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.

Basement dwellers and brave adventurers alike

Henrik “teabox” Zwomp‘s adventure-themed LEGO diorama, titled From the Safety of the Basement, is a clever juxtaposition of real (minifigure) world players in their home as they venture forth through the not-so-real role-playing game world, complete with dungeon floor inlaid with the ubiquitous grid system. The wall texturing also provides a nice contrast to the scenes playing out in front of them, not too dissimilar from those achieved in our last D&D post, Mimic Mishap!

It’s a compelling scenario that is played out all over the world by inspiring (and inspired) dungeon masters and their willing victims (er, players), who act out a type of choose-your-own adventure story with an infinite number of scenarios all dictated by the fateful roll of the dice. I especially appreciate that the basement room not only includes standard geeky paraphernalia on the walls but also books, a scale version of the dungeon map, and character sheets.

You can dip into our archives to see some of Henrik’s past work like the microscale bullfighting scene, and sea serpent attack

For those following along at home, I’ve just gotten enough game experience to hit level 3 and got to pick an archetype for my character. Even though I’m often lost in the wealth of information in the game I’m helped along by my adventure companions and mostly-benevolent DM.

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An epic battle on a teeny tiny scale

Straight from a storybook, this little build by Lubeee is simple yet adorable. Titled, “Micro Fable” it gives us a window into another world, and I must say it looks nice under that glass. You can’t help but admire the tiny dueling dragons as they soar above the castle and forest below. I’d love to see this continue as a series of small fable vignettes!

Cute kraken is cracking me up

Behold the beast as it rises from the depths! Fear his googly-eyed gaze! Smirk at his cuteness! And bow down before Kelvin Low‘s innovative LEGO parts usage. This giant Kraken menacing a medieval town’s waterfront is a great example of what can be done when imagination meets even the most specialised LEGO pieces. The aquatic monstrosity is built from T-Rex parts! The colours of the dinosaur torso and tails work perfectly as Kraken-skin, and the threatened town is a nice little collection of microscale buildings. This is just plain old good fun with the bricks.

LEGO outpost under construction

LEGO castles have been a fan favorite subject for builders for a very long time, possibly ever since the release of the classic castle set back in 1978. And we here at TBB feature many castles and other medieval constructions every year. Typically, castle models we feature are fully completed structures, but every now and then, we come across a model that shows the long and arduous construction process that went into building the real-life castles and fortifications that so many builders get their inspiration from.

And that is exactly what we have in this outpost under construction by Ayrlego The keep is situated on a very nicely sculpted riverside setting and features two sections in various stages of construction.

The slate roof uses collectible minifig bases and shows an internal structure of brown pipes. The roof even includes a small stack of slates and a section in progress where 1×1 plates and tiles are used to show the installation process.

At the top of the keep, the main turret is incomplete. The star of the model, for me, is the crane with a wheel which uses human power to raise the rocks needed to complete the work.

There are also many great details in the completed portion of the keep, such as the perfect amount of plates and tiles in alternate colors to give a little wear to the walls. Also, sturdy, well-fortified arrow slits on the first floor, balanced by more detailed windows on the second floor provide a blend of form and function.

A beautiful LEGO baroque cathedral emerges out of nowhere

Every now and again, a mysterious builder pops up, presenting amazing creations, often with little to no additional information in tags, groups or descriptions. Italian builder Giacinto Consiglio is one of such examples, as his Flickr photostream is a hidden gem that was just waiting to be discovered. The builder has been around for many months, mostly focusing on modular buildings. His latest creation is a bit of a deviation from that style, but some of Giacinto’s skills from modular buildings have translated into classical architecture very well.

What will probably be the first thing to impress most people is the grand scale, with its base measuring 96 studs in length and width. It is built in minifig scale, but is not a recreation of any particular cathedral.

Modern methods for ancient masonry

Despite LEGO bricks being bricks, sometimes building realistic walls is the hardest thing to do. Isaac Synder‘s latest Castle-themed creation does exactly that, employing a parts-intensive and fiddly technique to create a lovely brick texture with well-defined lines between the stonework. It creates the effect of weathered masonry, and adds real texture and character to the building. I also like the formal square base, and think the angle chosen for the photography coupled with the colour scheme make this look like something from one of the classic isometric realtime strategy games like Age Of Empires or The Settlers. Great stuff.

