Krak des Chevaliers

[architect]

A new builder is joining the elite ranks of giant castle creators. Take a look at Krak des Chevaliers by Krazy Kastle Krak Guy.

Additional information regarding this important crusader castle and the Knights Hospitalers can be found on his mocpage. Please leave your comments regarding this imposing fortress.

[Blego7]

Great littl- Big scene there. I love the entire layout of the castle which in itself is a true architectural challenge but one thing that would make this great is minfigs and details inside the castle. However this is still a great build!

[Karrde]

That is seriously impressive. It really does the real thing justice.

[eilonwy77]

From the first picture it just looked like a huge, amazing, but somewhat dull fortress. Which I am sure is true to the source material. But as I browsed through the pictures on MOC pages, I noticed all sorts of pretty little ornamental details that I liked a lot. Looking at the complete photo set also really gave me a sense of scale, of how immense and thorough this is. It is very well done.

[BiggerJim]

Looking at the complete photo set also really gave me a sense of scale

Agreed. I had the same impression. A very impressive build. I love how the walls have just enough detail to look intimidating and refined at the same time. Very realistic look.

[pijani]

I love big castles & forteresses. just imagine how much fun it would be to play with it

[Legoorci]

A huge and well detailed castle.
I love nearly everythin about it ecept the missing landscape outside the castle.
Now he just needs to put 60-70 knights and 2000 other soldiers inside the castle

[veevers24]

Very Impressive, - it must have taken forever to collect that much tan lego!

I'm going to have to say that it is missing minifigs and detail but otherwise its superb

[Quickblade22]

The size is awesome. The color is not tan however, it is white that has been exposed to sunlight mostly.

[footsteps]

I visited a similar, smaller, castle in Israel 15 years ago. Lots of fascinating defense techniques went into the designs of these things.

As for this MOC, using "weathered white" is truly inspired. It really creates the right impression of colour variation.

As always, I wish I'd done this.

[Sir_Darc]

Amazingly realistic! As others have said, the only thing lacking is some detail. It's so huge and inviting, it'd be great to fill it with furniture, tapestries, etc. etc. And of course, all the hundreds (thousands?) of inhabitants it could hold. Awesome job!

[Blueandwhite]

Wonderful! This castle looks like something Dr. Carney might have designed. The actual structure is simply stunning. The sheer size of this thing really blows my mind.

Like many of the good Doctor's works, this could certainly stand to include a bit more life. A castle this large could reasonably be displayed with hundreds of inhabitants (soldiers and workers) going about their business. A small bazar would probably work well to fill out the empty space in the outer bailey while soldiers and knights make their way along the castle walls. The land beyond the castle walls could also benefit from a bit of texture as right now everything looks a bit unfinished.

I really hope that the castle's creator looks to breathing life into this otherwise incredible castle. It truly is a rare thing to see a castle that is both this large and this well-built. Good find Ben.

[K3G]

Hello everybody,
I'm Krazy Kastle Krak Guy, well know as Dan.
I wish to thank you all for your nice comments.
Building the Krak was a true challenge and I had to make a lot of important choices, for exemple choosing to concentrate my attention to the complicated architecture more than to the interiors, the furniture, the landscape.
I agree with those who say that the Krak needs "more life". In fact, I have not enough minifig for the moment, but I plan to put a nice garrison inside. I have already created a funny story with some Hospitallers, Templars, French knights... you can see it at http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/230514
However, please don't compare me to Dr. Carney : I think I will never be able to reach a such high level of skills and art than he has. Dear Bob, my friend, you are the best of us all!
I choosed yellowed bricks for two reasons:
1) since I was a child, I collected a lot (thousands) of white bricks who "yellowed" naturally along the years
2) I think that this colour is the one who looks the best to the real look of the Krak, tan bricks would have been too dark
Dear Legoorci, you're right: the landscape is missing. Well, I haven't done it because it had took a lot of place: as you can see in the pictures the Krak fits all my Lego room, it had been impossible to do bigger. And honestly, my skills are not developped enough to allow me to build a nice landscape without massive using of BURPs.
Dear Ben, it was a suprise for me to see my creation quoted on Classic Castle. I love this website, it is a great source of inspiration.
Thanks to you all again.

Dan - Krazy Kastle Krak Guy

[Ye Olde Republic]

First of all: Bienvenue sur la Classic-castle! Sorry, my francais is mucho rusty, in fact I probably don't know much more than I just tried to use.
I'd like to count Dr. Carney as a huge source of inspiration as well...if I only built more castles.
I'm a big fan of Krak and had planned to attempt it myself soon, just not at this astounding scale! I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of landscape taking away from the 'life' of this MOC, there really isn't a lot of nice features around this fortress but I bet building it on some tan baseplates would certainly have helped a lot. I fear that on a creation of this size an interior would be a hopeless project as quite a lot of the buildings are pretty inaccessible anyway but some things in the courtyard may have helped, even if it were a barrel or two (hundred ) placed around.

1) since I was a child, I collected a lot (thousands) of white bricks who "yellowed" naturally along the years
2) I think that this colour is the one who looks the best to the real look of the Krak, tan bricks would have been too dark

1) I love the old white and have also been collecting it for a long time. I used it in my latest MOC to, hopefully, the same effect. They can have my yellowed white when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
2) I hadn't really considered building Krak in white before. When I see a white castle my mind immediately goes to the square white-washed Norman Keeps. I suppose if you built this in tan, it could certainly be washed out if you added a tan and grey landscape around it.

Nice work and I look forward to seeing more from you!

[Legoorci]

Salut et bienvenue en CC !
J'aime ton creation !
First I thought it was tan, but now I know it better
I like the story and the figs on your Mocpages acc. Seeing the castle compared to minifigs it looks even bigger.
I'll enjoy seeing more figs in the castle...maybe a little bazaar ?
With landscape I didn't mean that you should build your castle on a one meter high rock plateau.
I just meant adding some tan plates on the ground...some stones, some bushes. Maybe even some camels near a well with palms.

I hope to see more of you soon,
Legoorci