Thanks to German retailer JB Spielwaren we get a first look at the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Great Knight’s Castle that harkens nostalgic vibes back to the days of the LEGO Classic Castle. Priced at 99 Euros and slated to be released on the 1st of June, the set comes with over 1500 pieces. 
Click to get a closer look at the set
Any car enthusiast knows that the Speed Shop can be a vital place to give your car that extra bit of oomph. Sometimes just a little more horsepower or even flashier rims will do it. Even a new air freshener can turn your ride from a zero to a hero. (Thanks, Vanilla Ice!) But LEGO builder Stephan Gofers has your solution for when you had a need for speed back in the horse and carriage days. This Medieval Speed Shop has everything we look for in a great LEGO creation. It has neat colors, nice parts usage, awesome build techniques, and also goats. Did I mention before that goats equal the formula for success here at Brothers Brick? I’m pretty sure I did. This isn’t the first time Stephan tickled our fancy. Check him out in our archives.
As you might or might not know, I have a soft spot for updating old LEGO sets—especially if I have nostalgic feelings towards the specific set because I played with it as a child. Michał Kozłowski’s creation is inspired by the Black Monarch’s Ghost from 1990. What I love first about the build is the brick-built irregular base. The use of the olive green colour always looks good for grass and moss, and the pentagonal tile makes lovely roof shingles. The trunk of the tree looks nice and organic thanks to a selection of curved slopes, and the lovely fence work is made with stretcher holders. Plus, it is nice to see the new Black Falcon minifigures from the Medieval Blacksmith pop up in LEGO fan creations.
I can only assume that the dark villains who live in this black castle nestled among spiked growths on a lake of lava call themselves the separatists. Why is that? Because the main piece of the castle by Simon Liu is one of the new double-wide brick separators from LEGO’s new mosaics, with a strip of chainlinks down the center to make stairs. But the separator isn’t the only piece that Simon copped from the mosaics, as the front wall of the castle is the Technic panel hangar, with the nail slot making a perfect front gate. Simon built this for our friends over at New Elementary as a way to explore the LEGO Art line.
What is five feet tall and completely brimming with Heavy Metal badassery? No, not Ronnie James Dio or Glenn Danzig. Those two are taller than five feet but not by much. This stunning LEGO castle by Shawn Snyder stands five feet high (152.4cm) and is like every Iron Maiden and Motörhead album cover combined. If this seems reminiscent of images you’d find on the side of your weird uncle’s van in the ’70s or ’80s that is because it was inspired by the art of Frank Frazetta and also Shawn’s time playing the video games Darksiders, Skyrim, and Castlevania. You don’t need much color to convey the completely ominous feel this castle encompasses. In fact, Shawn’s stark color choices work in his favor here and instead employ repetition of form and the use of compelling textures. Note the tiny minifigs flanking the front steps and one on the upper balcony.
This closeup offers a detailed view of the skeletal sentries adorning the front of the castle as well as the centralized snarling horned skull.
Even the gargoyles are well-positioned and intricately detailed.
This Fortress of the Skeleton Mage has won a place in my dark and foreboding heart. I now have classic metal tunes stuck in my head but, in the whole scheme of things, that’s a pretty decent place for me to be. Rock on, Shawn! Rock on.
It takes a careful eye for detail to craft a large LEGO immersive scene since every corner of the frame has to be considered. But it also takes a large number of LEGO bricks, far more than one would think before beginning the project (especially for the foreground, which always needs more, always). Talented LEGO builder Joe (jnj_bricks) has both the careful eye and the pile of bricks and uses them masterfully to craft this castle harbor scene, with a quay, lots of shops, a castle, and even a drunken pirate down on the dock. It certainly fits the bill as a large scene, too, measuring 144×80 studs.
Joe neglects no surface in the scene, from the textured roofs to the detailed walls. There are slight variations in color to show weathering, and no two houses have the same wat-and-daub pattern. The selling point is the minifigure posing, however, which can be one of the trickiest bits to nail down, but Joe got it just right, with dynamic and natural poses all around. It really sells that this is a normal day with people going about their ordinary lives. Pretty sure I see the baker with the same old bread and loaves to sell. And do you see the goat? He’s got a goat, the Holy Grail of castle builders!
Markus Rollbühler surprises us with a creation that could be straight from a fairy tale. Inspired Terry Pratchett, Markus created this giant turtle with a settlement on its back. The turtle is a lovely build, using owls for legs and acorn tiles for eyes. The best thing about this creation has to be the use of the ninja neck scarf to create the dome roofs of the settlement and the smalles airship (which is cute as a button). The bigger airship uses a combination of the magnifying glass and the barbell weight. After seeing these I want to build an entire fleet of cute little airships.
Just as Spring has sprung around here Isaac Snyder has Autumn on the brain with this Tryandal Woodlands. But as it turns out, March signifies the onset of Autumn in the southern hemisphere, so… Yeah, maybe my title and premise aren’t as funny and ironic as initially thought. Plus, last week, it was snowing and 36 degrees Fahrenheit here, so who knows what’s going on in the world. Either way, Isaac tells us Autumn is a magical time for him, and if that inspires him to build a LEGO creation this good, then I’m inclined to agree. With only 101 elements, we are taken to a magical land complete with Elven towers. It’s rather breathtaking, truth be told. Here are some of the other times Isaac had us whisked away to magical lands.
Behold! Another fun little LEGO creation by John Snyder featuring a woodland gatherer. I’ll be honest, my first thought upon seeing this build was, “Oh, look! The Wicked Witch of the West!” But then I saw the title and realized it was an insanely cooler character, Gnepnug the Forager. I’ve never seen anyone use a Bionicle leg plate before as a face, but this works! The use of multiple minifigure capes for worn-in clothing was a clever idea. I also appreciate the lack of a baseplate, with John instead opting for what appears to be a green LEGO sail piece.
There’s trainheads and castleheads, but usually it’s meant to refer to fans of the various LEGO themes. However, here’s a build that takes it quite literally. Designed by Corvus Auriac, this 5,400-piece microscale model depicts a castle built on a rock that might be a little more alive than its builders suspected. It’s packed with lovely details from the dragon burninating the town to the tiny wizard tower sprouting out of the side of the castle’s tallest roof. Do yourself a favor and give this one a close look, as you’ll be rewarded with lots of clever parts usages. One of my favorites is also the one used most here: most of the trees are made from dark green minifigure epaulets stacked on each other.
Winter wonderlands are a fairly common theme with LEGO builders, and not just houses and villages, but castles as well, like this cozy castle by W. Navarre. I hope they have plenty of tiny logs to burn in their tiny fireplaces. The model features a nice mix of newer and older gray parts for the perfect weathered look and speaking of weather, the scene includes several patches of snow on the roofs and the surrounding grounds. One of my favorite details is the little tower near the left side, which is attached using 1×1 rounded tiles on their side, stuck into the underside of the larger 2×2 rounded plate.
Sometimes you just happen to stumble upon a creation that shocks you. Roger Cageot’s creation did this for me. I was shocked that I never heard of Roger Cageot and that I’ve never seen his work before. His medieval street creation is simply stunning. It looks like it could be a film set. Every single building is a knockout if you ask me. I could write a feature about every single house and be perfectly happy to do so. My favorite building has to be the tan stables with the sagging roof. No, wait the white building on the right with the crumbling plaster. No, wait the Tudor-style house with the diagonal wood beams. No the barrack on the left with the half-round wall and the excellent roofing. Ah heck, I love it all! You can ‘walk’ these medieval streets by checking out the rest of the pictures in Roger’s stream. Some of the houses also have an interior.
