Evil knight castle ideas

[coot83]

Hey guys,

I have been browsing around for ideas for an evil knight's(bad guys) castle to contend with my friends noble king's castle that he is building. It seems for the past few years lego has been doing a good job or cranking out Kings castle renditions, but not so much for the bad guys besides random outposts and what not. I have seen some older sets like Valdek's dark fortress that seem appealing as they have that black and red color scheme to them which is what Im trying to stick to in order to make a castle that goes with the current themed bad guys. Also, I saw that there is a dark fortress landing and was curious if that is able to be added to the dark fortress set? Any ideas of where to begin for a decent sized castle build with some features would be greatly appreciated!

Coot

[Nightstalker]

For starters, how big do you want it to be? Some castles are small (similar to the ones TLG makes), while some are rather huge. Furthermore, what colors are you planning on using to build it?

If you're planning on modeling it after Vladek's castle, I would actually recommend stocking up on black/red or black/dark red pieces from bricklink.

[Sigolf Brimabane]

If you are using the new knights, it might be nice to incorporate for example the Dragon Mountain (or what's its name) set into the build... With some improvements of course, it is rather lacking... : P (depending on if you want it "Lego-styled" or more detailed). It sounds like a cool idea though, the evil guys never get a big castle :(

Edited July 22, 2013 by Sigolf Brimabane

[TheLegoDr]

As far as a "dark" castle goes, you can't beat my favorite castle of all time: Black Knight's Castle. The black walls with red roof really sets it apart from other castles since most are light bley. But the building itself is really neat and easily modifiable. I don't know much about Vladek or that wave, so I couldn't say how similar/different they are from each other.

[coot83]

Sorry guys for not making this more specific...I guess these are the objectives Im trying to complete with this build

1. Black and red(dark colors) type of castle

2. Size wise, atleast as big as the current King's Castle is, probably a little bigger though so that it can have some fun features(maybe 3-4 big squares)

3. Detail wise is probably still somewhat along the lines of TLG, although I dont mind taking it up a notch, but not to the point where it becomes a huge detailed MOC.

4. Want to have a jail, lookout, armory, horse station, crew hangout, hidden entry, and cliff side, def want this to not have a premade base.

LegoDr, funny you mention that castle as that is one of the few that I have. It def has some nice ideas to pass on to this one.

I would love it if anyone who has the Valdek sets to let me know if they are worth getting/and or if they have any cool features to pass on. Normally I jump on brick link for pieces and get to work, but with this scale it is a little challenging getting a started for a new guy like me. Thanks again for all the comments!

Coot

[The_Cook]

You can also use places like Peeron or Brickset to browse online copies of the instructions for ideas and tips.

Valdeks' can be found at: http://cache.lego.com/bigdownloads/buildinginstructions/4299301.pdf

If you're going down the modular wall sections route, start small, grow it over time. It doesn't even need to be a fully enclosed castle to start with, start with a gatehouse and build slowly outwards add more and more sections until they meet at the back. Solid right-angled corners mean that you need to think about you module sizes in advance a little bit to ensure that walls line up properly, adding a couple of hinges like the 80's style modular castles gives you more flexibility.

[ZCerberus]

Here are some "evil" Nocturnus things for you in the Guilds of Historica. I realize these may be way more in the "step-up" category, but you might get some nice ideas from them anyway!

ISC's Abyssian

Taz's Hell's Gate Watchtower

The now banned Angeli's Twisted Tower

ZCerberus's Nocturnus Tower

[coot83]

Thanks cook for the advice, totally forgot about peeron to do a part check. I def want it to have some dynamic walls to it so I plan to keep it anything but square which makes since from what you were saying how that square sections could hinder the build. I guess the next step is to open up LDD and just start working ideas and see what I can make. Cook, I assume you do alot of MOC builds? If so, how do you brainstorm your ideas?

Cerberus, the pics are a little more detailed than I plan to go for now, but they have given some great ideas...I think I def want to make a mini tower like the second picture where it can be attached to the castle by means of a walkway. Also the spikes on the sides of walls would be a great touch to add to the "evilness" of it.

Thanks guys for the inspiration and help!

Coot

Edited July 23, 2013 by coot83

[Haltiamieli]

Another official set that might give some useful ideas could be 8078 Portal of Atlantis, even if it is meant to be under the sea. I planned to mod it to a Necromancer's stronghold (they would have used the portal to pull tormented souls out of Hell to walk the Earth once more as undeads) until the siren song of the cool pieces in the build overcame me and I ripped it apart.

[The_Cook]

Thanks cook for the advice, totally forgot about peeron to do a part check. I def want it to have some dynamic walls to it so I plan to keep it anything but square which makes since from what you were saying how that square sections could hinder the build. I guess the next step is to open up LDD and just start working ideas and see what I can make. Cook, I assume you do alot of MOC builds? If so, how do you brainstorm your ideas?

I brainstorm with a mix of paper and ldd. I use paper in dull and boring meetings and LDD when I'm travelling on trains and planes or stuck in hotel rooms.

Inspiration is from books and visiting historic sites; in the USA you have distances and landscapes, in Europe we have history. Admitedly I'm on vacation, but this week I've already got through three castles, one 11th century church, one 11th century cathedral and an exhibition on 9th century illuminated manuscripts... More castles and cathedrals later in the week

It's not the era that you're trying to replicate; but all of my builds have a thread here on Eurobricks or over on MocPages which describes the evolution of their design and they all have LDD files attached.

[coot83]

Thanks Halti for the pic...I do like the centerpiece with the stairs and the walkways with the bars. This thread has really turned into a culmination of good pics with great aspects in them. I will have to make sure I incorperate that in mine.

Cook, thanks for the info...didnt even notice your signature link, might have to browse over your creations this week for some more tips! Thanks guys!

Coot

[Nightstalker]

This may help you with some ideas as well.

Link: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=345424

[coot83]

Now that is a serious castle! Thanks for the link night stalker...looks like some good ideas to look into. I have spent a few hours on the front drawbridge which is turning out to be a pretty big and long bridge. The front is looking somewhat similar to valdeks dark fortress with the draw bridge and Im using the same red doors but it has some additional features as well...using up a whole 32x32 plate! I am hoping to make each section as I go unique and different. Back to LDD!

Coot