questforcastle

Wow! I didn't realize the dragon was playable and poseable like that. How much of it did you change, if any, just added the tape and the vinyl? Creating the fiery breath is not easy in LEGO, but you pulled it off. An impressive amount of flame pieces there, do they stick together firmly?

This is an absolutely beautiful MOC. I too like the overgrown grass and bushes. Very nice atmosphere. I believe the roof wasn't mentioned yet. I got the distinct impression that the roof bends a little intentionally? Perhaps to give the impression of an older, not so well taken care of station house? If so, could you give some hints as to how you did it. I think it adds greatly to the atmosphere of some slowly decaying train stop, as does the out-of-control greenery. Also, what piece are those train tracks?

If anyone's interested what I've been up to, I started another project on the Trains side: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=73340 Just feeling a little scatterbrained at the moment, haven't forgotten about the castle though! :)

Greetings from a newcomer to this part of the forum! Some of you may remember my project to build the classic 6080 King's Castle, from spares and new brick acquisitions, over at the LEGO Historic Themes area (http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=67256). I'm still in the process of doing the castle and learning LEGO anew after all these years. Alongside it, I am starting my second AFOL project after coming out of the dark ages, building the 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train - again from spare parts, brick purchases and perhaps some imagination. I never had much of the classic 1980s LEGO Trains as a child, so I'm looking forward to reliving some of that through this project, as well as learning more about LEGO and the AFOL hobby. As I've enjoyed the replies from fellow Eurobricks members during my previous project, I'll try to pop in from time to time and note my progress here. (If anyone cares further, you can read my full beginning thoughts here: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/category/quest-for-inter-city-train/)

Indeed I would be interested in hearing about other such experiences as well! :) If I had to start something like that today, I'd probably start with a printer/copier, scissors and glue...

Wow! I love the way the dragon is resting on its loot in a "it's all mine" kind of pose. Very nice. The dragon itself, of course, is just mind blowing - very dynamic shape. My first thought was that you can't possibly have that many gold LEGO pieces, but then I realized you used foil and pressing. I actually read the text the last, when I had already pondered how you did it. Good idea, there. Works miracles. The Photoshopped invisible Bilbo is also very cool idea, as a further suggestion maybe you could make him look a bit more in action, perhaps portraying him from a perspective and in a different pose? Now he looks a little like just a watermark. :)

That lava is just awesome! It glows. Very, very nicely done. The interior is excellent overall as is the rockwork. Compliments on a job well done. I think some ingenious solution to portraying a falling Gollum with the ring (so that he is connected somewhere but looks like falling), would be a really cool next step. I'd love to see the photos of that if you ever do it. Outside, perhaps it just my jaded 1980s Castle builder eyes but I'd enjoy seeing a little more old grey mixed in, bley makes the mountain look a tad blue. A mix of more different greys might be nice - and of course breaking the cubish shape more would be a good idea as some said, if you are ever looking to develop the model. But as said, these are just ideas, the MOC is fantastic as it is!

By the way, I was asked how I made the yellow/orange photos and here are pictures of the setup in response: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/faking-1980s/ As for the castle project, it is still alive, but hasn't progressed yet. :)

Yep, got The Hulk in Finland. UK and a few other places seem to get The Hulk too as the freebie. A couple of photos of that in case anyone cares: http://questforcastle.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/the-hulk/

Slightly off-topic, but the offering seems to vary from country to country: In Scandinavian countries (at least the few I checked), the promotion is a Hulk minifigure in orders exceeding 30 euros or equivalent krone. In Germany it is the cake in orders exceeding 30 euro. It seems to vary, some countries (including the UK) get The Hulk, others the cake. To see what you get, here are a couple of ways: - On the Shop Home page, select a region and hold mouse over MY BAG and it will tell you what, e.g. for UK: "Spend £25 and get a free, LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes The Hulk™ minifigure!" - The other way is to go to http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/cart/shoppingCart.jsp (or put something in your bag and click MY BAG), where it will tell you the same info on the top of the page. The latter method allows quickly changing regions and seeing how the text changes as the shopping cart page is updated for the region.

Thank you! I must admit, so far getting to my AFOL groove this year has been one huge nostalgia trip. Going to LEGOLAND this summer wasn't my idea, but let's say when the opportunity presented itself, I grabbed it *quite* eagerly... It was well worth it, too.

Great, thank you for sharing! Seeing a full mountainscape behind it, and the lights, really sets the mood - bordering perfection now in the edited form. :)

The arms do come off quite easily, if you are careful. Here are some pics and links on minifig surgery: http://questforcastle.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/minifig-surgery/

Good stuff. It will be interesting to see what that article looked like, if someone can post a pic or two! I missed it at the time. Since the Danish LEGOLAND is topical, I got around to posting my gallery of the various LEGO buildings and scenes there now - aka the Miniland. 42 photos in total here: http://questforcastle.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/miniland/

Wonderful, just beautiful. There is a certain majesticness to this interpretation of Hornburg. The use of flat and roof tiles to hide studs and certain symmetries creates a very unique look compared to other versions we've seen here or the one from LEGO. I especially like the path that leads up to the castle, the tower and the way the furthest wall integrates with the mountain, very nice. Ideas for further improvements are few and far between in my head, all I could think of is adding some mountain behind the lower wall as well.

