Matn Posted September 20, 2011 Posted September 20, 2011 Hogsmeade is a little wizard village placed inside the magical world of Harry Potter. As some of you may know, I am planning to build the village of Hogsmeade in LEGO. If you were hoping to see a massive, beautifully detailed and completed layout in this post, I have to disappoint you. Instead of building the whole layout and show it to you when it is completed, I want to share my work in progress. So instead of creating a surprise effect, I want you to take a look at my progress and share your ideas and tips. I already had put the buildings on baseplates (not my huge trees, unfortunately ), but I wasn't really content with the looks of it. Inspired by maydayartist's medieval layout, I started working on a better layout last weekend. Before I started on the layout, I finally sorted all of my LEGO bricks. I almost ran out of storing space during the sorting process. After building the first part of my layout I have empty drawers again because of the amount of 2x4 bricks I used. I also stumbled on a kilogram of green bricks, slopes and plates on the internet. I bought it and figured I now would just have enough green for the first part of my village. It looks quite plain and blocky, but it's already much better than just baseplates. I hope it will look very different with plants, trees, train track ballast, ... and more details. I am not too happy with the small train bridge, although I don't have any better ideas for it. I am creating all the pubs and shops in Hogsmeade to put them together in a nice layout. When the station part is finished, I will start on the second part with the buildings. As usual I will photograph the buildings separately, but for now I don't have any new shops to add. I'm also out of green and tan plates and black bricks for the next part. Of course this will take some time, especially since I'm starting university next week. This means there will be an update at the very best every weekend, but it also means I won't be placing a Bricklink order every week. Tips and comments are very much appreciated! Quote
Vindicare Posted September 20, 2011 Posted September 20, 2011 Great start! I've always been impressed by your creations. This will be no different. I like the start of the landscape. Quote
Sirius Black Posted September 20, 2011 Posted September 20, 2011 You know, just the other day I was wondering when you would start your Hogsmeade project, it's been a while since you mentioned it. And here it is! It looks great. My only critique is that I don't recall the station being on the edge of the lake, but it gives an added bonus to the looks. The bridge looks a little rough on the edges, but I'm guessing it still is a wip. Overall, it looks great and has a lot of potential! I can't wait to see the finished work . Quote
Legomaster34 Posted September 20, 2011 Posted September 20, 2011 This looks great! I can't wait to see what it will look like when it's completely finished. Hogsmeade has always been one of my favorite wizarding world locations (besides Hogwarts, of course ) and I'm sure you'll do it justice. Quote
operrier Posted September 20, 2011 Posted September 20, 2011 Great MOC as always. Can't wait to see it when it's done ! Quote
lightningtiger Posted September 20, 2011 Posted September 20, 2011 AWESOME so far 'Matn', keep going and Brick On while casting spells ! Quote
1980-Something-Space-Guy Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 It's always nice to see someone begin a superproject of this quality. I wish I had as much talent and parts as you! I'll be looking forward for your updates. This already looks very good! Quote
K-Nut Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Yay! More Hogsmeade! Just don't do what you did to Hogwarts with this. I look forward to watching this progress. Quote
Parrothead Rasmus Posted September 26, 2011 Posted September 26, 2011 Holycrap, That's amazing!! I can't wait to see more. Quote
Hartfan Posted September 26, 2011 Posted September 26, 2011 Cant wait to see the rest. Beginning is stunning. WOW !!! Quote
Matn Posted December 26, 2011 Author Posted December 26, 2011 Thanks for your comments. It's been three months since my first post, and here I'm back with a new update. Much, much later then I had planned. I hadn't had much time in the weekends, but in the holidays I'll have the time (although I have to study). But building with LEGO is the perfect thing to do in the breaks between studying. I finally managed to order plant pieces, you never can have too much of them. I think when this part is ready, I'll probably have run out of them. I have always used plants, but I always let a big part of the green plates not being covered in plants. Inspired by Derfel Cadarn, I am using as many as plants as possible because it really helps to create a natural look. So what has changed? Quite a lot: added a part of the train track with ballast, lots of plants and a couple of trees, the road to Hogwarts, added better trees next to the station and a few rocks as I thought they were a nice touch. Anyways, enough of them words, here are some photos: Next up: even more trees and plants (with more colours to make it more magical and less green), the train track and a couple of details. This part should (and will) be ready by the first weekend of February as I'm then attending a LEGO event in Belgium, bringing the station along with me (and another project). Maybe I'll post a new picture this weekend and perhaps it will be ready by then. Tips and ideas are welcome! Quote
