BrickCommander9

Interesting! I have never thought about that. Do you have any pictures where we can see that in action? That sounds about right (I am guilty of the same sins concerning planning the floor plan ahead of time!) For me the issue is if I am going to spend a lot of parts (especially precious tiles) and energy making a nice interior, I want to be able to display it- even if the main attraction is the exterior. I think that is the direction I am going ultimately in my current moc! Let's hope it turns out well. That works great for a smoother castle more in the classic style, like the fantastic moc you shared. The issue comes when you have more of a textured wall, a larger castle, or lots of towers/turrets/extensions. My current project, for example, has walls 5!!!! studs thick. They are heavy, so putting them on hinges becomes quite the engineering task- not to mention getting it to open and close smoothly. exactly. Each option has its place, and in some cases one is more appropriate for a specific project. I also want to add, a great advantage of open back/hinges is that you can add details to the ceiling- for example a hanging chandelier. Even simple details, like rafters, make an interior feel more complete.p

My rough plan will cover 24 standard baseplates (4x6), but about half (if not more) will be landscaping.

Thanks! The updates will (hopefully) come quickly. I should have another one tomorrow with most of the first floor completed. It is loosely inspired by the grand palaces in France from the late medieval period to early renaissance. Think the louvre or versailles. In my post tomorrow, I will also post a drawing of the general plan for a better idea. Haha! This building is the royal apartment section of the palace... it will only have bedrooms (and maybe a bathroom- I haven't decided yet). There will be 2 more wings to the building with the public spaces. And there will be a large courtyard/botanical garden in the middle with a fountain. should be pretty cool!

Thoughts: Modular style: Advantages -full 360 degree exterior - "deeper" floor plans than the other methods - can be easily modified and transported in sections Disadvantages -More difficult to display, interior details are not easily seen by a passerby -part and tile heavy -Rooms can only be viewed from above, not minifigure perspective 2. Hinges Advantages -full 360 degree exterior -Saves on tiles vs modular style buildings - allows for architectural details to span multiple floors -Can easily be displayed either as an exterior or an interior -Can be viewed from minifig perspective Disadvantages -"shallow" floor plan -engineering the hinged sections can be a challenge -parts intensive -interiors can be dark 3. Open back Advantages - Saves parts -easily displays both interior and exterior -can be viewed from minifig perspective Disadvantages - does not include 360 degree exterior - "shallow" floor plan - interiors can be dark What do you guys think? what do you do about interiors?

When building a moc with an interior, one of the most difficult decisions a builder can make is how to access or display that he/she worked so hard to build. Every time I build something, I wrestle with this question, and have a hard time coming to a decision. The way I see it, there are 3 main options to access the interior of a building: 1. "Modular" style - floors sit on tiles and can be separated, like the lego modular buildings. 2.Hinges - A building hinges open, either a single wall or through the middle of the building 3. Open back- The model is built without a rear wall, allowing exterior viewing from the front and interior views from behind. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, making it hard to decide what works for any particular moc. I will share my musings about each method going forward, but I would love to hear how you guys do it!

Thanks for all your support! If you want to check out the new project, the link is here :-)

Hi everyone! I wanted to take this opportunity to share my current project, Jardin de Radeaux. A royal palace, fit for a king! Here are some initial pictures of the facade and first floor: Can't wait to hear what you guys think!

Hi everyone! I have some news, and a bittersweet update on this project. First, for the good news: My work on this ambitious project has been an eye opening learning experience. That said, I am finding myself increasingly disssapointed in this build. I find I have sacrificed detail for size and speed of build, and the results are not as I would like. For that reason, I am abandoning this project in favor of better things. I have started on a new castle, intricately detailed and truly fit for a king! I can't wait to show you guys. I will be starting a new thread today for my new castle, and I hope you all check it out. Thank you all for the support on Chateau de Morgana during this time. I know many of you were hoping to see it get completed, but I hope, when you see what is being built in its place, you will understand why I decided to move on from this build.

Thanks. The keep is actually ever so slightly smaller than my original version, but way more detailed. I have almost completed the first floor, including the kitchen for this week's update. This floor will also eventually contain the guardhouse and the beginning of a spiral staircase going all the way up. Here is a shot of the kitchen And an overhead view of the first floor. I have another, somewhat small update today. The work on the keep carries on... I have added a spiral staircase going up from the first floor, as seen here: going up to the main level, I have started on detailing the great hall. It will have a "high table" for the royal family, located along the windows, and either one or 2 "common tables", where everyone else can eat. When there are no feasts being held, the tables can be removed, and the hall doubles as a throne room. On the left will be a chapel, and to the right, the spiral staircase will continue to the roof.

Thanks. The keep is actually ever so slightly smaller than my original version, but way more detailed. I have almost completed the first floor, including the kitchen for this week's update. This floor will also eventually contain the guardhouse and the beginning of a spiral staircase going all the way up. Here is a shot of the kitchen And an overhead view of the first floor.

