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Well, as some of you know, we had a "dry-run" for NELUG's upcoming castle
display at The Construction Site ( http://www.constructiontoys.com )... Here's
my set of pictures (Eric and Dan may be likely to post more later):
http://www.suave.net/~dave/tcsdryrun.html
After the dry run, though, I decided I liked a lot of things about Eric K's
tower & wall sections better than my own, so I went back and on a whim,
completely rebuilt my gate... I like it a lot better than the last one I built,
but it could still use some work-- I really like the portcullis mechanism,
though! I just wish it were accessible 1 level below, rather than exposed on
the roof! Take a look:
http://www.suave.net/~dave/gatehouse.html
DaveE
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> Well, as some of you know, we had a "dry-run" for NELUG's upcoming castle
> display at The Construction Site ( http://www.constructiontoys.com )... Here's
> my set of pictures (Eric and Dan may be likely to post more later):
>
> http://www.suave.net/~dave/tcsdryrun.html
very nice! I'd love to see what's in that fence though... what are those?
chickens? I can't tell... more pictures! :) I love the buildings, and i envy
your tan plates :)
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In lugnet.castle, Jennifer L. Boger writes:
> > Well, as some of you know, we had a "dry-run" for NELUG's upcoming castle
> > display at The Construction Site ( http://www.constructiontoys.com )... • Here's
> > my set of pictures (Eric and Dan may be likely to post more later):
> >
> > http://www.suave.net/~dave/tcsdryrun.html
>
> very nice! I'd love to see what's in that fence though... what are those?
> chickens? I can't tell... more pictures! :) I love the buildings, and i envy
> your tan plates :)
Yep, chickens they are! They're kinda tough to see... I don't think we took
pictures of the chickens up close-- we mostly focused on the town's streets :(
I can't wait to see what we've got when this display goes up-- it has proven to
be quite promising!
DaveE
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In lugnet.castle, David Eaton writes:
> Well, as some of you know, we had a "dry-run" for NELUG's upcoming castle
> display at The Construction Site ( http://www.constructiontoys.com )... Here's
> my set of pictures (Eric and Dan may be likely to post more later):
>
> http://www.suave.net/~dave/tcsdryrun.html
You beat me to it again. I have had absolutely no time to get something up
yet. I am hoping tonight works out.
After looking at this again I like it even better. This is just incredibly
cool in that it takes on the feel of a real medieval village just like I am
shooting for with my stuff. We need to add some more variety to the buildings
and add some more scenery but I think this is looking incredible. I can't wait
for the real setup.
>
> After the dry run, though, I decided I liked a lot of things about Eric K's
> tower & wall sections better than my own, so I went back and on a whim,
> completely rebuilt my gate... I like it a lot better than the last one I • built,
> but it could still use some work-- I really like the portcullis mechanism,
> though! I just wish it were accessible 1 level below, rather than exposed on
> the roof! Take a look:
>
> http://www.suave.net/~dave/gatehouse.html
Dave this is awsome I really, really like it. The best part is both gates are
compatable with the wall pieces although we will have to decide on blue or red
for the Window display.
You said that I inspired you. Well now you have inspired me and I think I am
going to have to go back to my Gate to see what I can do to improve on it. I
already have a couple of ideas but I don't want to let the cat out of the bag
just yet.
Dave again I love your new gate I don't know what else to say.
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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In lugnet.castle, Eric Kingsley writes:
> In lugnet.castle, David Eaton writes:
> > Well, as some of you know, we had a "dry-run" for NELUG's upcoming castle
> > display at The Construction Site ( http://www.constructiontoys.com )... • Here's
> > my set of pictures (Eric and Dan may be likely to post more later):
> >
> > http://www.suave.net/~dave/tcsdryrun.html
>
> You beat me to it again. I have had absolutely no time to get something up
> yet. I am hoping tonight works out.
:) I know you guys got a bunch more "eye level" shots than I did-- can't wait
to see some of these...
> After looking at this again I like it even better. This is just incredibly
> cool in that it takes on the feel of a real medieval village just like I am
> shooting for with my stuff. We need to add some more variety to the buildings
> and add some more scenery but I think this is looking incredible. I can't
> wait for the real setup.
Yeah, the more I look at it, the more I like it-- I have a feeling I'm going to
love the final result!
> > After the dry run, though, I decided I liked a lot of things about Eric K's
> > tower & wall sections better than my own, so I went back and on a whim,
> > completely rebuilt my gate... I like it a lot better than the last one I
> > built, but it could still use some work-- I really like the portcullis
> > mechanism, though! I just wish it were accessible 1 level below, rather than
> > exposed on the roof! Take a look:
> >
> > http://www.suave.net/~dave/gatehouse.html
>
> Dave this is awsome I really, really like it. The best part is both gates are
> compatable with the wall pieces although we will have to decide on blue or red
> for the Window display.
I like the new one a lot better than the old one I did, but I think it still
needs some changes-- One of the odd things about it is that there's only 2 of
the Leo's Knights flags! There are only two of them in all the new castle
sets-- both in 6091 (sigh, the big one) So I probably will go out and pick up
another one...
> You said that I inspired you. Well now you have inspired me and I think I am
> going to have to go back to my Gate to see what I can do to improve on it. I
> already have a couple of ideas but I don't want to let the cat out of the bag
> just yet.
Yeah, there are a couple things I'd like to improve on, and I'm not sure how
many of them I'm going to do... I'm also a lot lower on bricks now (the new
tower took a chunk more than expected out of my grey) but I needed more service
packs anyway :)
DaveE
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In lugnet.castle, David Eaton writes:
> Well, as some of you know, we had a "dry-run" for NELUG's upcoming castle
> display at The Construction Site ( http://www.constructiontoys.com )... Here's
> my set of pictures (Eric and Dan may be likely to post more later):
>
> http://www.suave.net/~dave/tcsdryrun.html
Kudos on the photography! Any plans on making a landscape in front of the
city out of BURPS? (ha ha - more work;) What other additions will be
made to this before it's ready to be displayed? Your landscape for Mindfest
was very nice, but I doubt it's as necessary for this. Once again - this is
only serving as a tantalizer to what we could do during the summer ... (or
in the future).
