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.

If these castle walls could talk

Nothing says foreboding fortress like a castle’s huge main gate and portcullis. Construction of this particular LEGO castle by Benjamin Calvetti began in July 2016 and, after utilising around 10,000 bricks, it is finally completed. Benjamin’s castle is around 20” inches (50cm) wide and seems to be emerging straight from the rock. The best part of this castle is that despite being freshly built, it has all the hallmarks of an aging building — some moss is growing in places, damage to the stonework and the odd slightly alarming large crack.

Click to see close-up views of the castle

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Medieval castle in a digital age

Castle was one of the earliest themes introduced by LEGO back in 1978. The theme no longer continues, but fan builders have maintained a strong alliance with this favourite topic to display their creative talents. Sunder59 has built a microscale castle complete with gatehouse and stone fortifications surrounding the town. This is a digital model and has the advantage of using parts that are not officially LEGO parts at present. Despite this, I really like this model and it could easily be built in real bricks with a few small changes.

A closer look at the castle reveals some of the parts that are not currently part of LEGO’s inventory. I spotted three parts in colours that don’t exist yet; dark blue lipstick on the top of one tower, the reddish brown 1 x 1 bricks with studs on 2 adjacent sides and the Technic sprocket on the main tower.

How do you feel about us highlighting digital builds and renders? In a digital age, more and more people share their work online and the renders are improving all the time – is it cheating to use parts that don’t exist yet in those colours, or just part of the advantages of building this way?

Forest hovel is not too shabby

Not every fantasy character lives in a big grey castle or Tudor-styled town. However, those are the typical LEGO models we tend to see in Castle-themed building. Tirrell Brown‘s forest hovel makes a pleasant change of scene. The central building is nicely put-together, with a depth of texture creating a somewhat dilapidated feel. But it’s the overall colour scheme which catches the eye and elevates this composition. The colour gradient on the shaped base is particularly good, and the background trees fit perfectly. Those rocks and the small pond are nice touches of detail too.

An enchanting lake castle

Many LEGO castle creations are built into a rocky or wooded landscape, possibly inspired by real-life castle locations found all over the world. It’s one of the reasons that this castle by Isaac Snyder stood out to me, situated in a tranquil lake setting.

The round transparent blue dots used for the water surface and the bricks made from tiles in the foundation are simple but elegant. I also appreciate the dark blue slopes used in a variety of ways to form the many roof sections.

A fine fortification

One of the challenges facing any castle builder is how to make a big gray wall interesting. Maxim Baybakov has risen to the challenge with this wonderfully detailed castle. Maxim uses textured bricks, and the occasional side-facing stud to create visual interest, along with some well-placed plates of an alternate color. The same technique on the white walls provides a nice weathered look. Another great detail is the curved windows of the upper towers. But the most interesting design choice — which caught me by surprise — was using window elements turned backward, with the screens on the inside. This simple choice makes the windows seem much more natural in a castle wall.

Log houses never looked this good

In the LEGO creations of today, it seems as though technique is being emphasized more than ever before, especially within the castle genre. It seems as though not a day goes by when I don’t see an innovative way of making an everyday texture. This build by alego alego features a wonderfully designed blacksmith shop, primarily made using various Technic connector parts as individual logs. While I have used one or two of these parts as a single log in my own builds, I never would have conceived of making a whole building out of them, and the result is fantastic.

Check out these posts below for more amazing landscaping techniques:

Cloud dragon rules the skies

Dragons are the quintessential fantastical creature, common in myths from cultures around the globe, and a muse for artists and sculptors for centuries. LEGO builders are no exception — and here it’s John Cheng who has succumbed to the dragon’s call. This striking dragon bust is lovingly assembled from a well-chosen selection of curved and sloped parts, creating a great impression of musculature beneath scaled skin. Further, the blue and purple colour scheme is bold without being garish, and allows the lightning-flavoured horns on the dragon’s head to really pop from the image. The cloud-styled base of the model works nicely too.

Al-Danah, a fortress above the clouds

John Snyder takes a fantasy spin on Islamic architecture with Al-Danah, a fantasy fortress. His fabled fortress is exceptional in several aspects: lovely choices of color, simplified cartoony textures, and a unique cloud technique that makes its elevated location convincing.

A Castle in drought

Most LEGO castles appear to lie in the grassy woodlands of Northern Europe, the sun-baked sands of the Sahara, or in a dizzyingly vibrant fantasy land. Brick Monkeys, however, is ready to take us somewhere new. This castle is set in what appears to be a drought-stricken clime where you can almost feel the dry leaves crackling as they fall from the trees.

The extensive use of earth tones blends well in this arid scene. The castle itself features many great details also, from the stained glass windows of the great hall to the ramshackle upper roof of the round turret, where plates have been layered haphazardly for a unique texture.

Ye olde winter village

Take a stroll through the medieval village of Daydelon created by Isaac S. Here you’ll find a bakery, general store, and even a toy shop. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the gallery where you’ll see neatly crafted vignettes of the building interiors that slide out of the buildings themselves. Just don’t forget to shake off all the snow from your boots when you go inside!

Enchanting citadel of the skies

I bet you’re taking a second, or even a third, close look at this magical floating castle to analyse how it all holds up. LEGO wizard jaapxaap must have dreamt of this one night and woke up to make it a reality. The colour choices of white and gold, plus the bright blue of the domes and trimming helps provide an additional subconscious cue, elevating it into the skies above the clouds. A brilliant idea turned into reality with the execution of beautiful engineering.

Throwback castle polishes up nicely

Sometimes the old ones really are the best ones. Eggy Pop says this microscale LEGO castle was originally built back in 2009, but he’s now posted a cleaned-up photo of the creation. The low angle on this photography creates a misleading sense of scale in the image — this model looks much bigger than it really is. The white walls and dark blue roofs of the castle offer a lovely contrast to the surrounding sea. And the technique of placing coloured plates beneath the trans-blue tiles of the sea makes for some welcoming beaches.