I first visited Legoland in Denmark back in the 1980s a couple of times and again this summer. I must say that the feeling in Miniland was absolutely like it used to be (except trees had grown taller), although I'm sure much of the models have been swapped around and refurbished many times. While the park has expanded greatly, they've stayed very true to the original concept - that was nice. It would be fun to see a picture or two of that magazine article (or maybe I need to hunt down some 1980s photos of mine), to see what details have changed. (BTW: I posted some Legoland 2012 pictures here: http://questforcastle.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/legoland-billund/ - I'll try to post some more photos of Miniland as it now stands when I get the chance.)

Thanks Brinstar! I hope to continue too, both popping in at Eurobricks and blogging too - and of course enjoying some LEGO. Time will tell of course how and what. :)

New updates, more castle built! :) http://questforbricks.wordpress.com Just to let you know I haven't forgotten about my little forever-project...

Thank you for the review! I finally got around to building this set and voted 4/yes. It is a nice set, larger and more detailed than I expected upon ordering online. I love the way the new brick-built walls are formed and the blood red Uruk-hai minifigures are the highlight of this set. There is the kind of brutal realism to this set that some of the more clinical LEGO castles have not had. I like such detail. The attack wagon even has an offset plank, very bold of TLG. :) I posted few photos and notes here: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/uruk-hai-army/

I know this is probably not what you are looking for, but since LEGO Click Brick stores in Japan are quite unique, I want to mention them just in case you or some other reader has not heard of them. They sell new stuff, but because they sell such a wide variety of things related to LEGO they are quite different from what one has come to expect from a LEGO toy store... At least they were completely unlike anything I've seen outside of a LEGOLAND. Some photos, links and more on the Click Brick stores: http://questforbrick...k-brick-stores/ & http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/click-brick-mocs/

I think the original poster does make a fair point, even though some of the people disagreeing also have a point. Fandom or brand-loyalty unquestionably does drive (and distort) online votes, this is evident all over the Internet. Hence it must be factored in as a distortion. If there is a popular brand (or even one with a small but zealous following online) attached to a CUUSOO submission, it is more likely to attract this type of voting than a submission without such a brand. This is not just a risk, I think it is a matter of fact. On the other hand, the same fandom does - even if to a lesser degree - drive sales of mechandise too. It very likely provides LEGO exposure on brand/fan channels that otherwise would never cover LEGO. And it is quite possible, that this approach might attract new future AFOLs as well as one-time impulse buyers. Clearly there is an upside to attaching LEGO (and CUUSOO) to some other well-known brand. So, I think boths sides of the argument have merit. But the big question is: What does this unquestionable dynamic do to CUUSOO - and to larger extent LEGO? Is there room for original ideas and great LEGO design without some external brand to attach it to? All the CUUSOO sets released so far have been based on a popular brand, the two first local Japanese technology heroes, third a video game. What do licensed themes do the LEGO in general? Could the setup perhaps benefit from some administrative segregation? Different requirements for non-brand-based CUUSOO sets? Maybe every other CUUSOO to be released would be without an external brand, just to keep the diversity and creativity up? Is there merit in trying to maintain a balance, even if it has to be done artificially? Do too much brands drive away creative builders? A good question. I guess most of us would hate it if all CUUSOO becomes is a vote on whose favorite brand gets built into LEGO. First and foremost it should be about great ideas for LEGO building, not about brands.

Thank you for the feedback, guys. Indeed it seems I stumbled onto a pretty rare incident. :) If anyone else has similar experiences, feel free to add!

Bumping this up once, just in case somebody knowledgeable missed it. Nobody else has come across customized LEGO sets (basically MOCs) being sold in LEGO stores? I am interested to know if this is a rare thing or something more widespread? I guess make-your-own minifigure stands are at least common? But other sets, being sold pre-packed with store-specific MOC instructions? Thank you for any insights.

Thank you for the review and the poll! I recently brought home the Hayabusa from a trip to Japan and got around to building it this week. It was a nice build, took me an hour or so, taking my sweet time. It was a bit mixed-feelings though, the rocky base was really nice and perhaps even a bit bold by clean-lined LEGO standards, but the dull solar *panels* not so much. The manual and all the Architecture-like detail there is great, though, and it included English as well as Japanese. It was also quite different from the CUUSOO original submission, which was a bit disappointing. I voted Above Average for both. My photos and a mini-review here: https://questforcastle.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/cuusoo-hayabusa-ii/ & http://questforcastle.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/cuusoo-hayabusa-i/ Overall, as a just-out-the-dark AFOL learning the tricks of the trade again, I did enjoy building the set!

Try this thread for a start? http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=34961