> After the dry run, though, I decided I liked a lot of things about Eric K's
> tower & wall sections better than my own, so I went back and on a whim,
> completely rebuilt my gate... I like it a lot better than the last one I built,
> but it could still use some work-- I really like the portcullis mechanism,
> though! I just wish it were accessible 1 level below, rather than exposed on
> the roof! Take a look:
>
> http://www.suave.net/~dave/gatehouse.html
Unbelievable! The blue line is a sweet touch (fire and water?) The
mechanism is well done and covered up, and the mix of tan elements is also very
effectively used here. Very nice use of the wall pieces as well - they mix
in well with your bricks. I guess an equilibrium can be reached between
using just bricks or just walls. I will be exploring this very soon ...
-- pn
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In lugnet.castle, Pawel Nazarewicz writes:
> In lugnet.castle, David Eaton writes:
> > Well, as some of you know, we had a "dry-run" for NELUG's upcoming castle
> > display at The Construction Site ( http://www.constructiontoys.com )...
> > Here's my set of pictures (Eric and Dan may be likely to post more later):
> >
> > http://www.suave.net/~dave/tcsdryrun.html
>
> Kudos on the photography! Any plans on making a landscape in front of the
> city out of BURPS? (ha ha - more work;)
Actually yes :-). That was one of the things we talked about. The hardest
thing about this will be making sections that match up between two people that
may or may not get together to work on their sections. Unlike the Wall which
is easy to standardise and mountain cannot be standardised otherwise it won't
look much like a mountain.
> What other additions will be
> made to this before it's ready to be displayed?
Mostly the mountain and more buildings. There are others who could not make
the meeting that are working on buildings so we should be good in that
department. The big thing is the scenery for the outside of the town.
> Your landscape for Mindfest
> was very nice, but I doubt it's as necessary for this. Once again - this is
> only serving as a tantalizer to what we could do during the summer ... (or
> in the future).
>
> > After the dry run, though, I decided I liked a lot of things about Eric K's
> > tower & wall sections better than my own, so I went back and on a whim,
> > completely rebuilt my gate... I like it a lot better than the last one I
> > built, but it could still use some work-- I really like the portcullis
> > mechanism, though! I just wish it were accessible 1 level below, rather than
> > exposed on the roof! Take a look:
> >
> > http://www.suave.net/~dave/gatehouse.html
>
> Unbelievable! The blue line is a sweet touch (fire and water?) The
> mechanism is well done and covered up, and the mix of tan elements is also
> very effectively used here. Very nice use of the wall pieces as well - they
> mix in well with your bricks. I guess an equilibrium can be reached between
> using just bricks or just walls. I will be exploring this very soon ...
I think there are places for any LEGO part (although some are limiting) it's
just finding the use that suits you best. As I have said before I havn't used
wall pieces in any creations yet more because I have a very small supply of
them then because I don't want to. I think I have 15 gray walls probably
around 10 or 12 dkGray Walls and some black ones too. All that being said I
really like the "No Castle Wall"/"limited Castle Wall" approach. I just think
there are times when you don't need a window exactly every 4 minifig feet
around an entire structure.
Don't get me wrong because I love all the creations I have seen using mostly
castle walls its just an approach I probably won't take. Plus I like designing
interiors for my structures and using Castle walls a lot can limit what you can
do.
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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In lugnet.castle, Eric Kingsley writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Pawel Nazarewicz writes:
> > In lugnet.castle, David Eaton writes:
> > > Well, as some of you know, we had a "dry-run" for NELUG's upcoming castle
> > > display at The Construction Site ( http://www.constructiontoys.com )...
> > > Here's my set of pictures (Eric and Dan may be likely to post more later):
> > >
> > > http://www.suave.net/~dave/tcsdryrun.html
> >
> > Kudos on the photography! Any plans on making a landscape in front of the
> > city out of BURPS? (ha ha - more work;)
>
> Actually yes :-). That was one of the things we talked about. The hardest
> thing about this will be making sections that match up between two people that
> may or may not get together to work on their sections. Unlike the Wall which
> is easy to standardise and mountain cannot be standardised otherwise it won't
> look much like a mountain.
>
> > What other additions will be
> > made to this before it's ready to be displayed?
>
> Mostly the mountain and more buildings. There are others who could not make
> the meeting that are working on buildings so we should be good in that
> department. The big thing is the scenery for the outside of the town.
I'm sorry to have missed the gathering. Your pictures look fantastic!
Don't forget, Crispin said we can drape cloth over glass cubes to achieve levels
of various heights. I might have some ratty burlap around here -- looks a bit
like earth.
I would like to put up some pictures of what I've built here. I think I'm
nearing the end of my contribution. I got some great books from the library with
drawings of farmers, criminals and houses, etc. from the Middle Ages. I'll try
to make extra photocopies. I plan to start a 3-ring binder, Castle visual-ref
notebook.
I've built mostly "day in the life" stuff. Some lonely, worn out serfs with
farming tools, crude plow, and carts (no horses) transporting goods. A hovel
built into in a hill with farm (it's furnished for those who open it). Hay
pile. Animals: sheep, ram, brown mystery-animal, ducks.
Also, a 32x32 lush (very green) hill, sorta magical looking, where a druidess is
mixing a potion (or maybe it's just her dinner). Trees, flowers etc there.
Atop another hill, I built a craggy, rocky stone Keep. almost done. it has
dungeon, fancy tower, lookouts, and many BURPs hidden around inside. This model
is on a 48x48(?) gray baseplate. matches color/style of new castle.
For figures, I have many peasant-types -- made from old as well as new elements.
