Aine

It's a real pity that lego didn't use the 40th anniversary of The Yellow Castle for some truly epic celebration. So yeah, maybe 2020, after the ground will be ready due to Elves departure.

On horses: Yeah, there will be no change in the horses, that would sweep away 35 years of lego design. I need to fall in love with the old ones. Kingdoms revisited: I would welcome both remake of the old factions, which means heraldry torsos, and also the new generic torsos with a gambeson, scale armour, and mail printings. This would mean, of course, a major Castle line, not a few nostalgic sets.

I also like the minifigs, and I also like the horses. I think that I'll prove it in the coming week... And of course the 80's set are the thing: later they became a bit clogged and the figs got too many details. But even those are nice, of course, and if I'd growing up in the new millenium, I'd surely love the new stuff. Speaking of future castle sets, I'd love to see the chainmail or at least scale armour print similar to the Black Knights of old. No need to pass all the way down to the legs, just make it clean, and I'd be happy. Geez, if there'd be a remake line! They really missed this in 2014. And while 2019 year is 35th anniversary of the modern Castle, I doubt that we'll see anything before 2024. But man, I'd be happy with some nostalgia stuff, maybe a bit of a new touch, but otherwise a real 80's party!

Insane. As few previous posters already written, the middle picture is especially amazing due to the wonderful lighting. I really love it, but the others are also truly epic.

True, ture, the more articulation, the more chances for minifig to break/wear off. Btw, I'm used to the minifigs after using them for 30+ years, it's just the way lego triad of minifig-horse-saddle works that drives me mad. And same goes for weapons, at least some of them. Damien sword would be the best, as it has realistic shape and reasonable size, and the Halberd+Spear could be made like the Elaborate Spear except this time without a bending top nad genrally less clumsy.

Very nice design, i really like it. The final result is so lively thanks to the blue roofs, and it's amazing how this simple colour combination and the oldschool design feels. I hope that we'll see more of your castles in the future. Do you plan to inhabit them with someone, or are you satisfied with the lone building?

Nice work,I like the sets. They are simple yet elegant! Especially the airplane is lovely!

The legs go down, but they are bent in knees, not completely vertical. The whole issue is because of the minifigs' static hips and nonexistant knees, and taht's a reason why a 2cm high figure doesn't have a freedom of movement like a real human; it's a toy, not an anatomical model. But ok, enough on this topic, it's far from important, and it's got little to do with potential future castle releases. Thanks for your replies, cheers!

Well, that wasn't what I meant, but it's kinda hard for me to describe the idea without pictures. It's also moot point due to gorillion of reasons, one of them being that nobody in LEGO cares about my ramblings... A wedge-like cut-out (2x2 studs top, 1x2 studs bottom) would make a 45° angle so that the figure could sit with legs in 135° angle against the chest, looking bit more naturally, than a fig that sunk deep into the horse's intestines. But it's pointless, this change won't happen, and it's not important. The weapons would make me happy, as I find each sword weird in its particular way, and the spears and halberds are also odd.

I would love a new weapons, armour, and accessories, more specifically: - new sword: more realistic than the old Shortsword, less unwieldy than Greatsword, less fancy than Sting and more useful for horsemen than Gladius. - new halberd, axe, and pike with a brown staff and grey head molded in one piece; think of Elaborate Spear but without its bending of the spearhead (which should be also thinner, just like the old school Pike was). - new helmet with nasal guard, but without the clumsy neck protector. A classic "bullet" helmet comes to mind, but I'd love for it to not break under the chin too easily. - new generic torso with a true chainmail print (not the 80's scale armour), and maybe even a subset printed with a Black Knights' heraldry (maybe in some kind of nostalgia set similar to MMV). - a saddle with one clip torn 90° to have a possibility of using it for any kind of saddlebags, which leads us to... - saddlebags; those could use a mold similar to the old Backpack from the Pirates line, except that they'd be useful for the mounts. Finally, and this is a big pet peeve of mine - I'm really unsatisfied with the lego horses and especially with the saddle solution. The big gaps in the horses' backs make me cry and the fact that the minifig stands into the horse and not sits on it, drives me crazy. I know why this works like this, but still, there could be a better solution. Maybe a wedge hole that copies the overal shape of the horse back would allow for the minifig to half-sit/half stand, and it could still use all the old hatchings (not the saddle or bardings, though).

I would try the grey stables with yellow thatched roof to match the yellow of the blacksmith; if you miss the yellow, then at least use some bricks for straw and hay. Then a brown door/gate to match the brown accesories around the smith, maybe a few logs, if you're into the Tudor building style. A black catapult 'and/or horse) finishes the scene, it would be a logical build for a small garrison, and it would be balanced in colours. A small note: don't forget to give your horses bricks, so that they don't have empty backs. :-)

You're welcome! I think that a nice idea would be to "close" the area you've already built with a small house, cottage, or shop standing opposite the blacksmith. This way you'd have a town square with three sides closed (and an open space to continue the build), and if you'd find some nice contrast or tune to the blacksmith workshop, it may work well together. Considering that you already got a catapult built, and that there's a need for horses to tow it, you might design a stables with the war machine close to it. A thatched roof, preferably yellow to match the colour of the workshop walls, would tune well with the blacksmith and the stables would offer a less cramped living quarters for your animals and also would free some space in the main castle. A touch of brown (a ladder, some woodwork, etc.) to match the brown stuff around the smith would help to colour-tune the scene. Jus be mindful when photographing, as the dark sides may hide the castle that is already a bit hidden on the light background. Maybe you'd need to experiment with lighting, I'd say that light coming from the sides may give some plasticity to the main building.

