Hi guys,
Thought I'd chime in here! Thanks, Bryan for the heads-up, and introducing "Schlafendrache Castle" to the group here. I intended to drop in eventually, when the castle is completed, and I get the website built for it. But that can come later!
First of all, thanks for all of your comments and compliments. I really appreciate it. The project has been a lot of work (and is still ongoing), but TONS of fun, as you can imagine.
Maybe I can shed a little more light on this MOC, the circumstances surrounding its creation, and a bit about what's next!
It's been several years since I've been able to really bite into a major castle MOC, and I'd been thinking about one like this for a long time. The castle is greatly inspired by a gorgeous Lenox collectible castle called "Falkenstein" (
click here for an image). I took that castle as a base, and went from there.
If you've checked the
Brickville website, you'll know that the castle is part of a larger exhibit that we are part of, called "
A LEGO Odyssey", currently on display at
Science World, here in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
One of the creations that Science World wanted was a large castle, to go with the glued dragon sculpture that was also coming as part of the exhibit. I got some preliminary pictures of the dragon so that I could tie it into the castle creation somewhat. The dragon sculpture is cool, but a bit unusual. First of all, the dragon is holding a giant ax (you can see it end-on in
this pic), which I've never heard of before. The ax provides a spot to display the Lego logo, I suppose. Secondly, the dragon is HUGE in scale. The dragon is towering over a short "Wizard's tower" (you can see the black and light grey roof in the picture, right below the dragon's left paw). There's also a mini-land scale wizard standing in the tower.
I took these two points, along with my "fantasy castle by the sea" idea, and came up with a whole story-line for the MOC (which you'll have to wait to discover until it's all done!). Science World wanted a very simple story to tag onto the sign for the castle, so they invented a very simplifed version of the tale. Some things you know already. The dragon is sleeping (duh!), and is under the castle. Bryan's picture doesn't show it well, but kids delight in finding the dragon's paw "hidden" in the sea-cave under the castle. Also, "Sleeping Dragon" in german is "Schlafendrache", which is the "official" name of the castle. As to the ax? Well, there's a woodcutter, a princess, some magic, and a few other story elements to the tale ...
To some of your posts ...
I used the HP roofs in a few spots, first because they fit those towers(!), but mostly because I ran out of sand-green pieces to build custom towertops. I don't think the final version will use more than 1, perhaps 2 HP rooftops.
Which brings up the fact that the castle is FAR from finished. I was pressed for time to get it ready for the exhibit opening (too much else to do with the rest of the exhibit components and organization), so I had to really scramble to get a presentable castle put together quickly. See below for what will be changed or added to the castle before it's shown next.
Bryan asked how it's built/transported. The tallest towers detach completely, as do the "white" palace portion, and chapel. All the rest splits into 6 sections, the seams of which are very evident in Bryan's pictures (gotta fix that next time I'm down there!). The sections use technic axles to line up and connect. Works really well.
As to construction? I've used lots and lots of tricks
, some taken from great MOCs out there, and some I came up with on my own. Generally, I use symmetry sparingly, and like to model real-world shapes and curves as much as possible.
What's next for the castle? Well, pretty much the whole "top" of the castle will be rebuilt, basically from just below the "white" part up, including the towers (and the "
dinky tower"
). These were hastily constructed, and need lots of work. Some of these will also be interior detailed. Also, as Bryan mentioned, I'll be adding a small building/tower on the island, some action in the water (ship or two, etc.), lots more in the wharf area, a (tan) path coming up where the knights are currently riding on the grass, LOTS more figs and situations inside and out, the woodcutter's cottage, and lots more. Some of the minor work will make it to Science World, but the major rebuilding will have to wait until after the exhibit ends in May.
I'll have the finished (are they ever finished?
) castle at NWBrickCon in Seattle this fall.
Thanks again for all your comments. I enjoy them all, especially the constructive criticism.
Regards,
Robin
