Tag Archives: Castle

Dragons! Knights in shining armor! Trebuchets & ballistas! From enormous LEGO castles buttoned up for battle to peaceful village market scenes, we’ve got your LEGO Castle needs covered right here.

The LEGO Architectural Gem of a Castle with Three Towers

Titled simply “Castle with Three Towers,” this LEGO creation by builder Azurekingfisher is yet another stunning piece of art. The structure is predominantly colored in white and navy blue, creating a captivating contrast that immediately catches the eye. Upon closer inspection, intricate details emerge, such as stained-glass windows, water elements, and ornate building features. Each element reveals itself gradually as you spend more time studying or admiring the images. In the past, this builder has crafted intricate creations incorporating plant elements. Here, we notice a subtle integration of those elements as well. Check out the use of the use of the round plate element with clock printing, first introduced in 2016 with the release of 71040 Disney Castle.

Castle with Three Towers

 

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Putting the vest in vestibule

This collection of towers proves you don’t need a towering collection to produce memorable LEGO creations, and that a little expert part usage goes a long way. Flickr user Cab ~ shows us how it’s done, by repurposing some well-known minifigure accessories, saying they “felt bad for the parts that never get any use”. At first glance I questioned whether the rocket-to-rodent connection was legitimate, thinking there might be some photo trickery at play or perhaps a gravity fit (that’d be some feat of balancing), but it checks out! So, no matter where you stand on such techniques, these Lilliputian landmarks can be enjoyed by all.

Little Castles

LEGO Icons 10332 Medieval Town Square: The GOAT? No, the goat! [Review]

Today we get to dig in to a highly anticipated tribute to/reimagining of/reviving of the beloved 10193 Medieval Market Village. LEGO Icons 10332 Medieval Town Square contains 3,304 pieces and 8 minifigures and will be available from LEGO.com and LEGO retail stores for Insiders on March 1st, and to everyone March 4th, for US $229.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £199.99. It’s over twice the price of the original Medieval Market Village, but also over twice the pieces – and inflation happens, so: how does it do? Is the sequel worthy of joining the village? Let’s get our wattle and daub and find out!

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read our full review!

Bow before this expert LEGO bowmaster

Robin Hood, eat your heart out! You wish you were as cool as this LEGO figure made by Justus M., but clearly, you’ve missed the mark. This creation offers a wealth of terrific techniques, but I’m especially fond of the prolific use of minifigure accessories. The pistol drawstrings around the archer’s collar, the slingshots used as boot laces, and the arrow fletching made of red megaphones are but a taste of the brick-built craftsmanship at work.

The Forestman

And if you want more characters celebrating medieval times, make sure to check out the other brick-built figures on Justus’s Flick page.

10332 LEGO Icons Medieval Town Square unveiled with over 3,000 pieces, 8 minifigs, and a goat [News]

LEGO has made a bit of a habit of re-imagining Castle sets of yesteryear into new ones using the modern part palette. Today, we can add 10332 Icons Medieval Town Square to the likes of 10305 Lion Knights Castle and 21325 Medieval Blacksmith. With 3,304 pieces, this set is a revamp of a much-loved Castle set from 15 years ago, 10193 Medieval Market Village. Among other things, this new addition to the Castle lineup includes a tavern, carpenter’s shop, guard tower, eight minifigures, and a goat in a brand new color. 10332 Icons Medieval Town Square will be available from March 1st for US $229.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £199.99.

See more pictures and LEGO’s press release after the jump!

Mining for iron – and amazing detail

LEGO builder Jaka Kupina is no slouch when it comes to creating stunning architectural detail. Take this Foenwor Mine, for instance. The brick textures and snowy rooftops are a sight to behold. Not only that but it has a neat story to go with it. In Jaka’s own words; “In Mitgardia, deep in the Heavenly Mountains dwarves are mining. Very brave men who spend most of their time deep under a dangerous mountain. The mines are rich in iron ore and attract blacksmiths from distant lands. Their mined ore makes the best iron from which they make powerfull weapons for fearless warriors and strong pickaxes for hardworking miners. A real treasure of Mitgardia.” I never considered a career in ore mining but if I can call this intricate structure my workplace, I may reconsider. But alas, for once in my life, I just may be too tall for the job.

