Marco Cancellieri

Hello, this is only my second post on eurobricks, but I'm reading this forum from some month. I'm afraid, my english isn't so good and this is a block for me. I hope that you can understand me! I'm an italian Afol and I go on my lug's event, in the last september I weènt to Lego Fan Weekend in Skaerbaek (with a medieval layout). I began to build mocs at the beginning of 2008, and my first idea was to build a very big Hogwarts Castle, including interior decoration and every rooms of the castle. I did some search on web, there are really a lot of Harry Potter's fans! I found a lot of pictures and information about plan and where was rooms. Unfortunately a lot of things changed between films and books, so there was impossible to have a good vision... I look at a lot of mocs and finally I decided to begin and do something like this: I began from great hall. It was a very interesting place and it was "easy", but at that time I hadn't much parts, and I had always to wait for new parcels. On set 4709 there was this place, so I did it bigger: Under I placed the kitchens. You can find this room only in the books, in the 4th or 5th book there is a party there with the ghosts! This room took me only 2 days of work, it was really simple! In september I did the building that was in front of the great hall. In some film this is a courtyard. I'm very happy of this part of my castle, the stair really satisfy me! It was difficult, I prefer two plates than a brick for each step and I hadn't a lot of stud to build. Every plates on height was a conquest! Finally, i had a look of the first part of my castle. After this I had a problem, the big tower. Build something round isn't so easy using lego, but i found something that was really that I need on flickr.com and I have to say "thank you" to lego-tohst for this: The round tower of Lego-Tohst on Flickr.com I hope that he writes on eurobricks! I begin to buy a lot of bricks to build tower and the square building near it, that has a lot of rooms. Unfortunately I had just some month, because I want to take my castle in my lug's event in Ballabio 2009, it was my first event. I did an error, but it wasn't an error for me: I choose to build better the interior decoration, but no one can view it, just some other Afol! The "big square building" was all full of minifigs, rooms, courtyard, but after a lot of time I haven't any pics yet. The tower was really big, with a spiral stairs... look at the windows that follow the stairs. I decided to build two floor to connect stairs at the other buildings, so the tower is not regular, but looks like round. Unfortunately flows down coming back home... The tower's roof is big but has under too plates to build a room under it, Dubledore will be stay is some other place... You can view all in this picture: I have not a real lego-room in my city's home (I live in the city center of Rome, and it's difficult to have a lot of space). Now I have my Hogwarts in my holidays house, where I stay just 20 days in a year. My plan is still, but often I think to complete it better, and do some changes to something that doesn't looks good, adding all baseplates (baseplates, bricks and plates as base, other Hogwarts' building, lake with trans-blue tile, quidditch field, Hogsmeade, ballast on rails... For now they are only dreams! The last year I built a medieval city, and now I'm triyng to build something for our itlug city layout. Here i have all my galleries: My gallery on brickshelf I'm very happy for Winter Break contest, I'll not build anything for it because I have a file already full of ideas to build for events... but I'm really happy to see a lot of very nice mocs on my favourite theme!

Hello, I'd like to have some informations (also if I'm Italian!), I'll write you a message.

I hope to see Lego Fan-Welt an year... maybe 2014 will be a good choice!

Really an excellent work, Altezza! I'm impressed because you said this is your first moc post dark-age. There are a lot of interesting techniques in this moc, the solutions used to build these round forms are absolutely fantastic! I already seen something similar in other mocs but never in a model large as the yours... now I have to try how works with my parts! ;-) I'm sure you saw a lot of mocs before begin this one! Ps Maybe are you italian?

I did a fast count and they should be over 30.000 parts. Castle Black is around 10000-12000 parts, the most are plates 1x2 black or gray. We hope to show this diorama in Legofan Weekend 2013, but we need a van!

Excellent job my friend!!!

Hi reload, I'm sorry that you have read this criticism (that I also did on romabrick's and on itlug's forums) without know why some things was told, and I hope that my poor english will explain it. It's a year that the most of italian active Afols knows that in Rome there are some people that are trying to build a Lego-Colosseum without send pics to other afols ( ), and in Italy there is a playful rivalry from roman afols and northern afols, so we were hoping to surprise our friends. So some replies was for them, to explain some differences with the real Colosseum to other italian afols that comes from far places and to creating more suspense about our work, not really to say bad things about your moc! Probably your italian contact hasn't understand why we wrote some note about it. In the last weekend I was in the Italian meeting of Ballabio and I say to all my friend that the yours was a very nice moc, we don't discuss about it or about your skills as builder that we appreciate a lot! We have a little forum that we mainly use to organize our afols' nights, we didn't expect that we did so many "noise" and arrive to your hears, and paradoxically this is a success for us, so thanks to your friend... We need a lot of time before complete our playful quest, but this isn't a problem, we have a lot of fun every week with our evenings and for us build the Colosseum is a dream, because is the most famous symbol of our city. Because this 3d version is a life's work that surely we don't finish in just a year, we did as replacement a mosaic to present in the last "Itlug Latina 2012" (29th April - 1st May 2012) that is also on flickr: I'm one of organizer of "Itlug Latina 2013" (25th - 28th April 2013), so if you'll like to come in this "dangerous" city of Rome and be our guest few nights in the near Latina we'll come to airport to take you (we hope with a little moc of yours ) to our show. In private, we can also show you our works, but we don't need to share it with other people now, I'm sure you can understand that we are only jealous of our ideas (as the Corinthian capital). If someone wants some clarification can add me and ask using facebook, this is my real name (my nickname is er_khanc on itlug, romabrick and bricklink and erkhanc on brickshelf).

