Harburg Castle

[soccerkid6]

This is my 5th entry into the Colossal Castle Contest XIV, for the Ice Castle category. Burg Eltz castle in Germany is one of my favorite castles, and that castle was my main inspiration for this build. My model stands 84 studs tall, and features a full interior via 2 hinging walls sections.

Harburg Castle is located in the mountain range near the Nocturnus border in Mitgardia. The lord of the castle, Karsten Storrar, receives an unexpected visit from his brother Sir Glorfindel. Inside the castle the cook prepares some fresh baked goods while a few guards take their mid-day meal.

"Karsten! It is good to see you again!"

"Likewise, but what brings my famous little brother and Dedan the hunter to Harburg?" Karsten asked jokingly, though his tone soon shifted as he posed another question, "New tidings of the Algus in the North?"

"No, the Kylma Katsella and new fortifications seem to be holding back those foes. It's danger from the east that brings me, as we've heard many reports of the Black Spire's influence in Nocturnus growing stronger. Naturally, Harburg's location on the Nocturnus border makes it an important position to have well defended. We've come to warn you and other towns and villages that their defenses should be strengthened in the face of this possible threat," Glorfindel answered.

"Yes, I've heard these rumors myself and tried to prepare accordingly. Unfortunately, many of the neighboring lords and jarls feel that these rumours are unfounded."

"Which is why we've come to you first," Dedan interjected, "we hoped that your influence in this region of Mitgardia might help to convince the others."

"Well I'm happy to do what I can, though of course you understand the difficulty of the situation. The recent Algus threat has already weakened most towns and villages, as they sent supplies and men to fortify the North.
But enough of this gloomy talk, come! The twins will be thrilled to have a visit from their uncle, and I'm sure Karin will be pleased to see you as well."

And with that, the group headed into the protection and welcoming warmth of the keep.

On a white backdrop:

There are plenty more pictures on brickbuilt.

I'm quite pleased with how this turned out, and am looking forward to developing more stories with Glorfindel's family.

C&C always welcome

Edited December 23, 2016 by soccerkid6

[Slegengr]

Fantastic castle, SK!

The colored hoardings and window frames really make this keep spectacular!  The stonework is nicely done with the different textures and dark bley base with light bley accents.  The full interior with hinged-wall access is a great play-set feature to include in such a large MOC!  The snow around and on the keep is beautifully built! I will have to keep looking at the pictures to note the small details.

[Kai NRG]

Great castle SK, the dark grey colorscheme goes well with the snow and gives it a solid feel!  The red is certainly eye-catching and is growing on me - I definitely like the diagonals!  Nice roofs too, and the interior looks great!  I love the candles attached to the walls!  

[soccerkid6]

4 hours ago, Slegengr said:

Fantastic castle, SK!

The colored hoardings and window frames really make this keep spectacular!  The stonework is nicely done with the different textures and dark bley base with light bley accents.  The full interior with hinged-wall access is a great play-set feature to include in such a large MOC!  The snow around and on the keep is beautifully built! I will have to keep looking at the pictures to note the small details.

Thanks Slegengr! The red/white tudor sections were something I borrowed directly from the real castle

1 hour ago, Kai NRG said:

Great castle SK, the dark grey colorscheme goes well with the snow and gives it a solid feel!  The red is certainly eye-catching and is growing on me - I definitely like the diagonals!  Nice roofs too, and the interior looks great!  I love the candles attached to the walls!  

Thanks Kai! The diagonals in the tudor sections were something I knew I had to incorporate, my initial idea didn't work out, but the cheese fit beautifully.

I wanted a new candle/torch sconce design, and came up with that one, glad you like it

Edited December 22, 2016 by soccerkid6

[zoth33]

This is cool.  It looks more like a tower.  I love the interior.  I really like the kitchen and the mess hall.  The texturing on the exterior of the tower is creative the red and white parts remind me of peppermint candy canes.  I also love the fact that you made it so you can open it must be a fun moc to play with.

[Grover]

The interior is awesome!  I am a huge fan of building models that aren't just for display but also have real playability, and those that are facades without interiors may look nice, but are not as awesome as what you just built.  I really like the way it opens up.  The plaster and lathe looks awesome on the cheese wedges too.  I hadn't considered doing it that way before, but it looks great.  I really like your color scheme and the way you did the brickwork as well.  Keep up the great work!

[Demetreous]

This is amazing, and I feel super inspired by the hinged, "doll-house"-like features.

-Deme

[soccerkid6]

12 hours ago, zoth33 said:

This is cool.  It looks more like a tower.  I love the interior.  I really like the kitchen and the mess hall.  The texturing on the exterior of the tower is creative the red and white parts remind me of peppermint candy canes.  I also love the fact that you made it so you can open it must be a fun moc to play with.

Thanks! It is indeed a lot like a tower, with the small footprint and towering height.

