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My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 4:51 pm
by Dan
Seeing the new BrickArms' Claymore prototypes on Flickr inspired me to take on a Scottish keep as my first castle MOC and custom kit in 7 years. I'm about 75% finished and plan to display the finished model at BrickCon. Here are some WIP pictures so far:

The front entrance. The technic pin holes are to connect this with a modular wall system for future expansion.

Of course this opens up for maximum playability. The lower room has a well while the upper has a fire place. The walls of this side wing are a relatively thin 3-studs wide.

Here is the main tower open. The finished keep will be three stories high and have a peaked roof of dark blay tiles.

Close up detail of the main entry way. The door can be easily secured and every window has shutters on the inside. The walls of the main tower are 4-studs wide.

The stairways are embedded in the walls.
Larger images are on my Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brickmania ... 417772366/
I hope to have updated pictures posted as soon as more parts arrive in the mail!
Comments, criticism, etc. welcome.
Thanks for looking!
Dan
Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:54 pm
by Hound Knight
Awesome! I love how you built the corners.

Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:32 pm
by lefty
That is beautiful in its simplicity. The modularity is great and the model just looks nice overall. The uniformness of the roof and walls looks especially good.
Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:39 pm
by Karrde
If you padded out the inside with some nice details that would be the icing on the cake. As it is; it's a very delicious slice of WIP

Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:24 pm
by ben_toy_tech
Love it. The exterior details are fantastic. This LEGO moc reminds me of the home in Monarch of the Glen (an equally fantastic BBC show). All it needs now is some colorful foliage, perhaps morning glories or bougainvillea.
Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 3:19 am
by Username
Very cool and detailed. Can't wait to see the final product.
Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 11:43 pm
by DraconisTerrena
Excellent! It looks like it has a great playability.
Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 2:14 am
by architect
Dan,
Your latest moc looks great so far. I particularly enjoy the thick walls with slopes inside the windows, interior wood shutters, stone staircases, quoins, and exterior window stone arches.
Ben
Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 4:53 pm
by Teherean
Excellent! I love those windows! Good luck finishing it.

Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 5:13 pm
by Dan
Thanks everyone for looking and commenting!
I'm actually almost finished with it already! While I'm waiting for more parts to arrive (in the mail) I'm busy rendering it in Ldraw for the instruction book. It's a lot slower going than working with actual bricks...

Only 5 rows of height completed and the piece count is already 729. This is easily going to be a 4000+ piece kit!
I'll post another round of "work in progress" pix after I see what's in the mail today (and hopefully build some more)...
Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 5:37 pm
by Karrde
Dan wrote:
Only 5 rows of height completed and the piece count is already 729. This is easily going to be a 4000+ piece kit!
Wouldn't making the walls hollow cut down on bricks a bit? (Forgive me if they already are)

Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 5:49 pm
by Dan
Hollow walls would only save about 2-3% of the overall brick count and would severely weaken the structure. I like to make my castles "playable" for my kids, which means they basically have to be indestructible! Even though this castle is "made up," I'm a stickler for architectural accuracy and that means thick walls. I'm also a real fan of using actual bricks the way they were intended to be used and not take short cuts or uses a lot of POOPs.
Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:51 pm
by Tycho McKorley
Dan, I've always been a fan of your work. I remember when I first saw Blood Stone Keep, I was blown away. That said, it's nice to see you building again. This MOC looks great.
Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:11 am
by castlebuilder100
It looks awesome. I really like the tiled roofs.
Re: My first Castle MOC in 7 years! (Work in Progress)
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 8:14 pm
by Dan