[MOC] Truly Modular Castle Theme [WIP]

[SirBlake]

This project is growing out of the discussions we've had here, how one of the best parts of Classic Castle was the modularity and flexibility of sets. To that end, I've started to build a theme that is taking that concept to the next level. The idea is that if this were an actual Lego theme, each section would be purchased separately, most of them coming with bad guy siege equipment, so the castle is whatever size and formation you can imagine. These are built from a perspective of actual lego sets, so piece count and building techniques are being purposefully limited.

Though I am stocking it with Crownies, I had envisioned this theme with the good guys sporting dark red, which would be a cool addition to the themes and heraldries we've gotten so far.

I started out with the gate, since that's the largest set and it will serve to dictate a lot of things as far as style goes. The function of the portcullis is similar to the Kingdoms castle with a couple of exceptions. There is a gear mounted on the axle piece that works with linear gear teeth that are attached to the back side of the portcullis. The drawbridge is also connected to this axle on the outside, so as the portcullis is raised, the drawbridge chains wrap around and simultaneously lower the draw bridge in a single motion. Please excuse the white channel bricks and the fact that there aren't quite enough of them, but I didn't have the larger bley pieces to spare for this MOC, so you'll have to use your imagination a bit on that one.

This next piece works as a sketch without much in the way of concept or detail. What I'm working out here is a standardization of wall section that can house castle necessities like armory, blacksmith, king's throne, etc. I'll be working to build out these and more soon.

Let me know what you think. I'm going to continue to work on this one, and will hopefully have some more built out and posted this weekend.

Edited August 29, 2015 by SirBlake

[Wardancer]

I think this is long overdue and I wish good luck with the project. I think a little more color could improve the gate.

[dzidek1983]

should walls have windows?

[SirBlake]

Thanks for the feedback. I do have spots of color there, but this may be playing to my own tastes in that I personally prefer a little less.

should walls have windows?

Well, from the original classic castles through 2013, they almost always have, so I added them in there. Trying to stick with a classic aesthetic here.

[Wardancer]

Maybe a clip or a sideways stud in the wall piece could be useful to easily make different versions of the same wall. One could attach a torch, plants or flags so that each wall segment would look a tiny bit different.

[SirBlake]

I'm planning on making the smaller sections all quite different. Color on the roofs, different configurations to accommodate a forge for a black smith for example. I was just working out dimensions on this first one. I've actually made good progress today. Should have some more to post tonight. B

[SirBlake]

It's been a fruitful MOC day.

In building a modular castle, it's important to be able to turn a corner, so I added a wall with options to either continue in a straight line and bump the wall in a bit, or turn a 90° angle. This set also includes some bad guys. One to sit in jail, one to bust him out. Since it is a jail, it made sense to include the ubiquitous secret passage to escape through. This set is about 125 pieces, and could easily go for $12ish.

Next up is the Blacksmith. Starting with the template wall's dimensions, I added a forge and chimney, plus an anvil. Everything the castle blacksmith needs. It also comes with a bad guy and little siege position catapult. It too is designed to be modular and connect with other siege walls/weapons. This set is 153 pieces, and could go for $15.

[Nagol of Fortfield]

oooh... I'm liking this idea! More! More! More!

[SirBlake]

oooh... I'm liking this idea! More! More! More!

Hahah, I'm workin' on it. By that I mean, I've already made more progress, and this might be one of those MOC situations where working is way more fun than sleeping. Good thing it's the weekend. I'll have more tomorrow for sure!

[The_Cook]

Most interesting.

It needs a bit more colour; not much necessarily but some form of accent colour to stop it being monotonous grey. You've got the beginnings of it with the Dark Red slopes on the tower of the gatehouse but I think that needs to be carried down onto the wall somehow.

On the other hand, the use of the accent colour for the chimney of the blacksmith feels wrong, it should certainly be a colour that's separate and distinct from the grey of the walls but probably doesn't want to be the secondary colour.

Design Aesthetic: When starting a design exercise like this I've always found one of the most useful things to do is to build little "architectural sketches" of key design elements to illustrate to myself how things are going to work. These elements can then be replicated in the designs to ensure that the desing aesthetic is consistent through the range of models you're designing. When putting together Troll Town I put together design sketches for key elements of Troll Architecture, their windows, archways, gates, etc... in order to learn how to apply them at a later date. All this was done in LDD for simplicity (and I think I was on work travel at the time) and the screenshots can be found in the first post of the linked thread. In your scenario I suggest looking at crenelations, buttresses, a consistent way of supporting the wall-walk, etc...

