[MOC] Cape Arundel Castle (Disney/Mad King Ludwig II-inspired insanity)

[ProvenceTristram]

Right off the bat, I have to get this off my chest: I am not a fan of Disney. I used to adore what they do, but lately it seems like the company is on a mission to vacuum up every IP in existence, and thus far their treatment of some of my favorites has been... uh... unfortunate. I will probably never set foot in another Disney theme park again.

*Cough*

Having said that, I have always loved Disney's castles - they're essentially whimsy run amok. They also draw heavily on the works of Christian Jank and Eduard Riedel - the artist and architect, respectively, behind Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle, and the never-built Falkenstein Castle. Falkenstein, in particular, would have been just marvelous (had Ludwig II not died under mysterious circumstances before it could be started) - Jank had envisioned something smaller than Neuschwanstein, but even more vertically-oriented. Some photos of the real ruin, and of the what-if reconstruction, can be seen here.

With Cape Arundel Castle, I borrowed a few ideas from Disney (the top of the central tower is essentially ripped off from Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant at Disneyland Paris), the majority of which involve the technique of selective compression as the structure rises (the first three levels are totally habitable - the tower is not). However, I also wanted something that felt similar to what Falkenstein would have been - the ruins of an old castle made new and outrageously exaggerated, while still retaining a skeleton of classic medieval good looks. If you sort of squint at it, you can see the older fortress underneath all the ginger bread "frosting." Finally, I was totally inspired by this screenshot of (I guess?) a video game. I have absolutely no idea what that picture is from, but it's my ideal fantasy setting in a nutshell - a small fortress situated in the center of a broad vale (containing all the resources the kingdom needs), surrounded by a low outlying wall (seriously: if anyone knows where that screen is from, please clue me in).

The MOC itself features three primary rooms: the two-story great hall, the King's master suite, and a dungeon/cave with an abandoned royal tomb, which is accessed via a hidden door within the grandfather clock located in the hall. If I ever design the 'back,' I'll add a kitchen, barracks, and armory.

The model is "only" 6,000 pieces, which I actually don't feel is all that bad for something on this scale. It took a remarkably long time to design, at least for me - probably about 25 hours. This is largely due to the fact that I redesigned each individual element about 4-5 times, until I settled on something that I was one-hundred percent satisfied with. And I am... even if I thought I was going to go insane last night after I ripped down the highest chamber for like the seventh time :P.

[ProvenceTristram]

One more photo, just because it took like 4 hours to render :P.

[neonic]

Looks great 
Cool tower(s), like the colorscheme too

[Servertijd]

That's pretty neat!

[ProvenceTristram]

One more render. I completely redid one tower, added another, and reconfigured the window over the main entryway.

[ArturFer]

beautiful!!

I miss a castle on LEGO, 3 years ago there are no sets.

I would prefer more gothic, or darkness. But it is very nice

[Louis of Nutwood]

This is beautiful, mate! I can see the influences you mentioned, but you still managed to build something very unique. 

I like the fantasy style and the colors you used. 

The rooms are incredible! The tomb/crypts is my favorite. It looks very tall too! And 6000 pieces! Woow, man! 

Outstanding job, fellow builder.

[RyszardBosiak]

Very good work! :) For me it looks like Tower castle from Heroes of Might and Magic III.