Ulmaris Castle - now with interior pictures

Post by **SavaTheAggie** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:42 am

Introducing Ulmaris Castle!

Again!

Post Mod Gallery

But this time around, I finally got to taking pics of the inside! Yup, Ulmaris has an interior. I've also changed a few things around, like the terrain in front of the Castle as well as the bridge that leads to the draw bridge.

Items of note:

Keep a look out for four of the CC admins inside Ulmaris - Bruce, Kevin, Nate and Troy.

Spiral staircases

Well

Heavily modified version of Jojo's Canopy Bed

Library

Minifig scale bellows

Lemme know what you think!

--Anthony

The Hordesman · Post by **The Hordesman** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:53 am

Wow, Im speechless. The furniture are really great. While the bed is a modified Jojo design, I really must say that I love the well! It looks like... Well, a well! The smithy is also grand, the air-blowing thing (I have no idea what it is called in english) is really creative, I never saw the use of a cloak for that! The only thing Im not 100% on you with is the smithy bang-bang thing (the thing you hold things on in the smithy and hammers on, I know, my english is really lacking).

From were is the bird & cage?

hehe, I can spot two sigfigs(not really, but look-alikes)...

Recluce · Post by **Recluce** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 2:01 pm

Tony, I saw Ulmaris at Brickfest last year... can you tell me what is different from then?

Guys, he does awesome work on detailing his castles. Everything comes apart and exposes neat little pockets of life inside, and all the space is utilized wonderfully.

Shadow · Post by **Shadow** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:34 pm

I have to agree with Recluce, you are an amazing detailer.

I've seen this one before, but it was neat to see the inside with its extras, i.e the well and bed.

Gumby · Post by **Gumby** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 6:17 pm

WOW.

This is what Dr. Carney needs to do with his castles to elevate him to the next level. He's started adding minifigs to his to-scale castles, but they're still very devoid of life!

Oops back to Anthony's castle:

These pictures really show the amount of planning that went into designing/building Ulmaris. Everything fits together so nicely!

One question though - in pictures #33/34, there appears to be a pool of water (small blue-plated area). What is this supposed to be?

Moroder · Post by **Moroder** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 6:47 pm

The level of detail and the design of this castle makes it one of Anthony's greatest building creations. The inner garden is simply wonderful, so as the white chairs. As always, great work, Anthony.

Post by **SavaTheAggie** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:03 am

The Hordesman wrote:Wow, Im speechless. The furniture are really great. While the bed is a modified Jojo design, I really must say that I love the well! It looks like... Well, a well! The smithy is also grand, the air-blowing thing (I have no idea what it is called in english) is really creative, I never saw the use of a cloak for that! The only thing Im not 100% on you with is the smithy bang-bang thing (the thing you hold things on in the smithy and hammers on, I know, my english is really lacking).

From were is the bird & cage?

hehe, I can spot two sigfigs(not really, but look-alikes)...

Thanks for the reply!

The air-blowing thing is called a Bellows, and the other is called an Anvil. The anvil is, as far as I know, the same design that's in Dan Siskind's official LEGO set 'Blacksmith Shop'.

The bird and cage is a Belville element.

I'll post links to the four admins in a few days if no one finds them all.

Recluce wrote:Tony, I saw Ulmaris at Brickfest last year... can you tell me what is different from then?

Guys, he does awesome work on detailing his castles. Everything comes apart and exposes neat little pockets of life inside, and all the space is utilized wonderfully.

Ulmaris from Brickfest was a bit different from the Ulmaris I announced here, so the differences are much harder to see if you're going by Brickfest. The terrain in front of the castle has a much more fluid look to it, including a 'beach' that doesn't follow the foliage line. I've also totally redesigned the bridge that the drawbridge rests on. The climbing rose that was once climbing up the kitchen's chimney has been relocated to the outer ward. Alot of parts had to be rebuilt after the trip from Brickfest, too many to count, but a few things here and there were improved when possible. All in all, nothing was changed that really signifigantly changed the 'look' of Ulmaris.

Thanks for the kind words!

Shadow wrote:I have to agree with Recluce, you are an amazing detailer. I've seen this one before, but it was neat to see the inside with its extras, i.e the well and bed.

Thanks!

Well, I had promised to show interior shots. Plus, one of the most common criticisms I got on Ulmaris from users on this forum and others was the lack of interior, which simply wasn't true. Thus - I took new pictures.

Gumby wrote:WOW.

This is what Dr. Carney needs to do with his castles to elevate him to the next level. He's started adding minifigs to his to-scale castles, but they're still very devoid of life!