I see that your kingdom is growing! :-) Nice little nostalgic set. I like the smoke, cleverly made. Chimney might be a bit too wild for the 80's set. ;-) I like the level of details and add-ons, it's justabout enough: they make the scene lively, but they are not overdone. Well photographed, too! For your next creation I recommend a civilian set, preferably with a horse and woman. A feminine element would "soften" and brighten your world, and it will add a bit of realism (unless your castle is a garrison building, of course), and horse (preferably brown or black) would make the setting more medieval and vivid: you know, there are never too many animals. Oh, and a brick-built fowl might be funny. Or, maybe you could think about introducing some antagonists, so that your men have someone to match with. A small forest scene with a bandit or two? Cheers!

Maybe a bit much brutes-heavy, bricks-light to be an 80's/90's set, but yeah, that was my target. My son likes it, and his sisters are trying to snatch it every time, so I'm pretty proud of my design. :)

Thanks for your kind words, and I'm glad you liked my work!

This is a small MOC that I designed today as a birthday gift for our son. It's a small set, but we both like it. Packing the wagon. While our wizard stuffed the chest with the potions, Rat and Raven discovered the open barrel and now they are picknicking on Mare's oat. Frog is really interested in the green potion - it looks somehow suspicious... Moving out, finally. We are leaving for the voyage! Frog sits on the driver's seat, Rat is very interested in the unclosed chest, and the Raven still didn't give up on the oat breakfast; if only the lid could bounce... Marrre can't devourrr everrrything, rrright? On the ride! Hurray, towards the new adventures! With enough supplies for the whole company, this journey will be one of thrill and glory. With a spell wand at ready, our hero is prepared for any encounter: should some waylayer try his luck, he'd surely join the Frog in quack. Thanks for watching, thanks for feedback, hope you liked my tiny MOC.

These are perfect! Many medieval people didn't wear boots, this is very, very useful for peasants and their children!

Nice MOC and interesting read on the sub!

Cool! I like the pendent top of the central tower, it's really imposing, and the small stables are lovely! It's nice that you've thought on the well-being of the brutes. Maybe the stables could be a stud wider, but I see that you've worked within a limited space!

I'd be interested in the palisade/bar addition. Otoh I doubt that there's enough space for the river to be moved, as it may not look good if it gets too close to the plate edge. Maybe you could move the whole thing right next to the rear edge of the plate, and make the rear side of the building and rock non-visible. This way you'd get a bit more space in front, and as long as the castle isn't folding, it doesn't hurt that much that the posterior part has limited playability. Also, is the rock hollow? Some kind of natural dungeon? That'll be cool. EDIT: Oh, now I see it, there's only one row of studs left in the rear, this won't work. Imho this is the best you can design. You've self-imposed kinda harsh limit with the small base, and you've used the limited space the best that you've could. I guess that this is clearly the best option.

First - criticism: You could reconsider the defensive value of walls northeast from the bridge: the BURPS and/or LURPS form a ready made siege ramp up to the castle. You could either lower the rock structure, or, more cleverly and elegantly, you could bar it from the bridge with a small palisade, made of either antenae, round bricks, or maybe even, if you're courageous enough, and want to give the customer some extra pieces: from few spears. This way you'd bring more colours (well, more brown) into the castle, and make it's defense better. And it would also make more sense to chop the tree, as the tree would fall behind the palisade right next to the rock-ramp-stairs. The bridge could be wider. Right now it can't be used by a wagon, and even the horse would have troubles. It may be on purpose - a small tower that's easily defendable due to difficult access -, but it would complicate supply of the tower (unless the guys carry everything in their arms), and every general/duke that would want to pay a visit to the structure, would need to approach it by foot, and that is unlikely, unless it's a mountain-top outpost. It's a pity that there's too little space on this baseplate, as the tower and bridge are bit too cramped. But I wouldn't use bigger one: budget, box size, elegance... Second - praise: Clean, elegant build, nice minifigures, enough useful bricks, XURPs for those who need them (and to cut the budget), clever idea with tree, buildable, fast fun. It has nice 80's (or early 90's) feeling, and there are some details and parts that would make it fun to play with and a good purchase on top of it. I like it!

Isn't it too small? :-) Amazing work, you had a lots of time and patience! Where do the clothes come from?

Wow, I was ran over by a nostalgia bus! Nice clean build, maybe a bit too mucn clean, but yeah, the 80's feel is strong!

I thought (and wrote) about this issue in different thread, but it definitely belongs here, so yeah. Follows my original post: I think I'll stay true to the minifig legs. Idk why lego cannot design new "Movable Skirt" piece, it'll be amazing. I will look through the new Harry Potter middle-sized legs, maybe they'll be usable. Cheers!

True, but those technics don't solve most of my issues. However, I realized that there's a thread specifically about this detail, so I'll move there. If any mod feels that these last posts should be cleaned, I'm totally fine with that, and sorry that I did miss the appropriate thread! Cheers!