Colour Scheme: Think through your colour scheme, what's the base colour(s), what are the secondary colours and what are the highlights. With Troll Town the two base colours were Dark Bluish Grey for Rock and Bluish Grey represented masonry infill, the alternate colour was Reddish-Brown for wooden infill in the walls. The remaining three colours were Dark Brown for wooden structures, Dark Green for foliage and Dark Red used extremely sparingly as the accent. That colour palette remained fairly consistent throughout and ultimately ended up driving brick selection, 1x2 pallisade bricks were always Reddish Brown, 1x3 bricks were always Light Bluish Grey, 1x2 Technic Bricks were always Dark Bluish Grey. This primarily came about from the fact that one of the rules that a Lego design has to adhere to is to reduce the number of "unique" elements in a set; if a designer uses a 1x3 in Red and a 1x3 in Blue then the factory has to run two batches of bricks in the two colours which is increased cost and overhead interviews with Jamie Berard or Mark Stafford talk about "limited Colour Swaps" in terms of being allowed to get new elements in new colours due to factory production constraints.

Detailing: A designers constant battle is to add detail without increasing the brick count or complexity. The Gatehouse needs more detailing, all there is at the moment is a barrel. Set yourself the challenge, in no more than a dozen bricks how can I add more interest, a fish here a clipped axe there, a three brick table (2x4 plate across two 1x2 pallisade bricks), is often enough to give a set some depth and character without going down the Creator Expert route of building entire pieces of furniture from 1x1 and 1x2 plates. Look to the advent calendars for inspiration; it's amazing what they can achieve with just a handful of bricks. The Prison and Blacksmith both have better detailing, although you're going to have to fight the studless urge, the table in the prison didn't need those extra 4 tiles on top the 4x4 plate would have sufficed. Wear your business head not your AFOL head, 4 tiles cost $0.02 which given a run of 200,000 units is $16,000 which is your wages for 3 months; you can either work for free for 3 months or remove those elements (as an AFOL 3 months working for TLG for free sounds very attractive, as a TLG employee who has a family to feed, clothe and shelter 3 months free work is not attractive).

Storyline: To sell a set it needs an obvious storyline that a child can understand: Good vs Evil, Escape from This, Chase That, Capture The Flag, etc... Storylines drive the initial playability. They are vitally important for in-house IP where there isn't a wider context to drive the play, ie. there's not a movie to watch to tell you how to play with the set! The Gatehouse lacks a storyline; give it a siege engine and there's instant storyline, the siege engine tries to breach the gates. It's the very reason that in the Kingdoms theme everything was Raid this, Ambush that, Resure someone, etc... Storyline for the Prison is obvious, the Blacksmith less obvious.

I also think it's a very great and brave thing that you've opened your design process up to peer review and are willing to respond to constructive criticism. So few people realise that the process is industrial design not art, every designer at TLG has to submit their designs to a peer review processs for criticism and they will go round the desing loop many times to check that they've got the design right, the playability, that it's structurally sound and can be built, that it fits the price point and the factories have the capacity to produce it.

Edited August 30, 2015 by The_Cook

[Jreacher]

First off you should submit this to Lego ideas. I like this idea and wish lego would do this. You could make a castle as large as you wanted just by buying many wall sections as you wanted. I agree with The_Cook however on color scheme. You need to work on that aspect. The blacksmith is really cool but the red chimney clashes. I think a dark grey chimney would have looked better. Also be sure to standardize all the colors. Dont have different sections with new or clashing colors. It will make the whole thing go together better.

Towers, it would be really cool to have 2 different types of towers. I would suggest round towers and square towers with roofs. Also a nice keep. I like what you have so far.

If I was TLG I would release the sets as follows..

Gatehouse- with 2 horsemen, 1 good 1 bad, and 2 soldiers 1 good 1 bad

Wall section - with 1 good and 1 bad soldier

Keep - with a king, queen, 2 soldiers both good.

Round tower - with 2 good soldiers and 1 bad

Square tower - with 1 good soldier and 2 bad.

Black smith

Jail/ dungeon

I would include miscellaneous equipment with the sets, like catapults, battering rams and ballistas. I like your little catapult. I imagine most the sets would cost between $20-$40 US. Except for the Gatehouse and keep which would most likely run in the $40-$60 dollar range. This is a cool project and I look forward to more designs.

[SirBlake]

Thank you for the feedback!

I stayed up way too late last night and got a lot done. I've got to go run an errand this morning, but I'll post pics of progress as soon as I get back.

