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MassEditor

Stormholme Castle

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Located in the swampy lowlands which straddle the Mitgardian and Nocturnus border, Stormholme Castle is an ancient fortification which has long stood as a bulwark against the evil forces plaguing Historica. The high castle walls, defensive towers and secure water source have allowed Stormholme to withstand numerous sieges. These days, in more peaceful times, the castle serves primarily as the residence of Jarl Baldar Yuengling (photo not available). A small but dilapidated village has cropped up around the castle and swampy lowland. Despite these more quiet times, Stormholme stands guarded and ready to protect the Mitgardian heartland. 

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What's up y'all! Yup, as usual, I'm late getting this on GoH. Mostly out of shame, however. You're probably quick to notice the lack of even a single minifig in this display. That was not completely intentional, as though I believe minifigs can bruise the aesthetics of a build, GoH is all about people and their stories. Unfortunately, my collection of GoH minifigs went home unknowingly with the wrong person following a public display of this castle. By the time we had realized what happened, I had already photographed this creation and precipitated its destruction. So, the human element is implied for the time being until I can finish up a few more builds to properly introduce Jarl Yuengling and his manor. A few fun facts: Took nearly a year to build. Rough guess, 40,000 pieces. Splits into four sections for convenient handling. Didn't originally plan to include the swamp but it saved me from a lot of landscaping and turned out kinda nice. I've been building in the castle genre for years, but this is my first true castle.

Good to see you guys again, and thanks for looking!!! If you're interested, here is a video from Beyond the Brick when they interviewed me over the castle at Brick Fiesta 2019: 

 


 

Edited by MassEditor

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An absolutely amazing build! You mentioned in the interview that it looks best without figs, so looks like you got your wish with the mix-up! :laugh:

Love the colour palette too. Magnificent work!

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What an amazing castle - and an even more amazing landscape to go with it!  I love that outpost and the rivers and swamps are such a unique setting!  Loads of detail too - scarecrow, spiderweb on the porch roof, and the boats moored at different spots.  Good to see you posting a build in GoH again!

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WHOA. Wow. That is beautiful and impressive. Exceptionally built and a lovely composition.

Recently I was thinking that I hadn't seen anything from you in a while. And then you show us this!

The level of detail throughout is incredible.

As for minifigs, you don't really miss them in the full view pics. It is certainly interesting to see something like this without them.

Good work as usual.

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This thing is ridiculous!  I love your color palette, with all the dark colors.  I love the swamp and the clean stream juxtaposition, too.  I think the fact that they don't join is just fine.  You mention in the video how you don't use a lot of advanced techniques (well, not any really new ones anyway), but it really looks great.  The towers and stonework is an advanced technique, even if it's not new, and the round towers are really fantastic.  I love seeing Lord Anfauglir in the video!  You can just see him, but it's great.  I hope you are able to realize your dream and build the complete castle one day!  Long live Historica!

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Wow! So many good things about this build! My favourites are probably the details and nice dark colours on the trees and ground and the nice way the castle is just tall enough that it feels like it looms over the rest of the forest and is not too tall enough that it feels like it is falling over. Awesome Castle, and its good to see some Nocturnian style! :oh3:

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This is simply spectacular! Beautifully built with so many lovely details. Spending about a year on a MOC like that doesn't seems exaggerated at all. :classic:

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Excellent build.  I really like all the different area's like the swamp, the stream, and the all the rock work looks great.  The trees add some nice color and variation to the build.  The castle has some great texture and I like the round towers.  The crenelations on the towers are very good.  The use of sand green throughout the build is a nice touch as it gives the landscaping depth and the different plants and grasses throughout the build really tie the whole build together.  I do like the dead vegetation in the swamp.  Very impressive build all together.  

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First things first: this is extraordinarily beautiful, I simply love everything in sight! :wub: You have outdone yourself with this one, no question! You said in the video that anyone with a bit of feeling for colours and composition would be able to build something like this, but do they? These "anyone"s are quite rare it seems; I know very few lego castles as wonderful as this one, scenery included. :wink: You are awesome, this is a masterpiece! Though the techniques may not be the most advanced, it sure as hell takes a master to spatially unite so many components (castle, houses, streams, trees, terrain, paths, etc.) cohesively in one build, not even to speak of the execution of said components individually or the vision required to imagine this! 

Anyway, not gonna lie: I was actually pretty pissed when you posted this on Flickr as a Mitgardian build. Your description here is more.. eh, refined? Guess that's not the right word, but at least now I can get behind how this would even exist in Mitguardia. I respect Mitgardia's large biome diversity, but I still think this would be better suited for Nocturnus. You hit that vibe so hard, I was initially convinced this was @Blufiji's second take on The Reach (the Goblin capital in the south), before seeing your name under it, just saying. :tongue: It's your decision where you locate your builds, of course. I do want to ask: do you have any Nocty builds in the pipeline, in these dire times for the Guild?

In any case, keep on rocking!

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Amazing work here as always, Mass!  Great job with the angles and composition here, and those trees are quite eye-catching, but my favorite part is that flanking wall to the left and the visual interest it adds to the whole castle; love that! :wub:  As you say, it's so often simplicity and arrangement that are the essence of aesthetics, and you've definitely shown that off here!  Great to have you back, mate! 

On 11/29/2019 at 4:23 PM, MassEditor said:

I've been building in the castle genre for years, but this is my first true castle.

Funny how that happens to so many of us, isn't it?!  I've been building castle for what seems like forever and this is still as close as I've got to a castle proper (and not very close at that! :laugh:)  One of these days I guess I'll have to just bite the bullet!

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Epic build ME!  Obviously the shear size is impressive, but each of the buildings and sections of landscaping could be lovely MOCs all by themselves.  The little docks and stairs spread throughout sell the swampy setting and the castle is imposing if somewhat unconventional in that it is nestled in trees and not really on elevated ground.  My favorite detail is the spiderweb buried in the roof of the building at the front.

:wub:

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I am blown away by the sheer size of this MOC!!!!! The use of colors in your vegetation really brings it to life despite all of the dark stone elements of the buildings! Even the bits of purple vegetation seem to blend perfectly and don't clash or detract at all! Well done!

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Another absolutely mind blowing layout :cry_happy:
The composition and colors are fantastic, making for a super memorable scene :thumbup:
I love how the stream winds through the landscape, and contrasts with the still murky depths of the swamp.

Stunning castle with great wall techniques, and just the right amount of decoration :wub_drool:
 

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Incredible! Absolutely stunning! That is probably 2 times the bricks I have in my collection, but size is not everything, and detail is great too. You have overloaded (in a good way) on both!*oh2*:wub_drool:

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