citidel of st Micheal

timber_wolf899 · Post by **timber_wolf899** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 7:06 pm

i'm working on a castle and could use some advice guys. Got a royal knights baseplate and all the construction is finished save the left rear corner and side wall. what the HECK do i do about those stairs? i have no need for them there.

i wish lego wouldnt make these plates so set spasific. i mean there's no reason to mold steps into th eplate, a nd i wish the internal pit walls were not sloped, or that the pit was atleast sized to be easilly covered with plates. oh well rant over. : )

do you guys have any suggestions?
thanks
Frank the novice

footsteps · Post by **footsteps** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 7:37 pm

timber_wolf899 wrote:all the construction is finished save the left rear corner and side wall. what the HECK do i do about those stairs? i have no need for them there.

I simply worked it into my design. The idea I worked on is that most castles seem to have a little-known "back entrance" that is hard to find, and easily defended. So I placed a simple Town door at the top of the stairs. A nice spot for clandestine comings and goings. For my Keep I'm putting a small dock at the bottom of the stairs (the Keep is surrounded by water -- ocean or lake, haven't decided yet) that can be used for resuppling during a seige.

Otherwise, just ignore the presence of stairs or even cover them with bricks i.e. a retaining wall at the back of the structure, which also gives you more "base space" for your creation at the top.

Alan

Bricksidge · Post by **Bricksidge** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 10:59 pm

footsteps wrote: The idea I worked on is that most castles seem to have a little-known "back entrance" that is hard to find, and easily defended.

It called a "sally-port"

Muhuhahaha... The Lexi-conman strikes!

Stephen · Post by **Stephen** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 6:10 am

footsteps wrote:

The idea I worked on is that most castles seem to have a little-known "back entrance" that is hard to find, and easily defended.

Castles did have more than one entrance. "Sally ports", mentioned by Bricksidge, were smaller gates that could be used to send troops out to try to break a siege. There were also "postern gates" that were small, usually only big enough for one man to go through. Those were usually used to bring supplies in at the back without having to go around and through the whole castle.

Multiple entrances forced attackers to split their forces during a seige to cover all the possible exits. Castles did not have an "escape tunnel" or "bolt hole". Those ideas are based on modern misunderstandings of drains and things found in the ruins.

I use the stairs in the Royal Knights Castle for a postern gate because being at the top of the stairs, it was unlikely attackers would attempt to force the gate.

Stephen

timber_wolf899 · Post by **timber_wolf899** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 3:54 pm

i went retaining wall for the steps. thanks for the suggestions guys

the castle is done only thing i'm unhappy with is tha ti think the gatehouse is too large.

will post pictures as soon as i get a hold of a digital camera.

also, do you guys fill in the reverse side of your pit plates to make them solid/stronger? i'm worried that the weight of the structure will crush the hollow raised baseplate.

Glencaer · Post by **Glencaer** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 4:02 pm

also, do you guys fill in the reverse side of your pit plates to make them solid/stronger? i'm worried that the weight of the structure will crush the hollow raised baseplate.

I don't own any of those ugly baseplates myself (my dark ages began when they came about and ended when they stopped - altho i'd like that dragon fortress) - but I've found piece weight vs. piece weakness to be very good.

unless you've got A LOT of weight on that plate, I doubt you'll need any extra support for it.

-lenny

Post by **Bruce N H** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 6:24 pm

I don't have any of those pit plates, but I commonly build creations up off the baseplate, and I find that 4x4 columns are very important for sturdiness. E.g.:
http://www.ozbricks.net/bricktales/lotr ... 09-06.html

Bruce

timber_wolf899 · Post by **timber_wolf899** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 5:09 pm

lenny
the dragon fortress really is not bad. a bit pricy but not bad. Its less juniorized and chunky than king leo's castle, but more juniorized and chunky than the ninja sets. about fifty more parts and it would be supurb. as it stands its nice and the closest to a castle set in years.

i need more chinese soldiers though!

Classic-Castle.com

citidel of st Micheal

citidel of st Micheal

Re: citidel of st Micheal

Re: citidel of st Micheal