ProvenceTristram

I, for one, cannot stand Nexo Knights, and the sooner it dies and gives us a real castle theme again (particularly for new minifigures), the better. I know others feel differently, and that's fine, but it's a line that has absolutely zero appeal for me (and I'm tired of the 'it's meant for kids argument.' Classic castle was 'meant for kids,' too, as was classic pirates - both had plenty of adult appeal. NK has none.

So... I'm not the world's biggest believer in enormous, Windsor-scale castles. Call me unambitious, but A) I like to design something that might be in the realm (for me) of building one day (given my finances, even small MOCs are ridiculously tough to swing), and B) I like isolated, somewhat forlorn fortresses located in the wilderness, as opposed to city-encircling mega-citadels. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to build the starter keep from the Kingdom's and Castles PC game, and while I was happy with the final result, I didn't like that it was based on someone else's IP - I wanted a "castle of my own," so to speak. So, three days ago, I started putting together Wolf's Watch. Originally, I didn't plan on doing anything nearly this ambitious, but the project kind of expanded as I built - I wanted to add a dungeon, and then once I had raised the keep up, it needed additional terrain to give the elevation context. But I am very happy with the final design - it really encompasses the heart of what I was shooting for: an English/Welsh-style small castle with heavy play features and a (relatively) low part count (okay, 5,000 isn't low, but when you're talking about projects like this, you can quickly see the numbers explode into the tens of thousands :P). First, some overview shots of the exterior: The keep itself features three floors, plus an accessible roof. The top two floors lift out over the first (which has a kitchen inside, but I didn't bother taking a picture of it since Bluerender's interior lighting is so shoddy), and are accessed via a swinging side panel. The second floor is a reception room which will showcase a few suits of armor and a throne (not going to cram the suits into the digital model); the third is the King's (and I say "King's," but I never intended this to be a full time royal residence - I am thinking more along the lines of a Baron or poor Viscount) bedroom, and features a bed, chamber pot, crown, fireplace, tea kettle, and so on. The castle has an extensive subterranean area which has limited access via the keep lifting up. Unfortunately, as mentioned previously, Bluerender's lighting for this kind of thing is downright poor. However, the left-hand side of the underground section is an area of haunted caves, with still drip pools, stalactites, stalagmites, and so on. The right side is a split scene, with two jail cells and a brick-built spiral staircase, plus the Forgotten King's Tomb. I intended for the tomb to be accessed via the caverns and not the stairs directly (some imagination is necessary), to give the basement a kind of adventurous, exploration-oriented design that hearkens back to Taran and Eilonwy mucking around under Spiral Castle in The Book of Three. The only independent non-castle-related structure within the outer wall is a blacksmith. I ripped off the mill wheel-powered auto-hammer design from 6918. The bone is part of some exterior scenicking which, along with a buried skull, is intended to represent a fossilized beast. There are hints of the caverns embedded in the sides elsewhere on the model. And that's pretty much it! As always, any questions, comments or critiques are most welcome!

Any chance you could list the parts involved in building the vultures - particularly the one with its wings folded? They're really excellent.

So, I've been playing Kingdoms and Castles recently - a kind of SNES Sim City meets Rollercoaster Tycoon meets Banished and then they all catch the Black Death - and as soon as I booted it up the first time, I immediately fell in love with the starter keep (BEWARE IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THIS GAME - IT'S SUPER ADDICTING! XD). Now, granted, the game's goal largely revolves around upgrading this quaint structure into a grand fortress... but I've always preferred the simple, pleasant lines of the original keep. The following are some screenshots: The game at times almost feels like you're playing with Lego (at least a little), so I wanted to reproduce the structure with bricks. Unfortunately, it wound up being something of a mega-build at nearly 2,900 pieces, which likely means I will never get to experience it in real life. However, I did still want to showcase my work. First, some exterior shots: The castle was designed to be fully modular. The keep has two lift-outs and a whole side opens, and the residence portion also has two lift-outs. Unfortunately, this effect is very tedious to reproduce in LDD, so I just kind of tore the thing open to show the interiors (I don't have hours to spend to take screenshots :P [just hours to spend designing Lego I will never build, apparently XD]). First, the dungeon, which has chains (to ensnare a skeleton), spider web, cell, barrel storage, and a secret door for making escapes: Next, we have the Great Hall/Throne Room. I pulled the door open for this shot, though it wound up a little dark. The table and chairs are designed to be removable so the King can receive guests (on the nicely tiled floor and red carpet! :D), in which case the room will feature 5 suits of armor lining the walls. There is also a big fireplace, throne (for great sitting is needed to do Kingly justice), and some owl-shaped gargoyles. I agonized over the door for a long time, but there's a sticker from one of the Ninjago sets that would make it look less out of place. The roof for this scene also comes off easily: Moving along, we next have the scullery/wine storage. The's a pretty elaborate staircase that you can't see well in this screenshot, a stove, a shelf full of wine bottles, some barrels, food storage on the wall (can't be seen here), and the barred entrance to the dungeon. I used a main door with bars here even though it's kind of ugly, because I acknowledge that this is a castle and not a house, and that entrance is the weakest part of all (although in a siege this whole portion would soon be on fire, in all likelihood :P): Finally, we have the Royal Chambers. This is a relatively simple room (I ripped out the windows so we could see inside a bit better) - you've got the King's canopy bed, a fireplace, a stairwell down, and a shelf for storing the crown and imperial sword at night. There's also (again impossible to see) a ladder leading up to the parapet. No part of the castle is technically inaccessible to minifigs: And that's it! This is the first castle I've designed since my teenage years... so... it's been about two decades. A lot has changed... and mostly not for the better :P. But I think this, at least, turned out alright in the end! Questions and critiques are most welcome!

