Quest for Lion Knights’ castle

[questforcastle]

Hello from a newcomer - and thank you for all the quality reading over the years. This is a great forum.

I wanted to share my little re-entry into the LEGO world - I have started to reuse my old bricks to build a set I never had, the 1984 classic, 6080 King's Castle.

I set up a little blog to (mostly for myself) document my likely very slow progress on putting those old bricks into use. Opening words are here:

http://questforbricks.wordpress.com

Certainly I will need more bricks than just the ones I have (even though I intend to customize a little where necessary), so any pointers to suitable online pick-a-bricks are welcome?

I'll post here as well, when I make significant progress. Let's see how I fare in the world of AFOL. :) Wish me luck...

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[AndyC]

Certainly I will need more bricks than just the ones I have (even though I intend to customize a little where necessary), so any pointers to suitable online pick-a-bricks are welcome?

Sounds like a great little project, I had 6080 as a kid (sadly all my childhood Lego was disposed of by my parents) and it's a great set. And yes, the brick-built portcullis is cool.

When it comes to finding replacement or substitute parts, the only place you really need look is www.bricklink.com, although it's worth noting that once you start buying bits from Bricklink it can become dangerously addictive.

Have fun! Looking forward to see how it goes.

[JackJonespaw]

Very nice idea! I'm looking forward to the progress.

[Brinstar]

I enjoyed reading your blog. It is always fascinating to hear the thoughts of someone who is clearly taking their first tentative steps out of their dark ages. For me one of the most exciting parts of taking up the hobby again was that it provided an opportunity to acquire sets that I had previously missed out on in my childhood.

I think 6080 is a great choice for your project. Its undoubtedly a classic set and I think the design still holds up today. In fact I always see the Kingdoms castle as very much a modern interpretation of 6080. The question is are you going to try to acquire the mini-figs? One of the great things about those old castles is that they came with a very generous compliment of soldiers. Sourcing them should be easy enough through bricklink but they will most likely be the most expensive part of the set to acquire.

[questforcastle]

Thank you very much for the excellent suggestions and response. It feels nice to be welcomed!

As for the minifigures - good question, I haven't come to any firm conclusions yet. I think my own stash will be able to furnish a couple of them, but for the rest let's see. I am trying not to hang myself by too strict expectations, so as to actually get something built. :)

I hope to post tomorrow a couple of photos from my dusty LEGO storage boxes in the blog and hopefully get some exploratory building going next week by actually digging into them...

[questforcastle]

New updates! :)

My 6080 King's Castle project has so far been more narrative than actual building, but I am enjoying the experience of learning about AFOL and LEGO, and there certainly is much to learn and reacquaint myself with. So this process is as much about that learning, as it is about the castle itself. I finally managed to start digging some bricks and have made a few new blog posts this week about my old LEGO collection and first building steps:

http://questforbricks.wordpress.com

More posts and pictures of my journey to come in the coming days/weeks as I gather steam and, more importantly, castle pieces...

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[marshall]

I really enjoyed looking over your blog. All my old legos were given away by my mother sometime during my dark ages, but it's been fun for me to look with my son (now 5) at peeron.com and other sites to show him the sets I had, and the sets I wish I had. over the last 3 years or so I've picked up a lot of legos at garage sales and a few bins on craigslist, and I now have several times the amount of legos I had as a kid. However, I'm still hoping to pick up some of the sets I had as a kid.

[questforcastle]

I really enjoyed looking over your blog. All my old legos were given away by my mother sometime during my dark ages, but it's been fun for me to look with my son (now 5) at peeron.com and other sites to show him the sets I had, and the sets I wish I had. over the last 3 years or so I've picked up a lot of legos at garage sales and a few bins on craigslist, and I now have several times the amount of legos I had as a kid. However, I'm still hoping to pick up some of the sets I had as a kid.

Thank you very much. :) Good luck with your own projects. I can say, at least so far, it feels really nice to start building a set from childhood (one that I missed in this case). I'm hoping to get some new parts next week to move things along!