9 hours ago, Grover said:

The interior is awesome!  I am a huge fan of building models that aren't just for display but also have real playability, and those that are facades without interiors may look nice, but are not as awesome as what you just built.  I really like the way it opens up.  The plaster and lathe looks awesome on the cheese wedges too.  I hadn't considered doing it that way before, but it looks great.  I really like your color scheme and the way you did the brickwork as well.  Keep up the great work!

Thanks Grover! I almost always include interiors, and hinging walls make them even better I think. Glad you liked the angled cheese sections in the wattle and daub, those were one of my favorite details

2 hours ago, Demetreous said:

This is amazing, and I feel super inspired by the hinged, "doll-house"-like features.

-Deme

Thanks

[TitusV]

Though the sheer size of this build and the many angles make this an absolutely awesome build, I'm not totally sure about the colourschem. The dbley seems to dark IMHO. That said, I'm in love with your half-timbered-tudor styles!  They are just gorgeous!

[MaasEffekt]

Very nice!

[Jacob Nion]

I live an hour away from Burg Eltz and I love the castle since I visited for the first time in my childhood. 

 

I think you did an excellent job on depicting typical medieval German half timbered structures of this area, not only by doing that diagonal pattern but also by using red for the wood.

 

I agree with titus on the darkbley but perhaps it's not even the colour scheme but more about the texture. Your snotted tile technique would surely look great on it. But I guess this won't be the last time we saw this half timbered style in your builds. Good luck for the ccc!

 

[Brandon Stark]

That is a great castle. I really like how you made the castle situated on a mountain of sorts, with the snow climbing up the rocks. As usual, the interior is stunning, and has a typical "northern" feel to it. The timbered sections are also a nice addition, and the red makes the castle really stand out. Overall, amazing build. 

[soccerkid6]

On 12/22/2016 at 0:11 PM, TitusV said:

Though the sheer size of this build and the many angles make this an absolutely awesome build, I'm not totally sure about the colourschem. The dbley seems to dark IMHO. That said, I'm in love with your half-timbered-tudor styles!  They are just gorgeous!

Thanks Titus!

On 12/22/2016 at 1:54 PM, Lazer said:

Very nice!

Thank you

23 hours ago, Jacob Nion said:

I live an hour away from Burg Eltz and I love the castle since I visited for the first time in my childhood. 

 

I think you did an excellent job on depicting typical medieval German half timbered structures of this area, not only by doing that diagonal pattern but also by using red for the wood.

 

I agree with titus on the darkbley but perhaps it's not even the colour scheme but more about the texture. Your snotted tile technique would surely look great on it. But I guess this won't be the last time we saw this half timbered style in your builds. Good luck for the ccc!

 

Thanks Jacob, I'll have to come visit someday and see the real thing!

14 hours ago, Brandon Stark said:

That is a great castle. I really like how you made the castle situated on a mountain of sorts, with the snow climbing up the rocks. As usual, the interior is stunning, and has a typical "northern" feel to it. The timbered sections are also a nice addition, and the red makes the castle really stand out. Overall, amazing build. 

Thanks

Here are some white background pictures as well, I'm not sure if that would change how the dark bley looks. In real life I think the stonework is some of my best.

[ZCerberus]

Sweet build.  I am not sure I would have said "that's an SK" build until I saw it hinge open- then there is no denying it!

[mrcp6d]

I'll disagree with Titus and Jacob on the dark bley, I think it's a fine choice to contrast the white and red.  That contrast is one of the awesome things about this build for me, it sort of slaps you in the face; which I appreciate as a counterpoint to some of the more muted color palates castle MOCs have been using for the last few years (started/enabled by TLotR lines?)--this is not to say that I don't love that aesthetic completely.  If memory serves, this exact color scheme is used by a pretty successful near-future military/sci-fi AFOL theme/faction as well.  However, my memory doesn't serve well enough to remember what it is/was called or get to any links... 

[Blufiji]

I like the route you took on the color scheme, it's unique and it works well here. And of course your snow work is as good as usual. Great work!

[Littleworlds]

Looks very good! A bold choice with the red, but it works and its certainly plausible as a representative feature. All in all a wonderful winter scene with stoneworks and show working together very well, with a lovely interior ss bonus!   

[TheLordOfBricks]

Awesome job Isaac! As I have said everywhere else, the stonework is very cool! Keep it up!

[Grover]

I would respectfully disagree as well--the colors are great.  The old castles were built with whatever stone was common to the region, so maybe that region had darker stone--or it weathered more.  In any case, I like the way that the lighter grey pops out from the dark grey--I have thought about trying to do this with a castle of my own at some point, but I don't have enough of the dark grey to do so.  Again, though, awesome job!

