Colossal Castle Contest 12

[architect]

The CC Team is proud to announce our twelfth annual building contest: The Colossal Castle Contest XII. It will begin on November 1st and end on December 31st, 2014.

This contest is a bit different than other contests. We have a variety of categories each with one prize for the winner. Some categories require small creations and others need larger ones. Everyone, even with a limited supply of bricks, should be able to enter several categories. We are looking for creativity, not who has the most LEGO.

Check out the prizes. Seven Classic Castle sets including the popular Blacksmith Shop, Castle Guard, Maidens Cart, Catapult, Dragon Defender, Medieval Knights, and Dark Forest Fortress are prizes. There are are also idea books, custom accessories, and new castle sets. It truly is colossal!

Thank you to several anonymous donors, Rich Stehnach "Blackrock", soccerkid, and Royal Brick Customs for donating prizes for this contest.

Updated rules with fewer image restrictions can be found here Enjoy!

Note: Please feel free to ask contest questions in this thread. It may take several days for an admin to answer your specific contest questions. It is important to know that the admins have real lives and it may take over a week for your entry to be approved. The submit an entry page is now active.

[Maedhros]

I'm curious about the Fairy Tale Castle category. What exactly would work as a "fairy tale" here? The ideas seem to be from Grimm and H.C Andersen; but would for example medieval myths be ok (Viking, Slavic, Celtic etc)? And stories like arthurian romance, 1001 Nights, Il Decameron or Canterbury Tales?

[AardWolf]

For the "Miscellaneous- Small Creation" category, does the 32x32 stud baseplate footprint mean that neither the length nor the width of the creation can exceed 32 studs, or would it be acceptable to enter any creation whose length and width total less than 64 studs? For example, would a 40x18 stud build be eligible for this category or would it have to go with the large builds?

[soccerkid6]

Looks like some great categories and prizes this year Also excited to see the new picture requirements.

I too am curious about the Fairy Tale Castle category. I'm guessing more fantasy styled than realistic is what the category is looking for?

[Bruce N H]

Yay! My favorite time of the year!

Looking forward to all of your crazy questions.

[Gavin of Lockwood]

Yes, like Isaac and Maedhros I'm interested to know about the Fairy Category.
I'm looking forward to this!

[Brickninja]

Aah...that time of year again. Some of my first MOCs on the internet were built for last years, they were terrible. Hopefully I can improve this time round!

[architect]

I'm curious about the Fairy Tale Castle category. What exactly would work as a "fairy tale" here? The ideas seem to be from Grimm and H.C Andersen; but would for example medieval myths be ok (Viking, Slavic, Celtic etc)? And stories like arthurian romance, 1001 Nights, Il Decameron or Canterbury Tales?

1A. Yes medieval legends are ok. However keep in mind the structure found in the fairy tale / legend is the main focus of this category. So a giant battle scene would be less appropriate than a castle hall with the knights of the round table.

I too am curious about the Fairy Tale Castle category. I'm guessing more fantasy styled than realistic is what the category is looking for?

1B. It could be both. For example a creation based on the Tinderbox would have realistic settings with magical events.

For the "Miscellaneous- Small Creation" category, does the 32x32 stud baseplate footprint mean that neither the length nor the width of the creation can exceed 32 studs, or would it be acceptable to enter any creation whose length and width total less than 64 studs? For example, would a 40x18 stud build be eligible for this category or would it have to go with the large builds?

2. No. Miscellaneous small creations can not exceed 32 studs in any horizontal direction. Please submit longer creations in the miscellaneous large creation category. Thanks.

[royalbrickcustoms]

Well guess I can't enter the custom minifigure category. Lol!

Oh well, I be sure to enter another category, though don't expect an entry from me until the beginning of December

[legodude brown]

where and how do post our entries?

[Bluesecrets]

where and how do post our entries?

3. The entry link will open as soon as it is ready. There will be a link to it when it is done.

[Adolfo]

CC team, the link for CCC XII was shared in LUG Brasil. Count on us!

[ZacharyIslazy]

I figured I might as well ask since it's bound to come up, but for the Out with the new category may we use LOTR and Hobbit sets as the starting model? And then make them retro? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for hosting this again! Congrats on 12 years too! The CCC is definitely one of my favorite parts of the year.

[man at ye old well]

Ahhh, This is a great time to get back into Classic-Castle. It has been quite some time, but with my 7th anniversary of being a member and this contest being the reason I joined, I think I will get back into the swing of things. Thank you all for the great job you do with hosting this contest and a big thanks to all who donated prizes.

I do have a few questions though.

1)So this year there will be a size restriction on the fairy tale castle/building category?
2)For the out with the new is recreating a new castle set in a 90's theme okay? They used a lot of the same pieces and techniques as the 80's or is that not allowed?
3)And lastly are non lego string and sails okay to use for a ship or something of the sort?

Thank you all again, and I look forward to getting back into the forum and meeting all the new members.

,Old Weller

[architect]

CC team, the link for CCC XII was shared in LUG Brasil. Count on us!

Thank you for sharing the news with your lug!

I figured I might as well ask since it's bound to come up, but for the Out with the new category may we use LOTR and Hobbit sets as the starting model? And then make them retro? Thanks in advance!

4A. Related theme redesign probably should be left out of this castle category. However we will keep in mind redesign of LOTR, Hobbit, Harry Potter, etc sets for a future contest or category.

For the out with the new is recreating a new castle set in a 90's theme okay? They used a lot of the same pieces and techniques as the 80's or is that not allowed?

4B. Redesigning 1990's sets is ok. While they share many pieces there are quite a few differences such as the lack of large wall panels, huge raised baseplates, burps, etc. For example the rocks in 6075 Wolfpack Tower could be built similar to the rocks in 6066 Camouflaged Outpost.

So this year there will be a size restriction on the fairy tale castle/building category?

5. Yes. The fairy tale category should be small enough to convey a portion of the main story. This could get lost in a gigantic display. The size restrictions also allows members with smaller collections to compete in most categories of the CCC.

And lastly are non lego string and sails okay to use for a ship or something of the sort?

6. Yes. Custom string and cloth or paper sails are acceptable.