I really liked Nexo Knights, and I really liked all the little nods towards older castle themes without established locations potentially taking place in its world. So, I decided to try and create a Nexo Knights-refurbished version of two classic sets from the Fright Knights using LDD: Witch's Magic Manor & Night Lord's Castle, albeit combined into one, so that the Magic Manor serves as a sort of hideout/base under the Night Lord's Castle.

The bit that I am currently stuck on is a suitable castle gate. The simple wooden doors of the official Knighton Castle set looked a bit weird, and as such I am trying to create a more sci-fi looking portcullis structure or portcullis alternative, in tr. neon orange of course. So far, I have tried using a bunch of 30064 stud/stick pieces (difficult to create a suitably sized structure without running into difficulty connecting the two sets of bars into a structure that can move as a single piece), the large sword pieces from Clay's mechsuit (as with the original use, strange-looking due to the lack of depth combined with the pattern and width) and finally the 4218 rolling gate pieces (serviceable, except the only source of these in tr. neon orange is over two decades old, and I'd like to actually be able to build this thing in real life at some point). If anyone has any recommendations, I'd be glad to hear them.

Edited December 19, 20186 yr by DraikNova

I think the 4218 Garage door is your best option.

They're not too expensive on bricklink, and they look high-tech enough to fit the Nexo Knight theme.

Or if Trans-neon Orange is too hard to find, Trans light-blue can do the job pretty well, but it'll break the color scheme.
(But I guess it's fine, Knighton techy things were light blue in the series anyway)

I ended up making a portcullis myself using the Nexo Knights spear tip pieces, and settled on making it triangular to make it more futuristic. This version, unlike the original, also has a drawbridge attached.  I have no clue how to make a sci-fi oil drop trap, nor are there particularly sci-fi options for curved roofing, so I replaced the oil trap with swinging axes and the slopes at the front gate with lights.

The tr. red shield inlays will be the Crimson Bat power if this ever gets built.

I'm going to incorporate the tower prison cell, the upper walkway trap door and if possible the skull-crystal ball feature, but I'm considering mixing in aspects of a set that I've always admired for its play features, Citadel of Orlan, because I also want to incorporate the original castle's dragon, but a full dragon build is a bit much given how large this is going to end up being (I didn't realize how large the gate was getting while building it) and just going for the seven-piece dragon the original used would be a little underwhelming. So I'm probably going to end up adding the neck and head of a large dragon sticking out from the rocky Magic Manor part of the build, as well as using minifigure bars to create climable vines. Might end up recreating the Magic Manor's little helicopter build as well if I can incorporate a way to slide a launch area out from the side of the rocky area.

Edited December 31, 20186 yr by DraikNova

I think the Vampires and their color scheme would work great for Knight Lord's Castle and The Rock Monsters, Ruina and their color scheme would work for Witch's Magic Manor.

I really like the gate idea that you settled on -- looks very much like how a Nexo gate should be!

I'm debating which dragon head design to use; the base version that is just a large brickbuilt rendition of the classic LEGO dragon's head vs. versions that mix in more bat-like features, such as larger or smaller versions of a spectral bat's nose spike or frontwards-facing nostrils, and perhaps even bat-like scoop-shaped ears. Thoughts?