[questforcastle]

I am still waiting for my BrickLink delivery, but in the meanwhile I have made a couple of updates on the blog. :)

Including some pictures of my 1960s LEGO, if anyone is interested: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[questforcastle]

Just a quick message to let you know I have not forgotten about the 6080 King's Castle project. There still remain unexpected delays in my brick deliveries, so progress has been slower than I had originally hoped. I am trying to sort these out and get more bricks and plates, but who knows when I am able to proceed further. I will update the blog on these in the future. I have, however, managed to build the portcullis piece and many of the minifigures. I have posted some photos on the blog, including one where I tried to use a few colored cardboards to recreate that 1980s LEGO Castle look and feel: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com

Sorry for the noob question, I am sure many of you have done similar photoshoots with yellow/orange backgrounds and other catalogue-like simulations. Any recommended links?

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[questforcastle]

Good news (for me), I have finally started building the castle and expect to update you with the progress in a few blog installments over the next couple of days or a week: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com

I still lack the full complement of bricks to complete all of it (I will acquire those later), but I'm thinking by end of next week I should still have a substantial part of it done.

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[questforcastle]

So, I've reached a bit of a halfway point in building, with most of the "first floor" of the castle in place. Today's blog update catches up with my building: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com

Next up is some brick purchasing I guess, still quite a bit of bricks needed that I don't have. This time I will try to come up with a list of what else is needed before order. :) I do have some bricks to continue with in the meanwhile, though.

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[SirBlake]

I've been enjoying your "Quest" for months, and now that I'm joined up here at EB, I thought I'd drop you a line to thank you for the inspiration. I too am enjoying my LEGOs through my child, and thought you might appreciate the following picture. If you can fight through the poor quality, you might be able to see that there are some modifications that differ from the original instructions. Because of your site, I've gone back and rebuilt some things since this photo was taken, which required a couple orders from BrickLink. Thanks again!

[questforcastle]

I've been enjoying your "Quest" for months, and now that I'm joined up here at EB, I thought I'd drop you a line to thank you for the inspiration. I too am enjoying my LEGOs through my child, and thought you might appreciate the following picture. If you can fight through the poor quality, you might be able to see that there are some modifications that differ from the original instructions. Because of your site, I've gone back and rebuilt some things since this photo was taken, which required a couple orders from BrickLink. Thanks again!

Thank you, SirBlake! :) Great to see your photo and hear your feedback. I especially liked the way you used a combination of other classic LEGO Castle sets as a back wall!

[questforcastle]

New updates, more castle built! :) http://questforbricks.wordpress.com

Just to let you know I haven't forgotten about my little forever-project...

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[Brinstar]

Thanks for the update. I hadn't checked your blog in a while and am pleased to see you are making good progress with your Kings castle. I've also enjoyed your posts on other topics including your excellent review of the LOTR Uruk-Hai Army. I do hope you continue blogging even after your castle is finally built.

[questforcastle]

Thanks for the update. I hadn't checked your blog in a while and am pleased to see you are making good progress with your Kings castle. I've also enjoyed your posts on other topics including your excellent review of the LOTR Uruk-Hai Army. I do hope you continue blogging even after your castle is finally built.

Thanks Brinstar!

I hope to continue too, both popping in at Eurobricks and blogging too - and of course enjoying some LEGO. Time will tell of course how and what. :)

[questforcastle]

I have posted some photos on the blog, including one where I tried to use a few colored cardboards to recreate that 1980s LEGO Castle look and feel: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com

Sorry for the noob question, I am sure many of you have done similar photoshoots with yellow/orange backgrounds and other catalogue-like simulations. Any recommended links?

