The Flying Dutchman

Excellent review! Can't wait to buy my copy. Just 1 small point: They already can be found in the following sets: http://www.bricklink...colorID=12&in=A

Hi, I only recently discovered your amazing guide. It's wonderful to learn so many ways of building! Thank you so much for just so much more pleasure in building :) When I started of trying to build my own house, I found it hard to build the walls with all the tiles, as you suggested. Not only do I not have that many tiles, but I found it hard to pack all the tiles. It only took a few minutes to build up the walls in a similar way, using plates instead of tiles: building a stack with 4 plates, topping it off with a tile gives the same impression as putting all the tiles together. Off course you need to use 9 plates + tile to cover the broader areas. This is a pretty way to save on tiles and has the advantage of much more sturdier walls. Hope you like the suggestion. And now I'm going to build like crazy :) Daan Bargerbos / The Flying Dutchman / Debarg

Thanks for the compliments (all of you the last days). I think I've used the Medium Blue tiles. I have dismantled the stairs for a few weeks now, so I can't check. I've also experimented with 'dark turquoise', they do very nice in combination with the dark red. Combining colours: fascinating stuff :)

thanks so much for the video's! The van is super! The Post Office is very cute and fits very well in the winter scene. Great job done at the LEGO build office :- )

Thanks again WhiteFang for a wonderful review. Some very nice minifigs are waiting and you've made the wait for them even more exciting now we now in close up how outstanding these figs are made!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this You are completely right: a few adaptations should be necessary... I can't agree more on this: although they were quite interesting builds, I always found them Technic-lego-caly out of place/time. My first association with the IceDragon was being it a white dragon it could come in handy for the escape form Gringotts scene.

I've been thinking of using the Ice Dragon of the Ninjago set 2260 as the dragon for the escape from the dungeons of Gringotts. What do you think?

Very nicely done! And you've used a nice technic worth to remember in future building. Thanks for sharing!

Very nice review of a very nice set! I need a bigger desk to fancy all the sets that could stand there for display .

Excellent work Looks very professional, and inspiring for more builds like these. Thanks mate!

Thanks Catanas for the excellent review. I like your humour a lot. Especially your cartoon at the end ! Fond of the HP sets I'm likely to buy this one, though I'm giving it a shot when/if they are priced off...

Very nice review. I will definitely buy this set, was it alone for mrs Malfoy. It's always nice to have a family together, isn't it? Very nice cartoon at the end Thanks!

Thanks! I totally agree: there so much more to do than Lego has done so far. Although the company give in 'The HP Years 1-4' some excellent views of what is possible (chandeliers, great fire place, nice decorations - there should at least be the banners of the two other Houses). Guess we just have to build (and expand) our own versions, right?

Maybe 'the going very well together' thing is only this: there are technic bricks that function as connector bricks. They allow easy connection with the last Hogwarts Castle. I do think the towers and bridge can make a nice addition to the bigger castle, especially when all the three parts (two towers and the bridge) can be connected seperated: it's a kind of modularity that could enhance the playability of the combined sets.

Thanks Hi , the link to my BrickShelf folder doesn't seem to work correct. This is one shot of the interior: My Brickshel folder shows more (if it does work ...) http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=472530

Having build this very nice set I thought the dining hall was a bit too small. I started to make it larger and wanted to build a wall around it. Thinking of the nice feature of the modular system in this set (making it possible to arrange the castle in different options) I wanted this wall in accordance to this system. I've come up with a wall hinged on various sites, making it possible to change the wall very quick. Also, the roof is detachable. In this way you can imagine the magic of the dining room where you can see the sky through the roof. Off course I haven't forgotten the prominent appearance of the owls in this part of the castle. Overall I liked the building experience and I think it is a fun addition for playing. I've tried to keep it as close to the overall appearance of the original Lego set. (After moderation you can see more pics: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=472530) In this picture you can see the enlarged dining room. It shows the complete castle. I have build it on the inside (and reversed) lid of a plastic box, that I use to keep the set dust free. The next picture shows the Enlarged Dining Hall set apart from the set. The roof is detachable, so you can see the different owls. The last picture shows the combination of the wall attached to one site of the Dining Hall. Its just one way of 'unfolding' the walls. Please let me know what you think! 20110511

I'm in on this one: I'm eager to see what the book will show and tell us.

thanks for the review: thumbs up! It's likable one of may favourit sets to get, though it's also priced steep (as you mentioned). I love the B&B feautures and sure would like to add the twins to my collection.

Thanks for the nice lay-out. It's helpfull info for making a setup in scale. Too bad, not all the sets are adding up to this idea.

Very neat minifig. Perhaps I'll buy the game seeing how high prizes are going. Isn't there a saying in English 'to get a wooden head'? In Dutch it's an expression saying you have had too many drinks...

thanks for the very detailed review. If I can spend the money I will buy this set :-)

Thanks, it is usefull info that will help me as well :-)

Thanks for the review: you've done an excellent job and made it all clear with nice pics!

You're welcome to do so! In addition to the discussion above I've uploaded several other stairs I made based on the Pet Shop stairs. The 1x4 plate version with rails + cheese slopes shows a nice staircase. The sloping looks very good, but there's no minifig that could climb this stairs... It's the staircase to the left in the newest pic: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Debarg/staircase/0005_spiral_staircase.jpg I've also experimented with the Wedge, Plate 4 x 2 Right and made two versions (with the same plate - different colours): one swiveled in the same way as the earlier staircases, and one with the same plate, but swiveled the other way around. I like this construction very much (the right one of the three). Please let me know what you think!