Vindice Posted January 19, 2011 Hi all, I've just recently got back into Lego collecting. I wanted something fun and practical to share with my 4 year old son as a hobby and as he loved Lego it seemed like a good fit. He loves the Harry Potter game on the XBox so when the new sets came out in October we purchased the Great Hall. I realised quick that as good as it was it was a bit small so we sold the minifigs and purchased another castle! One big brick order to Lego S@H later and we were rolling. It may not seem aesthetically pleasing to some but we're happy with it. the main criteria for the design was that it was open to promote playability and to enable stop motion animating. My brother is great at this stuff and my little boy is learning how to be a good builder and the basics of stop motion animation. Hopefully when he gets a lot older he'll have some pretty useful creative tools at his disposal. I aim to build most if not all the castle in around a year and publish this on the web as a blog entitled Blogwarts Castle. Hhopefully it will be a bit of fun for my family and anyone who happens to stumble upon it. We've got some nice ideas for animations and plenty of bricks for the castle! I hope you all enjoy the Great Hall, it's far from finished but work is well underway already on the large tower that will stand behind it. Any criticism will be most welcome! Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AngryChair Posted January 20, 2011 This is looking well awesome at the moment. The inside looks better already as you've filled the hall with people. This is going to be massive.! Nice work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vindice Posted January 20, 2011 Unfortunately due to the 100Kb limit I could only add 2 pictures last night. (I'm sure someone will tell me what i was doing wrong.) I've still got to add lots more characters. Some of the teachers and students are missing after my nephew decided to dismantle them limb from limb and stick them in a toy milk tanker. I'm also considering adding a platform for the teachers table and some LED lighting. It should all be ready in time for the sorting ceremony! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gregorovich Posted January 21, 2011 This looks great! It's so big and roomy. I really like the staff table. Good work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vindice Posted January 22, 2011 Thanks for the comments Gregorivitch. hopefully the roominess will help with the animating which I plan to start tonight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pompommini Posted January 22, 2011 I've still got to add lots more characters. Some of the teachers and students are missing after my nephew decided to dismantle them limb from limb and stick them in a toy milk tanker. I was planning to MOD my castle but this has made me completly rethink it Pompommini out Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted January 22, 2011 Excellent changes to the Great Hall 'Vindice', can't wait to see the additions to it ! Keep on casting spells ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
XimenaPaulina Posted January 24, 2011 I think you did a fantastic job expanding the Great Hall Vindice. I, for one, find the whole build visually appealing especially the side-by-side arches outside. The interiors are very well done too, now only if you could put those floating candles in there that would be a nice touch! But this one is great as it is, so good job! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AngryChair Posted January 24, 2011 (edited) now only if you could put those floating candles in there that would be a nice touch! But this one is great as it is, so good job! We could always put them in via Post Production..! Was well impressed with this over the weekend. Vindice has a few pretty cool animation ideas up his sleeve... Edited January 24, 2011 by AngryChair Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vindice Posted January 24, 2011 Yeah post production is going to be fun! Got a few ideas to make it nice and eye catching I hope. I'd love to do something with the roof to make it "enchanted". A minor technical glitch is holding up the animating and Daniel Radcliffe was unavailable to do the voice over work this weekend. Thanks for the comments everyone, this project is proving to be a lot of fun (if a tad expensive!) hopefully the grand tower behind it will be complete this weekend. I am probably going to be slaughtered over lack of a canonicity but unfortunately funds are finite so I can't really afford to have to have a big tower and use it only to put some stairs in. Apologies in advance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vindice Posted January 25, 2011 (edited) Hi all, I've just created a Flickr account, thought it was an easier way to add more photos. Please feel free to have a gander if you get a few minutes. My link Edited January 25, 2011 by Vindice Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RjShylocke Posted January 25, 2011 Awesome work! It looks around the right size of the real great hall. Did you only use 2 great halls ? Also is the base a normal large grey plate ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vindice Posted January 26, 2011 Awesome work! It looks around the right size of the real great hall. Did you only use 2 great halls ? Also is the base a normal large grey plate ? No it's actually more like 5 castles! I managed to get some in tescos when they had a 3 for 2 offer. I sold off the duplicate minifigures and manuals to recoup most of the castle costs. For the actual Great Hall I probably needed parts from about 2 sets really. It's the rest of the castle that needs loads of the special parts you can only get with the sets. The base is 48x48 studs, very open at the back so that I can easily move the camera around for stop motion animating. The grand staircase tower will be added soon along with the main entrance, i'm not 100% sure yet on how i'm going add these. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
