[MOC] - Black Falcon's Fortress - ReCrafted Edition

[lenzie]

Hello everyone!

I present to you my ReCrafted Edition of the much loved Black Falcon's Fortress (set #6074).

2 years in the making and is a project that I'm very proud of and so happy to finally be able to share!

I've only posted a few photos, there is a complete photo set of this MOC available on Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/160655025@N08/albums/72177720299680857

And if you'd like to build this castle for your own Lego Collection building instructions are on Rebrickable: https://reb.li/m/113847

YouTube showcase video:

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by lenzie
Fixed image links and added the YT video.

[Rjbricks]

That’s an amazing homage.

Live the interior details especially the wizard’s study and the dead forestman). 

[Poco Lypso]

lol, how puny the original looks in comparison

nice work!

[LettuceBrick]

Very nice work! The details and interior are great and I love the variations on the towers. Is there an actual gap where the machicolations are?

[MontyMatte]

@lenzie Very well done.

Wonderful homage to old times. Not only by the Black falcons.
I'd like to learn more about the rockwork (base).

[Follows Closely]

This makes me smile. Well done.

[lenzie]

4 hours ago, LettuceBrick said:

Very nice work! The details and interior are great and I love the variations on the towers. Is there an actual gap where the machicolations are?

Yes there are gaps at the walkways, tower roof platforms and balcony/wall sections for all of the machicolations.  They had be authentic!

3 hours ago, MontyMatte said:

@lenzie Very well done.

Wonderful homage to old times. Not only by the Black falcons.
I'd like to learn more about the rockwork (base).

 

The base and rockwork took 3 months to design, build test and refine!  What would you like to know?  Essentially there's a layer of outward facing 1 x 2 x 12/3 bricks with 4 studs (part #22885) facing outwards around the perimeter of the bases for each module.  Then I attach various bricks, plates, slopes and curved sloped elements in 2 horizontal layers to get the shape and flow that I want to simulate natural looking rockwork.  There is a lot of experimentation and trial and error involved to get it all to flow and look good.

 

PS - Rjbricks, Poco Lypso, Follows Closely - thank you for your comments and appreciation!!

Edited June 14, 2022 by lenzie

[zoth33]

Excellent work.  I really like the towers.  The base is great.  I like that the build folds out so you can have access to everything inside.  It's nice to have the comparison to the original.  

[SirBlake]

What a treat! I’ve seen this kind of reimagining before, but never done quite so well. Nice work. 

[lenzie]

2 hours ago, zoth33 said:

Excellent work.  I really like the towers.  The base is great.  I like that the build folds out so you can have access to everything inside.  It's nice to have the comparison to the original.  

Thank you so much zoth33.  I really like the base, rockwork and greenery too.  I actually completed the design and build of the main Fortress sections and tower variations late last year with a much simpler base design.  But the original base wasn't doing the Fortress justice.  So I spent 3-4 months working on the very solid and detailed base modules, rockwork and greenery that you see in the photos.  It's come up extremely well I think!

1 hour ago, SirBlake said:

What a treat! I’ve seen this kind of reimagining before, but never done quite so well. Nice work. 

Thank you SirBlake, much appreciated!  It's good to have this project finished and presented to the world.  This gives me time to put something together for the 2022 Summer Joust hosted by SoccerKid6!

[MontyMatte]

19 hours ago, lenzie said:

The base and rockwork took 3 months to design, build test and refine!  What would you like to know?  Essentially there's a layer of outward facing 1 x 2 x 12/3 bricks with 4 studs (part #22885) facing outwards around the perimeter of the bases for each module.  Then I attach various bricks, plates, slopes and curved sloped elements in 2 horizontal layers to get the shape and flow that I want to simulate natural looking rockwork.  There is a lot of experimentation and trial and error involved to get it all to flow and look good.

I think your pictures, the short description and the advice to experiment help a lot. Thanks for that.

 

Can I find it on rebrickable too?

 

I would like to be able to. I could have used that very well for my current project.

[lenzie]

17 minutes ago, MontyMatte said:

I think your pictures, the short description and the advice to experiment help a lot. Thanks for that.

 

 

 

Can I find it on rebrickable too?

 

 

 

I would like to be able to. I could have used that very well for my current project.

 

Hi Tobi,

Yes instructions to build the Fortress are available to purchase on Rebrickable.  Here's the link: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-113847/Simon Lenz/black-falcons-fortress-recrafted-edition/#details

[Feuer Zug]

Stellar work on scaling up the classic set. The size and detail work make this an outstanding display piece. By adding in all the play features and retaining the ability to open up the back to access the courtyard makes it that much more impressive. Brick on!

[lenzie]

15 hours ago, Feuer Zug said:

Stellar work on scaling up the classic set. The size and detail work make this an outstanding display piece. By adding in all the play features and retaining the ability to open up the back to access the courtyard makes it that much more impressive. Brick on!

Thank you!  It's certainly been a labor of love and is now something that's taking pride of place in my Lego collection!  I've just got to find a good display case for it.  As we know dust = the enemy of Lego!  Thanks the comment / appreciation.  Cheers, Simon

[MontyMatte]

On 6/15/2022 at 10:47 AM, lenzie said:

Hi Tobi,

Yes instructions to build the Fortress are available to purchase on Rebrickable.  Here's the link: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-113847/Simon Lenz/black-falcons-fortress-recrafted-edition/#details

Understood. Thank you.

