victorycount Posted March 31, 2020 Due to a personal visit, my first creation is mostly inspired by the "Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca" also called "Castillo del Morro" from Santiago de Cuba, but also by other Morros from Havana and San Juan in Puerto Rico. "El morro" refers to the rock or the hill, the fortress is built on and had mostly its purpose in keeping the towns save from pirates. I wanted especially make the round towers, but step by step added more of the details, eventhough the real and complex form is not possible to rebuild, at least for me. So I kept it boringly square-shaped, but still like the (not) end result quite a bit. I will make some 1-1 comparisons, but first I'd like to tell you the story of Captain Valiant(You can read it or just skip it and scroll down and see the result): You remember Captain Valiant? Sure you do.... hmm, well actually I didn't knew who he was was until I heard his amazing story:He was the Captain of the Santa Cruz, the Armada Flagship, although he doesn't like to mention that the real leader was not him but the admiral. So, after they conquered all the caribbean and the southern seas, found the eldorado and got tons of gold, he decided to retire and start a banana plantation.Captain valiants vision by Victory Count, en Flickr It was there, 5 years ago, when he heard rumours about a bay full of bloody pirates and they were coming to get the gold. Standing at the beach, tasting his rrich flavoured self grown fresh banana, he had a vision about a fortress that would keep any pirates away, and keep the town, plantation, habitants, goods and gold save. He would call it El Morro: "El morro de Capitan Valiente". The last dinner and blessings in the church by Victory Count, en FlickrHe went to the local church and asked the priest for his blessings for this new project. And of course the priest accepted quickly, if he just keeps those sinners away. Drinking the wine, eating the bread, they celebrated the last dinner, and with god on his side he started to build this big fortress. ring them bells by Victory Count, en Flickr Five years gone by and finally the bells were ringing for the opening ceremony. captains domain by Victory Count, en Flickr "Please step in," he said proudly, and to my honour he showed me all the facilities, "this over there is my cabin, but I'll show you later." captain talk by Victory Count, en Flickr "It's an honour to introduce you to my long time special guest Red Beard" he said without hiding how proud he was. "With him here, we have not to fear anything. But we treat him good, he can even have his parrot, it's like the presidential suite, right RedBeard" ... "Arrrh" is all RedBeard said. But the captain tells me that they are almost like friends, and when he can't sleep he goes down to him and they talk all the night about their ships and long past tales... kids playin by Victory Count, en Flickr He also tells me that they already played together under the palm trees with their ships when they still were kids, and I'm quite sure he was trying to surpress some tears while telling me. el cocinero by Victory Count, en Flickr "Right beside the lock-up we hace the kitchen; Vamos cocinero, hurry up, it's almost hora de comer, dinnertime!" "Aye capitán!" loading the cannonballs by Victory Count, en Flickr "Here is where the action happens, the cannonballs have to go up on the roof, sometimes this have to happen quickly, thats why we have this special construct. But I need some fresh air the roof is where we are heading too" Says the captain, leading me from the basement through the stairs up to the top. el morro dorm by Victory Count, en Flickr "Let's rest for a moment, here on the first floor is the dorm, even the soldiers need some rest sometimes. Well you can imagine I have something more comfy for me old bones." guns are ready by Victory Count, en Flickr "So what do you say? Are we ready or are we not? May the pirates come, the cannonballs will give them a warm welcome, ha! Yes that's what it is all about... Now let's go outsie to see my plantation" el jardinero by Victory Count, en Flickr "Meet Banana Joe, our gardener; hey what's up Joe?" "Hi captain, look at all those bananas and coconuts, it's a good year!" says Joe, as he notice the boat that shouldn't be there, but his thoughts return quickly to the bananas which seem constantly to disappear somehow... el morro53 well by Victory Count, en Flickr "And here we have the cook again, getting some water... Don't forget the fish, it looks like there is something in the net." "Yes captain" responds the cook, but his eyes wander once again to the horizon, where he sees that shipwreck which always fascinated him. "I'm sick of this job and this captain, always running around, do this, do that, hurry up... Maybe RedBeard is right and I should join him on this Barracuda ship..." he thinks. "So, before you're invited to a delicious meal, I 'd like to show you my cabin which I'm specially proud of" Captain valiants cabin by Victory Count, en Flickr"Look at this beauty, what a great gift." he says as he shows me a big indigan mask. "King Kahukas mask. Everybody thinks it was red, but no, pure gold! He was a good guy, wonder what happened to him... Now get out of my cabin, I need some rest before dinner" he says, taking his helmet of, revealing his long