SleeplessNight

Thank You all for your comments and appreciation! Of course as some of You have noiced, this project is a follow-up to my Ideas entry (which has gathered 10k votes and thus will be reviewed by Lego team and possibly considered for production). The Ideas project (here: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/f588abaa-4dab-4a56-b7bc-a7e38d018711) was about fitting lots of details and as many features as possible in a 3000-brick build. But it was actually impossible to build with real bricks, because I used non-existent brick colors and some bricks that are extremely rare. So here I focused on feasibility. I wanted to build a castle large enough not to look silly next to the Medieval Blacksmith and still within some reasonable cost limit (I aimed at €600, because this is more or less the top range for the official sets). I wanted it to be a honest castle with a courtyard, a gate, a keep, towers and so on. Frankly, I think it is still a bit too small. Some of the cuts I had to make were a bit painful. For instance, I would really love to include a portcullis, but this would require a much higher gate tower, which would in turn cry for more space between the gate and the corner tower... and the part count is skyrocketing. So there are some compromises. In fact, I have put a lot of effort into cost optimization. While I think the dark (bluish) grey looks really cool and I especially like that corners and details are in lighter color than the walls, the main reason why I chose this color is that on average it is just much cheaper than light (bluish) grey. You can also notice that most bricks with masonry pattern are dark tan instead of dark grey. It looks fine and provides some additional diversion but it also actually saves a few bucks. I'm really encouraged by the reception and I hope it is just the first of a series of castles. The next one I have in mind will be smaller in size but more fancy in form, with lots of detail. While this one is more of a stronghold, the next one will be more of a fairytale fantasy. But in the meantime I'll make a small excursion into the pirate era

Hi All! I'd like to present my latest digital MOC. I wanted to build a castle that could match the Medieval Blacksmith. As we know, there will be a 3 in 1 Creator castle, but with the piece count probably between 1200 and 1500 it can in no way be compatible with the Ideas set at over 2100. So this is what I came up with: It's 55 x 65 cm, 46 cm high to the top of the flag pole and uses over 7500 bricks. However I tried hard to use the cheapest colors, so the bricks should not cost much more than a new Colosseum set :D I went as far as to put instructions on Rebrickable: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-68151/SleeplessNight/lions-castle/#details And here are some more pictures: Even more pictures are available on flickr: Please let me know what You think!

The Castle of Lord Afol has just acheived 10k votes on Lego Ideas. Big Thank You to everyone who voted, commented, shared or helped in any other way! As more castle projects have reached or will soon reach the review phase, there is hope that castle fans will finally get what they were long waiting for! https://ideas.lego.com/projects/f588abaa-4dab-4a56-b7bc-a7e38d018711

Hi! That would be real cool if Lego selected the Castle in the Forest for production! Fingers crossed! In the meantime my own Castle of Lord Afol and the Black Knights recently passed the 5000 supporters milestone. So BIG THANK YOU to everyone who voted, shared, commented or otherwise supported this project! Is Lord Afol going to get his castle? If you're interested in this project, you can also visit the dedicated thread:

Thank you, Everybody, for your support and your comments! Sorry for not responding for so long but I took a few days break from the internet (mostly ). Well, as they have actual horses, they don't need coconuts! But: Thanks a lot! Note that it is not uncluded in the original "product idea", it's only a mod, like the winter version or the siege scene. Having said that, why not add it to the final set if it ever becomes reality? Unfortunately! Of course I thought of one, I even wanted it operated by moving a branch of a tree, etc., but as this build already took 3000 pieces and countless hours, I had to give up on this one, as well as a few other important details. I was especially afraid of exceeding the 3000 pieces limit - maybe needlessly! No problem, I appreciate that you care! Well, I was thinking about many of those issues quite a lot. But we need to bear in mind, that TLG modifies the "Ideas" really dramatically. Compare the Barracuda Bay idea with the final product - if someone didn't know the connections, they would never guess it's "the same thing". Especially the Barracuda set (final) has around 2500 pieces, but it seems more likely that the original entry had around 3500. So if my model counts 3000 pieces (with minifigs each counted as 10 or so separate pieces), it doesn't mean the final product cannot be slightly smaller. At the same time there are sets like Modular Assembly Square, that is 4000+, Ninjago City of nearly 5000, not to mention UCS series. So I don't think it's a blocker. Actually it seems equally possible that the final product will have more and not less bricks. As for 5 colors for each brick, I think this is really a tiny detail, that is very easy to change without breaking the overall looks of the build and it really won't matter much in the selection process. I also believe that single color of bricks As for playability, I hope this picture answers most questions: So, as well as taking floors apart (like in modulars) you can also take each quarter apart and you can just put them next to each other, to have an open layout, which is obviously more playable. This is actually reminiscent of the old castles, only there hinges were used instead of technic joints. I just found that hinges would be troublesome in such a large (and heavy) structure - but it also can be changed in the final design. As for attaching studs to technic holes, while I do this at home, I can't recall doing it in this model. I really believe that this model has less "illegitimate" techniques and is sturdier than some official Lego sets. Particularly the new Barracuda, which really falls apart very easily - and still everybody loves it, including me! 14 minifigs - again, it's not a final design. If TLG says "12 is max", we'll get rid of one knight and one soldier and that's it. On the other hand, if there could be 11/12 minifigs (and 4 horses) in a set #6086 in 1992, and all sets generally grew in size and part count, then why couldn't we have 14 minifigs? And by the way, there is an opposing faction in person of a Forestman. All in all: I consider this design quite practical The final design may differ greatly (as we've seen before) TLG may accept or (more likely) reject this project for completely different reasons My main worry now is to get 10,000 supperters, as we are still really far from that feat... Thanks again for all the above comments and of course for supporting this project! It would be great if you also commented on Lego Ideas

Hi All! I'd like to share with you my latest take on the Castle theme. It's called Castle of Lord Afol and the Black Knights. I tried to keep it classic in general appearance, modern in detail, playable and sturdy. The latter features are yet to be proven, as it's still only a digital MOC While it may look a bit modest compared to some contemporary MOCs, it is so for a reason - it contains "only" 3000 pieces, which is a limit for Lego Ideas entries. And while some of the MOCs around boast insane shapes, this one is quite solid and, despite the name, I think it could be built without a big problem by a 10-year-old with some practice with Lego. Tell me what you think about it and if you like it, please comment and support this project also on Lego Ideas: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/f588abaa-4dab-4a56-b7bc-a7e38d018711 Enjoy!

How do you quote? Does OP stand for Original Poster or Original Post? And why the embedded quote doesn't show in my post? (Ok, I don't think I really need to know these things)

Hello! Here is a small modification of my Lord Afol's Castle, which I posted recently on Instagram - I called it "The First Thaw": And here is the original model for comparison: I've put a lot of effort to actualy stick to the limit of 3000 bricks with my Lego Ideas entry. This was a challenge! Among other things I had to cut interior decoration to a minimum and give up on tiling on the roofs. And I'm not sure if it was really worth it - in the end nobody asked :) Anyway, the mod above is a small sample of how the castle could look with a few hundred elements more. On the other hand, this model in its original form already weighs 3,5 kg...

Nice! I'd also love to see a Trabant Kubelwagen! BTW, one Trabi has over 7k votes on Ideas, and it's the second most-supported car at the moment (disclaimer: it's not mine)

I like pirates, if You didn't guess And I would support SEC Eldorado Fortress on Lego Ideas, only I'm waiting for something even better.