I'll have a think about it. Or try it yourself first ;)

[MontyMatte]

On 6/15/2022 at 10:47 AM, lenzie said:

Hi Tobi,

Yes instructions to build the Fortress are available to purchase on Rebrickable.  Here's the link: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-113847/Simon Lenz/black-falcons-fortress-recrafted-edition/#details

Thanks a lot :)

[natesroom]

I love this design! i just can't bring me to buy the instructions for $40 bucks. I would buy them for $20... Just letting you know the price breakdown. I might not ever build this but i would like to look through the build, and figure pieces and if i have the right items.

Edited July 2, 2022 by natesroom

[lenzie]

11 hours ago, natesroom said:

I love this design! i just can't bring me to buy the instructions for $40 bucks. I would buy them for $20... Just letting you know the price breakdown. I might not ever build this but i would like to look through the build, and figure pieces and if i have the right items.

Hi there, thanks for commenting!  I thought long and hard about appropriate pricing for this MOC. ...and I had to 'value' the 2 years of design work, prototyping and instruction making for a ~14,000 part highly detailed Castle build, that includes options to customise it (the tower variations), at an appropriate price.  ~$20 and lower priced instructions are typically for small-mid sized MOCs, this Fortress is something very different and is a large and detailed build.  I definitely appreciate though that the instructions cost and significant cost to get all the parts for this build will mean that this MOC is best suited to people who are experienced with building large custom Lego models.  I'm already working on new projects which are smaller and will be more affordable to a broader audience, I'll be pricing those instructions in the range you are talking about.  All the best! Simon

[natesroom]

No i dont disagree with you at all on the value you place on the price. I was just letting you know from a retail perspective. Being a Graphic Designer myself, which is a profession which is difficult to quantify and can be subjective i know firsthand. However if you sell 10 copies at 20 versus 5 at 40 its still the same. More sales means more people looking at your work which then drive repeat business. Currently i have the inventory to build many MOC's like yours, but i don't. However i fancy that maybe i will someday. At $20 i can justify not eating a Pizza and purchasing the plans for a future idea of maybe building. I am sure there are a many people that think like me.

I wish you the best and i will continue to watch your stuff, and very good work on your Castle. It is probably the best rendition that i have seen which captures the spirit of the original, and so much so, i felt compelled to post.

[lenzie]

5 hours ago, natesroom said:

No i dont disagree with you at all on the value you place on the price. I was just letting you know from a retail perspective. Being a Graphic Designer myself, which is a profession which is difficult to quantify and can be subjective i know firsthand. However if you sell 10 copies at 20 versus 5 at 40 its still the same. More sales means more people looking at your work which then drive repeat business. Currently i have the inventory to build many MOC's like yours, but i don't. However i fancy that maybe i will someday. At $20 i can justify not eating a Pizza and purchasing the plans for a future idea of maybe building. I am sure there are a many people that think like me.

I wish you the best and i will continue to watch your stuff, and very good work on your Castle. It is probably the best rendition that i have seen which captures the spirit of the original, and so much so, i felt compelled to post.

All very good points and well thought through! It will be interesting to see how my next MOCs go in terms of sales.  I will still also be publishing free instruction for set modifications and improvements as these are always well received by our Lego enthusiast community!

[natesroom]

I appreciate you allowing people to be able to grab a parts list from Rebrickable though, thanks!

Edited July 5, 2022 by natesroom

[jtooker]

Excellent job!  Great choice with the irregular base- the fact it can fold out is next level!  I like the stone textures you've used, they keep the walls interesting enough without going crazy.  Great job including machicolations!  0/10 - would not storm those walls

[Lyichir]

This is gorgeous! The stonework strikes a great balance of being detailed without overwhelming the eye, and the interiors and base are very well-done.

[lenzie]

9 hours ago, jtooker said:

Excellent job!  Great choice with the irregular base- the fact it can fold out is next level!  I like the stone textures you've used, they keep the walls interesting enough without going crazy.  Great job including machicolations!  0/10 - would not storm those walls

Thank you so much!  The texture of the walls and towers is actually something that I really thought a lot about.  I made several prototypes before committing to a style and approach.  I found that using too many brick patterned bricks, and/or going crazy on irregular parts for texture, and also introducing a 2nd colour like dark stone grey elements or lime green - all became very distracting to the eye.  Your eyes starts to see for example only the dark grey elements and you lose the shapes and forms of the walls or tower elements.   So a more organic and 'grouped' approach to texture, in the one medium stone grey palette with plenty of clear 'white-space' using regular smooth surfaced bricks seemed to work best.  Thanks for noticing this detail!

9 hours ago, Lyichir said:

This is gorgeous! The stonework strikes a great balance of being detailed without overwhelming the eye, and the interiors and base are very well-done.

Thanks!  See the post above about the stonework, I'm really glad people are noticing that, it's turned out well! The base I actually designed and built last.  When I finished the Fortress sections and tower variations with the original 'plate-built' base that I had designed, something didn't feel right.  So I spent about 4 months designing and building a base and rockwork that not only helps to 'ground' the whole model and give it more solidity but also allowed me to have fun with including interesting rock details and greenery!  It was the first time I've attempted greenery for a model/MOC and I really enjoyed it.

[Rjbricks]

Particularly relevant this considering the conversation in other threads about scale.

 

Because if you want something to scale with eg Medieval Blacksmith, you have to have something like this beauty.

Which leads me to ask? Where do you store this?!