Very, very interesting! A lot of good ideas to build details and the round tower with the room inside is really nice. I'll add some pics in a folder on my pc!

I think that this is really a great moc. This scene full of movement is very difficoult to be built, and you did it with a large attention to details. Will be ver difficoult for someoone do something better than this!

Hi Huw, a big project on Harry Potter will be very interesting but how you are thinking to do with it? Maybe you'll like to see all the mocs in one big exhibition in Europe? Or you prefer to build a virtual, large, moc using just pictures?

Really fantastic, as seen in the films!!!! Maybe you are thinking to sell instructions for it? I'm sure that you'll find a good number of people interested about it!

I'm very interested about this discussion because I built too my own Hogwarts and I did a presentation in this forum some month ago. There are some problem that you have to considerate before begin to build a big project: 1) Space, it never seems to much building large Mocs 2) Choose an Hogwarts map, because in every films and book Hogwarts isn't the same. Some rooms and places moves in different parts of the castle. 3) Choose if use sets or build more mocs. When I begin my moc, I see that I just some parts or some ideas were good for my Hogwarts. You can use 4757 for the back and it is perfect, but from the other castles you can use just some rooms like Great Hall (you have to rebuild the most!) 4) You cannot build like it is in the book because you cannot build seven floor and dungeons under them because then the building will be really too big and high! At the third floor you'll have already a big building that has a good weight and the other parts have to be in the same scale! 5) You have to buy thounsands of parts, the most bricks, because in the sets you don't find to much of them... but You'll have really a big number of arch! 6) It has to be modular to see the interior 7) Finally, I choose to buy many sets at least 2-3 times, so I keep the collection of HP sets plus my Hogwarts.

Really an excellent work! My forestmans really need a tree like this, another good idea for the next moc!

Hi, maybe you can look for same rebuilding of ancient Rome not in lego to find something for your moc. Watching on google you can find a lot of pics like this: Or maybe you can search on google earth: google earth Ps: I'm roman!

Hi, maybe you can find useful this based on set 4730: My link It was my first Moc and it isn't built very well... but maybe the idea can be interesting Good work, please give us a link to see your mocs!

Thank you! I had some slope 33° in sand green parting out many HP sets, but I also bought other 500 Sand Green Slope 33° 3 x 1 on bricklink, there was a shop in Europe where I found them and they was very cheap (5 cent Each). Normally I look for parts in European Union, parcels arrives faster and there aren't fees to pay at the customs office.

Really an excellent moc. I'm really interested about this Hogwarts and I'd like to see a lot of pics if they are somewhere on the web! A good idea is going on the up with these building, or Hogwarts will be too big to stay in a room!

Hi Tohst, I'm happy to find you here! Thank you for your comment. Build the tower was really very instructive about round forms, but the problem is that you cannot do everything you want. I had a lot of problems on the top, where there is a flooding. And also on the roof, 3 days of works to complete it and because someone bought the most of 33° slopes in sand green before me ... The rock base is really easy, it is outside the tower and they are together using hinges. Simple, but good shape. Another idea is to change all dark gray roof in sand green slopes, but I don't know if I'll try. I really hope to see some news on your Hogwarts! This building also is really interesting, and near at the films Hogwarts Every 2-3 month I search for new Hogwarts' on brickshelf or on flickr, looking for big models. There are many good mocs on little parts of the castle (that I look attentively) and just few big mocs about Hogwarts like the mine or the yours, that are similar to films. These other two are excellent: Hogwarts - but interior design is really simple Hogwarts - I saw it here only after post my topic.

Thanks for so much positive comments! I'd like to reply to everyone. The plan now is still because I haven't enough space to build the castle as it is in my mind. I'll need a room to place it. But now I have a lot of parts to build, and probably so much HP minifigs, so I'm selling someone of them on bricklink! Now some replies. I also like the kitchen, maybe isn't the best room but it is a totally new room! I haven't other pics of the tower, because it fell down coming back from that exhibition. At the beginning I was thinking to build another tower in the same time behind the big building... and now I have in a box the floor of it (I keep all my mocs built). In the next days I'll do it some pics and I'll post them in this topic. Unfortunately is really difficult to split a round building built with bricks and round bricks: you can place tiles over the bricks, but you need also tile round 1x1 that doesn't exist, because you cannot place an 1x1 tile! So the interior is all running, there are passage everywhere, but unfortunately you cannot open the tower, only the roof. If I'll not have a better idea, I'll built the tower again, leaving some plate missing to split it and see the interior. Another bad thing is that if you want try to insert windows or doors (like I did), you lost the round shape and it only seems round. Maybe you can see that bricks 1x3 and round brick aren't regular. Maybe build it with 1x4 brick can correct a big number of problems (surely for the windows), but the tower will be really too big...

Hi, a little post just to see you a pic on a little work over set 4766 (how much it costs!!). The set is already very nice, but I think that now looks better! Is perfect to stay on a 48x32 studs of baseplates. I prefer to cover baseplates of plates, it seems me more realistic and the dark gray is perfect for the ground. Ready to be placed in a bigger layout! My gallery on bricklink

I don't like build very dark scene with lego, but probably I'll change the green and the flower with something other the next time that I'll use it in some layout!

This Moc is really great, you have a very clean building style! In the movies, we see every time Hogsmeade Station in the night, but with these colours has a nice look, according to shops and houses! I hope to see other pics of your big Hogsmeade in the future! This is my first message in Eurobricks, I just read for some week... but I had to reply now! I'm happy to see a lot of Lego HP fans, in my LUG no one tells about it!