Foenwor Mine

A portion of medieval village that has us eager for more

We see a lot of enormous collaborative LEGO dioramas here on TBB, albeit often through the individual modules that make them up. At first glance, this serene windmill scene by Sandro Damiano might seem like one such module. There are some conspicuous holes to connect to other parts of the diorama, and after all, it is referred to as “Module #2”. But the only person Sandro is collaborating with on this particular project is… Himself! He has taken on the construction of an entire medieval village. This section is already pretty big, so this could end up being very impressive once finished!

Medieval bridge and water mill

Not only that – if the other modules are as well-built as this one (and with Sandro’s skill, there’s no reason to doubt they will be), it could be pretty stunning too. Take a look at the river flowing over the weir here, for instance. Using trans-light-blue cockpit is the perfect way to capture the movement of the water! We can’t wait to see more, Sandro…

Medieval bridge and water mill

The LEGO bricks of 1995 are not to be underestimated

What happens when you’re restricted to the bricks of a certain LEGO era? Builder Ids de Jong thrives with such limitations, bringing us a castle that looks at home in modern-day Castle themes. Without access to modern plant parts, we still have an excellent-looking birch. Lacking today’s complement of bricks made for SNOT construction (Studs Not On Top), Ids throws together some exquisite cross-windows with the help of minifigure legs. And despite no masonry profile bricks from back in the 90’s, the old school approach of layering standard 1×2 plates to recreate the masonry texture works just fine instead. This makes me wonder what other themes could be revisited with only 1995 parts.

The Classic Knight's Castle

When hosting a banquet, don’t forget to invite the dragon

I vaguely remember once seeing an account on social media that found images from real life that looked like Renaissance paintings. I bet they would’ve liked Ids de Jong‘s mediaeval LEGO tableau! Every pixel is perfectly placed, and there’s so much going on. The jester is seemingly trying in vain to impress the guests at Majisto’s feast. They seem more interested in either reading or, well, eating. They’re about to get some more unwanted excitement though! I like the cheeky look the dragon has on his face, and the use of minifigure legs for the snout is ingenious.

Majisto and the party of dragons

The terrific LEGO tower of technique

It’s never too late to learn a new way to connect these LEGO bricks! And Maxim Baybakov shows us how it’s done with this North Tower creation. Fully embracing the half-stud measurement (the most important unit of measure in LEGO building, in my opinion), this tower slowly converges into a tight square of 10×10 studs using a brilliant studs-out technique that I’ve never seen put into practice like this. The finished model looks clean, with the only exposed studs included for effect. There’s even room for such great details as that adorable brick-built front door!

North Tower

Maxim gives us a peek at the interior technique with the graphic below. Such a complex means of generating that half-plate indent while ascending up the fortification, employing SNOT (studs not on top) with bar and clip connections to bring the tower into being. I’m definitely going to give this a try on my own as soon as I can!

Technique for North Tower

LEGO Majisto is a BIG Dragon Masters fan!

The Dragon Masters faction (a.k.a. Dragon Knights, outside of the US) from LEGO’s Castle theme has been on the minds of many thanks to the upcoming 40601 Majisto’s Magical Workshop gift-with-purchase. And for builder terauma, it’s clearly a big deal! I mean, that explains this jumbo-scale minifigure of the wizard himself. Based on the proportions of 40649 Up-Scaled LEGO Minifigure, mega-Majisto makes the dragons from his faction look like whelps by comparison. It’s a great reference to my favorite of the brick-built medieval armies of the 90’s.

Classic LEGO set Majisto’s Magical Workshop re-imagined as Gift with Purchase 40601 [News]

Not content with releasing nostalgia-laden sets, LEGO has also been re-visiting some smaller classics as Gifts with Purchase. If you picked up 40567 Forest Hideout, the latest offering is sure to be worth a look as well. 40601 Majisto’s Magical Workshop is an update of the 1993 set of the same name. Composed of 365 pieces, also included are the titular wizard Majisto, alongside a female Dragon Knight. At the time of writing there is no information on how much you’ll need to spend to get your hands on it, or how long it will be available for. That said, LEGO Insiders weekend is coming at the end of this week, so there’s a good chance it will be available then.

Click here to see more pictures of this re-imagined classic