curly hair. And I'm not sure if I'm more shocked by his hair or the impression that I had for a moment, seeing something suspicious through the window. But it wasn't the moment to tell the captain, so I left his cabin. We had no idea what was goin on meanwhile... free RB by Victory Count, en FlickrRedBeard had long planned to escape from there and get back to his beloved Barracuda, and this was the moment. One scary guy was setting the bomb while this mate had other problems. sunset shark attack by Victory Count, en Flickr Front View:el morro front by Victory Count, en Flickr Rear View:el morro rear by Victory Count, en Flickr If you made it here, let me know what you think, and also what could be done better. Here I add now some "Lego vs. Reality" comparisons: el morro round tower by Victory Count, en Flickr My favourite, but it's so difficult to build round towers with Lego. There is a small and two slightly different bigger towers, but wasn't sure which version to choose, what do you think? el morro cannons by Victory Count, en Flickr This is nothing big, just found in funny to put actually the cannon this way to have the larger range)guess those were supposed to be mortars. el morro entrance by Victory Count, en Flickr This was just an entrance to another part of the building, but I liked it that much that it became the main entrance. cannonball ramp by Victory Count, en Flickr Found this cannonball ramp rather interesting, so I was glad I could rebuild it somehow. el morro well by Victory Count, en Flickr Well, the well was quite easy, but still like it, but since I didn't found the proper place, it had to be placed outside... el morro bell by Victory Count, en Flickr Well, the bell, not so accurate but also like this one. chapel by Victory Count, en Flickr Finally, the church from the story is also part of "El Morro" but is actually the other way round. Unfortunately i just have pictures from the LDD yet. Not very detailed, but I liked to give this little chapel its place. Tried to add the Christ minifig, but that was rather weird looking. So thanks for watching and reading. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mister Phes Posted March 31, 2020 Just now, victorycount said: You remember Captain Valiant? Sure you do.... hmm, well actually I didn't knew who he was was until I heard his amazing story: Ummm... I seem to be in that small category of those who don't remember Captain Valiant... Where did you hear Captain Valiant's amazing story? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
victorycount Posted March 31, 2020 7 minutes ago, Mister Phes said: Ummm... I seem to be in that small category of those who don't remember Captain Valiant... Where did you hear Captain Valiant's amazing story? Well, he told me, meaning it's invented of course, to introduce his fortress. I just googled the armada crew, because it had to be there building, so I found his name on brickipedia. When it was too late I found out that "The admiral" would have been the better choice, since he has at least a little bit of story himself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fraunces Posted March 31, 2020 Very nice build, I love the crossover of this build and the BSB-red beard story. The details are nice, and I also think you did a great job on representing the real life build. Great job all around! One minor point: the crew is a little thin.. 2 soldiers, cannoncal help, a captain and a cook to man 4 guns.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
victorycount Posted March 31, 2020 1 hour ago, Fraunces said: Very nice build, I love the crossover of this build and the BSB-red beard story. The details are nice, and I also think you did a great job on representing the real life build. Great job all around! One minor point: the crew is a little thin.. 2 soldiers, cannoncal help, a captain and a cook to man 4 guns.. Thanks so much, glad you liked it, and you even read yourself through the story. About the soldiers: To blame it on the story, guess he couldn't get enough soldiers at the beginning. And don't forget the gardener. But no, your absolutely right, it could also need more cannons, but even more soldiers, to man them. Guess I totally forgot about them at the end... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mister Phes Posted April 1, 2020 On 4/1/2020 at 1:59 AM, victorycount said: Well, he told me, meaning it's invented of course, to introduce his fortress This story looks very interesting. I haven't had time to read the whole thing but I have posted it on the Classic Pirates Facebook page. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
victorycount Posted April 1, 2020 1 hour ago, Mister Phes said: This story looks very interesting. I haven't had time to read the whole thing but I have posted it on the Classic Pirates Facebook page. Oh wow, thanks so much, i feel honoured! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
victorycount Posted April 3, 2020 Forgot to mention this incredible feature. Since it's not a moudlar build, I had to invent something to provide better access to the interior. So this sliding wall got into my mind, isn't it fantastic? Guess this will be the future for all Lego builds. Just joking, but still pretty proud of this "wonderwall". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brickander Brickumnus Posted April 3, 2020 (edited) This is brilliant! Absolutely Amazing! Can you upload it in better quality? Edited April 3, 2020 by Brickander Brickumnus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
