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KotZ

[WIP] Castle of Syndrifel

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So I have (slowly) begun working on a castle, the Castle of Syndrifel. I started on the great hall and kitchen, because let's be honest, even minifigures get hungry. After building the great hall, I began to realize just how big this thing will be. I'm planning on building it in modular secutions due to the real estate it will take up. Do the colors look ok? Too much dark grey? Etc.

The first two photos are the great hall and kitchen, sans furniture for the most part. A minifigure is there for scale. The white arch there is also just a place holder, as are the transparent bricks behind the royal table.

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Some furniture I've been working on. The far left might be counters, but I'm really not fans. The middle tan and black will probably be shelves and tables in the kitchen. Far right are 99% sure to be benches.
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Should I start building from the ground up? Right now I have ane idea of the walls. Ignore the white bricks, they're place holders, as are the full on dark gray. I'm thinking 12x12 for the towers, aside from the main gaates which might be 12x14 or something to give a bit more room. The center 4x4 will be filled in as well. I have six of those built, which are the amount of towers I plan on building.
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Try mixing in some tan and lighter (pastel) blue bricks here and there to represent odd colored stones. I would also recommend trying to add a round tower - even if it is puny - somewhere, just to break up the hard edges a bit (unless you're going full Scottish, since they really didn't do anything but square corners).

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On 4/7/2019 at 11:17 PM, ProvenceTristram said:

Try mixing in some tan and lighter (pastel) blue bricks here and there to represent odd colored stones. I would also recommend trying to add a round tower - even if it is puny - somewhere, just to break up the hard edges a bit (unless you're going full Scottish, since they really didn't do anything but square corners).

I added some tan so far (I'll have an update tonight), and it's definitely looking better and not so grey. I might make a round tower inside the walls if I can find the real estate for it.

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So some more building occured over the past few days. A bit more tan and sand green have been added, and the great hall is now say maybe halfway done.

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Ignore that gaping hole, it's to save on bricks. I've been able to keep the supoort with the 2x6s. I accidentally made the walls 2 studs longer now, but oh well. M<ore rock work needs to be added, but the base is relatively secure.

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As you see, the floor fell in. I need to add some structural beams to make sure that doesn't happen during the rest of the build. I've added what will be the beginning of a tiny bridge to connect the great hall to the rest of the main keep. Below it will probably be rockwork and a footpath.

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Once again, ignore the hole. The wall will be connecting there, and it's to save on pieces.

Overall, I'm happy with the progress so far.

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Somewhat big update today, got some good stuff done, see below.

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As you can see, some more rockwork, and plants have been laid down. It's still a bit flat right now, but I think I'll adjust it when I get more pieces for this area. Still quite aways to go.

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Support beams have been put in! Sadly I didn;t get any photos of that part of the build. Set 11005 came real in handy with this build, providing a lot of support parts, and there's a bunch of green I haven't used yet for landscaping. The door is just there for placement, I think I'll do one of the more "wooden" Harry Potter/old castle doors for that. Between the two sections of 2x3 things will be a furnace.

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Now let's get down to  the ground floor. You can see to the right some landscaping. In the center. In the center is the beginning of the other rockwork that will be scaled back on the next baseplate. Basically, the great hall will be the highest part (at least on rocks), and everything else will be a bit lower aside from towers. The tan is to be a path that will be formed.

You can't see it on the first picture, but there's a technic 2x1 to allow a technic pin. Basically, I'm going to measure up the next baseplate with the current one to know where I'll have the next section, like a modular.

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Here is most of the wall being built, along with the bridge to get from the great hall to the rest of the castle. Those brong round 1x1s will be logs for fire.

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Some tables for the guests to eat at. My only problem is the doors will have to open outwords, and there's only a space of two studs for people to walk, but oh well. Decorations will be added eventually.

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A completed view after the bridge has been connected. Ignore the AT-AP and the City vehicle in the background.

Thoughts so far?

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2 hours ago, Witold said:

Keep going, do you plan to build some battlements on the top of the walls?

Absolutely. Just a lack of pieces at the moment. I'm hoping I can have this section completed, battlements, roof, and interior included, by the end of May, or mid-June at the latest.

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11 hours ago, KotZ said:

Absolutely. Just a lack of pieces at the moment. I'm hoping I can have this section completed, battlements, roof, and interior included, by the end of May, or mid-June at the latest.

I know this issue very well :) I don't know if you will like this idea, but if you don't have enough arches to build the machicolations, you can use brown pieces to build hoarding (brown or black to simulate wooden).

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On 5/1/2019 at 2:02 AM, Witold said:

I know this issue very well :) I don't know if you will like this idea, but if you don't have enough arches to build the machicolations, you can use brown pieces to build hoarding (brown or black to simulate wooden).

I'm about to make a Bricklink order for more parts,so I think I'll add some of those soon.