As far as color goes, I hear what you guys are saying. I'm using the Kingdoms castle as my touchstone for general aesthetics and any given 12 stud wide section of it really doesn't have much color to it aside from some brown.

For the chimney, I was thinking that the dark red would pass for red brick.

I value your input and I'll do my best to keep it in mind moving forward. I'm afraid that when I'm done, the outside walls may still feel a bit grey, but there's going to be lots of color on the inside, so hopefully that will help.

Stand by!

[SirBlake]

Next up: a corner tower and three more 12-stud wall sections.

The tower needs a damsel and some treasure, so that's what we've got here. This is one of the only sets that I don't have a siege weapon designated for. I'll think on that one. All the same, it's 201 pieces as it sits, so there's room to add some bad guys and keep this at around $30. It's hard to get a good shot of it, but there is some furniture in her room with perfume bottles.

To compliment the blacksmith, here's the armory, and this one comes with a dealer. This one is 137 pieces with the catapult.

Detail on one of the catapults.

Of course, we need a king, so here he is on his regal throne. The bad guys have constructed a barricade wall outside the castle. It's built to connect to the catapults to make for a nice siege wall.

Lastly (for now), we have the court wizard. He's got all of his wizardy goods, and it looks like he's going to need them because the siege tower is headed his way. You wouldn't think it to look at it, but the siege tower is only 33 pieces, taking the total here to just 175 pieces.

[BrickJagger]

These builds are great so far, and I love that siege tower!

Are you going to make one for the dragon knights eventually?

[SirBlake]

These builds are great so far, and I love that siege tower!

Are you going to make one for the dragon knights eventually?

I don't know. Maybe? I'm starting to run out of spare bricks, so if I do, it'll have to use different colors.

[LegoPercyJ]

All the builds look fantastic! Great job!

[The_Cook]

Next piece of product design advice: Fat Fingers!

In order to be able to "play" in a room the room needs to be accessible. TLG probably have a rule of thumb; the nearest that I've got is that for every 2 studs in width of the opening the space behind can be one stud deep; scale accordingly. The logic being that's how far fat fingers (or little hands) can reach in to position and play with the interior.

The doors and arches on the middle floor of the tower make the interior inaccessible. If you were in the design office the engineering review would have slapped you back.

I'll also call out colour consistency on the Wizard. Your using Dark Green for the good guys roof and the accent colour for the bad guys; the colour clues are confusing. Pick a colour palette for each faction and stick to it; religiously.

I like the siege tower design; good use of 64448, Support 1 x 6 x 5 Girder Rectangular to keep the build simple. It an expensive part from a manufacturing perspective but still probably cheaper than 10-12 round bricks and plates.

I'm not convinced about another siege emplacement as the opposition for the King's Regal Throne. If it were me; I'd have gone tournament and jousting, something for the king to watch, instant playability without being more of the same.

[SirBlake]

The Cook,

First of all, I want to thank you for your time and advice. I've long been a fan of your work and look forward to more of it.

Next piece of product design advice: Fat Fingers!

In order to be able to "play" in a room the room needs to be accessible. TLG probably have a rule of thumb; the nearest that I've got is that for every 2 studs in width of the opening the space behind can be one stud deep; scale accordingly. The logic being that's how far fat fingers (or little hands) can reach in to position and play with the interior.

The doors and arches on the middle floor of the tower make the interior inaccessible. If you were in the design office the engineering review would have slapped you back.

Totally get it. This is what I was able to come up with given parts limitations. It's a good rule, and I'll look at it again and see if I can improve on it with this principle in mind.

I'll also call out colour consistency on the Wizard. Your using Dark Green for the good guys roof and the accent colour for the bad guys; the colour clues are confusing. Pick a colour palette for each faction and stick to it; religiously.

I'm afraid we're just not going to agree on this one. I absolutely understand where you're coming from here, but I opted to have a different color for each roof in the 12-stud sections. Perhaps it's a tad confusing on the wizard set, but in context, I think it's fine and I'm sticking with it.

[SirBlake]

Ok, after another day of building, I think I'm done for now. I have exhausted most of the useful parts I have.

The stables. This is designed to be the mirror image of the jail. It comes with the stable boy and a knight with his steed. The wagon wheel is attached to a wagon axle piece. There is another wagon wheel intended to go with this set, but it somehow didn't make it into the photo.

Stairs. A simple, small set that brings accessibility to the castle. It also brings the formidable ballista to the battle. I think the dark red color is confusing here, but it's what I had in parts, so use your imagination that this might be a dark green ballista with flick fire missiles.