Including 3 or 4 propperly dressed maidens and some tough, well armed women
(heh!) and a few old and/or sickly folk.
Meanwhile, village townhouse occupants have market/shopkeep neighbors. (only 3
buildings- directly up against each other) A kindly woman who works at her
spinning wheel, sells yarns. And a weapons shop with nasty store front and
smithy in back. (all furnished and openable.)
there's a thief locked in stocks. a shared water well with hand pump. Highwaymen
(ready to rob). And a crowd gathering in the village street. Looks like they're
headed up to the Barron's keep. disgruntled for sure -- they're carrying
torches, waving pitchforks, brooms, pots, rakes and the like.
I'll post when pics are ready. maybe tonight.
-Suz.
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In lugnet.castle, Suzanne D. Rich writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Eric Kingsley writes:
> > In lugnet.castle, Pawel Nazarewicz writes:
> > > In lugnet.castle, David Eaton writes:
> > > > http://www.suave.net/~dave/tcsdryrun.html
> > >
> > > What other additions will be
> > > made to this before it's ready to be displayed?
> >
> > Mostly the mountain and more buildings. There are others who could not make
> > the meeting that are working on buildings so we should be good in that
> > department. The big thing is the scenery for the outside of the town.
>
> I'm sorry to have missed the gathering. Your pictures look fantastic!
I agree, they look great. LMK when the real thing is put up, I don't want to
miss it! Although I can't officially attend NELUG, I hope you won't mind if I
just happen to drop by TCS while you're there and check it out... :-)
>
> Don't forget, Crispin said we can drape cloth over glass cubes to achieve
> levels
> of various heights. I might have some ratty burlap around here -- looks a bit
> like earth.
That would work really nicely. Craig made nice use of cloth as scenery in his
blue castle pic (sole picture shown in CW).
>
> I would like to put up some pictures of what I've built here.
I'd love to see them!
> I think I'm
> nearing the end of my contribution. I got some great books from the library
> with
> drawings of farmers, criminals and houses, etc. from the Middle Ages. I'll try
> to make extra photocopies. I plan to start a 3-ring binder, Castle visual-ref
> notebook.
Cool. I'd love to see that too.
> I've built mostly "day in the life" stuff. Some lonely, worn out serfs with
> farming tools, crude plow, and carts (no horses) transporting goods. A hovel
> built into in a hill with farm (it's furnished for those who open it). Hay
> pile. Animals: sheep, ram, brown mystery-animal, ducks.
Surely one of the most common types of living in the Middle ages, yet you
don't see lots of these in lego. Great idea!
> Also, a 32x32 lush (very green) hill, sorta magical looking, where a druidess
> is
> mixing a potion (or maybe it's just her dinner). Trees, flowers etc there.
I'm very interested to see how this turns(turned?) out. My green hill didn't
come out as I'd like it to, and I'm trying to figure out how to redo it for
better effect.
> Atop another hill, I built a craggy, rocky stone Keep. almost done. it has
> dungeon, fancy tower, lookouts, and many BURPs hidden around inside. This
> model
> is on a 48x48(?) gray baseplate. matches color/style of new castle.
Nice! Who's in charge of it?
> For figures, I have many peasant-types -- made from old as well as new
> elements.
> Including 3 or 4 propperly dressed maidens and some tough, well armed women
> (heh!) and a few old and/or sickly folk.
Variety, I like it! I also have both types of women. No old peasants yet, but
coming soon...
> Meanwhile, village townhouse occupants have market/shopkeep neighbors. (only 3
> buildings- directly up against each other) A kindly woman who works at her
> spinning wheel, sells yarns. And a weapons shop with nasty store front and
> smithy in back. (all furnished and openable.)
I'd love to see how you did the wheel and yarn... weapons shop sounds nice too.
> there's a thief locked in stocks. a shared water well with hand pump.
> Highwaymen
> (ready to rob). And a crowd gathering in the village street. Looks like
> they're
> headed up to the Barron's keep. disgruntled for sure -- they're carrying
> torches, waving pitchforks, brooms, pots, rakes and the like.
You've got some great scenes there!
> I'll post when pics are ready. maybe tonight.
Great, can't wait!
-Shiri
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In lugnet.castle, Suzanne D. Rich writes:
>
> I'm sorry to have missed the gathering. Your pictures look fantastic!
That is quite all right I am trying to attend to most meetings I can and build
as much as I can because in another 6 to 7 months my LEGO time is going to
diminish greatly (another cleverly disguised hint).
I will have more pictures up tonight although I have not even looked at them
yet so I don't know how good they are.
>
> Don't forget, Crispin said we can drape cloth over glass cubes to achieve
> levels of various heights. I might have some ratty burlap around here -- looks
> a bit like earth.
We were discussing this some on Saturday and we just did not know how to use
the Cubes in conjunction with the Town mostly because as you see it it works
really well on a level surface and our though was the cubes would create an
uneven surface. Now with your post and some more thinking I thought we could
possibly use one layer of cubes under at least the town and maybe the whole
thing. I then have a 4x8 sheet of lewon -sp? aka quarter inch plywood that we
could cut into sections and put on top of the cubes in order to get a level
surface.
Our other concern was that we don't want to go to high because we want to make
sure kids can see it. I guess I would just like to hear some ideas as to how
to raise the floor in the window and make it work with our setup.
>
> I would like to put up some pictures of what I've built here. I think I'm
> nearing the end of my contribution. I got some great books from the library
> with drawings of farmers, criminals and houses, etc. from the Middle Ages.
> I'll try to make extra photocopies. I plan to start a 3-ring binder, Castle
> visual-ref notebook.
>
> I've built mostly "day in the life" stuff. Some lonely, worn out serfs with
> farming tools, crude plow, and carts (no horses) transporting goods. A hovel
> built into in a hill with farm (it's furnished for those who open it). Hay
> pile. Animals: sheep, ram, brown mystery-animal, ducks.
