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http://homepages.svc.fcj.hvu.nl/brok/legomind/models/index.htm
select from menu: Buildings:Estuary Stronghold
These are preliminary pictures of Estuary Stronghold, a medieval fortified
village.
These pictures were taken about two weeks before the model was finished. I
knew the flash light wouldn't give us handsome pictures. Anyway, new
pictures will be here soon.
The Estuary Stronghold lies at the banks of a river where the tides of the
sea meet the current of the river, resulting in large tide differences. The
model shows the Stronghold during low tide, so half of the surroundings are
drowned while the other half is dry. During low tide, carts can ride onto
the beach alongside the castle walls to deliver goods which are hauled in by
crane.
The oldest structure is the large half-round Keep. Other stone structures
are the white garrison quarters and the small chapel. The wooden houses
include a luxureous home for the residing lord, general store, food store,
bakery, blacksmith and inn. There are seperate stables for visitors
(garrison stables are on the first floor of the garrison building) and a
crane to haul in large loads from outside the castle walls.
The main roadway curls gradually up from the lower right and goes round full
circle. Castle walls are curved. In this project special efforts were made
to avoid stereotypical LEGO castle shapes and to have curving and skewed
shapes. In retrospect I shouldn't have used the stereotypical castle walls
at all...
The Stronghold is not a court palace. It's a center of local commerce,
residence of the local lord and a fortress to defend the river estuary from
villains. The garrison includes three parties: the Town Guards (local
'police' tasks), the Garrison Soldiers (elite troops available for forceful
presence in the area) and the Wild Bunch, a small flock of hired 'temps' -
noone actually knows where they are from.
No characters are in the pictures yet.
Eric Brok
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In lugnet.castle, Eric Brok writes:
>
> http://homepages.svc.fcj.hvu.nl/brok/legomind/models/index.htm
> select from menu: Buildings:Estuary Stronghold
Eric,
I love it. I really like all the curved lines. I also liked your use for the
Rock Raiders Canopy. A piece which until now I though was almost useless.
I also really like how you blended in the "tidal infuences" into the model and
story.
LEGO on My Mind is one of my favorite sites and I always love looking at your
creations because you spend so much time with the details.
Great work,
Eric Kingsley
The New England LEGO Users Group
http://www.nelug.org/
View My Creations at:
http://www.nelug.org/members/kingsley/
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Eric Kingsley wrote:
>
> In lugnet.castle, Eric Brok writes:
> >
> > http://homepages.svc.fcj.hvu.nl/brok/legomind/models/index.htm
> > select from menu: Buildings:Estuary Stronghold
>
>
> Eric,
>
> I love it. I really like all the curved lines. I also liked your use for the
> Rock Raiders Canopy. A piece which until now I though was almost useless.
I like that also. How did you do the roof of the curved keep?
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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Wow. That was one piece of work. All those creative uses for pieces,
especially the round towers and the rock raiders canopy, really gave it a
realistic look. I'm gonna round the towers on my castle now. And is that a
Trebuchet in two of the pics or is it just a crane? Because I've got a huge
Trebuchet in towards the right wall of my castle. I don't have many soldiers,
so until I do, I'm going for the defensive approach by building a Trebuchet
the size of the state of Rhode Island. If you don't know what a Trebuchet is,
it's like a catapult except that there are usually pieces of wood lashed
together in a triangular form on either side to form the base. The
counterweight is suspended between these. The firing arm is tied down,
loaded, then the counterweight drops and the payload is rocketed a great
distance. Since my giant trebuchet is immobile until lego makes some
elephants or something to pull it, it's mounted on a rotating circle. I'm
trying to get it to be able to go up and down, too.
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Very cool Keep, defenatly one of the better castles on the net. Hey how many
round bricks did you use in the keep anyway? Good job
later
Ian
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In lugnet.castle, Eric Kingsley writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Eric Brok writes:
> >
> > http://homepages.svc.fcj.hvu.nl/brok/legomind/models/index.htm
> > select from menu: Buildings:Estuary Stronghold
>
>
> Eric,
>
> I love it. I really like all the curved lines.
