Create Your Own Theme Entry - Modular Castle

[DARKspawn]

Hi there guys

I have finally completed my entry. Due to BS being a little unreliable I will post the link to my MOCpage for now. This was one evil competition. I feel sorry for Tony's family who have to put up with him on a daily basis

Note, I still havn't chosen entry pics


Image is MOCpages link

Please tell me your thoughts

[Pumpkinetics]

Mmm... As a Castle: Niice.

As a Contest entry: possibly not as nice.

The sets fit somewhat well into the total, but as individuals there's not much going for them, save the residence.

Guarded wall- On its own would be rather unappealing. A standard wall with ladder. The TLC strategy is to package it with a simple siege weapon

Blacksmith- A nice combo of 6040 and 6041, but seems too empty. If this and the above were just one set, might've worked better.

Gatehouse- Nice, simple. Needs a little more spice- Door braces or a second door for the mini-hallway.

Guarded residence- I'm supposing this is supposed to be the lord's house. Possibly needs to be a bit more show-offy inside. Great place for shields on walls. (There's a reason for those mantlepieces, beyond movie sword-dispenser)

Dark Knight's castle- The gatehouse is alright, but I can see a kid building one tower, building the second, getting impatient, starting the third, then knocking down the entire thing to build a spaceship (I have a very vivid imagination) In a set it's very important to avoid large repetitive builds. This is also why the entire line needs a little work. All the back walls are the same Arch-and-slope pattern with no variation. A little variation and excitement would really make these sets nice ad sell-worthy.

There's also the minor fact of each set exceeding its max. part limit, before figs (Except Guarded wall, that's one piece below max) and the requirement of max 2 32x32 baseplates per set (although D.K.C. could probably be built on one 42x42 easily) but that ain't my department. Good ideas here!

[doodstormer]

NOT INCLUDING FIGS??? This is a LEGO Set contest!
The walls are pretty nice, but the whole thing as a theme wouldn't be as effective, due to no enemy faction. I do really like the walls you made.

[Norro]

Looking nice. My first impression is that you're betwixt and between lego set and outright AFOL quality MOC. But against that I don't think I've ever seen such a solid castle built on such a tight piece count. I take my hat off to you for the look you achieved within the limitations...

God Bless (as always),

Nathan

[DanDanLegoman]

I can't believe the above posters aren't amazed by your castle, because I sure am.

With only basic pieces and regular colors, you've built an amazing, beautiful castle. These are just regular bricks and slopes, no special "castle" parts, yet the design is awesome. I like the architecture you've accomplished with only basic bricks. This reminds me of something Lego would have released in 1980, like a fancier yellow castle but with better colors.

I always thought that I couldn't build a great castle because I don't have a ton of castle-specific parts, but you've destroyed that excuse for me.

Fantastic work!

[Norro]

I can't believe the above posters aren't amazed by your castle, because I sure am.

In my defense I did say "I take my hat off to you for the look you achieved within the limitations... " and I think Darkspawn knows how highly I rate his work. But it is also nice to have some genuine reactions (although I would agree some in this thread are a little harsh).

I always thought that I couldn't build a great castle because I don't have a ton of castle-specific parts, but you've destroyed that excuse for me.

Most of the best MOCs are built with standard lego pieces rather than the lego prefab parts... Be encouraged to build!

God Bless,

Nathan

[Pumpkinetics]

Oh, believe me- I thought the castle itself was great, fine MOC-work. It just could do with a little more to be a good theme.

Sorry if I seemed harsh. I was trying to think critically like an 8-year old who might get this set for christmas.

[DARKspawn]

Thankyou, all, for your comments & honesty

This contest drove me nuts. I don't build LEGO sets, I build things, so this was very difficult for me. In all honesty, as a stand alone MOC outside of the context of this contest, I hate it. It's everything I would never do in a castle - minimum interrior details, limited working mechanisms, only basic building techniques, no landscaping at all, etc etc.

But, as Nathan & Dan pointed out, the piece restriction forced me to compromise. I think this is what Sava's original intention was. I don't use or even have many prefab wall pieces, so it had to be brick built. If I had used prefabs I'd have an enormous castle, but if you think nice Gothic arched walls are boring... well I find prefabs to be a little repetitive, restricting, & extremely unrealistic (hard to find a ground floor window on a real castle )

Since when do we need an opposing faction? Also this set wasn't designed as new millinium kid's set, it was designed as an AFOL MOC, built within the restrictions, with 375 in mind. Indeed I sacrificed playability in that respect for the ability to include all sets as castle sections. Again prefabs would have bought me some room here.

Regarding the piece count on my MOCpage... Those are for the benefit of MOCpage visitors - I don't think they would understand Tony's 1 Fig = 10 pieces rule. Also, even with the contest rules, my sets are within the 20% leeway. I will be noting the contest piece count value on my final submission

& Baseplates... um... oops huh? Let's hope the admins are kind & let that small factor slip.

Finally, I value everyone's honest critisim, thanks heaps for posting

[Shadowviking]

Great. I've always liked both modular sets and adding to preexisting sets, so this is like a prefect theme for me. It looks nice, too, even with out all of the usual nice refinements. Excellent work as always!

[Prince Imdol]

Arg, man you build good stuff. The only thing I don't like about this is the landscaping. I think its a bit bare outside the castle. But great castle itself!


P.I

[Quickblade22]

I don't know what else to say, but this is excellent. It's plain to see that such an awesome builder would have difficulty working within the restrictions that actual designers have to deal with. DARKspawn would want to add a kinds of little things, and then have his plans dashed by restrictions from management. It makes you wonder how many employees get frustrated in what we would think of as a dream job.

[smcginnis]

This is an extremely nice set of... well... sets. I don't want to review it in depth, so I'll just say that every bit of it/them is well made and awesome looking.

~smcginnis

[Chris Was Here]

How about this, just use plates to stay within the baseplate limit.

[DanDanLegoman]

Apologies to Pumpkinetics and Norro if I made you guys feel bad. I checked out DARKspawn's other stuff and it's ALL this good. No wonder you guys weren't as amazed as I was, if you've seen his stuff before.

Although sets without enemies aren't released much anymore, this castle reminds me of the very first years of Lego castle, when the castles really had no enemies attacking or landscaping. So it has a nostalgic appeal for me.

[DARKspawn]

Thanks again for your comments all, it has given me a lot to think about.

How about this, just use plates to stay within the baseplate limit.

That will only increase the piece count though. I am not overly concerned, the fact that the plates could be easily replaced with those of more suitable size is enough for me, well at least until an admin tells me otherwise