>
> Also, a 32x32 lush (very green) hill, sorta magical looking, where a druidess
> is mixing a potion (or maybe it's just her dinner). Trees, flowers etc there.
>
> Atop another hill, I built a craggy, rocky stone Keep. almost done. it has
> dungeon, fancy tower, lookouts, and many BURPs hidden around inside. This
> model is on a 48x48(?) gray baseplate. matches color/style of new castle.
>
> For figures, I have many peasant-types -- made from old as well as new
> elements. Including 3 or 4 propperly dressed maidens and some tough, well
> armed women (heh!) and a few old and/or sickly folk.
>
> Meanwhile, village townhouse occupants have market/shopkeep neighbors. (only 3
> buildings- directly up against each other) A kindly woman who works at her
> spinning wheel, sells yarns. And a weapons shop with nasty store front and
> smithy in back. (all furnished and openable.)
>
> there's a thief locked in stocks. a shared water well with hand pump.
> Highwaymen (ready to rob). And a crowd gathering in the village street. Looks
> like they're headed up to the Barron's keep. disgruntled for sure -- they're
> carrying torches, waving pitchforks, brooms, pots, rakes and the like.
>
> I'll post when pics are ready. maybe tonight.
I am looking forward to it.
One thing we were thinking was that we wanted to use at least a few of the
current sets so that they would have something to point to and say "you can buy
that". Our thought was that most of the sets (especially the castle) were out
of scale with everything we had done. So we thought we would use the Bull's
Attack stuff in the setup. Some of your stuff sounds like it might be more
stuff for outside the city walls like the "32x32 hill with druidess making her
dinner". I just don't know if we should wait and see what Suzanne has before
we finalize the layout and theme. Maybe we don't want a hugh battle if we can
fill up the space with creations instead of a bunch of soldiers like we did on
Saturday.
Anyway I am rambling a bit I think I will wait till I see Suzanne's stuff
before I make any more suggestions.
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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In lugnet.castle, Eric Kingsley writes:
> That is quite all right I am trying to attend to most meetings I can and
> build as much as I can because in another 6 to 7 months my LEGO time is
> going to diminish greatly (another cleverly disguised hint).
Woo! Congrats! I hope everything goes perfectly for all of you.
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In lugnet.castle, Eric Kingsley writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Suzanne D. Rich writes:
> > I'm sorry to have missed the gathering. Your pictures look fantastic!
>
> That is quite all right I am trying to attend to most meetings I can and build
> as much as I can because in another 6 to 7 months my LEGO time is going to
> diminish greatly (another cleverly disguised hint).
Wow, Really?! Congrats.
:-)
(Eric's LEGO time goes down, but his PRIMO time goes up)
;-)
> > Don't forget, Crispin said we can drape cloth over glass cubes to achieve
> > levels of various heights. I might have some ratty burlap around here -- looks
> > a bit like earth.
>
> We were discussing this some on Saturday and we just did not know how to use
> the Cubes in conjunction with the Town mostly because as you see it it works
> really well on a level surface and our though was the cubes would create an
> uneven surface. Now with your post and some more thinking I thought we could
> possibly use one layer of cubes under at least the town and maybe the whole
> thing. I then have a 4x8 sheet of lewon -sp? aka quarter inch plywood that we
> could cut into sections and put on top of the cubes in order to get a level
> surface.
yes, maybe something like you suggest would work. If you have no table saw, or
other way to cut plywood, I have used 1" thick corragated cardboard. It's nice
and light, yet strong as plywood and very flat.
Do we know, when is the projected date for our setup at TCS?
> Our other concern was that we don't want to go to high because we want to make
> sure kids can see it.
yup. :-)
I think the pictured army scene could be up front and center, while models like
mine may get spread around in background on slightly different levels. But we'll
see when the time comes. Any models of mine you don't need, I still enjoyed
making.
Hmm.. I wonder how it would look for the store window's back wall to carry a few
poster-size close-up pictures from minifig perspective. that'd be fun if TCS
would spring for the printing. hmmm (thinking)
> One thing we were thinking was that we wanted to use at least a few of the
> current sets so that they would have something to point to and say "you can buy
> that". Our thought was that most of the sets (especially the castle) were out
> of scale with everything we had done.
good point.
> So we thought we would use the Bull's
> Attack stuff in the setup. Some of your stuff sounds like it might be more
> stuff for outside the city walls like the "32x32 hill with druidess making her
> dinner".
yes, she'd be an "outside the walls" kinda character. like Merlin or something.
I still have an embarrassingly huge number of BURPs and gray bricks here,
unused. Tree parts too. So if you need more boundary walls or a cliff or
something, we have those materials available.
-Suz
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In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Suzanne D. Rich writes:
> In lugnet.castle, Eric Kingsley writes:
> > In lugnet.castle, Suzanne D. Rich writes:
> > > I'm sorry to have missed the gathering. Your pictures look fantastic!
> >
> > That is quite all right I am trying to attend to most meetings I can and
> > build as much as I can because in another 6 to 7 months my LEGO time is going
> > to diminish greatly (another cleverly disguised hint).
>
> Wow, Really?! Congrats.
> :-)
Thanks!!!
>
> (Eric's LEGO time goes down, but his PRIMO time goes up)
> ;-)
Yes I will be experiancing the entire TLC product range.
>
> yes, maybe something like you suggest would work. If you have no table saw, or
> other way to cut plywood, I have used 1" thick corragated cardboard. It's nice
> and light, yet strong as plywood and very flat.
Wow 1" thick cardboard. Sounds kind of neat and it sounds like it might to the
trick to keep things level.
>
> Do we know, when is the projected date for our setup at TCS?
Not yet we need to talk to Crispin again.
>
> > Our other concern was that we don't want to go to high because we want to
> > make sure kids can see it.
>
> yup. :-)
> I think the pictured army scene could be up front and center, while models
> like mine may get spread around in background on slightly different levels.