hoiharry Posted December 26, 2011 Posted December 26, 2011 I want to see a closer look of the train. Quote
Vindicare Posted December 27, 2011 Posted December 27, 2011 On 9/21/2011 at 12:05 AM, K-nut said: Yay! More Hogsmeade! Just don't do what you did to Hogwarts with this. I look forward to watching this progress. Hmm, I must have missed something? I don't remember seeing something from Matn that didn't do it justice... Quote
Brickmamba Posted December 27, 2011 Posted December 27, 2011 i like the size big enough to fill up with lots of figs, great work Quote
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted December 27, 2011 Posted December 27, 2011 Wow this landscape is great! It would be great have this huge and beautiful station in my layout! Top work! Quote
Matn Posted December 27, 2011 Author Posted December 27, 2011 (edited) On 12/26/2011 at 10:04 PM, hoiharry said: I want to see a closer look of the train. When I have all of the new train wheels for the steam engine, I'll redesign it and upload photographs of it. On 12/27/2011 at 12:13 AM, Legocrazy81 said: Hmm, I must have missed something? I don't remember seeing something from Matn that didn't do it justice... My first attempt to make Hogwarts castle was broken down. I decided to first start with the magical village of Hogwarts and maybe expand in the future to the castle. And thanks for the comments. Edited December 27, 2011 by Matn Quote
JackJonespaw Posted December 27, 2011 Posted December 27, 2011 Love it, especially the rolling landscape! Quote
Saruman the White Posted December 29, 2011 Posted December 29, 2011 Great representation of Hogsmeade station but instead I'd like lego to make the shops from the village. Hogsmeade villge and the ministry of magic are two sets lego have to make for next year. Quote
Matn Posted January 3, 2012 Author Posted January 3, 2012 Thanks! Here is the last update for this month. In the beginning of February the first part can be seen at Brick Tricks in Tielt (Belgium). I will then add lots of figures and make a couple of photographs to update this topic. After that I can begin with the second part consisting of the actual village of Hogsmeade! So what has changed? A lot. A lot of plants, to be exactly. And I now can say for sure adding flora to a creation is the hardest part. Some people can make a beautiful natural environment with plants, but when I try I never manage to make it look so natural. I would have loved to make the greenery very dense, but I didn't have enough plants for that. Also, if it were very dense, wouldn't it look a bit too chaotic? So you have to make a couple of patches without plants, just green plates. And you have to make that look good with a natural transition between dense and open landscape. Even now I'm not 100% content with the looks of it, the part I mostly like is the waterside by the docks. In the future I'll probably adjust all of the plants to make it look better. I've also been thinking about the second part. I'll probably add a part of a mountain (the mountains where Sirius lived for a while), with the interior of it open. So you can see the train going into the mountain, but the interior will be King's Cross station. Big plans, but it's just an idea. I'll first have to get my hands on lots of green parts, plants, plates and of course parts for the buildings of Hogsmeade! Ideas and comments (especially about the greenery) are welcome as usual! Quote
TheLegoDr Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 I think this amount of greenery is very realistic. Areas typically aren't covered with random tall grass/plants/trees, but there are patches of shrubbery. I like what you've done here. I can't wait to see the actual village itself. This is a huge undertaking for sure. But you are off to a great start. Seeing a revised train and some mountainside will be most welcome. Have fun at Brick Tricks. Can't wait for the next update. Quote
Vindicare Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 This is looking great! I really have no advise, you're off to a great start. I like all the new details. The centaurs. The tent and boats. I can't even fathom how big this is going to be if/when you get this done. As big as it is now, I can only imagine how big it'll be with the village added on. There's, what...10 shops(at least) in Hogsmeade? Quote
Hobbestimus Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 Dude, that's killer work. With the lake and the carriage coming up it, you've really brought the first day of school to life. Love it. Quote
TheLegoDr Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 Holy cow, I didn't even notice the centaurs! I guess that is because they are mysterious and mythical creatures that are good at hiding from the public eye. Quote
Ecclesiastes Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 This is very nice! I like all the different things in the scene, like the carriage, boats and trains. A lot is going on! Quote
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