Colossal castle

Each time InnovaLUG builder Mark of Falworth reveals a new MOC, I am simply blown away.  His latest work of art, (CCC14) Clarendon Castle, is one of his biggest projects, weighing in at an impressive 110 lbs (~50 kg).  It is as if Mark pulled this scene right out of a medieval fairy tale book. The details, the techniques, the color schemes all have been exhibited in former MOCs, but if there is something that sets Mark apart from other castle builders, it is that he knows how to make classic techniques innovative and incorporate tried and true methods of building that appear to be timeless.

Feelin' blue

So much for me being a sci-fi blogger. The MOC in this post is another Castle build in a very similar style to the last one: a rustic, cobble-hewn style befitting of a rural countryside cottage. 

I'm not a huge fan of some of the part choices for rocks (too round) or the transparent elements (for the stream and chimney smoke), but still found this definitely worthy of a blog mention because of the beautifully textured cottage walls and roof, and the use of color. Blue is not too common in the gray/brown/green-dominated Castle theme, but between the roof, stream, and bluebird, there's plenty of it here, contrasting nicely with the sienna trees, gray walls, and cool green earth. 

Oh, and there's NPU: a feather, a minifig hand, and a joystick base for a bird? Ingenious. And John Snyder (jsynder002), if you're reading this, is that a minifig hairpiece used as a bird's nest? (Nice build by the way...) 

Take me to church

I'm no Castle expert, but I instantly felt this MOC by newcomer don leopold brings something new to the table. It has a different feel than a lot of Castle builds I've blogged before, although I couldn't for the life of me tell you what it is. Maybe any Castleheads reading this can elaborate...

We've seen the 1x1-cylinder-for-roofing technique before, but it works really nicely here. The trees and stone wall are well built and fit nicely into the scene. My favorite aspect of the build is the excellent use of SNOT and greebles to achieve the look of crumbling, paint-worn walls; it's some of the most natural-looking I've seen in a Castle build. Also note the NPU for the bell - can you tell what those pieces are?

The Kingdom of ABS

As ABS Round 1.6 rages on (and I keep struggling to come up with more uses for the seed part), we seem to be heading off in the Castle direction - usually not my preferred genre, but when the builds are as cool as my competitor Mark of Siloam's new microscale MOC, I really can't complain! 

The seed part was used six times: four times in the castle, one in the windmill, and one in the cathedral (the builder's favorite). I really like the rockwork and the SNOT techniques in the castle walls and the cathedral. Really nice work, and some more tough competition for me in this round! 

Stay tuned for more ABS coverage, including some personal insights into the contest...

Lovely lonely cottage

Whenever I try my hand at Castle building I inevitably gravitate towards something of this style. Not only are simple cottages and huts easier for me to build, but I often find them more interesting as well. Unfortunately I've never had nearly as much success in the genre as Graham Gidman, who built this Avalonian Cottage: 

The best part of the built is probably the stone wall of the building, but the little details like the clothesline and perfectly executed fence (and the gentle slope of the plate-built landscape) make it a must-blog. 

Desert fortress

I think I can speak for all of us here at the Brick Bucket when I say that life has been extremely busy. However, amidst all the busyness and chaos of our everyday lives, one must always take the time to admire a work of art, something that is beautiful, elegant, and aesthetically pleasing.

Such is the case with Tirrell Brown's Qar Riwa.  The combination of the slightly recessed dark tan walls with a light tan border truly makes this MOC an eye-catcher.  But it's not all just sand-colored bricks; there are some lush green areas that really give the oasis vibe in the MOC.

A mighty castle

InnovaLUG has been recently turning out some amazing medieval creations; everything from a fortress to a build that incorporated a bird cage.

Today's blog shows a MOC that literally towers over the others made by Brother Steven.  Farwin Castle is the epitome of what we LEGO® builders consider to be the ultimate castle. The build is beautifully constructed with a conservative rock and stone work that is complimented by hints of Tudor architecture.  What a magnum opus.

If you wish to see more of InnovaLUG's BrickFair Virginia collaboration, you can see it on their website here.

Fabulously fantastical medieval

I've seen quite a few medieval MOCs, and being the sucker for the theme that I am, I couldn't resist taking a closer look at this brilliant MOC entitled The Market Gate by Bricktease.  The MOC comprises of many different styles of building, from the classic castle construction feel, to an almost city vibe.  Bricktease has beautifully merged all sorts of colors together, from dark red to sand blue all within a natural setting.  It's just beautiful.  To say that I now have some inspiration for future builds is indeed an understatement.

Khanibre Castle

Here's a sweet build from W. Navarre with a decidedly medieval-Japanese flavor. "Khanibre Castle" features some great techniques in those stone walls and fantastic roof adornments. I'm also a fan of the not-quite-a-minifig samurai...

A bit of Castle

This month seems to be a good one for Castle-themed MOCs, at least in terms of me seeing things on Flickr that I want to blog. Clearly my blogging time has been limited (although I'm going to attempt to fix that in the next few days), but for now let's all enjoy this excellent vignette by Brother Steven, entitled "Fisher's Luck":

(Built for InnovaLUG's Summer Joust competition)

Castle on the rocks

There's never a bad time for a good microscale castle, especially not now in the heat of the Summer Joust contest. (We'll have more MOCs blogged from that in the days to come, so stay tuned.) This one's by Halhi141 and features an attractive color scheme and some intriguing building techniques - you can read more here. 

Mini mill

Somehow I missed this when it was uploaded to Flickr in December of last year. This tranquil little micro-castle build from Halhi141 has some of the best rockwork I've ever seen at this scale, and the rest of the construction isn't too shabby either. 