> But we'll see when the time comes. Any models of mine you don't need, I still
> enjoyed making.
Dave and I both are thinking like you. We are going to bring all our stuff but
if it does not all fit thats OK too. We should look to keep everyone that
wants to participate involved so If that means I only get to display one or two
of my things then thats OK (Plus that means we have a ton of stuff which is
cool too).
As for the army that is kind of what we were thinking. We had in mind having a
mountain (out of BURPS probably) in the background and the troops approaching
from in front of the mountains.
We could modify this a bit and using the Cubes have a plateau -sp? on top of
the mountain for more stuff. Basically we just build up the mountain to the
hieght of the cubes which is 16" I think.
>
> Hmm.. I wonder how it would look for the store window's back wall to carry a
> few poster-size close-up pictures from minifig perspective. that'd be fun if
> TCS would spring for the printing. hmmm (thinking)
That is a great idea if we can get some pictures printed that big.
>
> > One thing we were thinking was that we wanted to use at least a few of the
> > current sets so that they would have something to point to and say "you can
> > buy that". Our thought was that most of the sets (especially the castle)
> > were out of scale with everything we had done.
>
> good point.
>
> > So we thought we would use the Bull's
> > Attack stuff in the setup. Some of your stuff sounds like it might be more
> > stuff for outside the city walls like the "32x32 hill with druidess making
> > her dinner".
>
> yes, she'd be an "outside the walls" kinda character. like Merlin or
> something.
>
> I still have an embarrassingly huge number of BURPs and gray bricks here,
> unused. Tree parts too. So if you need more boundary walls or a cliff or
> something, we have those materials available.
I actually have all mine available and with all the Rapic River Villages I have
been buying on discount my supply has been growing (5 Rectangle and 3 Triangle
BURPS in each set I think). Other than the Fig's, horses, and Tee Pee's this
is a great set for parts but I guess people just don't realize it or the Fig's
just scare them off.
Anyway we definitely need some mountain/cliff type stuff. The only problem is
getting everyones stuff to line-up. We had though that we would each build a
section and as we did we would post a map of its profile so someone could make
a matching part. The other option would be to have a mountain building party
and just do it together which might be fun if we can do it.
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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In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Suzanne D. Rich writes:
> yes, maybe something like you suggest would work. If you have no table saw, or
> other way to cut plywood, I have used 1" thick corragated cardboard. It's nice
> and light, yet strong as plywood and very flat.
>
> Do we know, when is the projected date for our setup at TCS?
That might work-- I wonder how many cubes they have to support it....
> [snip]
> yup. :-)
> I think the pictured army scene could be up front and center, while models
> like mine may get spread around in background on slightly different levels.
> But we'll see when the time comes. Any models of mine you don't need, I still
> enjoyed making.
That's actually something I was thinking of last night-- perhaps something
like:
This area is kinda
"outside" the city,
but away from battle
______________________________________________________
| |
| Raised bit Raised "mountain/hill"|
| of town |
| (on cubes) Fade from |
| tan to green |
| (houses, etc) |
| More flat |
| "Flat" part town/farmland, etc |
| of town ______________________________|
| ___ |
|=======[___]===========| <-- The wall & gate
| |
| Moo Army |
|_______________________|
The only structures that really NEED to be somewhere flat are probably the Inn
and the church-- and they could go right by the front of the town (kinda makes
sense anyway)... all of my houses can pretty much go anywhere...
The more I think about it the more I think we should probably go for store
display style rather than "realistic"-- and maybe we can do the "realistic"
display for Castle World pics or something-- that way we're also not limited by
space requirements, etc...
> Hmm.. I wonder how it would look for the store window's back wall to carry a
> few poster-size close-up pictures from minifig perspective. that'd be fun if
> TCS would spring for the printing. hmmm (thinking)
That might look pretty cool! How much do printings like that run, ballpark? (I
have NO idea)-- I might consider paying for one myself! (much better than those
Aquazone posters, etc that TLC came out with :)
> > One thing we were thinking was that we wanted to use at least a few of the
> > current sets so that they would have something to point to and say "you can
> > buy that". Our thought was that most of the sets (especially the castle)
> > were out of scale with everything we had done.
>
> good point.
Hmmm... Available sets:
Axe Cart - definitely usable
Defense Archer - POSSIBLY... he could be doing target practice or something
Catapult Crusher - definitely
Guarded Treasury - probably not-- not the right scale, etc
Royal Joust - Another maybe.. depends on how we do the scene
Bull's Attack - definitely
King Leo's Castle - probably not
Did I miss any?
> I still have an embarrassingly huge number of BURPs and gray bricks here,
> unused. Tree parts too. So if you need more boundary walls or a cliff or
> something, we have those materials available.
Perhaps for use as "covers" for the front of cubes? A 16"x16" BURP square so we
can cover the front of cubes with ABS rather than a bedspread or something? (No
offense to Shaun's spread, of course! :)
Just some thoughts,
DaveE
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Well now the ideas seem to be flowing... :-)
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, David Eaton writes:
> In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Suzanne D. Rich writes:
> > yes, maybe something like you suggest would work. If you have no table saw,
> > or other way to cut plywood, I have used 1" thick corragated cardboard. It's
> > nice and light, yet strong as plywood and very flat.
> >
> > Do we know, when is the projected date for our setup at TCS?
>
> That might work-- I wonder how many cubes they have to support it....
I think they have a ton of them. I doubt we have to worry about running out of
them.
> > [snip]
> > yup. :-)
> > I think the pictured army scene could be up front and center, while models
> > like mine may get spread around in background on slightly different levels.
> > But we'll see when the time comes. Any models of mine you don't need, I still
> > enjoyed making.
