Fantasy Fort Apache (part 1)

One Christmas in the 1950s my oldest brother got a Marx Fort Apache.  I remember it but only vaguely, but I do recall that I was fascinated by it.  About a year ago I had the idea similar to my "fantasy" Giant Blue and Gray set, and that was to assemble an ultimate Fort Apache.

This past Spring, at the Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show, I got a bargain on a late-production Marx Fort Apache.  It was complete and even had some extras.  Then on ebay I got another bargain on a huge lot of Fort Apache pieces, enough to make a couple of forts, with lots left over.

Combining these two purchases, I laid out the footprint of my fantasy fort, including the over-the-gate blockhouse, the freestanding blockhouse, the headquarters/supply building, a little blacksmith shop that I made from a BMC building, a little Marx cabin, and a barracks made from three sections of the MPC bunkhouse.  All of these components, plus a small horse corral, leave plenty of room for a good-sized parade ground.

The plan is to make all of the palisade walls double sided, modify buildings, and then paint the whole shebang.  With school in session again, this will be a long process. I will be posting updates as the project progresses.

In the photo above you can see the MPC bunkhouse, in the process of being converted into a barracks; my next post will be about that conversion.

Stay tuned, and, as ever ...

Soldier on!

Mannie