Fortress of power

[OutForJustice]

kind of! he rocked it well though.

Still rocking, actually.

[beyond the legends]

Well, I stopped posting cuz everyone else and their mom started, but I am one of at least 5 people who are super anxious for it to get finished. And the cold thing really hits home as I am living in -7 degree weather here these lat few days, it's been hard to stay warm inside in these temps.

[bishart]

Well, I stopped posting cuz everyone else and their mom started, but I am one of at least 5 people who are super anxious for it to get finished. And the cold thing really hits home as I am living in -7 degree weather here these lat few days, it's been hard to stay warm inside in these temps.

yeah its been cold. i used to live in minneapolis that was even colder. its a real pain that the cold affected our ability to cast. the other ben, Outforjustice, has been hard at work actually BUILDING us an insulated studio space behind his house where we will be able to keep the heat in and cast.
it is amazing how many things you dont anticipate end up coming up on any given project! but its all part of the fun i guess! no doubt about it im one of the top 5 most excited to start playing wit this thing as well, my motuc shelf just doesnt seem complete without it!

[kevin]

no doubt about it im one of the top 5 most excited to start playing wit this thing as well!

i would have to imagine you would be excited!
i realized today i hadn't publicly chimed in to say what an amazing piece of perfection this thing is! you bens have done an awe-inspiring job in putting together something that i feel confident in saying is much more well-executed than if mattel ever even did try and release an official version of a certain castle for the classics line. LOVE your ideas that yield additional play value AND display potential. i do understand why some have said THEY personally are after something abit different (such as something closer to the original box art or prototype), but, i can honestly say that for ME, every single design decision you guys have made is just "perfect!" i feel this is a perfect blend of the classic and a hint of modernized/200X influence, while still being it's own NEW interpretation... perfectly suited to be the playset for the classics line, since to me that's exactly what the design direction of the line is all about... new updates of the classics with 200X flair and original new tidbits thrown in where it works. awesome guys! for at least one other dude beyond yourselves, you NAILED it! can't wait to see this project get rolling even farther and faster toward "completion!"

[BadVermin]

yeah its been cold. i used to live in minneapolis that was even colder.

Mpls resident here... My temp gauge read -12 earlier this week, I was a bit worried the furnace was going to go out. Brrrr. But I prefer a dry cold to humid heat, I'm not a fan places like New Orleans were it seems like you can never cool off. I did glass blowing for a while and it was glorious to go out into the frigid cold in the winter and have my hair freeze solid.

Although I quit my job there is no way I'm going to let a masterpiece like this slip through my fingers.

[bishart]

i realized today i hadn't publicly chimed in to say what an amazing piece of perfection this thing is! you bens have done an awe-inspiring job in putting together something that i feel confident in saying is much more well-executed than if mattel ever even did try and release an official version of a certain castle for the classics line. LOVE your ideas that yield additional play value AND display potential. i do understand why some have said THEY personally are after something abit different (such as something closer to the original box art or prototype), but, i can honestly say that for ME, every single design decision you guys have made is just "perfect!" i feel this is a perfect blend of the classic and a hint of modernized/200X influence, while still being it's own NEW interpretation... perfectly suited to be the playset for the classics line, since to me that's exactly what the design direction of the line is all about... new updates of the classics with 200X flair and original new tidbits thrown in where it works. awesome guys! for at least one other dude beyond yourselves, you NAILED it! can't wait to see this project get rolling even farther and faster toward "completion!"

thanks man, we appreciate it! can't wait until we can pose our many many motuc figures in a never ending battle all over this thing. one of the best parts is the ability to pose guys ON it, not just in front of it. this thing is fairly interactive, and offers a lot of play. which is what its really all about!

Mpls resident here... My temp gauge read -12 earlier this week, I was a bit worried the furnace was going to go out. Brrrr. But I prefer a dry cold to humid heat, I'm not a fan places like New Orleans were it seems like you can never cool off. I did glass blowing for a while and it was glorious to go out into the frigid cold in the winter and have my hair freeze solid.

although I quit my job there is no way I'm going to let a masterpiece like this slip through my fingers.

my god, negative 12 is horrible, its amazing you can say you like that though. i don't like a sticky wet hot either myself. basically when its cold i wish it was hot,a nd when its hot i wish it was cold. thats why i stay indoors as much as possible, so i can determine the temp. haha but humidity, you're right, there is no escaping it.
I'm sorry to hear about you leaving your job, you will find a better one I'm sure, you've got the talent.

[masterenglish]

Some truly amazing work here guys. Hopefully I will be snagging one from you.

[bishart]

Some truly amazing work here guys. Hopefully I will be snagging one from you.

thanks master english! your work never ceases to amaze either. thanks for the kind words.

[Kid Cash]

How is weather man? Is it getting warmer over there?

[AdultCollector]

my motuc shelf just doesnt seem complete without it!

It's so huge I bet it completes any shelf. You couldn't fit anything else on there! lol

[custom]

We need an update we need an update we need an update !