>
> That's actually something I was thinking of last night-- perhaps something
> like:
>
> This area is kinda
> "outside" the city,
> but away from battle
> ______________________________________________________
> | |
> | Raised bit Raised "mountain/hill"|
> | of town |
> | (on cubes) Fade from |
> | tan to green |
> | (houses, etc) |
> | More flat |
> | "Flat" part town/farmland, etc |
> | of town ______________________________|
> | ___ |
> |=======[___]===========| <-- The wall & gate
> | |
> | Moo Army |
> |_______________________|
>
>
> The only structures that really NEED to be somewhere flat are probably the Inn
> and the church-- and they could go right by the front of the town (kinda makes
> sense anyway)... all of my houses can pretty much go anywhere...
>
> The more I think about it the more I think we should probably go for store
> display style rather than "realistic"-- and maybe we can do the "realistic"
> display for Castle World pics or something-- that way we're also not limited
> by space requirements, etc...
I like this a lot. With your layout we don't waste a lot of space with the
Battle/Army. The only concern I might have here is the Gate Blocking the view
of the things behind it. But as you say if we go with more of a window display
type setup things could be staired a bit so that everything is viewable. The
other option would be to put common non-descript buildings close to the wall so
that it does not matter so much that they are partially blocked.
As for the Inn and the Church I would not worry to much. The Church should be
fine my only worry with the Inn is that if it is not level the seams in the
sections start comming apart. I think one thing I could do is strengthen them
with a small piece of the 1/4" plywood cut to fit under the baseplates. That
ought to give them enough strenth. But if they are on floor level that is not
a worry anyway. Like your houses I can remove the Church from the baseplates
and it holds together just fine. The Inn I think is a different story.
I also like the idea of keeping this as somewhat of an ongoing project where we
can get together from time to time to set it up and take pictures. I know for
me at least the Inn and Church will probably stay assembled for a while (The
rest I am not sure about at the moment) and I would love to set up a big town
display from time to time. It is definitely something that has more growth
potential than the Star Wars stuff did. Plus without a lot of Train Heads in
NELUG just yet this seems like something similar we can do to have a big setup.
Plus if we ever do get some train heads at least some of the buildings could
probably cross themes.
<snip>
> > > One thing we were thinking was that we wanted to use at least a few of the
> > > current sets so that they would have something to point to and say "you can
> > > buy that". Our thought was that most of the sets (especially the castle)
> > > were out of scale with everything we had done.
> >
> > good point.
>
> Hmmm... Available sets:
> Axe Cart - definitely usable
> Defense Archer - POSSIBLY... he could be doing target practice or something
> Catapult Crusher - definitely
> Guarded Treasury - probably not-- not the right scale, etc
> Royal Joust - Another maybe.. depends on how we do the scene
> Bull's Attack - definitely
> King Leo's Castle - probably not
>
> Did I miss any?
I don't think so. I also think your views on the sets fitting in with our set
up are pretty accurate.
>
> > I still have an embarrassingly huge number of BURPs and gray bricks here,
> > unused. Tree parts too. So if you need more boundary walls or a cliff or
> > something, we have those materials available.
>
> Perhaps for use as "covers" for the front of cubes? A 16"x16" BURP square so
> we can cover the front of cubes with ABS rather than a bedspread or something?
> (No offense to Shaun's spread, of course! :)
I think the idea of just covering up the cubes with BURPS might be the way to
go.
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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In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Kingsley writes:
> Well now the ideas seem to be flowing... :-)
What great pictures! When I saw these, I was inspired to do a little building
myself.
I didn't have enough grey to do anything big, so I started working in white
brick. Before I knew it, I had an Ivory Tower (two of them, actually) which
made me wonder if there is room in this medieval town for a school/university
building? Or maybe it's just an inventor's workshop... So I built one. The
building is about 24 studs square, and should be plenty strong even without a
baseplate. It is two stories high, (grande six-brick ceiling heights) with a
pair of Ivory Towers at the rear corners of the building. The towers and
lower rear roof deck detach to expose the inside of the building for play -- a
ground floor classroom, and a (planned) library on the second floor. There is
a rooftop astronomical observatory (well, a telescope, anyway) where the deep
thinkers in the town can watch the stars and ponder the greatness of the
universe. Too bad they weren't using that telescope to scan the surrounding
hills for approaching armies!
Speaking of approaching armies, I was also inspired to build an accessory that
no attacking army should lay siege without. I don't want to spoil the visual
impact of it, but let's just say that it is not "a large, wooden badger."
My building almost seems perhaps a bit too fancy for a truly medieval town,
but maybe minifigs are more enlightened than your typical human middle-ager,
and education is a priority in their town. (Sorry, no pictures yet -- I
foolishly lent my digital camera to my brother for a couple of weeks.)
It sounds like there will be plenty of stuff for the TCS window display, so I
completely understand if there isn't room for my stuff. (Especially since I
missed all of the planning meetings so far!) I still had a blast and, as
usual, learned a lot building it. I love how easily one can reproduce fine
architectural details using common LEGO bricks.
I can't wait to see the final window display!
p.s. KB Toy is blowing out the "Witch's Windship" set for $4.99, which
contains about 50 or 60 lame pieces including a witch, but also contains a
really cool dragon and a crystal ball. I have purchased several of these so
far, but I keep giving them away to my friends because they fall in love with
the dragon on sight. Did anyone follow through on the proposal to build a
dragon's lair? (I didn't have enough BURPs to pull it off, so the one I built
is more of a diorama/playset than a realistic cave.)
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In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Chris Phillips writes:
> In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Kingsley writes:
> > Well now the ideas seem to be flowing... :-)
>
> What great pictures! When I saw these, I was inspired to do a little building
> myself.