HUGE update!!! I have started rebuilding the keep to be more detailed and elaborate. Only one picture so far... I hopefully will have more pictures, including the interior, up this weekend.

Update time! Yay! I have the first 2 floors of the gatehouse rebuilt, with a working portcullis and drawbridge. And I have extended the curtain walls to both round towers, more or less completing the front of the castle. The interior courtyard is also coming along.

Thanks for the support! More is coming soon. Progress has been slow recently, but I expect to devote a lot more time to building over the next couple months.

FINALLY I have another update. I have rebuilt the base to be more modular, and have 2 floors built on my corner towers. It is currently 5 baseplates wide and 4 baseplates deep, but I will be adding another row of baseplates to make it 5x5. I have also installed the spiral staircases in the towers, which, in my opinion, turned out very nicely.

It has been a couple weeks since I last updated. No pictures to share this time, but I should have some photos to share soon. I am actually partially disassembling and reconstructing the entire castle to make it more modular and transportable. It should also make it easier to expand, change or modify the castle moving forward. As a result of these changes, the current design will also be larger than my original layout by 16 studs on each side (It will cover an area of 5x5.5 standard baseplates). Among the changes being made: Round tower diameter being increased from 14 to 16 studs, with built in spiral staircases. I am also using a different technique to angle the walls. Hopefully it will allow for greater stability and modularity. Pics will come soon, I promise!

I really enjoy watching as this project grows. I am working on my own large castle project, and it is cool to see the build process of others. I can't wait to see your next update!

Thanks! It is a good thing we are in a COVID lockdown- we can't host people, so my wife can't get angry when I take up the whole dining table with my castle! As long as nobody tells her how much money I have spent on Bricklink... I can trust you guys to keep quiet, right? ;-)

FINALLY! Another update. Not too much is new, but I have received the parts to finish the round towers so that should be coming soon. In the meantime, I have worked a bit in the bailey... the path now flows fairly nicely around the Keep and to the different parts of the castle. I have started on another building against the curtain wall as well..... You can see it here in the bluish color. It is largely based on the buildings from the Medievel Market Village set. I have also temporarily moved the castle to my kitchen table to allow a better view of it's full layout. Overall, I would say the exterior is a little over halfway done. Then will be the interiors of the entire castle- which will be quite a project on its own!

Thanks! Yeah... I noticed it was upside down too. My 2 year old likes to play with it so sometimes things don't stay how I left them :-) A bit behind on updates, but BIG things coming soon!

A lot of work has gone into the castle, and there is progress to show! I have continued with the landscaping and walking paths in the bailey, and I have put the keep in place. The keep has been slightly changed from my original version by the addition of a forebuilding and entrance as well as a basement. The keep is accessed from the 1st floor via a wooden staircase that could be removed in the event of attack. The chapel will be located in the open area next to the keep. I will be trying out a new stonework technique, so keep an eye out!

Early morning update! I have almost finished the gatehouse (at least the facade- I still need to work on the drawbridge mechanism). It just needs the battlements on the roof. I don't like the tile, and will replace with light grey when I get more. i have also started work on expanding the bailey. Here you can see the interior paths starting to go into place. Still lots more work to do, but this evening I hope to have the donjon in place.

And here is another small update picture that shows the entirety of the completed curtain walls, and gives an idea of the final size and shape.

Wow! Gorgeous castle! I loge the wooden Palisade and the way it contrasts with the stone keep. The texturing throughout is exquisite! It looks like your stonework is mostly small plates with very few bricks. The end result really leaves the impression of worn stone construction.

Thanks for the detailed suggestions and comments! You had some really good ideas in here. The picture with the stained glass was kind of a 1st version of the keep, it has been scrapped (although the window is intact) due to some engineering issues. I only have the one corner of landscaping done, the rest should all be the same and flow nicely... I should have something to show for that this weekend. You are right about the round towers looking more rough than the rest of the castle. I plan to work on that soonish. Part of the problem is that the towers are like 90 percent masonry bricks because I had a shockingly low amount of regular grey 1x2s! I have several hundred on order, so I will switch some out. I also am out of 1x1 rounds (hence the towers being uncompleted as of yet). I have 1500 on the way and should arrive any day. I agree with you about the dark grey corners, but will probably change them further out. I did it that way because I bought 1,000 dark grey 1x2s at a ridiculous price, and thought that is a good place to use them. And I don't have enough tiles. A lot of people do do the half timber slanted tudor design, but I actually like it so far. I do see your point, however, and may play with other options. There will be several different buildings in the bailey, all slightly different from one another. I hope that will provide nice contrasts... If it doesn't turn out well, I will adjust later. I am basically building the layout of the castle, then rebuilding, renovating, and doing the interiors section by section. That way I can see how everything fits together as I improve it. I should have some better pictures of the full layout so far tomorrow. Thanks! Will definitely keep posting progress!

Yes, I saw the beautiful buildings in the courtyard. What I meant by interior was if those buildings, the towers or the gatehouse have rooms inside? Either way, it is really a gorgeous build. Definately gives me some inspiration for my castle :-)