Tower(-ish) MOC has become mature

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moom
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Tower(-ish) MOC has become mature

Post by moom »

Hello forum,

All your kind feedback and helpfull remarks triggered me to transfer my tower into a more mediaeval looking version. A while ago I've already replied to all your remarks from the group, in the previous "Kind of tower-ish" thread in this posting: http://classic-castle.com/forum/viewtop ... 2458#12458

So below is the result of the 'stage 2' rebuild of my tower:

Image

I've made detailed pictures of the of the added large bay window at the top floor and the transformed smal windows on the level below:
large: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/moom/ ... window.jpg
small: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/moom/ ... window.jpg

The inhabitant is mister Bricksiege, a wealthy and somewhat excentric person. He decided for himself that the mediaeval society was a much more noble and chivalrous environment as opposed to the current one, and therefore opted to play the rest of his life as a knight. You can see hem here in front of his quarters:

Image

When the railroad companies were urged to work more efficient, they abandoned certain obsolete properties that they had clung on for all these years, for example their watertowers, since long relieved from their task of keeping the tenders of steam locomotives filled. Mr. Bricksiege bought one of these towers when they became available, for he was charmed by the Neo-Gothic ornamentation that was already present, and it didn't seem him too much trouble to convert the building into a resonably authentic looking keep. So he added a extra floor, smashed out the modern windows and converted these with second-hand masonry stones into a shape according to his personal preferences. He also made a large cut in one of the walls where the large watertank used to be, and constructed a wide bay window in the same style as the other windows.
(Readers not familiar with the previous thread can see here how the watertower used to look before this conversion: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/moom/ ... _tower.jpg)

You might have noticed that there are two public facilities just in front of the building (in the right lower corner of the top picture), slightly spoiling the view and atmosphere for our self-made knight. Mr. Bricksiege refers to these as "Space-time-continuum anomalies", unconsciously giving away that he is a child of his time after all.
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/moom/ ... malies.jpg

I've been to Billund on May 3th and bought a lot of classic light gray bricks, so I can try to find out how to split the building properly to make interior access possible. There are some difficulties and weak spots I have to solve. Hopefully the result will be a 'stage 3'.

I hope you've enjoyed my story.

With friendly greetings, M. Moolhuysen.
Last edited by moom on Sun May 09, 2004 9:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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forester3291
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Post by forester3291 »

Cool tower moom. Love the window. The knight looks awesome
Space rocks.
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wlister
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Post by wlister »

Hi Moom,

This tower is a very nice evolution from the last one. The park bench is great as well. I really like both the large and small windows. I haven't seen that method used for windows before, but you sure can't argue with the results. :D

Will
After a long absence, I have returned. I can't wait to start building again.
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JasonSpears
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Re: Tower(-ish) MOC has become mature

Post by JasonSpears »

moom wrote:So below is the result of the 'stage 2' rebuild of my tower:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/moom/Pure-MOC/
Looking sharp. I saw this on brickshelf last weekend and wondered who had made it. Stage two looks great. Those windows are fabulous. Thanks for sharing.
Jason Spears | [url=http://www.michlug.org]MichLUG[/url] | [url=http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/spearjr/]Brickshelf Gallery[/url]
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Mr. D
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Post by Mr. D »

Wow! The best part are the windows. I love the 2x windows with the 1x4 arch at the top. I'd never thought of using those 1x2 pieces to go into arches before.
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SavaTheAggie
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Post by SavaTheAggie »

Very well done, my friend. You've really improved this MOC ten fold. I really like the change from the 'glass' windows to the pillared ones, and that offset pillar is something I'm really going to have to steal some day. The addition of the upper window really makes this MOC look sharp, especially with the way you built it.

There really isn't much more that I can think of to say. If you're looking for constructive criticism, the only two things I can think of are:

(1) I'd think I'd like a 2x2 inverted slope at the top of the tower in the large window (and all other sides of the tower) holding up the two 1x6 short arches

and

(2) I'd think I'd like to see the roof of the tower be taller and at a higher angle. I don't know, maybe the black falcon's fortress has an unfair bias on me when it comes to pointy roofs :) I'm not saying I think you need a one-sloping degree roof, but maybe work up from 33 to 45 to 70 degrees, capping off the tower with that airconditioning vent :?: below the capping brick.

