[OL-Ch2A] Fort in Astrapi, Île de Zeus

[Gideon]

Fort in Astrapi, Île de Zeus

This is my entry for Challenge II - Defending Yer Claims, category A.

On Île de Zeus, which has recently been incorporated into the empire of Oleon, Oleander military engineers have been busy erecting defensive structures. They are designed to be suitable both against any hostile natives and to defend the island from other nations if the political tensions should turn into open war. This small fort is built using resources which can be found in great abundance on the island, namely wood and sand. The slope of the walls increase their effective cross-section to provide additional protection of the rooms inside and the sand provides excellent ballistic protection (compare with modern-day sand bags). The fort is of course not built to withstand a prolonged siege, but it’s heavy cannons and high elevation should be able to put up a good resistance against any of the smaller vessels still predominant in the waters of New Terra. The three cannons can be directed in all directions from the fort, and a soldier in the high lookout tower can spot approaching ships better than lookouts on higher ground on the island, since the peaks are most often shrouded in clouds while the land closer to the beaches is more likely to have good sight of the seas.

A lot of weird angles in this build and quite a few iterations to get things the way I wanted, but I'm fairly happy with the end result.

The gate is on the other side if someone wonders, but in the rush to complete this it didn’t turn out well enough to merit a picture...

I tried a new black background for this photo session, which I think worked ok except for that the contrast to the black roof wasn't very good... I also tried some different lighting with another flash from above, to simulate sunlight. What do you think of that?

Edited March 31, 2016 by Gideon

[blackdeathgr]

Woooooow! Great entry!!!

[Ayrlego]

The way you have joined the sloped walls..... Puts my efforts to shame!! A fantastic entry (I admit I have been waiting to see what you'd come up with!)

I think you definitely achieved the sunlight look - the shadows on the tower really convey it and it really looks like it is in the tropical sun! The dark background I think makes a nice change, but maybe with the shadows make the whole thing a bit dark? Although I think it would look better this way than with white??? I think I'll just acknowledge you as a photography (and Lego!) master and leave it at that!

[Kolonialbeamter]

This... is... great... !!!

Excellent entry, Gideon

Amazing, how an early fort can look so perfect. Love all about it, and story and presentation are great, too. The black background really adds a menacing feeling, and that last shot just screams 'Don't mess with us!'

This fits the Île de Zeus perfectly.

[Fuzzy MacFuzz]

What do i think of that? I think its magnificent, that's what I think of that.

This must have taken both you and your minifigs hours to build, not to mention needed half the tress on the island. If you don't win something in the Challenge, there ain't no justice.

[The Sarge]

A fitting fort for the Île de Zeus! The whole thing is great, but little spikes atop each cone are the best detail I think. Great photo setup too.

[Capn Frank]

I think Ile due Zeus is out of trees.

Great work!

[Kai NRG]

A fantastic and very massive looking fort! Great job, definitely a strong contender for this category!

[gedren_y]

Woah! How many 3L bars in reddish brown do you have?

[Puvel]

How do you keep coming up with brilliant ideas?

The fort itself looks great with those angles and spikes at the top. The pile of cannon balls looks good too.

I think the tower is even more impressive, its inner structure just makes it excellent!

Awesome stuff!

[Mpyromaxos]

Amazing wooden style fort!

Loved the sloped walls and the turret!! <3

[Gideon]

Woooooow! Great entry!!!

:excited: :excited:

This... is... great... !!!

Excellent entry, Gideon

Amazing, how an early fort can look so perfect. Love all about it, and story and presentation are great, too. The black background really adds a menacing feeling, and that last shot just screams 'Don't mess with us!'

This fits the Île de Zeus perfectly.

What do i think of that? I think its magnificent, that's what I think of that.

This must have taken both you and your minifigs hours to build, not to mention needed half the tress on the island. If you don't win something in the Challenge, there ain't no justice.

A fitting fort for the Île de Zeus! The whole thing is great, but little spikes atop each cone are the best detail I think. Great photo setup too.

A fantastic and very massive looking fort! Great job, definitely a strong contender for this category!

Thanks!

The way you have joined the sloped walls..... Puts my efforts to shame!! A fantastic entry (I admit I have been waiting to see what you'd come up with!)

I think you definitely achieved the sunlight look - the shadows on the tower really convey it and it really looks like it is in the tropical sun! The dark background I think makes a nice change, but maybe with the shadows make the whole thing a bit dark? Although I think it would look better this way than with white??? I think I'll just acknowledge you as a photography (and Lego!) master and leave it at that!

Thank you

Yea, the shadows might have turned out a bit too dark. Next time I'll try to balance the flashes a bit more (that is, turn down the flash from above and increase the ISO instead)

I think Ile due Zeus is out of trees.

Great work!

Not at all, as my challenge II B entry will show if I get it photographed tonight

Woah! How many 3L bars in reddish brown do you have?

A few hundred, got them in the last LUGBULK

Got them primarily to reinforce tree canopies, together with reddish brown carrot tops which I got in the same bulk.

How do you keep coming up with brilliant ideas?

The fort itself looks great with those angles and spikes at the top. The pile of cannon balls looks good too.

I think the tower is even more impressive, its inner structure just makes it excellent!

Awesome stuff!

Thank you! It usually takes challenges for me to get around to build something, and then I try to make some kind of interpretation out of that. For the build itself I usually have a camera angle in mind already when laying out the build so I try to not make parts of the build obstruct others too much.

Amazing wooden style fort!

Loved the sloped walls and the turret!! <3

Thank you!

[TitusV]

These pallisades...

[kabel]

A great fort and, as always, something really nice to look at. Wish I could see your stuff in reality one of these days!

[Graham Gidman]

Man, those walls are awesome. Great work!

[robinnilsson403]

Aw man... As always you make me feel bad over my mediocre builds, since you always come up with something amazing! I almost had hoped you wouldn't post this on time.

The pile of rounds for the cannons, the walls, the tower... Amazing!

[Elostirion]

You are so damn good! Just another amazing contribution, just wow!

[Gideon]

These pallisades...

You are so damn good! Just another amazing contribution, just wow!

Thanks!

A great fort and, as always, something really nice to look at. Wish I could see your stuff in reality one of these days!

Thank you! This particular build is not very suitable for exhibition since the other two sides are not as polished, but I hope to exhibit other builds later on. Why don't you do like Rolli did this year and come to the next Swebrick event?

Aw man... As always you make me feel bad over my mediocre builds, since you always come up with something amazing! I almost had hoped you wouldn't post this on time.

The pile of rounds for the cannons, the walls, the tower... Amazing!

All Oleander entries are important, this is a team effort and your entry was very good as well

Not to brag (or ok a little of that too): http://www.brothers-brick.com/2016/03/30/a-stockade-with-a-small-fortprint/

Is Oleon in the lead in TBB mentions so far?

[Vedauwoo]

Fantastic! Love the slope of those walls!

[Dzoni90]

Perfect fort , it is almost unconquerable as I see it from here

[Franco Clarke]

Fantastic wooden fortress, the best I think I've seen. I especially like the sand fill to the wooden walls, it makes it look far more robust and strong.

[Captain Dee]

Beautiful fort. Those sloped palisade walls backfilled with dirt look fantastic, and the place looks very well-armed with that many cannons. The tower looks great too, though vulnerable to cannon fire, but I suspect that was always a problem with tall towers. Overall it's a superb arrangement and the bars in the cones give it a unique detailed look. Great work once more.

[Mister Phes]

At the expense of bumping an older topic... just letting @Gideon know his fort has made it to the Classic Pirates social media!

[Professor Thaum]

You're welcome