Check out the lovely sloped construction of the stream and the terrain around it:

This project is up on LEGO Ideas and it deserves your support. Imagine having this miniature masterpiece displayed on a shelf in your own home... https://ideas.lego.com/projects/129343

Imperial dam

Those of us who don't usually build microscale often find ourselves staring in mind-boggled awe at the work of those who do. Microscale builders find ways to use the most obscure parts in the most unexpected ways, for MOCs that are often just as impressive as those six-foot star destroyers on the opposite end of the spectrum. Case in point: this microscale "imperial mill" by Dubbadgrim. 

As I pointed out on Flickr, my favorite details have to be the treasure-chest roof and that tiny little water wheel.

Nexo Knights set images and analysis!

I've been holding my breath for the theme that has been chosen to replace Legends of Chima: the half-castle, half-sci-fi Nexo Knights, coming January 2016. Now, thanks to Eurobricks hackers' discovery of a stash of new images on LEGO.com's servers, we can finally stop guessing and see some of these exciting new sets for the first time. 

Oddly, I don't think Nexo Knights - a "big bang" IP in the same vein as Ninjago - has been getting the same hype as Chima was before that came out in 2013. Maybe it's that Nexo Knights has had less time to sit in everyone's brain: before a logo was discovered, the theme was mere speculation, and it was only a few days ago that LEGO released some teasers and showed off two of the sets at New York Comic Con. 

Regardless, I'm pretty excited about Nexo Knights. In my opinion it's looking better than Chima, but still not on par with my perennial favorite Ninjago. It seems like it'll have plenty of time to prove itself though. More than the storyline, I'm just excited about the new pieces and sets themselves, so without further ado, let's jump into the newfound stash of images!

UPDATE 10/23/15: While going through Brickset today I decided that I could match some of the known names listed there to some of the sets in this post, just based on intuition. I have edited the post accordingly. 

UPDATE 1/7/15: These sets have been out for some time now and I thought I'd point out that I accurately predicted the price for all but two. Merlok's Library was predicted at $30 and is really $25; the King's Mech was predicted at $35 and is really $30. So overall, these sets ended up being even cheaper than I'd thought! (Now I just need to decide which ones to get...)

Crocodile fort

Castleheads have not yet gotten tired of the ramshackle style that BrickNerd's Tommy Williamson recently dubbed "Tilted Timbers." This MOC by Dubbadgrim is one of my new favorite examples of this building style, and it also features a nicely layered base with plenty of SNOT construction. 

This was built for the Guilds of Historica "Historica Husbandry" minichallenge on Eurobricks. 

Al Amarj island

This huge and amazingly detailed island fortress is brought to you by Patrick Massey (MassEditor). There's so much to love about this MOC. Check out a few images in this post and then click on over to Flickr to see more - it's worth your time. 

Seachant Castle

Since starting this blog, I've become much more of a Castle fan. Of course Space/sci-fi still has a special place in my heart, but I've been blogging and building more Castle things recently. This MOC by 'Sergeant Chipmunk' is a perfect example of what I love in a Castle build. 

The castle itself has an interesting design and color scheme (somewhat refreshingly, there's very little gray), but it's also not the only thing in this scene, which is this builder's largest MOC to date. 

Look at those curves in the front wall and tower!

This castle's on the coastline, and right out front we get a chunky little ship with a few soldiers on it, sailing off on a grand journey (or possibly just a swing around the harbor). 

There's a little island too, and on it is a smaller boat and its equally pint-sized captain, with his loyal dog. I like the construction of those trees - if only I could figure it out I might employ something like it in my own MOCs!

Finally, the last part of this packed build is a little village on the coast, beneath the castle. The houses are nothing groundbreaking but it's the little details that make this pop: the fantastically built rock wall and trickling stream; the knight statue in a pool in the village center; the detail in the landscaping and foliage. 

Overall, a great build and probably my favorite castle MOC so far this year. 

P.S. (I hope the builder does not mind me adding a personal note onto the end of this post...) As you may have noticed, The Brick Bucket is now running ads in the sidebar. I've tried to make them as unobtrusive as possible. Clicking on these ads, or even just viewing a page containing an ad, will help support The Brick Bucket and make it a better site for readers. If I get enough revenue I can start running contests and doing other cool things. Thanks for taking the time to support the blog; let me know if you have any queries or suggestions! 

Signing a treaty

This build by gid617 appears simple at first, so I nearly overlooked it. But the more I looked, the more I liked. First I saw the scroll on the table, created from a pair of rods and map tiles. Then I noticed the decorative overhang at the top of the build, the SNOT in the candle-holder, and the subtle pattern in the textured bricks in the wall. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. Very nice little build! 

The world of Pasha

Of all the LEGO competitions and challenges out there, Symphony of Construction has to be one of my favorites. The mix of LEGO and music - my two favorite art forms and hobbies - gets the creativity flowing and always produces some amazing MOCs and musical pieces. This entry to Round 4 of the challenge was built by Brick Bucket first-timer Mattias Sondergaard: 

The architectural style of this miniature city is a great contrast to the jagged rockwork and the entropy of all those scattered 1x1 rounds and cheese slopes around the model. This is a nicely built and presented entry to one of the most innovative LEGO contests out there. 

Click here to listen to the original piece of Music, "Myriad," composed by Ian Spacek with a cello performance by Tim Schwalf (One More Brick).

Castle of champions

Iron Builder is back! It seems no one can beat the Mayos, but now their days in the arena are past and it may be time for a new champion to take their place. Defending IB 6kyubi6 seems to have built a place of residence for whoever emerges victorious in this round, which you can follow on Flickr here. 

The seed part for this round is the pitchfork element, and 6kyubi6's challenger is vitroleum. 

(By the way, I love those miniature cannons!)