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2018 is something of a landmark year. The LEGO Brick as we know it is 60 years old. The Minifigure has celebrated its 40th. Something that may have been missed in all the excitement is the fact that set 375, Yellow Castle was launched 40 years ago. @Rufus has shared his project to restore the classic set, and I had a chance to discuss my plans with him at the Eurobricks Event this year. For it's anniversary year I decided to create a tribute to that great, classic, set. Oh, and I took it to an actual castle near me for a photo-shoot. I live and grew up in the ancient Kingdom of Gwent, or a more recently, the Historic County of Monmouthshire. An area much fought over by Welsh Princes and English Kings. Thus, there are a lot of castles around me and they featured just as much as LEGO in my childhood. I displayed this build at a local event and created flyers for people to look at. Chepstow, Goodrich, Raglan and Yellow Castle Now some stats! The whole build is 82 Studs in length and 40 Bricks high from baseplate to flagpole tip on the tallest tower. The whole build took me several months, on average I would build for about four hours a week. Digging out the bricks I wanted (just so much yellow!) and building with a few sketches and a lot of ideas. I have spent years building MOCs and visiting castles; Last year I visited a fair number of Edward I's Ring of Iron, so I had a good mental picture of my end result. The printed flag was my only project specific purchase, everything else was already in my collection (Twenty Five years and counting). I used pretty much all of the yellow 1x2, 1x1 and 1x3 bricks I own. Not to mention a lot of light-bley arches. I chose the Black Knight's flag as I love the design and the colours complemented the build and custom created the second flag using two LEGO logo stickers from the many unused sticker sheets I have accumulated (from set 3221). The printed flag decided what colours I would use for the waving flags, Red and Blue are good classic colours. This is the best view to pick out detailing on the Keep of the castle and the styles of window built in to the structure. While only the grandest details and glazing will do for the Keep, home of the Lord and his family, the other towers have more practical and defensive considerations. Now it is time to visit the castle. The rise in the land made a perfect vantage point to build a fortress, but an approach has been worn in over the years. After the castle's founding, a defensively minded caretaker decided that a Barbican would be useful to keep the main castle secure. The large doors can open wide to let welcome guests in, but the guards maintain a watch just in case. You can spot a treasure under the castle, secreted long ago. The moat splits the castle and the barbican, the drawbridge allows people to cross but can be raised in an attack. An axle can be turned to pull the chain in through the arches and raise the drawbridge. The tall castle gate sits within the strong gatehouse, guarded from above by stalwart men. You can also see the Lord of the Castle through the gates. A closer look, you can see the Lord, his daughter and son and a member of staff. The well supplies the castle with fresh water all the time, saving it during siege. Opposite the well is the door into the Keep and behind the lord is an archway that leads to the wall walk and either towers. This vantage point lets you see the Great Window for the castle Hall, the Lord's quarters also have a detailed set of windows and there is special stonework atop the keep. The staff and guards go about their business as the young lord plays with a dog. The Kitchen Tower is closest to the well and has a great chimney for the large cooking range. It can provide meals for the whole castle. The tower room is part home, part office for the Steward of the castle. He ensure day to day life runs smoothly at the castle and is second only to the Lord and his family. Of course, there are plenty of staff and residents of the castle. This smily chap is one of them. He is quite at home here! This Build has honestly been my largest project to date, both in scale and volume of bricks. Not only did I want to celebrate the milestones of LEGO this year, the landmarks of my home and the possibilities available with the most basic of LEGO bricks. But I also wanted to mark my 10th year of EB membership with something big to share with everyone.