Other than those two very very minor things, great job. You've really brought the MOC a long way.

--Anthony
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moom
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Post by moom »

First of all, thank you for your nice comments.
forester3291 wrote:Cool tower moom. Love the window. The knight looks awesome
Yup, I'm quite pleased how these turned out myself. For the knight I must give credit to Daniel Siskind.
wlister wrote:This tower is a very nice evolution from the last one. The park bench is great as well.
That park bench is pretty standard, this one for instance comes from Kevin Wilsons custom set 'Open air market', The rubbish bin is a original idea of my fellow Dutchmen Eric Brok, I've only made a slightly different suspension from the bar part.
wlister wrote:I really like both the large and small windows. I haven't seen that method used for windows before, but you sure can't argue with the results.
I sure would like to think I was the first to come up with that idea. I've posted it for the first time in July 2003 in this conversion of BricWorx custom set 402 'Combination Coach', to simulate a closed arched doorway.
JasonSpears wrote:Looking sharp. I saw this on brickshelf last weekend and wondered who had made it. Stage two looks great. Those windows are fabulous. Thanks for sharing.
Sharing is half the fun, isn't? You could have known/find out it was me, I have the same username here on CCC as I have on Brickshelf :)
Mr. D wrote:Wow! The best part are the windows. I love the 2x windows with the 1x4 arch at the top. I'd never thought of using those 1x2 pieces to go into arches before.
They are called 'Panel 1 x 2 x 1', if that's what you ment, didn't you? And two of these or a single 'Panel 1 x 4 x 1' in combination with a 'Arch 1 x 6' should go just as well.
SavaTheAggie wrote:Very well done, my friend. You've really improved this MOC ten fold. I really like the change from the 'glass' windows to the pillared ones, and that offset pillar is something I'm really going to have to steal some day. The addition of the upper window really makes this MOC look sharp, especially with the way you built it.
I wonder when the first flattering imitation will emerge :)
I'm pleased I could contribute with a original and usefull idea.
SavaTheAggie wrote:There really isn't much more that I can think of to say. If you're looking for constructive criticism, the only two things I can think of are:

(1) I'd think I'd like a 2x2 inverted slope at the top of the tower in the large window (and all other sides of the tower) holding up the two 1x6 short arches

and

(2) I'd think I'd like to see the roof of the tower be taller and at a higher angle. I don't know, maybe the black falcon's fortress has an unfair bias on me when it comes to pointy roofs :) I'm not saying I think you need a one-sloping degree roof, but maybe work up from 33 to 45 to 70 degrees, capping off the tower with that airconditioning vent :?: below the capping brick.

Other than those two very very minor things, great job. You've really brought the MOC a long way.
I think your remarks are valid, seen from a pure 'Castle' point of view. Although I believe that roof slope angle is also determend by climate: You'll see steep roofs in northern and central Europe, to prevent snow from accumulating too much, for a too heavy snow cover could lead to the collapse of the timber roof supporting frame. In southern Europe even castle roof slope angles tend to be low.

However, I wanted to reflect that according to the accompanying story (and also according to the actual develloping process of the MOC), this building has been a watertower first, before Mr. Bricksiege converted it into his romantic mediaeval folly. I've intentionally kept the blocky suports and the low slope roof as remains of the original water tower construction.

Funny thing is that when I posted the original version of this MOC, several people asked me for a story, and now that I've made one, nobody says anything about the story :)

Note: I realize now it will be very hard to split the building for interior access and decoration. I'll need more small light gray tiles, because I have to make some horizontal offsets in the vertical seams.

With friendly greetings, M. Moolhuysen.
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TheCastle
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cool

Post by TheCastle »

nice design it is a bit Tower-ish
The Castle
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