Even better, the building has an interior — a textile shop complete with rolls of fabric on display…

Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the first in its series to truly delve into darker themes and atmosphere. It seems this mysterious and gloomy tome is what inspired Simon Hundsbichler to build his latest creation, a microscale scene of the Durmstrang ship’s arrival at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.

It seems Simon has a phobia for normal bricks, as there are hardly any throughout the build. There are a few used as the lake and some plates visible here and there, but everything else is built from “specialized” parts and more or less exotic tiles and slopes. Of course, the inner construction probably has a lot of basic bricks, but here the looks are probably the most important. The best details have to be the tower’s roof and the wings used as waves. It is not all just in the cool parts used and in the combinations of bricks most people would never think to put together; a big impact is made by the lighting, photography and the subtle background added in post-production. I can almost hear the wind howling and waves crashing!

This LEGO model was built as an entry for TBB’s Microscale Magic contest. Coverage on TBB of an entry will not be taken into consideration during judging, and will have no effect on its ability to win, either positively or negatively.

Femme fatale can be interpreted in many ways

We have seen many top-notch character builds from Eero Okkonen over the years, including his recent recreation of the Finnish band Circle, and it seems Eero has nailed the human form in bricks so well that he can pump them out with an (ironically) inhuman speed, with each better than the last!

The builder often takes inspiration from Japanese videogames and cartoons and his latest creation, RADIANT EXERT IV is no different. While there is no specific source material that Eero has tried to recreate, the bulky armour, bunny-ear ribbon in her hair and a miniskirt are unmistakably Japanese. There is a strange yet perfectly balanced mix of bulk and elegance, with eye-catching details like a sword with a laser blade made of Clickits string and wings on her boots.

This apothecary will fix what ails you

Fantasy-styled castle creations are a popular subject for LEGO builders, and we love when someone offers a twist in a building genre often dominated for long periods by a particular style. This village apothecary by Mr_Hobbit_Foot has elements of the established “fantasy ramshackle” style (pioneered by Luke Hutchinson amongst others) but adds a cartoony edge. We have the expected rough-and-tumbled brickwork to create detailed walls, and the mixture of tiles and plates for a textured roof, however the shaping of the central building evokes Asterix illustrations or a Celtic feel as much as your regular fantasy setting, and the irregular bases make the whole model pop off the page.

The builder appears to be slowly putting together a full fantasy village in this style. I particularly like the blacksmith’s shop, which comes complete with a pumpkin-headed scarecrow out front…

The castle is small, but it’s perfectly formed

There are a bunch of classy LEGO microscale building techniques on display in this island castle put together by Henjin_Quilones. The island’s rockwork and sparse greenery are neatly-done, but don’t miss the sandwiched grille tiles creating tiny windows in the rock face, the Technic “weapon barrel” wheels to give texture to the larger round towers, and the clever use of half-plate gaps to create arrow slit style openings. The highlight for me is the use of angled grille bricks to provide the steps up from the little jetty — it’s a microscale technique we’ve seen before, but placing it front and centre adds a touch of detail at a scale which makes the whole creation feel much bigger than it really is.

A fellowship of LEGO builders takes us on an epic journey through Middle-earth with 13 amazing creations

J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle-earth, best known from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit books and films, has shaped much of modern fantasy. Indeed, LEGO builders have been finding inspiration there for a very long time, in the recent years even more so with the support of the official LEGO themes based on the movies. Over the years, we’ve seen multiple collaborative projects appear both as online galleries and convention displays; however, we think this latest initiative is among the most impressive. The massive collaborative project includes 10 builders and 13 creations depicting different locations and events of the Third Age of the Sun.

The project consists of dioramas of varying sizes and styles, although modern castle-themed builds tend to have moderately standardized techniques and styles in the fan community. This makes for a very consistent group project, while still letting each builder’s individual style shine through, and making each creation a great stand-alone build. Continue reading →

The perfect recipe for a delicious LEGO bakery

Markus Rollbühler whipped up some wholesome LEGO goodness in the form of this fabulous classic bakery. Markus put a lot of thought into the ingredients that went into his build, with an excellent use of parts throughout the model. Both parts of the LEGO treasure chest are used to form portions of wooden beams, book binding elements are used to form windowsills, and the sprue from the new minifig wand accessory is cleverly used to form the body of a candelabra. Keeping up with the bakery theme, Markus even managed to use pretzels for windows and the honey-laced beehive to form the top of the conical shaped roof. There are plenty of other awesome details to spot. What are some of your favorite techniques on display here?