Me too - I was inspired previously from your curved wall design, as were many,
many others, and now I'm even more impressed - I didn't even have enough
pieces to manage a quarter circle of four studs high ;-)
<snip>
I hope you have a chance to add some characters and involve stories - your
village is ready for action!
Let us know on future updates...
> Great work,
I agree!
-Shiri
http://www.geocities.com/shiri_lego/
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On Mon, 31 Jan 2000 20:29:54 GMT, "Eric Brok" <brok@fcjsvc.hvu.nl>
wrote:
>
> http://homepages.svc.fcj.hvu.nl/brok/legomind/models/index.htm
> select from menu: Buildings:Estuary Stronghold
<snippage>
>
> Eric Brok
>
>
WOW Eric, nice castle, another wonderful creation, Kudos! I really
like the curved wall and towers. I notice that you mention that these
are preliminary photos, does that we're going to get close-ups?
<drool> :^)
another creation well done Eric!
Mike
All other themes are just spare parts for Castle!
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In lugnet.castle, Eric Brok writes:
>
> http://homepages.svc.fcj.hvu.nl/brok/legomind/models/index.htm
> select from menu: Buildings:Estuary Stronghold
>
> These are preliminary pictures of Estuary Stronghold, a medieval fortified
> village.
Eric, Godzilla sized kudos!! I like how you combined the different colored
BURPS and all the different colored buildings - much better than all grey and
black. How 'bout a close up of the circular design over the doorway of the grey
building with the black roof - it's only visible in one shot at a distance - it
looks awesome.
How do you go about building such a large and highly creative design - do you
sketch it out first or just have a rough idea in mind and then improvise as
you go? I curious to find out!
All of these great models are inspiring and at the same time very humbling! I
don't have the space right now to build large models, so I usually shop the
clearance sections preparing for "some day". Meanwhile, I build small models
for each faction of my ever growing armies. I've built a battering ram in the
shape of a wolf's head for my Wolfpack guys (my favorites because my last name
means "wolf" in hungarian). I've also built a large wind-driven amphibious land
cruiser called the Bird of Prey for the Black Hawks (as I call them). It looks
like a giant hawk and has two black sails for wings and wheels on both ends. It
can cross any moat and the hawk's head on the front is high enough to breach
most walls. I used the parts from five of the sea serpent set! It looks
pretty cool, I wish I had a way of posting pictures!
Still looking forward to "some day"
Bill
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In lugnet.castle, Bill Farkas writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Eric Brok writes:
> >
> > http://homepages.svc.fcj.hvu.nl/brok/legomind/models/index.htm
> > select from menu: Buildings:Estuary Stronghold
> >
> > These are preliminary pictures of Estuary Stronghold, a medieval fortified
> > village.
>
>
> Eric, Godzilla sized kudos!! I like how you combined the different colored
> BURPS and all the different colored buildings - much better than all grey and
> black. How 'bout a close up of the circular design over the doorway of the • grey
> building with the black roof - it's only visible in one shot at a distance - • it
> looks awesome.
>
> How do you go about building such a large and highly creative design - do you
> sketch it out first or just have a rough idea in mind and then improvise as
> you go? I curious to find out!
>
>
> All of these great models are inspiring and at the same time very humbling! I
> don't have the space right now to build large models, so I usually shop the
> clearance sections preparing for "some day". Meanwhile, I build small models
> for each faction of my ever growing armies. I've built a battering ram in the
> shape of a wolf's head for my Wolfpack guys (my favorites because my last name
> means "wolf" in hungarian). I've also built a large wind-driven amphibious
> land
> cruiser called the Bird of Prey for the Black Hawks (as I call them). It looks
> like a giant hawk and has two black sails for wings and wheels on both ends.
> It
> can cross any moat and the hawk's head on the front is high enough to breach
> most walls. I used the parts from five of the sea serpent set! It looks
> pretty cool, I wish I had a way of posting pictures!