Space Legos. Ill-fated alien technology that was involved in the Challenger explosion. All very hush hush.

This is a very, very substantially altered 60083 set, with only the chassis being maintained from the original (the front end and rear are totally reconfigured). Still, it's not wholly my own work, so I can't really call it a MOC. Inspiration (sort of): MOC: The interior features a bed, bathroom, computer, and night stand with lantern. Obviously, this design isn't quite as low-slung as the original, but I didn't want to sacrifice the Unimog's modular advantages to better integrate the camper unit (which is fully removable, just leaving you with the truck).

Put them back up - that's what I'd do. It is no business of Universal's (or any other private entity) what shape you form your Legos into. This is bizarre and flagrant overreach.

A cargo ship of some kind. It's been a long, long time since Lego released one of these staples.

Just a little MOC I threw together while watching the Red Sox tonight: Original: MOC: Obviously, it isn't perfect, but I wanted to keep it fairly close to usable minifig scale.

All I know is that LOTR got the shaft one wave too soon. We never got a Minas Tirith, a Mt. Doom set, and about 10 or so very major (re: essential) characters.

There isn't a single figure in this series that I want... which is kind of frightening.

I don't have any particular, specific piece in mind, but rather have a need that requires fulfilling. Simply put, I need some kind of a short-reach elevator piece, akin to a car's shocks, that allows bricks to rise and lower relative to a certain height, 'clicking' into place on both ends. I figured that was going to come out like a bunch of goobledegack, and it did, so I drew a picture: I need what's in the dotted line - something that allows the piece on the left to transit up and down relative to the piece on the right, AND, hopefully, 'click' into place on both ends. Does this or something like it exist?

I want to say right off the bat that this is based in part on the fantastic MOC by Stormbringer. But whereas he eventually went larger to solve the 'hatch problem,' I decided to take his work (basically the legs and arms) and run with it, constructing a completely alternate body section that should fit a minifig laying down in the proper position, and with a functional rear bail-out door. I don't think either of us got the canopy right, but it seems to be an impossible objective no matter how you slice it - the shape of the prototype is just too unusual. Speaking of which: Model: Again, all credit belongs to Stormbringer for the legs and arms. I'm hoping to build this, though it will be some combination of colors, rather than pure pink, since about half those shaped pieces aren't available in that shade.

The only other one I'd really like to see is the Hammerhead Corvette - not only is it a neat little capital, but now that it's been featured prominently in Rogue One, there's a lot of additional crossover appeal. I do wish one of these sets could find a way to work in a Maketh Tua minifigure. She really sort of emerged into a fan favorite over the course of her brief tenure, and from time to time there have been pushes to reintroduce her into Rebels (especially since her "death" was somewhat unusual and could have very easily been faked).

Great moc. And for the record, I think people were far too harsh on TFA, and far, faaaaaaaar too generous towards Rogue One. Yes, TFA was a ANH retread, but it felt like a friggin' Star Wars movie. Rogue One was like Schindler's List in Space.

Kept forgetting to upload pictures for this - finished about a month ago:

Honestly, having looked the thing over now, I can say with confidence that this is the best B-Wing of any scale I've ever seen done in Lego. I hope you win, because if you don't, I (and many others) will be stuck Bricklinking this beauty.

Can anyone kindly repost this MOC on a site that isn't adfly? It's twice set off my malware alert.

Any interest in sharing the LDD?

The ubiquitous weekday afternoon cartoon for confirmed hipster burnouts. The fact that this got made and the Sherlock set was dumped on tells me all about the "good people" managing the approval process over at Lego Ideas. In fact, I have a good idea about where they can collectively go. No thank you.

The only figure I want from that abysmal line is the pharaoh, which I can make good use of elsewhere.

Yup. I would have bought more than a few Elves sets if not for the dolls. Such a shame, really.

I'd like to see another Egyptian theme. And the Orient theme was also very cool.

Smaller than I envisioned them being.

Very old Mexico-ish.