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.

Back to Svalg Keep

With spring around the corner, Louis of Nutwood presents to us the amazing Svalg Keep, a very wintery LEGO build that features a Castle covered in a blanket of snow. Even though the entire castle wall is built with light blueish-grey brick, Louis managed to avoid the dreaded “big grey wall effect.” The highly textured wall creates gaps and casts shadows which makes the walls look intricate and interesting. This is one of those creations that I would love to see on the inside. Is it just impressive on the outside or is it possible to build something that looks this good on the outside and still has enough room on the inside to build a functioning interior?

Back to Svalg Keep

Harboring good builds

Last month I wrote about Andreas Lenander’s desert port, and now he’s already back with another waterfront LEGO medieval build. This one seems to be more inspired by Venice, but it’s every bit as wonderful, absolutely chock full of great techniques and little details. For instance, don’t miss the black wands, still attached to their sprue, that are used as the bars on the top windows, or the dark tan skates that are used as details throughout, from the roofline to the inside of the main arches.

Cedrica - GoH 10 year celebration

Never have the Middle Ages been so colorful

The city of Cedrica welcomes you with a veritable rainbow of LEGO color, all thanks to builder Dan O’Connor. Amid a central tower sporting some excellent stonework, we have a bustling block of the Medieval metropolis. Minifigures are hard at work under awnings of red, against a background of blue, or proximate to a purple roof. Each construction has its own style here, not only showcasing a full palette of color, but also one brimming with different parts. Even the gold trim in the canoe, while not a route I would typically go, looks brilliant in this vibrant setting.

Visiting Cedrica

Spinning the model 180 degrees shows off even more action. The construction of the violet-topped Tudor can be fully appreciated from this vantage, those small patches of tan breaking up the white of the wattle and daub. And the small tree next to it fits into the scene perfectly without drawing the eye away from all the bustling action nearby. And don’t miss that nefarious-looking fellow tucked back in the alleyway.

Visiting Cedrica

The trade winds blow in this desert port

TBB regular Andreas Lenander takes us to a desert port of commerce, and while it’s a lovely LEGO scene at first glance, the details bear close examination. There are obvious points of excellence like the stonework that just has the right amount of weathering or the gently curving hull of the trading vessel, but I’ve got my eye on those beautiful palm trees, which might be the best LEGO palms I’ve ever seen. And of course, let’s not leave out that beautiful blue domed roof on the tower made with tails.

Port of Mophet

A lookout tower with a proper palisade

Perennial LEGO castle constructor Louis of Nutwood has debuted a glorious watchtower complete with palisade wall. I’m amazed at all the different brick-built textures he’s managed to work into this model. The cobbled stonework utilizes half-plate gaps to great success. The smooth wood of the watchtower’s roof stands in contrast, relying heavily on tile parts to emulate wooden beams. And the wonderful implementation of curved slopes in that tattered red flag evokes a weatherworn age that can be difficult in plastic bricks. But the real highlight for me (pun intended) is the choice of lime for the surrounding grass. This pop of color contrasts the grays and browns of the rest of the build well, further emphasizing all the brilliant textures in the construction.

Tower of Roligsfrakk

A falconer left to “fen” for himself

Nature has gone wild in this swampy LEGO scene by Ciamosław Ciamek. In a daring design choice, opaque sand green tiles are used to excellent effect as the murky water in this morass. The cobbled tower, home to our birdkeeper, looks to have seen a few too many years. The tilework is perfect on its walls, and I adore all the details in dark gray around its entryway. But the real hero in this build has got to be all that thick vegetation. Dark green leaves stand in stark contrast to the lighter colors of the water and tower, making the build generally feel bigger.

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Here’s some more detailed shots of the minifigures that make up the approaching party. But mind that you don’t get too distracted by the action in the boat. Who knows what monsters call this swamp home….

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A song of trans-neon orange and trans-light blue

While we don’t often feature LEGO works-in-progress here on TBB, when an update is as impressive and “complete” on it’s own as this amazing build by llego_pig, we make an exception! Acting as part one of a Red Keep build from Game of Thrones, this chunk of medium nougat tower is astounding, with it’s impressive texturing and occasional splotches of added color. The rockwork next to it is superb, as are the two little shacks at the base of the wall. Each construction is perfectly ramshackle for the setting, and utilizes some great technique in creating the walls. But my favorite part of the build by far has got to be the high tide waterline visible along the dock. What a fantastic little detail that does so much to bring the build to life!

The Red Keep

A bold color towers above the rest

It’s not very often you get to have bold, beautiful colors like pinks and lavenders in LEGO Castle-style sets or builds. This is what brought builder Ben Cossy to construct this amazing scene! Wanting to experiment with non-traditional colors for a castle build, Ben chose the color palette of pink and lavender for the tower and surrounding landscape. The whole scene has a great flow and movement, from the lower areas to the tower’s top. Browns and tans help with the color blocking of the tower, keeping the greys from dominating. There are some really cool building techniques at work in the build here, and Ben kindly goes over it all in a video. I recommend checking it out if your interests lie in the details behind the scenes.

Ametis Tower

Cooking up a storm in the castle’s kitchen

This cool castle kitchen LEGO build comes from Geneva Durand, and is a revamped version of a previous build. This time around the kitchen has more room for cooking and less cluttered storage. Now the chef and the other cooks can get around quicker and easier for more focus on their cooking. The kitchen appears to be brighter too, despite fewer light sources. Though I imagine part of that is the light color of the castle’s walls and the warm colors of the fireplace. I appreciate the healthier food options found around the kitchen. Between the original build and this new one, the kitchen table is much improved, using a cooler design. I also love the hanging plant in the upper right. It’s always nice to see some greenery involved with interior builds.

Castle Kitchen

Bottoms up with this tower!

This Middle Eastern-inspired tower caught my eye due to the lovely motif that builder Pan Noda sculpted on the walls using the undersides of 1×1 plates in white and a variety of various eathy tones. In fact, almost none of the tower is built with elements in the traditional studs-up orientation, allowing it to have a great deal more careful ornamentation for the size. The covered entrance is worth a closer inspection too, composed of quite an intricate lattice of elements to mimic wood framing.

king box

Not exactly a LEGO Rivendell...

Titled “Temptation” and haunted by an enormous black monster, Ben Cossy‘s latest LEGO diorama feels like it’s set in an alternate Middle Earth where our heroes face down their worst desires made manifest, rather than struggling quietly against the thrall of the One Ring. Ben shares that he’s glad to build something in the fantasy/castle theme that doesn’t require quite so much green (or gray, for that matter). The autumnal color palette of the trees contrasts beautifully with the white architecture.

Temptation

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We all remember our first castle

The Castles line holds a special place in the hearts of us Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOLs). For some, a Castle set gifted during childhood brought us back into the hobby as grown-ass adults. For MaxMaMoc their first castle is easy to remember as it dates back to just a few days ago. It’s an impressive creation for a first castle; who am I kidding, it’s impressive even for a seasoned castle builder. I really enjoy the stonework, waterfall, and action going on throughout this diorama. It’s made clear that, even if they’re not primarily into castles, their attention to texture and detail is phenomenal. A quick perusal of their Flickr stream confirms that detail is important to this builder. One detail that is also of note is this seems to be our first time featuring this particular builder, at least under this name. Let’s give them their well-deserved TBB bump and with creations this well-detailed, we look forward to whatever else they may get into.

My first Castle