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And just over a month later, an update. Man, PaB takes a long time to arrive. The following pictures had the build done maybe a few days ago, just got around to shooting and uploading. I do have a few spare parts left from my order, but those are stairs that will be used later and other parts I can't fit in yet. Anyway, onwards!

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Battlements have started to go up, although I'm starting to really hate the design. The interior facing merlins and crenels aren't bad for me though. It's just the front.

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The kitchen, for now. Still lots to do like adding an oven. more cutlery, etc.

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The great hall, more walls added.

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As you can see, the remaining part of the wall that would connect to the great hall and the next section has been mostly completed. Again, I hate the forward battlements. Windows have been framed.

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The other side. The clear bricks are there for placement. I need to get a better variety of colors from Bricklink for the windows. As you can see, some parts in various areas are missing for door hinges, etc.

After completing this portion thus far, I've realized I need to get more tan and nougat bricks, as well as get bricks to finish the fireplace. The walls need to finish being built up, probably three more bricks higher before the roof can start.

As mentioned earlier, my biggest issue is the battlements. Any ideas on how to make them less ugly? Thanks!

Edited by KotZ

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Small update this time. Two Bricklink orders have come in with doors, a few arches, and some weapons (not seen here).

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I'm thinking of expanding that bridge like this, and maybe out front to make a larger walkway that will be an interior, with a wooden roof angling at the back with large windows on either side.

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Some stuff on the path.

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Here we can see the arches for the windows are being placed. The one for the fire place is the wrong color and will be changed when that part comes in on the next shipment.

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I was worried these doors were going to hit the tables that I had already placed, but lickily they didn't. Otherwise I would have to scale down the tables or rearrange them if I wanted to keep these large doors for the great hall.

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Large update this time! A Bricklink order was well as a PaB order from online arrived in the past week, and lots of building happened over the weekend.

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Here is our first resident of the castle, Billiam the Woodworker. As you can see behind him, new torches are in place, and a wooden roof off to his left has been put up.

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Support beams for the great hall are going up, and the fire place is a better color. The chairs for the royals have also been fixed with their real colors. The kitchen is still a mess, but the oven/stove has been added, as well as pots and pans.

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More walls.

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Here the walls have been completed, with tiles to allow easy removal for the roof.

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And finally the roof has begun to be put in place!

So this will probably be the last update for the next month and a half, but I'm hopinh by Labor Day to have some new parts in and time to really finish up this section, and then I can move on to either the side sections or the second 48x48 section, which will have the throne room, library, sleeping chambers, and other bits.

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Wow it's been a long time since I've given an update. Since my last update, the roof on the first section has begun to take shape thanks to an order of PaB online. Unfortunately I haven't grabbed any pics of it and the roof is nowhere near close to done. I need to order more parts and figure out exactly how high I want it to go. On the bright side, my last run to my local store and PaB wall have gone very successfully and I've started the western portion of the castle, the first section on a 32x32 baseplate. I actually got really far with what was ordered online and what was found in store.

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As you can see, the multicolored supports are taking shape. By that dark green 2x4 I've placed a 1x2 technic brick (not shown) to connect via pin to the first section. Sadly, my table I've bought is 4 inches too short on each side, so I need to go to the hardware store and get some plywood or planks to measure out. This will also fix the problem of the table warping, as it's sinking down under the weight (even on the edges) of the castle, and the baseplates aren't flush at times.

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Here is the farthest I've gotten. There will be a tower on the corner with a ladder to get up to the next level to stand guard. Where the rugby player is (for measuring minifigure height) will be a blacksmith.

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Wow. Really long time since my last update. Work was a bit hectic, and holiday travels, but lots of building has been happening in small increments, but I didn't want to post minor updates here. So let's go in order of oldest to newest.

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So here, the second section's walls and tower have been mostly completed. There's the 2x2 corner roof parts I (still) need to get, as well as the cheese slopes. At this point, the ground wasn't finished either, and the colors were very muted before I broghtened it up, which you'll see in a moment.

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Next were some small barracks. Still not sure how much I like the beds, but they work for now. I had so many of the palisade bricks, I think from a PaB wall, and was wanting to use them. This part is still being worked on. I'm going to add some rocker bricks to angle some tan plates for the roof.

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Now the color! I was suggested by someone very cool to brighten up the base of the castle with some color, and it was decided to use purples, pinks, etc. Still not sure on how I feel about the trees, but I really like where this is going.

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These two photos of the third section was built today thanks to some hours able to build. The ground still needs to be finished, as does the rockwork for both sides. I'm going to add a well in the corner of that large greenpatch on the left of the second photo. The tan paths lead to the first sections tunnelled walkway and the second section's barracks. Merlons and crenels still need to be finished. Part of me is considering to lower the wall where there are no more rocks by five bricks, to make it fluck with the base, or just parts, so it's not one horizontal line. Any ideas? And thanks for looking!

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I like that you are going to put flat plates on the walls (I presume because of the studs on the wall) that was. the only thing I was going to say about the build when I saw it today. I like it a lot. Really nice work. 