>
> I didn't have enough grey to do anything big, so I started working in white
> brick. Before I knew it, I had an Ivory Tower (two of them, actually) which
> made me wonder if there is room in this medieval town for a school/university
> building? Or maybe it's just an inventor's workshop... So I built one. The
> building is about 24 studs square, and should be plenty strong even without a
> baseplate. It is two stories high, (grande six-brick ceiling heights) with a
> pair of Ivory Towers at the rear corners of the building. The towers and
> lower rear roof deck detach to expose the inside of the building for play -- a
> ground floor classroom, and a (planned) library on the second floor. There is
> a rooftop astronomical observatory (well, a telescope, anyway) where the deep
> thinkers in the town can watch the stars and ponder the greatness of the
> universe. Too bad they weren't using that telescope to scan the surrounding
> hills for approaching armies!
>
> Speaking of approaching armies, I was also inspired to build an accessory that
> no attacking army should lay siege without. I don't want to spoil the visual
> impact of it, but let's just say that it is not "a large, wooden badger."
>
> My building almost seems perhaps a bit too fancy for a truly medieval town,
> but maybe minifigs are more enlightened than your typical human middle-ager,
> and education is a priority in their town. (Sorry, no pictures yet -- I
> foolishly lent my digital camera to my brother for a couple of weeks.)
>
> It sounds like there will be plenty of stuff for the TCS window display, so I
> completely understand if there isn't room for my stuff. (Especially since I
> missed all of the planning meetings so far!) I still had a blast and, as
> usual, learned a lot building it. I love how easily one can reproduce fine
> architectural details using common LEGO bricks.
Chris,
This sounds great. I don't think we will have any problem fitting your
creation into the setup. Dave Eaton and I have created a lot of just Filler
type buildings and those will be the first to go. The goal is to get as many
people participating as possible.
I don't think anyone has followed up on the Dragon's Lair idea yet. I have a
lot of BURP's but I need to use those to create facades for the Glass Cubes we
will be useing in the display to give it hieght.
Anyway can't wait to see your stuff.
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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In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Kingsley writes:
> In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Chris Phillips writes:
> > In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Kingsley writes:
> > > Well now the ideas seem to be flowing... :-)
> >
> > What great pictures! When I saw these, I was inspired to do a little • building
> > myself.
> >
> > I didn't have enough grey to do anything big, so I started working in white
> > brick. Before I knew it, I had an Ivory Tower (two of them, actually) which
> > made me wonder if there is room in this medieval town for a school/university
> > building? Or maybe it's just an inventor's workshop... So I built one. The
> > building is about 24 studs square, and should be plenty strong even without a
> > baseplate. It is two stories high, (grande six-brick ceiling heights) with a
> > pair of Ivory Towers at the rear corners of the building. The towers and
> > lower rear roof deck detach to expose the inside of the building for play --
> > ground floor classroom, and a (planned) library on the second floor. There s
> > a rooftop astronomical observatory (well, a telescope, anyway) where the deep
> > thinkers in the town can watch the stars and ponder the greatness of the
> > universe. Too bad they weren't using that telescope to scan the surrounding
> > hills for approaching armies!
> > <snip!!!>
Oops! I realized last night that the reason my ceilings seem so high is that
the rooms are a full seven bricks high, not six!
I'm just curious what the "standard" height of a minifig-scale building is
supposed to be. I had thought that it was five bricks, judging from the few
apparently room-height BURPs that I have, but that seems awfully cramped when
you actually try it. It looks like the doors in the classic bucket are five
bricks tall, so once you add a lintel you're up to six.
Did you discuss/agree upon a standard height for each story of a building for
this display? (Not that it matters all that much, but...)
> Chris,
>
> This sounds great. I don't think we will have any problem fitting your
> creation into the setup. Dave Eaton and I have created a lot of just Filler
> type buildings and those will be the first to go. The goal is to get as many
> people participating as possible.
>
> I don't think anyone has followed up on the Dragon's Lair idea yet. I have a
> lot of BURP's but I need to use those to create facades for the Glass Cubes we
> will be useing in the display to give it hieght.
Last night I finished up many of the interior details of the university
building, including the classroom and library. I even pulled two Santas out
of my (otherwise unopened) Advent Calendar to get some long white beards for
the professors. (I'll post pictures in a couple weeks when I get my camera
back.)
Meanwhile I have started thinking some more about the Dragon's Lair. I'm
thinking that dragons are misunderstood creatures that are quite a bit more
sophisticated than we humans generally give them credit for. No damp, drafty
cave will do here -- I was thinking about making an ominous castle/keep in
dragon-fig proportions that could loom over the little town from a mountain
peak toward the rear of the display. But I'm not sure if this would be
consistent with what other people think that a Dragon's Lair should look like,
or if that would fit into the planned layout, either physically or
stylistically. Any thoughts on this?
Are there any other outstanding projects that still need to be done for the
display? Do we have a date yet for when the TCS display is going up??
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In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Chris Phillips writes:
<snip>
>
> Oops! I realized last night that the reason my ceilings seem so high is that
> the rooms are a full seven bricks high, not six!
>
> I'm just curious what the "standard" height of a minifig-scale building is
> supposed to be. I had thought that it was five bricks, judging from the few
> apparently room-height BURPs that I have, but that seems awfully cramped when
> you actually try it. It looks like the doors in the classic bucket are five
> bricks tall, so once you add a lintel you're up to six.
>
> Did you discuss/agree upon a standard height for each story of a building for
> this display? (Not that it matters all that much, but...)
Well I don't think there are any real standards for room hieght just like in
the real world although it seems that TLC leans towards 6 bricks high. I guess
that is what I use more often then not for "Middle class homes" Peasant homes
might be a little less and for a Castle or Keep you could go 7 or 8 high
depending on the room.
So no it does not matter so I wouldn't worry about it.
<snip>
>
> Last night I finished up many of the interior details of the university
> building, including the classroom and library. I even pulled two Santas out
> of my (otherwise unopened) Advent Calendar to get some long white beards for
> the professors. (I'll post pictures in a couple weeks when I get my camera
> back.)
Cool!
