Modular Castle - Some assembly required

[WilliamH]

Having spent almost a year building nothing in Lego - including "missing" my own Lego Show in April - I decided to (over-)commit to five shows/events between now and next April. So it was time to resurrect my Castle Town from the sorting boxes.

With many shows to attend, my usual trick of destroying the castle at the end of a show was not really an option, so carefully planning was needed. I also needed a solution that was self-contained (as I can't rely on others being at all the shows), transportable, and viable in several sizes. The idea is also, over time, to rebuild sections as improvements suggest themselves.

I have a number of train baseboards, and the maximum I can comfortably fit in the car is three, so this determined the size of the biggest possible plan (240 x 160 studs). One board would be too small, so the same modules would also have to make a smaller castle on two boards (160 x 160 studs).

I now have the modules to make the town complete to a point that I can display it in either configuration



Inner Bailey - http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2651637 (keep clicking "Next" - and no, I have no intention of animating this sequence, with or without the Bagpuss Mice!)

Large Castle - http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2651648
Small Castle - http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2651660
(the small castle requires one 16x16 stud wall module not needed in the large castle)

Various market stalls will be used to fill in the gaps.

Play On

[Mr. D]

Very, VERY nice! The castle is simple, historic-looking, and straight-forward while including enough decorative elements to keep it from being plain. The modularity is a great feature.

What set are the slopes in this picture from? You use them to nice effect.

EDIT: You seem to like your women in underwear!

D-Man

[WilliamH]

What set are the slopes in http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/whoward69/Castle/CastleTown/Market/02_veg.jpg this picture from?

Ssssshhhh! Don't tell the Spacers but they are from Pod racers

[Mr. D]

Ah! Thanks.

Another Space part succumbs to Castle brilliance and ingenuity!

D-Man

[Prince Imdol]

I am not the biggest fan of huge castles, but this is good. I think more detail could be added in the courtyard. I like the way you incorperated the battlements into the cliffs.


P.I

[WilliamH]

I think more detail could be added in the courtyard

If you mean the Outer Bailey area, it's where the market place gets set-up and during displays looks like this -

[skilzz1]

i like the slide in slide out option.....

[Blixen]

Dude, you jacked my avatar. And made a mockery of the English language with my picture. What has the world come to?

[Prince Imdol]

If you mean the Outer Bailey area, it's where the market place gets set-up and during displays looks like this -

I guess I was wrong! PLENTY of detail!


Well Blixen, I think instead of accusing right off maybe you should check with an admin. And also, that was a little immature of an act. Not to get off topic.

P.I

[Pikeman]

Really neat modular castle. It has the look of a real castle. well done

[Aliencat]

This is great, indeed very realistic looking like mentioned above. I'm always a big fan of module systems, I just think they're nifty by default, when executed well, which is certainly the case here
Also I like how neat your underground "works" to support the green plates look, I always tend to slack with those because you don't get to see them really so I usually use all the parts that I know I won't need for the rest of the castle (like technic beams, fabuland walls, stuff like that
Nice detail and I like the atmosphere of the marketplace when set-up, looks like a lively place.

[jovian]

This is excellent! I love the modularity of it and the construction even more so. The lattice work on the baseplate edges is a great idea.

Thanks for the ideas, this will make planning a castle a whole lot easier.

[jokkna]

this is sooooo cool if I would have enaugh bricks i would try to build something like this

why is art like this never in art galleries

[WilliamH]

This is great

Many thanks

I'm always a big fan of module systems, I just think they're nifty by default, when executed well, which is certainly the case here

See also http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/9013

Also I like how neat your underground "works" to support the green plates look, I always tend to slack with those because you don't get to see them really so I usually use all the parts that I know I won't need for the rest of the castle (like technic beams, fabuland walls, stuff like that

The first raised castle I built used stacks of 2x4 bricks in 4x4 pillars six bricks high supporting 32x32 and/or 32x16 baseplates. This works well if you're not transporting the castle for more than one show as the bottom baseplate flexes alarmingly. The system I currently use has 2x4 bricks around the edges (arranged in the lattice pattern seen in the pictures) while internal support is provided by 2x6, 2x8 and 2x10 bricks (on pillars of 2x4 bricks) as necessary, supporting 4x12 bricks or overlapped plates (to get slopes). I find this gives the rigidity required, and is both "cheap" on bricks and light-weight

[ericgizmo]

looks historcal at some point