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23 hours ago, Jerry McGlade said:

I like that you are going to put flat plates on the walls (I presume because of the studs on the wall) that was. the only thing I was going to say about the build when I saw it today. I like it a lot. Really nice work. 

Thanks! And yes, tiles are going on the walls for the studs facing out. I've just run out of tiles at the moment.:cry_sad:

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It's starting to look good. i think you're right about your concern on the trees though. Imo the trunk is too big and bulky compared to the size and amount of leafs. I'd make a smaller trunk, or lots more leafs, bigger crown. Anyways, just my two cents :)

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Been awhile since an update, but I got a PaB shipment in and went through a bunch of bricks that I have to make this update. I can probably build more this week, and I don't know how much it will change from this update, but here's what I have so far.

What you don't see are the walls are mostly finished on the three built up sections. There's like 20 parts I need to order left to complete them to what I want. Basically finishing up the merlons and crenels. Most of that was done with the most recent PaB order, but there are some pieces I need to get from Bricklink.

Anyway, I started the second 48x48 stud section of this build, which is probably going to be the most challenging portion of this build. I'm allowing myself 36"x40" (128 studs x 112 studs), and I know how the outerwalls and the few pieces inside them will go, but this final 42x42 baseplate needs to hold the throne room, the dungeon, the grand library (which I can have go by height), and two (hopefully three) spare bedrooms/"office". So I need to go vertical for this.

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This is what I started with. It's finishing along the tan walkway from the other section. I'm having everything level out to ground level. here.

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A better view of what's happening. On the right, you can see the dungeon being formed. On the left, basically a stairway or an idea of one, and a landing to lead up.

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Here, you can see the armory (top left) taking shape. Up along the top of the section are parts to keep it light but sturdy, as this thing will go high. You'll also see in the bottom right the dunegon has expanded by a lot. I found some 4x1x6 (or whatever their technical name is) grille parts for what I remembered was my original plan. A walk in area to the dungeon with one door that leads to the actual cells and a torture area. The sectioned off areas will have doors for the cells. The larger open area will have a breaking wheel and hopefully a rack.

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Here you can see me laying out what will be much higher up, but what is the basis of the throne room. It will be level with the 48x48 first section (or at least one plate). The rest of this section's levels will hold bedrooms/office, and the library.

Edited by KotZ

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Been a few months since my last update, due to work and having to wait for pieces to come in through PaB. I'm still working on the second 48x48 section, as you'll see here. I have now completed a wall setion completely. For the other one, I need to order some corner slopes from bricklink.

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As you can see from my earlier post, there's been some change. I realized the armory was just too small to supply a castle, so I made it bigger. I then added a small section to store the more dangerous, magical weapons, as you can see by the brown frame. Well then I decided to expand the dungeon so the more dungeony-things have some more room. And then I realized I had no vault for treasure, which a castle desperately needs. So I added that section up at the top. It will have a wooden door to enter, followed by a locked gate. Security, and all.

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A better picture, seeing where the landing platform and stairs have had more work, as well as mostly leveling off the top layer of bricks, which will then have tiles places on them for easy access. I'll probably do a layer of plates and then tiles.

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A better view of the expanded armory, minifigure to figure out scale.

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And the expanded dungeon.

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Again, a few months since my previous update. Work has been crazy, and I've been sturggling from builder's block on this thing, mainly this 48x48 section of just where everything is going to go. Luckily I found some solutions.

Please ignore my messy table:look:.

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Here is an overview. Not much has changed aside from tiling the lower section. It would be completely tiled, but I accidentally ordered some white tiles and not grey... You can also see that doors are being added to the dungeon, the armory, and the vault (bottom right, top left, top right).

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Looks like we have some guests!

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This here is the beginning of the grand library. It's going to solely be this size (maybe) and just go for height on this one.

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This is the throne room, with my hand showing how it will be level with the floor of the great hall. The first (maybe second) floors below will hold bedrooms and such. Next to the throne room (sandwiched between the library in a 10-stud wide room section) will be the king's chambers and office.

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Here you can see the beginning of the tiling of the throne room. I still need to get the correct doors and hinges, as well as all the ornamentation and such, but the throne room is maybe half to two-thirds done. Stain glass behind, might change it out and modify it later.

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This is the stain glass for the great hall, replacing tyhe old clear transparent bricks that were there as a placeholder.

Edited by KotZ

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On 2/17/2021 at 7:22 PM, SerenityInFire said:

That's a pretty fine looking castle you've got so far.

Thanks! There's still a long way to go, but it will get there!

13 hours ago, Man with beard said:

I'm enjoying this WIP thread. Are you working from any plans or drawings?

In retrospect, I probably should be. Al of this is just a picture in my mind that changes every so often, which leads m to the problem I mentioned earlier of trying to figure out what needs to go where. Luckily the exterior walls (while not built fully) are pretty set in stone (ha).

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