[MOC] Black Falcon's Torture Tower (Alternate build of 31120 Medieval Castle)

[NickLafreniere]

Hi everyone, I recently got my hands on the new 31120 Medieval Castle and immediately started making my own custom castle set with just the pieces in the set. I have now finished the castle and have named it: Black Falcon's Torture Tower.

My goal for this project was to make a castle with a mature color palette that appeals to me as an AFOL, as I do not really like the look of the main builds of 31120 Medieval Castle (not a fan of the yellow and such...) I also wanted to make a castle that also has a darker theme - torture. When designing this castle, I took inspiration from many of the Castle sets from the 80's and 90's, as well as some more modern LEGO Castle sets. Feel free to comment if you can see some of the references to classic Castle that I have built! 

Black Falcon’s Torture Tower is a fully enclosed haunted fortress featuring a torture dungeon, and it is built using only 756 pieces from set 31120 (roughly 50% of the pieces in the set). The side wall of the fortress also hinges open so you can see inside.

The skeleton can be attached by putting his body onto the spikes on the wall. Ouch...

I used the chains, cranks, and technic pieces in this set to make an addictingly fun play feature! Turn the crank to raise the prisoner by the chains. Then lift the latch to release the chain and send the prisoner falling towards the bloody bed of spikes.

The opposite side of the fortress has a balcony that overhangs the flowing water below. There are a few similarities to some older sets here, I wonder if anyone can guess them.

You bet there's a secret tunnel in this set too! This tree can pop off to reveal a tunnel. Also notice the nice texturing on the front doors there.

In the tower is a treasure room with gold, as well the resting place for the Ghost Knight. This minifig has a white 1x1 round brick as its face and is actually a ghost living in this suit of armor.

I used the bright green claw piece and the 5L bar in black to make the real treasure of this fortress: The Green Scythe of Death. Inside the chest is the Chaos Emerald. 

All hell breaks loose when these items are combined in the hands of evil.

It was a blast building this castle! I haven't built any castle-themed LEGO builds in nearly 15 years and this set offered enough pieces to create my vision of an awesome torture tower. I look forward to building more alternate builds with this set, and also hope LEGO Creator makes new Castle 3-in-1s like this.

If you are interested in seeing more pictures and downloading premium instructions for this MOC, they are posted on Rebrickable.com . 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by NickLafreniere

[Aurore]

I'm rather impressed by how well the Classic Castle innocent aesthetics and lighthearted play features look with a Torture Tower theme! That's really a great MOC. 

[NickLafreniere]

22 minutes ago, Aurore said:

I'm rather impressed by how well the Classic Castle innocent aesthetics and lighthearted play features look with a Torture Tower theme! That's really a great MOC. 

Thank you! I tried to make it not too disturbing and make it a wee bit fun, like when the skeleton chases the prisoner around. The torture mechanic with the chains is pretty fun to do over and over again :P I tested it like 500 times when building this MOC :P

[Feuer Zug]

Bloody brilliant, emphasis on the blood. I like the sinister vibe. It's historic, not too dark, but a side we don't often see. The architectural cues and hidden passage are cool too. And I can see the fun of dropping the prisoner time and time again.

[NickLafreniere]

On 9/3/2021 at 7:57 AM, Feuer Zug said:

Bloody brilliant, emphasis on the blood. I like the sinister vibe. It's historic, not too dark, but a side we don't often see. The architectural cues and hidden passage are cool too. And I can see the fun of dropping the prisoner time and time again.

Yes! The blood was a good use of all the little red tiles you get in the set. I also didn't like how 31120 Medieval Castle had red banners on the front of the castle, it was way too bright for my taste. For the overall look of the castle, I went for a really old, crumbling fortress that is mainly square in shape. The mechanism is nice and smooth and the way it clicks with each turn of the crank is very satisfying. You can also do the whole motion of cranking and releasing the lever with just one finger, so my large, adult-sized hands can still operate this ;)

[TeriXeri]

This reminds me a bit of this old Fright Knights set 6097 , probably the spooky theme around it, and the single open tower, overall a great alternate build on 31120.

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by TeriXeri

[NickLafreniere]

13 hours ago, TeriXeri said:

This reminds me a bit of this old Fright Knights set 6097 , probably the spooky theme around it, and the single open tower, overall a great alternate build on 31120.

 

Yes!!!! That was my main inspiration for the overall mood and composition of the set. I really like the dark tone of the Fright Knights sets.

[Aanchir]

Wow! It's kind of amusing to see a model that has a "set-like" look in terms of parts and colors despite being way more gruesome than a set would ever be. A good example of how bright colors aren't ALWAYS "kid-friendly".

It's also neat how even with a lot of the same exterior design language as the original 3-in-1 castle, you made it much more ominous-looking via features like the gnarled, leafless trees, the large black torches on the balcony that overlooks the water, and the lack of the cheerful flowers from the official models. So while the official models evoke a picturesque countryside setting, this MOC feels more like it's set in some dreary and forbidding marsh.

Ironically, I was just thinking recently about how odd it is that the Black Falcons have been portrayed as a more or less "neutral" faction in recent sets, when catalogs and magazines from the 80s (like the spring 1984 issue of Bricks and Pieces or the summer 1984 issue of "De LEGO Krant") typically portrayed them as a shady or villainous faction. Your MOC definitely calls to mind that old-school characterization!

And I love that final image with the reanimated skeleton in pursuit of the prisoner! It really brings the setting to life (no pun intended)!

[NickLafreniere]

1 hour ago, Aanchir said:

Wow! It's kind of amusing to see a model that has a "set-like" look in terms of parts and colors despite being way more gruesome than a set would ever be. A good example of how bright colors aren't ALWAYS "kid-friendly".

It's also neat how even with a lot of the same exterior design language as the original 3-in-1 castle, you made it much more ominous-looking via features like the gnarled, leafless trees, the large black torches on the balcony that overlooks the water, and the lack of the cheerful flowers from the official models. So while the official models evoke a picturesque countryside setting, this MOC feels more like it's set in some dreary and forbidding marsh.

Ironically, I was just thinking recently about how odd it is that the Black Falcons have been portrayed as a more or less "neutral" faction in recent sets, when catalogs and magazines from the 80s (like the spring 1984 issue of Bricks and Pieces or the summer 1984 issue of "De LEGO Krant") typically portrayed them as a shady or villainous faction. Your MOC definitely calls to mind that old-school characterization!

And I love that final image with the reanimated skeleton in pursuit of the prisoner! It really brings the setting to life (no pun intended)!

You totally get what I was going for with how I landscaped the exterior of the fortress! I chose not to use the flowers and leaves in order to keep the overall tone dark and muted. I also really liked using those gnarled root pieces in brown as the dead tree branches. It looks pretty spooky! I wanted to make this area look like a haunted marsh or some kind of wasteland. 

I also thought it was interesting to depict the Black Falcons as bad guys here. I like to think of this fortress as a separate facility where the Black Falcons do all their dirty work, away from their main castle.

The final picture came out well and that's how I personally played with those minifigures. I accidently created the "Green Scythe of Death" when I put the bright green claw piece on that black bar! :) it was so wicked cool that I decided to keep it in the final design.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Beautiful construction!

This is a much more interesting variant of the original set.

The design is superior and the functionality of an absolute level ...excellent! 

[BlackGloveBricks]

A tower made for torture! 

 

It's the perfect tower!