Oops back to Anthony's castle:

These pictures really show the amount of planning that went into designing/building Ulmaris. Everything fits together so nicely!

One question though - in pictures #33/34, there appears to be a pool of water (small blue-plated area). What is this supposed to be?

Thanks, I'm not sure what to say! I'm always flattered to be compared to Dr. Carney.

I spent a lot of time planning Ulmaris. 6 months to be exact. While I was in exile, I had a lot of free time, and so I spent it planning every little detail. The building process went really quick because of it.

The pool of water you are referring to is one of the two cisterns (the other is in the other tower on the opposite side). If you look in picture #33, you can see a small (technic) hole where the rain water from the roof would pour out. Cisterns were important sources of fresh water back-in-the-day.

Moroder wrote:The level of detail and the design of this castle makes it one of Anthony's greatest building creations. The inner garden is simply wonderful, so as the white chairs. As always, great work, Anthony.

Thanks so much! I have to agree, this is one of, if not my best, MOC. I'm really proud of what I've been able to do with it.

--Anthony

Sir Dillon · Post by **Sir Dillon** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:33 am

Wow, very impressive Sava. I really like all the detail you've managed to put into this.
Is Troy in minifig form, or did you hide the dragon in there?

Post by **SavaTheAggie** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:58 pm

I've built a MOCpage for Ulmaris Castle, if anyone is interested.

http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/13216

And Troy's in minifig form

--Anthony

Sir Terrance · Post by **Sir Terrance** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 4:47 am

Wow! The interior is sweet! My favourite part has to be the spiral staircases, but I also love these chairs.

Keep up the great work!

~Chris Perron

Blueandwhite · Post by **Blueandwhite** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 5:42 am

Quick question.

Everything on Ulmaris is mottled quite nicely... almost. The stables and soldier's quarters are notably clean. Was there a specific reason for leaving these buildings untouched?

Still, when everything else has been said, this is truly an inpressive castle! I can only hope that my next major castle comes close to matching such fine work.

Congrats.

lord azreal · Post by **lord azreal** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 7:25 am

thats the best castle ive seen yet, but not very uncommon here to have huge castles is it?

Post by **SavaTheAggie** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:58 am

Sir Terrance wrote:Wow! The interior is sweet! My favourite part has to be the spiral staircases, but I also love these chairs.

Keep up the great work!

~Chris Perron

Thanks! I wish I could take credit for them, but once again I took a design from Jojo to make those chairs. I don't think he did them in white, though, so I can take credit for that, at least.

Blueandwhite wrote:Quick question.

Everything on Ulmaris is mottled quite nicely... almost. The stables and soldier's quarters are notably clean. Was there a specific reason for leaving these buildings untouched?

Still, when everything else has been said, this is truly an inpressive castle! I can only hope that my next major castle comes close to matching such fine work.

Congrats.

Two specific reasons: First, I was running low on parts. I used up a lot of 1xN dark grey bricks in creating the mottling on the rest of the castle. Second, I wanted the courtyard to have a very peaceful and calming look about it, and I thought the clean, all light grey look added to that. I thought that had I done a heavy mottle job to those two buildings, it would really clash with the large amount of mottling I included with the cobblestone pathway.

In any case, I'm happy to hear that after seeing the interior you still like what I've done. You gave me such high praise the first time around, I hope that you at least haven't seen anything to change your opinion of it.

lord azreal wrote:thats the best castle ive seen yet, but not very uncommon here to have huge castles is it?

Thanks! I don't think its' rare, but it's not commonplace, either. I would guess that only about ten castles a year at this scale are seen, if Ulmaris fits your description of 'huge.' Of course, building big for big sake is meaningless. Some of the absolute best castle MOCs I've ever seen are very small. It's all about pouring the love of building into what you build, and never letting something be just 'good enough.'

--Anthony

Sheen · Post by **Sheen** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:52 am

To whomever came up with the chairs, and to Sava for recreating, changing color, and using them well....

I must say I never thought to put anything Feng Shui in a Lego castle!

Points for creativity all around!

I must say I'm impressed to see that the castle opens up and has an interior. I never would have expected it with a creation this large (and I'll add good-looking since I hadn't commented on it before).

Troy T. Moore · Post by **Troy T. Moore** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 12:32 pm

I like the spiral stairs going up the two sides of the keep pic 37.

The great hall with the multi light laterns and planters to catch the eye are nice.

Really like the smoke house pics 55 & 56. A small building but shows the thought put into the realities of castle life.

It is MOCs like this that make me lament the fact I only have dial up