By the way, I was asked how I made the yellow/orange photos and here are pictures of the setup in response: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/faking-1980s/

As for the castle project, it is still alive, but hasn't progressed yet. :)

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[Keromar]

By the way, I was asked how I made the yellow/orange photos and here are pictures of the setup in response: https://questforcastle.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/faking-1980s/

Great, thanks. So you did not actually have the final background in reality, only after photoshopping. Interesting. I'm asking because in the long run I would like to recreate a "1985/1986 landscape". I have no time or materials to do this in the foreseeable time, but I very much wonder if any other person has tried this or would like to try it.

Filip

[questforcastle]

Great, thanks. So you did not actually have the final background in reality, only after photoshopping. Interesting. I'm asking because in the long run I would like to recreate a "1985/1986 landscape". I have no time or materials to do this in the foreseeable time, but I very much wonder if any other person has tried this or would like to try it.

Indeed I would be interested in hearing about other such experiences as well! :) If I had to start something like that today, I'd probably start with a printer/copier, scissors and glue...

Edited August 15, 2012 by questforcastle

[questforcastle]

If anyone's interested what I've been up to, I started another project on the Trains side: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=73340

Just feeling a little scatterbrained at the moment, haven't forgotten about the castle though! :)

[questforcastle]

I have been a bit lazy in acquiring new pieces for the castle, but I decided to check out how far I'd get with the ones I have if I simply skip missing steps.

Turns out, pretty far. See here for a photo: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/almost-a-lion-knights-castle/

I'm guessing I'm one parts order short from finishing the castle, but looking from afar many probably couldn't tell there is anything missing at all. For all of you who warned me about haphazard BrickLink orders, though, you were right of course. It has been quite educational to see how many specific basic bricks a particular set might require - and how very few even a relatively sizeable collection might have. Apparently the selection of different LEGO bricks (when considering also the colors) was extremely large already back in the 1980s, it usually doesn't help to have many bricks, if you don't have exactly the right bricks. Consider it a lesson learned. :)

Edited March 17, 2013 by questforcastle

[SirBlake]

Glad to see its nearly done! I've enjoyed your site updates and check it regularly. Any more castle plans?

[The_Cook]

Indeed I would be interested in hearing about other such experiences as well! :) If I had to start something like that today, I'd probably start with a printer/copier, scissors and glue...

I was away and missed the above posting when it was first put up, but I've also been toying with the idea of trying to make an 80's castle photostage.

Looking at the old photo's/box-art I did wonder whether the sun effect was done by shining a lamp through some form of material. There are definitely beige cardboard shadows but I can't work out if the hills on the back-cloth are shadows of the beige hills or airbrushed on with some form of die.

For reference the frontpage of the instructions for 6074 Black Falcon's fortress can be found here.

[questforcastle]

Glad to see its nearly done! I've enjoyed your site updates and check it regularly. Any more castle plans?

Thank you! For now the only castle plan is finishing the 6080 King's Castle. It is still missing a few crucial pieces before it is playable.

I keep commiting myself to these things one project at a time and seeing how it goes, but obviously there is plenty in the castle arsenal to think about. Hmm...

Slightly related, I do have the Orc Forge still unbuilt in the box - I'll treat myself to that some night when I get the urge. :)

Looking at the old photo's/box-art I did wonder whether the sun effect was done by shining a lamp through some form of material. There are definitely beige cardboard shadows but I can't work out if the hills on the back-cloth are shadows of the beige hills or airbrushed on with some form of die.

Interesting thought on the sun! Shouldn't be too hard to try and replicate if someone is feeling up to it...

As for the rest of the setup, I always felt they had a brown cardboard/table horizontal underneath the set and then another cardboard vertical (but slightly bending from side to side) behind the set. The latter cardboard had the hills (and perhaps the sun, if it indeed isn't a light) printed on it. That's the way it looks to me anyway. Another option is that the hills and sun are on the wall behind the table and there may even be a little gap between the table and the wall.

If I were to give it a go, I'd probably try to replicate the hills and sunset digitally and print them out on a large-as-possible paper to try how looks behind a set. I think, though, for the purposes of my current building process I'm satisfied with my faux-1980s plain yellow background. :)