[Dark Sorceress]

lol remember this is not his only job.....but it needs to be

[bishart]

How is weather man? Is it getting warmer over there?

its actually terribly terribly cold. it was 20 degrees yesterday, about 30 today with snow. we are actually out in the snow today using our carpentry skills to build our studio space so as to cast these bad boys. maybe ill shoot a pic of the studio progress. amazing that we have to build a fortress to build a fortress! if that makes any sense.

It's so huge I bet it completes any shelf. You couldn't fit anything else on there! lol

im most likely going to have a big table for mine. haha or keep it on the floor for easy play.

lol remember this is not his only job.....but it needs to be

thanks, we would love it if this was our only job. someday. when we have a space to do it all in, as it is now we have been working out of my SUV a lot haha MOBILE STUDIO! bringing the fortress and the mold back and forth between our houses ( a 20 minute distance.) depending on weather or on our girlfriends mood, dictating where we are allowed to work on this monster... its too big. and you can imagine the mold is even bigger.

[Death138]

I've been trying to make space for a behemoth like this and I discovered that I am a few like <3in too short on top of my display case, so I guess I'm gonna have research other places around my house.

[kevin]

my excitement is getting the best of me! UPDATES!!!! lol.
how's the studio construction going? what's the prognosis on beginning to cast the first batch?
can ya throw up some more cool pics of the prototype, with figs on, and show the lower tower covering too?

[custom]

my excitement is getting the best of me! UPDATES!!!! lol.
how's the studio construction going? what's the prognosis on beginning to cast the first batch?
can ya throw up some more cool pics of the prototype, with figs on, and show the lower tower covering too?

Like this gentlemen said :

how's the studio construction going? what's the prognosis on beginning to cast the first batch?
can ya throw up some more cool pics of the prototype, with figs on, and show the lower tower covering too?

ps. UPDATES!!!! pleasseee !

[AdultCollector]

The "Heroic Figure Battle Tester" on page 13 of the Power & Honor Foundation book would look amazing alongside the Fortress of Power.

[TheMarkSewell]

Amazing work, bishart. I must get my hands on one. I actually joined this board pretty much entirely to state my excitement for this behemoth! I love me some MOTU, though, so I'll stick around. Cheers, all!

[Replikor]

This looks INCREDIBLE!!!

[EtherianChronicles]

Update PLEASE!! Dying here.

[fball13z]

I talked to Ben, he is going to come by soon and give some updates.

[Dark Sorceress]

sweet hope to see more pix

[bishart]

my excitement is getting the best of me! UPDATES!!!! lol.
how's the studio construction going? what's the prognosis on beginning to cast the first batch?
can ya throw up some more cool pics of the prototype, with figs on, and show the lower tower covering too?

Like this gentlemen said :

how's the studio construction going? what's the prognosis on beginning to cast the first batch?
can ya throw up some more cool pics of the prototype, with figs on, and show the lower tower covering too?

ps. UPDATES!!!! pleasseee !

YEAH! its been a long time, sorry. we have been carpenters lately. literally tearing down walls, and building new ones, and floors, and ceilings. wait until you see what we have built just to cast these bad boys. haha its great. so yeah, i haven't been online in a while. and i see now the thread has been neglected.
- i have more photos of the proto with some figures on it coming soon. but not just yet.

- and finally, the reveal of the lower tower cover. this has been done for ages, but we were going to get it cast and save it for the final piece to reveal, but with the cold weather and the studio build holding us up. here you go!

the windows will be cut out obviously.

The "Heroic Figure Battle Tester" on page 13 of the Power & Honor Foundation book would look amazing alongside the Fortress of Power.

i have that book, ill have to check it out!

Amazing work, bishart. I must get my hands on one. I actually joined this board pretty much entirely to state my excitement for this behemoth! I love me some MOTU, though, so I'll stick around. Cheers, all!

sweet! thank you! and welcome! i pretty much joined up to show off this behemoth!

This looks INCREDIBLE!!! Are you selling these? [PLEASE] say yes....

the first rule of the fortress is... you don't talk about the fortress... in custom threads. PM me.

Update PLEASE!! Dying here.

sorry!

I talked to Ben, he is going to come by soon and give some updates.

want to officially be our PR guy?

sweet hope to see more pix

hows this?
original quick sketch...


first detail layer of rubber.


after a thick coat of orange, we dyed the rubber to make sure we gave it a good second coat.

[bishart]

not sure why were wearing matching shirts.







and a third, ugly purple coat.

[bishart]

had to take pieces of my car interior out to transport it to my house from bens.

sectioning off areas for resin mother mold. this is done in sections, otherwise you would never get the mother mold apart.

crappy temporary garage studio. we spent 11 cold days in here making the mold. then it got flooded.

some video game villain.

resin mother mold sections.

taken apart. a big puzzle.

we burnt out both those dremels. and drank something like 90 beers.