>
> Meanwhile I have started thinking some more about the Dragon's Lair. I'm
> thinking that dragons are misunderstood creatures that are quite a bit more
> sophisticated than we humans generally give them credit for. No damp, drafty
> cave will do here -- I was thinking about making an ominous castle/keep in
> dragon-fig proportions that could loom over the little town from a mountain
> peak toward the rear of the display. But I'm not sure if this would be
> consistent with what other people think that a Dragon's Lair should look like,
> or if that would fit into the planned layout, either physically or
> stylistically. Any thoughts on this?
Well to Dragon fig proportions it would be hugh although probably a neat
project. My idea is that every one will bring there stuff when we set up and
if something just dominates the scene to much for one reason or the other then
we will have to decide if we are going to keep it or not.
I had thought about the inside of one of the cubes just because it would be
waisted space anyway. One thing is that Dragons don't exist in the 2000 sets
so we probably don't want then to dominate the scene although including them in
the scene should be fine.
>
> Are there any other outstanding projects that still need to be done for the
> display? Do we have a date yet for when the TCS display is going up??
Nothing I can think of in particular except I need to figure out a standard for
the BURP facades for the cubes. Other then that we have a pretty well rounded
town even though we don't really have a castle or keep to go with it and I
don't think they are necessary although it would be nice to have one.
We have residential space with lots of homes.
We have commercial space with a market and the inn.
We have a church.
We have a university.
We have the castle wall.
I guess we don't have much in the way of government buildings but that is all I
can think of.
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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In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Kingsley writes:
> In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Chris Phillips writes:
> <snip>
> > Meanwhile I have started thinking some more about the Dragon's Lair. I'm
> > thinking that dragons are misunderstood creatures that are quite a bit more
> > sophisticated than we humans generally give them credit for. No damp, drafty
> > cave will do here -- I was thinking about making an ominous castle/keep in
> > dragon-fig proportions that could loom over the little town from a mountain
> > peak toward the rear of the display. But I'm not sure if this would be
> > consistent with what other people think that a Dragon's Lair should look
> > like, or if that would fit into the planned layout, either physically or
> > stylistically. Any thoughts on this?
>
> Well to Dragon fig proportions it would be hugh although probably a neat
> project. My idea is that every one will bring there stuff when we set up and
> if something just dominates the scene to much for one reason or the other then
> we will have to decide if we are going to keep it or not.
>
> I had thought about the inside of one of the cubes just because it would be
> waisted space anyway. One thing is that Dragons don't exist in the 2000 sets
> so we probably don't want then to dominate the scene although including them
> in the scene should be fine.
That was one of my concerns was how to do this without overwhelming the town.
I don't think the TCS window area would be large enough for it to be very far
off in the distance, unfortunately. The Dragon's Lair should definitely be a
sideshow, not a main attraction of this display.
The dragon diorama/playset that I had built previously was designed to look
like a plain old cave from the outside, but a nicely appointed apartment on
the inside. It sounds like it would be better if I focused on this kind of
thing to put inside of a cube, instead of my other idea for an imposing
castle/keep thingie.
> > Are there any other outstanding projects that still need to be done for the
> > display? Do we have a date yet for when the TCS display is going up??
>
> Nothing I can think of in particular except I need to figure out a standard
> for the BURP facades for the cubes. Other then that we have a pretty well
> rounded town even though we don't really have a castle or keep to go with it
> and I don't think they are necessary although it would be nice to have one.
>
> We have residential space with lots of homes.
>
> We have commercial space with a market and the inn.
>
> We have a church.
>
> We have a university.
>
> We have the castle wall.
>
> I guess we don't have much in the way of government buildings but that is all
> I can think of.
Didn't Suzanne mention in one of her messages that she had built a keep? It
seems that some sort of "seat of power" would be in order. It also sounds
like we won't have any barracks for the troops, although they'll probably be
too busy fighting the invaders to notice.
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<snip>
>
> Didn't Suzanne mention in one of her messages that she had built a keep? It
> seems that some sort of "seat of power" would be in order. It also sounds
> like we won't have any barracks for the troops, although they'll probably be
> too busy fighting the invaders to notice.
Your right I think she did. I knew I would miss something. Thanks for the
catch.
Eric Kingsley
The New England LEGO Users Group
http://www.nelug.org/
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In lugnet.org.us.nelug, David Eaton writes:
Clipity-clip!
> > Hmm.. I wonder how it would look for the store window's back wall to carry a
> > few poster-size close-up pictures from minifig perspective. that'd be fun if
> > TCS would spring for the printing. hmmm (thinking)
>
> That might look pretty cool! How much do printings like that run, ballpark? (I
> have NO idea)-- I might consider paying for one myself! (much better than • those
> Aquazone posters, etc that TLC came out with :) • SNIPPPP!
>
> DaveE
I know i'm not nelug, but i've been reading your thread. How about
putting the boxes of the sets you use and some you don't
up on the wall, thus it is more geared toward the "Mommy, we can
buy that" mentality rather than the "Mommy, I wish we could buy that"
Just a thought.
-John Rudy
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In lugnet.castle, David Eaton writes:
> Well, as some of you know, we had a "dry-run" for NELUG's upcoming castle
> display at The Construction Site ( http://www.constructiontoys.com )... Here's
> my set of pictures (Eric and Dan may be likely to post more later):
>
> http://www.suave.net/~dave/tcsdryrun.html
>
> After the dry run, though, I decided I liked a lot of things about Eric K's
> tower & wall sections better than my own, so I went back and on a whim,
> completely rebuilt my gate... I like it a lot better than the last one I • built,
> but it could still use some work-- I really like the portcullis mechanism,
> though! I just wish it were accessible 1 level below, rather than exposed on
> the roof! Take a look:
>
> http://www.suave.net/~dave/gatehouse.html
Wow. That is a sweet setup. I really like the feel of it, and I think the
way you've got it, with the walled town idea will work better than trying to
capture the feel of a castle (and still having enough room for other things!).
James
http://www.shades-of-night.com/lego/
ps: I'm going to shamelessly steal that portcullis mechanism. :)
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