victorycount Posted April 3, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Brickander Brickumnus said: This is brilliant! Absolutely Amazing! Can you upload it in better quality? The sliding wall? well thanks, glad you like it. Didn't think that was such a thing, although when I finished it I was pretty amazed by it. Hmm, since it is a gif, I don't know how, but here is a still picture with better quallity, on flicker I uploaded also a video, but it's still quite low res.sliding wall by Victory Count, en Flickr If you're interested in building it yourself, I can send you the lxf file, but you will have to improve it, since I left it quite in prototype form. Edit: forgot that I didn't upload any picture of this side, so here you go:el morro front right by Victory Count, en Flickr Edited April 3, 2020 by victorycount forgot something Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brickander Brickumnus Posted April 3, 2020 (edited) Excellent! Thank You! The lxf file will be perfect! In general, I like it a lot if a set/construction has mobility/modular/playable features. And this feature of yours that makes access to the interior easier is very good, in my opinion. I've lost track of how many times I've said to myself while accidentally "destroying" something in my attempt to access the interior of a construction:"This toys are for kids hands. So much easier back then when I was small." Edited April 3, 2020 by Brickander Brickumnus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lego eggo Posted April 3, 2020 cool castle. i love the whole look of it, especially the bell tower. keep it up Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
victorycount Posted April 3, 2020 1 hour ago, Brickander Brickumnus said: Excellent! Thank You! The lxf file will be perfect! In general, I like it a lot if a set/construction has mobility/modular/playable features. And this feature of yours that makes access to the interior easier is very good, in my opinion. I've lost track of how many times I've said to myself while accidentally "destroying" something in my attempt to access the interior of a construction:"This toys are for kids hands. So much easier back then when I was small." ok, I sent the file. yeah that's true. In my case I just built the whole building and then I realized that it was to late to make good modules out of it, but I still had this part open for still beeing able to work inside, and didn't want to just close it and never again have access, so this idea came along... 15 minutes ago, lego eggo said: cool castle. i love the whole look of it, especially the bell tower. keep it up Thanks for the nice words! Really appreciate it a lot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdeathgr Posted April 4, 2020 Very nice rendition of a some of the best golden age castles! I like the bigger round tower by the way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
victorycount Posted April 4, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, blackdeathgr said: Very nice rendition of a some of the best golden age castles! I like the bigger round tower by the way. Hey thanks. So you know it? Cool, have you also visited it? Yeah I like also the bigger tower. Which roof of the bigger tower do you think looks better, the one with the plates, or the other version? Edited April 4, 2020 by victorycount Forgot the quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdeathgr Posted April 5, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, victorycount said: Hey thanks. So you know it? Cool, have you also visited it? Yeah I like also the bigger tower. Which roof of the bigger tower do you think looks better, the one with the plates, or the other version? Sadly I have never been to Caribbean but I do know it because I am an armchair historian so to speak so I try to gather tons of historic facts about that era. A good and fun way to get involved is BoBS, so be sure to check it out as well. Well, the one with the plates is way better as it doesn't leave that gap which is distracting in my opinion (plus it looks sleeker with the plates) Edited April 5, 2020 by blackdeathgr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
victorycount Posted April 5, 2020 36 minutes ago, blackdeathgr said: Sadly I have never been to Caribbean but I do know it because I am an armchair historian so to speak so I try to gather tons of historic facts about that era. A good and fun way to get involved is BoBS, so be sure to check it out as well. Well, the one with the plates is way better as it doesn't leave that gap which is distracting in my opinion (plus it looks sleeker with the plates) Oh ok, sure, if you live in Greece, you have worlds history, beautiful landscapes and beaches at your feet. So you don't need to travel to the caribbean. Didn't know BoBs was about history though But actually I never got over the intro page, maybe I have to take some time and try it again Thanks for your opinion, yeah that was my last version, just liked the round plate, but as you say, the gaps destroy the whole thing, so I guess I'll keep the flat version. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