[en_zoo]

my my! o.o

Well as everyone is going about the colours: I think the dark bley with spots of light one works really well, especially on white backdrop - the other one does look a bit too dark. If anything, I'd replace the red with blue (/dark blue?): it might look less realistic, but it'd blend in well with black and dark bley while still catching the eye - but hey, you know I like colours, so I may not be quite so unbiased 

I'll dare to say, I'm not sure about that big buttress at the side of the entrance - it makes sense for it to be there, yet it took me a while to distinguish it from the rocks (the dark side of using dark bley.. sorry, stupid joke  ) and it does stand out a bit as there is no way to texture it like the wall all around.

as for the rest, the cheese sloped arch at the entrance is awesome, the angles of the different part make the whole thing much more interesting, but I'm literally in love with the half timbered and their roofs, in particular the one sticking out from the corner!  no need to comment about your interiors, inspiring as usual.

oh and really very nice seeing you writing a story! I don't think I had seen that yet - I was pleasantly surprised! ^^

[soccerkid6]

On 12/23/2016 at 3:16 PM, ZCerberus said:

Sweet build.  I am not sure I would have said "that's an SK" build until I saw it hinge open- then there is no denying it!

Thanks Z

On 12/23/2016 at 3:52 PM, mrcp6d said:

I'll disagree with Titus and Jacob on the dark bley, I think it's a fine choice to contrast the white and red.  That contrast is one of the awesome things about this build for me, it sort of slaps you in the face; which I appreciate as a counterpoint to some of the more muted color palates castle MOCs have been using for the last few years (started/enabled by TLotR lines?)--this is not to say that I don't love that aesthetic completely.  If memory serves, this exact color scheme is used by a pretty successful near-future military/sci-fi AFOL theme/faction as well.  However, my memory doesn't serve well enough to remember what it is/was called or get to any links... 

Thanks Mike.

On 12/24/2016 at 0:05 AM, Blufiji said:

I like the route you took on the color scheme, it's unique and it works well here. And of course your snow work is as good as usual. Great work!

Thank you, Blufiji!

On 12/24/2016 at 10:12 AM, Littleworlds said:

Looks very good! A bold choice with the red, but it works and its certainly plausible as a representative feature. All in all a wonderful winter scene with stoneworks and show working together very well, with a lovely interior ss bonus!   

Thanks!

On 12/24/2016 at 10:49 AM, TheLordOfBricks said:

Awesome job Isaac! As I have said everywhere else, the stonework is very cool! Keep it up!

Thank you, I really like how plate with rail look as texturing in stonework

On 12/24/2016 at 0:26 PM, Grover said:

I would respectfully disagree as well--the colors are great.  The old castles were built with whatever stone was common to the region, so maybe that region had darker stone--or it weathered more.  In any case, I like the way that the lighter grey pops out from the dark grey--I have thought about trying to do this with a castle of my own at some point, but I don't have enough of the dark grey to do so.  Again, though, awesome job!

Thank you. Over the past year or two, our dark bley collection has grown largely. Mainly from the PaB wall, as they had 1x2 bricks, and 2x4 bricks available

On 12/24/2016 at 1:20 PM, en_zoo said:

my my! o.o

Well as everyone is going about the colours: I think the dark bley with spots of light one works really well, especially on white backdrop - the other one does look a bit too dark. If anything, I'd replace the red with blue (/dark blue?): it might look less realistic, but it'd blend in well with black and dark bley while still catching the eye - but hey, you know I like colours, so I may not be quite so unbiased 

I'll dare to say, I'm not sure about that big buttress at the side of the entrance - it makes sense for it to be there, yet it took me a while to distinguish it from the rocks (the dark side of using dark bley.. sorry, stupid joke  ) and it does stand out a bit as there is no way to texture it like the wall all around.

as for the rest, the cheese sloped arch at the entrance is awesome, the angles of the different part make the whole thing much more interesting, but I'm literally in love with the half timbered and their roofs, in particular the one sticking out from the corner!  no need to comment about your interiors, inspiring as usual.

oh and really very nice seeing you writing a story! I don't think I had seen that yet - I was pleasantly surprised! ^^

Thanks en_zoo! You're right that the big buttress being so smooth in comparison to the wall does make it stand out. I'm glad you enjoyed the story as well, I usually am too lazy to write much of one

[Legofin2012]

Well I personally think the colours are wonderful, almost gives a surrealistic feel with the bright red. The shaping of the little roofs above the windows are very nicely done, and I always love a good build with a nice interior, and yours never disappoint! 

Although now I think of it, maybe light grey rocks would of been nice? Either way, a truly wonderful build!

[soccerkid6]

On 12/29/2016 at 7:22 AM, Legofin2012 said:

Well I personally think the colours are wonderful, almost gives a surrealistic feel with the bright red. The shaping of the little roofs above the windows are very nicely done, and I always love a good build with a nice interior, and yours never disappoint! 

Although now I think of it, maybe light grey rocks would of been nice? Either way, a truly wonderful build!

Thanks Legofin! Light bley rocks would have contrasted more with the castle for sure

There's a tutorial for the roof now, on brickbuilt.

[LittleJohn]

Simply wonderful, definitely in my you 5 from you ever There's no comparison to seeing it in real life.

As you already know, I love the color choices and wall texturing, and the whole build being several angled sections is just phenomenal. Possibly my favorite aspect of it though, is the interior, there's so many small details and cool designs