19 replies to this topic

[beelzibus]

Measuring 166x100 studs, this is my first castle. Usually I build with Technic, so this is a complete change for me.
There's no amazing new building techniques, and I've shamelessly stolen/copied many ideas from others, I make no excuse for that.
My main building criteria was playability, and features. All rooms in the castle are fitted out with furniture, all buildings are modular and similarly fitted out except for the mill which is as yet unfinished. Roofs lift off in some areas of the castle, and every room has an opening wall panel of some sort to allow access to the interior.


Full set of pics here:

[The Blue Brick]

Very nice. I love the little village and the stream. The castle is great too.

Awesome job, especially for your first castle.

[TenorPenny]

I agree with The Blue Brick, especially on the stream, which is delightful!

[The Joker1]

FIRST castle wow this is more MOC expert standard. Great work.

[Legocrazy81]

The Joker1, on 22 April 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

FIRST castle wow this is more MOC expert standard. Great work.

Yes. This is a very impressive build. While there may not be any new or ingenious techniques, it's not necessary in a castle. Your towers are nice and the village buildings are good as well. The stream is a nice break in the green/brown landscape. I like the little break ups in the landscape-the plants, garden, trees, the dirt area around the houses mixed with a touch of grey. Great job and I look forward to your second MOC.

[beelzibus]

The Blue Brick, on 22 April 2012 - 04:57 PM, said:

Very nice. I love the little village and the stream. The castle is great too.

Awesome job, especially for your first castle.

TenorPenny, on 22 April 2012 - 05:27 PM, said:

I agree with The Blue Brick, especially on the stream, which is delightful!

The Joker1, on 22 April 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

FIRST castle wow this is more MOC expert standard. Great work.

Legocrazy81, on 22 April 2012 - 09:37 PM, said:

Yes. This is a very impressive build. While there may not be any new or ingenious techniques, it's not necessary in a castle. Your towers are nice and the village buildings are good as well. The stream is a nice break in the green/brown landscape. I like the little break ups in the landscape-the plants, garden, trees, the dirt area around the houses mixed with a touch of grey. Great job and I look forward to your second MOC.

Wow, Thank You so much for all your kind comments.
Regarding the copying of others techniques; There's some great builds out there on the net, it would be virtually impossible not to copy someones ideas in some way, so if I see something I like I'm not afraid to use it. Also finance concerns are an issue to me, there are very very few high cost parts here, a few minifig torsos, the tall corner roof tiles, those are probably the most expensive pieces in the whole model. Once committed to building something of this size of course any financial concerns seem to be a mute point, but it is still a consideration. Also as a person with a full time job, family and other interests as well I find that I work much slower than many, so don't expect anything new anytime soon. I don't plan on tearing this apart anytime soon. When I do at least I should have a good selection of parts to start with.

[Tria]

Really nicely done! I like it very much!

[legomylego]

Cool. how long did that take to build? that must of took at least two weeks roughly

[Sir_Basil_Ashton]

Impressive castle. Really great job. The sheer size is pretty awesome. Everything fits well together, the village, the crops, the stream, the different animals.  

[Balthasar]

Great work! This isn't what I was expecting when reading 'my first castle'.. Everything looks excellent: castle exterior, all the many interiors, landscaping etc. I hope you stay a while in the castle-scene!

[soccerkid6]

Nice looking castle! I like that you made interiors  
The angled houses add a lot to the scene as well. Looking forward to seeing more castle MOCs from you in the future  

[Hive]

Looks great, hard to believe it's your first.  

[beelzibus]

Thank you once again for all the kind comments. To those who seem surprised that this is my first castle, I thought I'd say a few words about myself.
I'm no beginner with Lego of course, I came out of my dark ages about 4 years ago, I'm 40 years old this week) and found Bricklink 3 years ago. The rest as they say is history.
I usually build Technic models, or other random stuff, I've honestly never built a castle before. I started to get interested in castles just a few months ago, when my 7 year old son showed an interest in the Kingdoms theme. I have spent countlesss hours trawling the net since for inspiration and ideas, this castle is the result of that research.
I read quite a few Lego websites and forums, looking at other's MOCs, and I take note of details and techniques which I can integrate into my MOCs. Once I'm building unless I'm totally happy with something I build I tear it down and start again, or at least I tear down the last part and rebuild that bit. This is partly why it takes me so long to build things, certain elements of the castle were built and rebuilt a few times until I was happy. Only when I'm completely happy with the whole build have I taken some pictures and released it to the world.
My MOC page (http://mocpages.com/home.php/53518) show's a few other things I have built in the last few years, of course there have been more things but I don't post up much.

Now I've built this castle I shall leave it in one piece for a while for my children and their friends to play with, later in the year I will dismantle it and start afresh, I intend to build more castles, hence why I was happy to invest in so many castle type pieces, my big problem is exactly what that castle will be like..... Cheers Andy.

[Teh Stud]

Awesome castle!

The photos were a lot of fun to look at. I love the interior shots. The great hall is epic.

[Redhead1982]

That's an amazing first castle! Despite the size and predominantly gray colour it looks very impressive hovering above the village's pastries with goats and cows. Including the interiors of the castle, it just stands out even more. I only wish you'd include more pictures in the first post to get more attention.

[matrixrenegade]

I really love the look, and the layout of this MOC.

[maydayartist]

Hey what a lovely scene and for your first build of this genre it is outstanding.
I'm a fan of all your ground in front of the castle.
Houses, water, green und trees.
This is what a build needs to make it alive.

[Kelmanator]

Pretty damn good for a first castle! Lovely stonework and layout.

[beelzibus]

maydayartist, on 24 April 2012 - 05:19 PM, said:

Hey what a lovely scene and for your first build of this genre it is outstanding.
I'm a fan of all your ground in front of the castle.
Houses, water, green und trees.
This is what a build needs to make it alive.

Your comments especially mean a great deal to me, Thank you. Obviously it's clear to see where I have taken some of my inspiration from, I hope you don't mind the clear similarities in some aspects of my buildings.

[Brick Ninja]

wow!!!!!!!!!!!! I can not believe it this is so cool I'm just in aww