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.

This massive LEGO castle is full of little details to keep you coming back

LEGO Builder Mark Erickson (Mark of Falworth) is no stranger to The Brothers Brick and shows no signs of stopping. His latest castle creation is titled “Storst Castle”, and there’s a lot to unpack. It’s one thing to craft a large-scale LEGO castle, but it’s an entirely different thing to incorporate it into a lush setting including an idyllic pasture, water, and an active underground hill. I love builds like this that have a grand scale, yet also have little stories playing out. It will pay to take your time to really dig into all the little details on this huge diorama.

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Somber castle tower in a placid swamp

This LEGO castle tower creation by Roger Cageot is a fun exercise in creating round walls and combining muted and vibrant colors. I love the green color of the lake and the way the yellows are combined. The simple wooden drawbridge is a fun feature, and the morose tree adds a somber feeling to the creation. This could easily live in the world of the LEGO Ideas 21325 Medieval Blacksmith with its dilapidation, colors, and energy.

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LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31120 Medieval Castle (plus a working trebuchet) [Review]

Every LEGO theme has a specific goal. Ninjago and Star Wars promise action and cool vehicles and characters. Creator Expert brings complex builds and classy display models. Technic offers working functions and interesting machinery. The Creator line’s niche is in providing an old-school build experience, for people who want sets with a load of potential but not a lot of exclusive or specialized elements. And in that vein, 31120 Medieval Castle is a rousing success. Sitting at the top of the new lineup of Creator sets available June 1, this 3-in-1 set comes with instructions and parts for three unique medieval-themed models (one at a time), including a large castle, and yes, a trebuchet. The set has 1,500 pieces, making it the largest Creator set to date, not counting bulk brick buckets that don’t include instructions. It will retail for US $99.99 | CAN $TBD | UK £TBD. It will be available June 1 in Europe and elsewhere, while North America will have to wait until August 1.

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.

Read the full review

Every canvas is a journey all its own

Sometimes I am too fast when it comes to labeling LEGO pieces as useless or at least single use pieces. When I first saw the Disney Storybook Adventure sets I liked the small parts that came with it and the Micro Dolls. I couldn’t care less, however, for the book covers or the big 6 x 8 oval plates that came with it. Keith Reed has proven me wrong by using these pieces in a lovely way. In their latest creation the oval plates have been used as paintings. Displayed in a very lovely and well lit hallway. I may be reading too much into it, but my guess is that even the foliage outside matches the paintings. I see red roses in front of Belle and a shell in front of the Ariel painting. In front of Mulan we have the azalea and the magnolia. And last but not least, in front of Elsa and Anna there is… nothing to back my theory up except for two different flowers that might represent the different princesses. As I said, I might be reading to much into it. Whatever the meaning, it’s a beautiful and elegant scene.

The village life for me

I am not a fan of big LEGO pieces. Not at all! But Thomas van Urk proves me wrong with this latest creation. Around the first story of this build are not one, not two, but three light grey 1x8x6 door frames with stone pattern and clips. I normally really dislike this piece because of the stone pattern, since LEGO never made ‘regular’ bricks to continue that particular pattern. The only part you can use to continue the stone pattern is this piece itself. So to me, they always stick out in a build. That is until now.

In this creation, the big doorframe works wonderfully, and to be honest it took me a while to notice they were even included. The big doorway is nearly the only part used to get the overall piece count of this build down, because otherwise it looks very part intensive. (The other one is the Brick 1 x 6 x 5 with Stone Wall Pattern which makes up the cobblestone walkway.) The roof of the building is stunning. I love all the bay windows sticking out, and the tower with the metal tip makes the roof look really intricate. And the tree next to the village house is a stunning beauty itself. At the base there are round axle connector blocks. After a while these transition into 2×2 round bricks and the occasional 2×2 round bricks with pin holes. Eventually those transition into round pin connectors. I am not sure how Thomas managed to connect the 2×2 round bricks to the pin connectors. Perhaps flower stems? What do you think?

Battle of the Crusaders

I’m a big fan of seeing historical events recreated in LEGO form. Today’s moment from history is the Siege of Jerusalem, shown here by builder Marco den Besten.

In the year 1187, the armies of Saladin laid siege to the Crusader stronghold of Jerusalem. At the point of the attack depicted above, the walls of the city have been breached. Marco’s use of dark and sand-colored bricks helps establish the Middle Eastern look of the setting. I also admire his woodwork on the siege towers and battering ram tunnel.

The walls are equally impressive, with various bricks serving as weathered stone that has stood through the ages. The arrowslits are well-designed. I like how there are two different versions of them.

As brave as these Crusaders might be, I don’t think they stand a chance against Saladin’s forces.

LEGO 31120 Creator 3-in-1 Great Knight’s Castle revealed [News]

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.

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The Medieval Speed Shop for all your horse and wagon needs

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.

Black Monarch’s Ghost remodeled

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.

The stronghold of the separatists

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.

Five feet of Heavy Metal badassery!

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.

I want much more than this provincial life

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!