Why don't you have a way? Many companies offer free sites to anyone, and the
one I use (geocities) comes with a WYSIWYG, user-friendly editor. No HTML
knowledge required. If scanning is the prob, send them to me (via snail-mail)
and I'll be happy to scan them for you.
It sounds VERY cool and I (and I'm sure that other people too) want to see it!
> Still looking forward to "some day"
Yep, me too - planning on the summer when I get to retrieve all my lost bricks
from Israel, then planning on NEXT summer when I'll go back to my (big and
beautiful) house in Israel instead of this tiny and crampy (1) apartment in
which I live right now. I'm stocking on lego right now, because once I get
back to Israel I won't be finding much lego in MSRP prices... (2)
-Shiri
http://www.geocities.com/shiri_lego/
(1) also fits if you switch the "m" with a "p" ;-)
(2) Would you believe that I once saw a 5571 (when still in produce) in
a "cheap" shop for 1000 sheqels, at that time about $350?!?
"Someday,
when my life has passed me by,
I'll turn around and wonder why,
LEGO was always there for me"... ;-)
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In lugnet.castle, Shiri Dori writes:
> Why don't you have a way? Many companies offer free sites to anyone, and the
> one I use (geocities) comes with a WYSIWYG, user-friendly editor. No HTML
> knowledge required. If scanning is the prob, send them to me (via snail-mail)
> and I'll be happy to scan them for you.
> It sounds VERY cool and I (and I'm sure that other people too) want to see it!
Yeah, the "prob" is that I don't have a scanner or digital camera! How
prehistoric!!! I feel like Fred Flintstone! Thanks for the offer, if I can get
some good photos maybe I'll take you up on that, toda giveret.
>
> Yep, me too - planning on the summer when I get to retrieve all my lost bricks
> from Israel, then planning on NEXT summer when I'll go back to my (big and
> beautiful) house in Israel instead of this tiny and crampy (1) apartment in
> which I live right now. I'm stocking on lego right now, because once I get
> back to Israel I won't be finding much lego in MSRP prices... (2)
So, what's up, you do summers there and winters here? I guess winter IS kinda
rainy over there, I remember in 91/92 when they had all that flooding - washed
out part of old Jaffa.
> "Someday,
> when my life has passed me by,
> I'll turn around and wonder why,
> LEGO was always there for me"... ;-)
Very poetic, you live up to your name!
Yala bye,
Bill
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In lugnet.castle, Bill Farkas writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Shiri Dori writes:
> > Why don't you have a way? Many companies offer free sites to anyone, and the
> > one I use (geocities) comes with a WYSIWYG, user-friendly editor. No HTML
> > knowledge required. If scanning is the prob, send them to me (via snail-mail)
> > and I'll be happy to scan them for you.
> > It sounds VERY cool and I (and I'm sure that other people too) want to see • it!
> >
> Yeah, the "prob" is that I don't have a scanner or digital camera! How
> prehistoric!!! I feel like Fred Flintstone! Thanks for the offer, if I can get
> some good photos maybe I'll take you up on that, toda giveret.
I wouldn't go as far as to see you're pre-historic... maybe the bronze
period? ;-)
> >
> > Yep, me too - planning on the summer when I get to retrieve all my lost
> > bricks
> > from Israel, then planning on NEXT summer when I'll go back to my (big and
> > beautiful) house in Israel instead of this tiny and crampy (1) apartment in
> > which I live right now. I'm stocking on lego right now, because once I get
> > back to Israel I won't be finding much lego in MSRP prices... (2)
>
> So, what's up, you do summers there and winters here? I guess winter IS kinda
> rainy over there, I remember in 91/92 when they had all that flooding - washed
> out part of old Jaffa.
Nah, I do all this year here and visit during the summer. In 92 (I was in
second grade ;-) there was even snow! But it might've been 92/3.
>
>
> > "Someday,
> > when my life has passed me by,
> > I'll turn around and wonder why,
> > LEGO was always there for me"... ;-)
>
> Very poetic, you live up to your name!
