nice inclusion with the roof over the doorway similar to the original Ninja sets from the late 90's. 

You have a good view for the details of the tower. Those three upper levels with a height of seven bricks and one plate each (according to the Dragon Fortress) made the tower in the end higher than the Dragon Fortress itself. You can see that I skipped the row with the sand green bricks in the upper level to reduce its height at least a bit. 

On 10/2/2025 at 11:48 PM, Slegengr said:

I also like the basic, mostly empty interior much the same as sets of that era where they could be expanded upon and detailed according to the preferences of each builder.

Yes, I love to fill those empty spaces in classic sets. 

On 10/2/2025 at 11:48 PM, Slegengr said:

Though they are a bit chunky and simple, the trees in the style of Dino Island are okay here with a nice tie-in to other Adventurers designs.

And I think this tree looks a bit like an oversized bonsai.

On 10/2/2025 at 11:48 PM, Slegengr said:

One thing I'd like to see is the use of this printed panel instead of the plain dark gray one:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=30156px2#T=S&C=10&O={"color":10,"ss":"US","rpp":"100","iconly":0}
It also would be nice if the tower actually connected directly to the original set somehow... maybe that is for a later day with the addition of a wall extension that ties into the fortress battlements.

You made me spent money on BL. I ordered two of those printed panels, two 8x16 light gray baseplates and some of those inverted 2x1x3 slopes (Part ID 2449). I will place the watch tower on one of those baseplates (instead of the 8x16 brick it stands on) and use the other baseplate to build a connecting wall segment between the Dragon Fortress and the watch tower. Thank you for your tipp!

On 10/2/2025 at 11:48 PM, Slegengr said:

Over several years now, I've had plans to expand upon the original sets similar to this (especially for the Dragon Fortress),

That's my style of MOCing - building extensions for the original Adventurers' sets. I love it!

Thanks again for your thoughts! 

[Slegengr]

On 10/11/2025 at 12:55 PM, The Reader said:

You have a good view for the details of the tower. Those three upper levels with a height of seven bricks and one plate each (according to the Dragon Fortress) made the tower in the end higher than the Dragon Fortress itself. You can see that I skipped the row with the sand green bricks in the upper level to reduce its height at least a bit. 

I did notice the missing sand green on the top level... baseplates should reduce the overall height a bit so maybe the sand green layer can be included again.
Also, a watchtower could logically be taller than the main fortress, so I would not worry about this myself.

 

On 10/11/2025 at 12:55 PM, The Reader said:

And I think this tree looks a bit like an oversized bonsai.

Interesting point!  Other than the overly-blocky trunk, I agree.

 

On 10/11/2025 at 12:55 PM, The Reader said:

You made me spent money on BL. I ordered two of those printed panels, two 8x16 light gray baseplates and some of those inverted 2x1x3 slopes (Part ID 2449). I will place the watch tower on one of those baseplates (instead of the 8x16 brick it stands on) and use the other baseplate to build a connecting wall segment between the Dragon Fortress and the watch tower. Thank you for your tipp!

Good, I think?  The result is bound to be even better with the updates!
I think I'm at over 1000 orders on BrickLink, so I understand...

[The Reader]

23 hours ago, Slegengr said:

Good, I think?  The result is bound to be even better with the updates!
I think I'm at over 1000 orders on BrickLink, so I understand...

Yes, definitely very good! I'm looking forward to get the parts and try some ideas I alreday have. I'll post some photos ... 

[Jack Sassy]

I like this idea and especially appreciate the doors.  Could there be a defensive wall in the future? Good job!

[The Reader]

On 10/16/2025 at 12:00 AM, Jack Sassy said:

I like this idea and especially appreciate the doors.  Could there be a defensive wall in the future? Good job!

Thank you very much.  The wall is coming soon ...

[The Reader]

As @Slegengr and @Jack Sassy pointed out - the whole thing needed proper walls. Based on 8x16 base plates in light gray I built two moduls, one with a wall segment and one with the watch tower. The moduls can be attached directly to the Dragon Fortress by a very short wall segment. As both moduls have the same shape on both ends they can be arranged in any way. I plan to build a third modul with a dock for the Emporer's Ship (set 7416) but I need to get the part on BL first. You can expand this system as you like to create a whole landscape.

I hope you like it. Critics and comments are very welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jack Sassy]

16 hours ago, The Reader said:

I built two moduls

This is starting to remind me of Fort Legoredo. Keep up the good work! 

 

I have always wondered how would Passage of Jun-Chi connect to all this. Are ye planning to add it too?

[The Reader]

8 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

Keep up the good work! 

Thank you as always! 

8 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

This is starting to remind me of Fort Legoredo.

Well, I can see myself building 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or even more of those section ... 

8 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

I have always wondered how would Passage of Jun-Chi connect to all this. Are ye planning to add it too?

Yes, I will add it. But I'm rebricking it and still missing some parts. One or two more BL orders necessary.  

[Slegengr]

 

On 10/23/2025 at 12:36 PM, The Reader said:

As @Slegengr and @Jack Sassy pointed out - the whole thing needed proper walls. Based on 8x16 base plates in light gray I built two moduls, one with a wall segment and one with the watch tower. The moduls can be attached directly to the Dragon Fortress by a very short wall segment. As both moduls have the same shape on both ends they can be arranged in any way. I plan to build a third modul with a dock for the Emporer's Ship (set 7416) but I need to get the part on BL first. You can expand this system as you like to create a whole landscape.

I hope you like it. Critics and comments are very welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such a perfect addition (or 2 now, with the wall portion and tower section) to extend the set!  I'm inspired to start my own similar project once I get the time available to do so (after my sort-list of some 80-100 original 90's sets, several extensive MOC ideas, limited available time for LEGO that is mostly spent now building and playing with sets with my nephews, ...I may never get to it...)

 

10 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

I have always wondered how would Passage of Jun-Chi connect to all this. Are ye planning to add it too?

This would be excellent, at least attached to the Dragon Fortress, maybe on the other side if it does not merge well with the sloped walls of these additions.

[King_of_Lomadia]

I saw these on Instagram earlier, but they still look so good together.