Lastly, the kitchen. I somehow didn't get a shot of this one by itself, and the wife wanted the dining room table back so my "photo studio" is out of commission at the moment. This one will have to do:

And finally, we have the lineup of 12-stud wide modules and some assembled shots of the ModCastle and siege wall.

In this shot, you can see the variety in forms of the wall-side of these modular sections.

This shot is a bit of a cheat because the gate is hiding the fact that I ran out of bricks for another corner piece or tower.

A different setup that isn't connected, but you can see the symmetrical look with the stable and jail "wing" pieces attached to the gate.

I've got to say, this has been really fun to build out, and it's made for a great weekend of Lego-ing. (you guys use Lego as a verb too, right?)

I would love to hear your thoughts on what could be different/better, and especially what I may have missed. I know the bad guys could use a castle too, but as far as further building out the ModCastle, what do you think?

I'm thinking I need another tower, and maybe the introduction of some hinge pieces so everything doesn't have to be at a right angle. I'm thinking of the classic 6062 Battering Ram when I say that.

Also, are there any castle functions that I'm missing? Blacksmith, armory, wizard, stables, jail, kitchen... what else?

[Jreacher]

It looks pretty good. I like this castle, it has the TLG look down good. I think it needs more towers, but I would buy something similar to this.

[The_Cook]

Totally get it. This is what I was able to come up with given parts limitations. It's a good rule, and I'll look at it again and see if I can improve on it with this principle in mind.

it.

Yup, part limitations is a b****. I tend to design in LDD, redesign in LDD to use parts that are generally avaiable, then source from my stock and Bricklink.

If th

I'm afraid we're just not going to agree on this one. I absolutely understand where you're coming from here, but I opted to have a different color for each roof in the 12-stud sections. Perhaps it's a tad confusing on the wizard set, but in context, I think it's fine and I'm sticking with it.

Now I understand that you're going for a different colours on each module it makes more sense. I'd still say that reuse of the "opposition" colour scheme isn't the best of ideas. If the logic is different colours then choose bright colours for one side and muted colours for the other, or a colour range (eg. reds, oranges, yellows) vs another colour range (eg. blues, greens) as a differentiation.

Minor point: the half barrel sitting atop the hay looks wrong, just leave the barrel loose infront of the set.

[SirBlake]

The more I look at the dark green roof, the less I like it. I think I need to find another color to use.

Good point on the barrel.

Thanks!

[Covenant84]

Absolutely love this idea. If I had the parts and time I'd work on the bad guys castle ;)

My critical thoughts:

Colour - agree with cook - don't use the baddies colour on the good guys. Also if you have the parts I'd suggest swap the tan base for green (at least on the outside). I think it would help brighten the set but keep to your greys, yet complement the red highlights. I don't know how this would affect piece count.

Piece count - to keep it low I'd move the railings to the top of the 'roof' - I don't think the brown supporting bits serve a clear purpose.

Stairs - small so maybe include a larger siege tower or baddie encampment?

Also agree with previous points.

I really do like this - as a kid I'd have wanted multiples of everything!

One last idea (Lego may not like it!) what about a 'partspack' to allow walls to stack? Thinking removing the roof and adding a support to attach walls one level up stepped backwards. This could include a 'command' section for the siege wall for interest?

Edited September 1, 2015 by Covenant84

[SirBlake]

These are great suggestions! I particularly like the idea of moving the railing on top of the roof, and a stackable option is a super cool idea. Imagine how impressive a wall that high would be.

Thanks!

[BrickJagger]

Earlier in this topic you asked if anyone had suggestions on what to make next. I have some ideas.

Great Hall- Bigger building, twice the size of a regular module.

Princess Tower- 4 stories: Harry-Potter-style stairs on the bottom, a beauty-station ( ) on the second floor, a bed on the third floor, and a telescope on the fourth.

Barracks- Very Important! Four small beds.

Chapel-?

Wainwright: Some hammers and a wheel.

Segment of collapsible wall- Because playability

Trebuchet Placement- Corner segment, a short, squat tower.A small library on the lower floor, a weapons rack and ammo on the second floor, and the trebuchet on the roof.

Harbor Entrance: Similar to the FE set, but with arrow slits on either side of the gate and crossed axes overhead. Wooden roof to break up the monotone gray.

Treasure Tower: Nothing on the first floor (maybe a rat or two), a trapdoor on the second floor, and the treasure is on the third floor.

I know you're running out of bricks, but I wrote this up for ya' just in case.