LOL! I love songs. I didn't make this up though, it's a real song with only
the word lego instead of "you" :-)
-Shiri
http://www.geocities.com/shiri_lego/
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In lugnet.castle, Bill Jackson writes:
> Wow. That was one piece of work. All those creative uses for pieces,
> especially the round towers and the rock raiders canopy, really gave it a
> realistic look. I'm gonna round the towers on my castle now. And is that a
> Trebuchet in two of the pics or is it just a crane? Because I've got a huge
> Trebuchet in towards the right wall of my castle. I don't have many soldiers,
> so until I do, I'm going for the defensive approach by building a Trebuchet
> the size of the state of Rhode Island. If you don't know what a Trebuchet is,
> it's like a catapult except that there are usually pieces of wood lashed
> together in a triangular form on either side to form the base. The
> counterweight is suspended between these. The firing arm is tied down,
> loaded, then the counterweight drops and the payload is rocketed a great
> distance. Since my giant trebuchet is immobile until lego makes some
> elephants or something to pull it, it's mounted on a rotating circle. I'm
> trying to get it to be able to go up and down, too.
I just watched the Siege Weapons edition of the Nova "Secrets of Lost Empires"
miniseries on PBS. Basically, the hour-long show focused on the efforts of two
groups of people to build two slightly different trebuchets using medieval
methods, and knock down a typical rubble-filled masonry-shell wall.
It was _very_ inspiring.
I just finished building my own Lego trebuchet, using the mast from the Amazon
River Expedition set as the throwing arm. It swings freely through 350 degrees,
has a huge counterweight (equivalent to 64 1x1 blocks) instead of a basket, and
managed (once) to throw a 1x1 brick with a peg hole in it about 10-12 feet.
It is 10.3 bricks high without the mast, which has its axis of rotation a bit
more than halfway towards the counterweight side. It rolls on four of the thick
4x4 wheels--which I strongly recommend, since allowing it to move increases the
range by up to a half. Also, it's really cool to watch it roll backwards in
steps as the counterweight swings.
Actually, I'm not having a lot of luck with the sling part. I'd rather not cut
up a net to make a smaller sling, but it's looking like that's my best option
(folding the net does not work at all). Right now I've got a chain doubled over
with a rubber band (from Pharaoh's Forbidden Ruins) which I wedge into the hole
of the 1x1. This isn't a great solution, cause it's really hard to make it
release at the right time.
Oh, by the way, for defensive purposes I recommend a ballista instead of a
trebuchet. Nothing quite like being able to spear an entire unit with a
sharpened tree trunk. ;)
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Thankd for the enthousiastic responses. I will try to answer your questions
when better pictures (showing more detail) are up.
Eric
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Wow! Eric, that's awesome, the size os very belittling. Very nicely done.
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Jason Catena wrote:
> I just watched the Siege Weapons edition of the Nova "Secrets of Lost Empires"
> miniseries on PBS. Basically, the hour-long show focused on the efforts of two
> groups of people to build two slightly different trebuchets using medieval
> methods, and knock down a typical rubble-filled masonry-shell wall.
Just read an article (I think it was in Smithsonian magazine) about this
"experiment". I can look it up if anyone missed the special.
> It is 10.3 bricks high without the mast, which has its axis of rotation a bit
> more than halfway towards the counterweight side. It rolls on four of the thick
> 4x4 wheels--which I strongly recommend, since allowing it to move increases the
> range by up to a half. Also, it's really cool to watch it roll backwards in
> steps as the counterweight swings.
Have you observed the range difference with a rolling and non-rolling
LEGO model? The article mentioned that they found that the rolling did
in fact make a difference, just curious how observable that was in a
model.
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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In lugnet.castle, Jason Catena writes:
SNIP
>
> Actually, I'm not having a lot of luck with the sling part. I'd rather not cut
> up a net to make a smaller sling, but it's looking like that's my best option
> (folding the net does not work at all). Right now I've got a chain doubled • over
> with a rubber band (from Pharaoh's Forbidden Ruins) which I wedge into the • hole
> of the 1x1. This isn't a great solution, cause it's really hard to make it
> release at the right time.
