Forestmen's River Fortress Redux 2017

[TheLegoDr]

This was a favorite childhood set of mine. I'm glad I grew up when I did. I would call the late 80s/early 90s a golden era for LEGO for sure. Castle and Pirates were my favorite themes, but Castle always pulled ahead. You had the Crusaders, Forestmen, Black Falcons, Black Knights, and Wolfpack. All great themes with fun builds. But maybe I'm biased.

I built a remodeled/updated version of Skull's Eye Schooner a few years ago (I still need to photograph it) and I had a lot of fun making an official set "better." I told myself I wanted to do this more. I wanted to have more fun building instead of stressing out about picking up official sets before they retire. So I decided to go for the River Fortress first.

When looking online I came across a few others that have already done this and as inspiring as they were, I definitely saw areas I wanted to change, so I decided to MOC one myself.

I hope you all enjoy these photos. I know they aren't the best quality. I only had access to my iPhone 7. Any criticism is welcome. I've already tweaked it a little here and there since taking these photos. And next is to build more groundwork sideways to incorporate more of a forest (and maybe a group of crusaders pulling a cart of gold they can rob).

Forestman River Fortress Redux 2017 by TheLegoDr, on Flickr

From another angle. Closer look at some of the mushrooms. Nothing too special, but it adds a little something extra.

Forestman River Fortress Redux 2017 by TheLegoDr, on Flickr
 

The rear of the building. I took a lot of cues from how I would imagine the official set to look. (and yes, the back does open like the original).

Forestman River Fortress Redux 2017 by TheLegoDr, on Flickr
 

Straight on

Forestman River Fortress Redux 2017 by TheLegoDr, on Flickr
 

Interior shot. It is like they cut off part of the tree to build around it and it just kept on growing. I want to eventually add more of a small armory and some beds.

Forestman River Fortress Redux 2017 by TheLegoDr, on Flickr
 

Upper level

Forestman River Fortress Redux 2017 by TheLegoDr, on Flickr

Close-up of the front smaller tree. I like how the leaves angle a bit. (And just now looking at the picture, the front hinge should actually be angled down more)

Forestman River Fortress Redux 2017 by TheLegoDr, on Flickr
 

And the whole gang. Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Little John, and I assume they would have a pet, why not?

Forestman River Fortress Redux 2017 by TheLegoDr, on Flickr

I hope this was fun enough to get some good reviews. I enjoyed doing it and I hope to do more like this. Maybe Black Knight's Castle next.

Thanks!

Oops! It appears I did something wrong. I thought I followed the tutorial correctly, but I'll have to check back when I have more time. I hope you can wait for pictures a tad longer.

Edit: Hopefully fixed the picture issue.

Edited January 29, 2018 by TheLegoDr
changed picture coding, plus title

[Ridge Montante]

Pictures are there and they look great. I've been patiently waiting till you were able to fix and upload them. I've always loved the forestmen despite never owning any of there sets. I think you did a great job on redoing this set. 

[Grrr]

You've done well with this. Also; it's now clearly a keep wedged between trees as opposed to the original being a little more ambiguous, which makes a good improvement.

[BrickJagger]

This turned out great! It always bothered me that this set didn't have an interior despite being the Forestmen's base of operations. Glad to see you've rectified that. I also like the individual details, such as the tree branch coming through the wall and the shaping at the front of the fortress. Excellent work 

[SirBlake]

Great work on this. Looks nice from the outside but the staircase makes it. 

[zoth33]

I like this alot.  I got this set also when I was a kid.  This brings back some good memories.  You did a fantastic job.  I really like the way you incorporated the tree.  The interior is nice too.

[thetang22]

Thanks for linking from the Black Falcon thread!  Another fun recreation of a classic :)

[Bricked1980]

This looks great. I still have boxed version of this set and it was a favourite of mine as a child.

I like your version a lot as you have improved upon the original and added much more detail, yet it is still instantly recognisable as the Forestmans Fortress. Great job! 

 

[adpb]

well done! I like the trees.

[LegoModularFan]

That's a pretty nice re-imagined version of the Forestmen's River Fortress. There's a lot I like about this build; the shaping, the foliage, especially the trees and the mushrooms and some interior details although it would be nice to see more interior details. But I just love those inset windows, they give an amazing look to the overall MOC!  Such small details really adds a lot to this MOC, at least for me. I'm not a big fan of the water but it's the easiest part to change so I don't mind. Keep it up!  

[kyreii]

This looks great! I had this set as a child and re-visiting it has been on my list.