>
> Oh, by the way, for defensive purposes I recommend a ballista instead of a
> trebuchet. Nothing quite like being able to spear an entire unit with a
> sharpened tree trunk. ;)
Personal recommendation, don't even try for the sling approach. It will
require a stout crossbar to stop the throwing arm, but put one of the catapult
buckets at the end and make it a hybrid. If you don't put in the stop, the arm
will just keep going and centrifugal force will make the release very
unpredictable.
Either that or go with a NLS (non-Lego solution) with a bit of string and some
cloth and make the sling yourself.
Happy Hurling!
Lance
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In lugnet.castle, Eric Brok writes:
>
> http://homepages.svc.fcj.hvu.nl/brok/legomind/models/index.htm
> select from menu: Buildings:Estuary Stronghold
Wow.
And may I say again: Wow.
That is really impressive! In fact I have to admit I love all your structures--
the attention to detail is what really does it for me... the crane on the side,
the bridge/walkway leading in, the mine shaft and the overpass on the Ice
castle, etc.... I can't WAIT to see more pictures of it... it's superbly
inspiring, especially the diversity of structures and style, all blended
together. It's so rare to see something with rounded & square structures in the
same design... same with castle walls & roofs... This is truly one of the best
examples of form, function, and believability that I've seen in a large castle
structure. Simply amazing!
DaveE
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In lugnet.castle, Frank Filz writes:
> Jason Catena wrote:
> > It is 10.3 bricks high without the mast, which has its axis of rotation a
> > bit more than halfway towards the counterweight side. It rolls on four of
> > the thick 4x4 wheels--which I strongly recommend, since allowing it to move
> > increases the range by up to a half. Also, it's really cool to watch it
> > roll backwards in steps as the counterweight swings.
>
> Have you observed the range difference with a rolling and non-rolling
> LEGO model? The article mentioned that they found that the rolling did
> in fact make a difference, just curious how observable that was in a
> model.
Alas, I was unable to get it to fire properly often enough to make that
observation. The figure of "by a half" I got from the wooden model they used in
the Nova special, which fired 30 feet when rolling, versus 20 feet when
stationary.
Another disadvantage of the stationary approach is that, according to the Nova
special, the model rocks anyway, jumping around a little bit. I didn't observe
this rocking or jumping before I put it on wheels, but I did have it firmly
attached to a very large brick base.
Once I get the thing to fire reliably, I'll post details on its default range,
as well as the effects of various counterweights and power assist (divine
intervention, in the form of my hand:).
Oh, I also need to make a firing pin, I've been cocking and releasing the thing
by hand.
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In lugnet.castle, Lance Scott writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Jason Catena writes:
> SNIP
> >
> > Actually, I'm not having a lot of luck with the sling part. I'd rather not
> > cut up a net to make a smaller sling, but it's looking like that's my best
> > option (folding the net does not work at all). Right now I've got a chain
> > doubled over with a rubber band (from Pharaoh's Forbidden Ruins) which I
> > wedge into the hole of the 1x1. This isn't a great solution, cause it's
> > really hard to make it release at the right time.
>
> Personal recommendation, don't even try for the sling approach. It will
> require a stout crossbar to stop the throwing arm, but put one of the
> catapult buckets at the end and make it a hybrid. If you don't put in the
> stop, the arm will just keep going and centrifugal force will make the
> release very unpredictable.
>
> Either that or go with a NLS (non-Lego solution) with a bit of string and
> some cloth and make the sling yourself.
Hm. The trebuchets in the Nova special did not have crossbars, but in any event
I might be trying to do something a little too tricky for now. The catapult
bucket is a really good idea, and I did try to use the bucket-and-arm from the
Catapult Crusher set, but it turned out to be too awkward and heavy. I don't
have any of the buckets without arms, nor do I know which sets I could find
them in (except one or two really old castle sets). I tried Baylit, but the
piece was not listed as far as I could tell. :(
> Happy Hurling!
Thanks! Do you have experience building these?
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