Feedback wanted on Lego Castle, please?

[kiki-chan78]

Gonna preface this by saying that this is being designed for my 9yr old nephew, gonna just call him L.

L likes legos, and of course me and my husband like to encourage his lego enjoyment. I mean, legos are awesome.

So, L asked for a *grey* lego castle.

There's some funny rules in that house. The parents want nothing to do with pop-culture, and so they won't allow the kids to have 'branded' toys. This means Disney (which I LOVE) is a no-go, Avengers, Ninjago... you name it. Harry Potter is doubly evil because of religion and pop-culture. There's two more boys, N (7yrs) and V (3yrs) in that house, plus a little girl on the way.

So, here's the Castle, there's a little lego-dude in there for size-reference:














I'm going to move some of this stuff around. Possibly swapping the 'throne room' and 'dining hall'.






The fireplace (that was totally copied from a Harry Potter Lego set) will go on this side.






Any suggestions on anything else to go in here? Does it look okay? Gah. I've never designed something like this. -_-;;;

-Kiki

[DollyKim]

The dining hall is fine, most of the living in the castle would be in the great hall and that's where a lot of the people would sleep as well.

Other rooms I can think of would be a kitchen, armory, and treasure room.

[Stormlight]

It’s really cute so far! My fave LEGO sets growing up were the Sherwood Forest sets.

And I’m sorry but I just ... am trying to wrap my brain around these rules. No brands? But LEGO itself IS a brand and a big part of pop culture and now basically it’s own franchise so ... how does that even work? Have the parents thought that through?

[kiki-chan78]

DollyKim, thanks for the input. I definitely need to do something with treasure, those kids LOVE the shiny little lego jewels.
It's really cute to see how 'proud' they are if the few they've currently got.

Stormlight, yeah. Half the time I'm wrapping my head around those rules. There's a LOT of weirdness going on. Lego probably squeaks past the mommy-censor because it's a building toy. Granted, MOST Lego sets aren't permissible because of the licensed franchises... except for Lego City? When L was younger, the mom finally allowed people to give him Thomas the Train sets, since that was the easiest train set to acquire at the time in Puerto Rico. *rolls eyes*

The kids also aren't really allowed to watch TV. Only nature documentaries and religious shows. I vaguely recall the mom claiming that she didn't approve of the spiritual message being presented in Disney movies.

I'm also HIGHLY amused that with all the effort that woman has put into not allowing her children to be 'indoctrinated' with pop-culture... they are very aware of what is going on outside their little bubble. L was super happy when he got to play with some of my husband's Star Wars Lego sets, and correctly identified the franchise. This past Easter, there was a large blue wooden top in V's basket, and that kid kept calling it his 'BeyBlade'. I guess homeschooling isn't enough to keep those kids sheltered from the evil world of pop-culture (my guess is they're getting it from church friends).




Swapped some stuff around in the throne room and dining area.







-Kiki

[Stormlight]

Mmm. Yeah, I know all about overprotective parents. My mom was a lot like that when I was growing up. Not quite to that extreme, but a lot of cartoons and tv shows I wasn’t allowed to watch because of “negative influence”. For example, the Smurfs was one of my faves but she wouldn’t let me watch it because of all the magic and sorcery. Same with He-man or She-ra. But I still saw the shows because my friends would watch them. And as I got older my mom became a lot more lax. She figured out that she was going overboard with the restrictions and her kids weren’t going to grow up to become devil worshippers if they watched shows with magic in them or something.

Love the little food props and the cat! Are they all part of different LEGO sets or just generic pieces you can purchase to customize and build your own?

[victoriavictrix]

OK then let's go full-boat historical!

Tapestries on the walls (which will break up the depression-inducing grey). I suggest simple ones made from pieces of brocade ribbon. Those can be inside and out. Some people would hang banners on their exterior walls during good weather to advertise their wealth (OMG they can afford to put cloth outside in the weather!!!)

Huntsman and several dogs. Which means you can get away with bows and arrows because hunting. For food.

At least one falcon.

At least one horse. Preferably a stable full.

In the Great Hall there would be benches along the walls. I presume the mere idea of people getting into bed is a no-no, but in the private tower rooms there would be a chest with clothing/bedding in it, and stools to sit on.

I assume they are religious so there should TOTALLY be a chapel, complete with tapestries on the walls, an altar, a podium with a teeny Bible, and a wall-cross (which should earn you some points). Medieval people did not sit for services, they stood or knelt.

Torches. Many, many torches.

Flags flying from every tower. Flags showed that the lord of the keep was in residence (noble families usually had more than one place to live so they could move to the summer residence to allow the stinky place to get cleaned out).

AND you can get away with something that looks like a wizard's room by calling it an "herbarium" or "stillroom" (and put in plants) where the lady of the keep would make medicines.

[SetsunaKou]

OK then let's go full-boat historical!

Tapestries on the walls (which will break up the depression-inducing grey). I suggest simple ones made from pieces of brocade ribbon. Those can be inside and out. Some people would hang banners on their exterior walls during good weather to advertise their wealth (OMG they can afford to put cloth outside in the weather!!!)

Huntsman and several dogs. Which means you can get away with bows and arrows because hunting. For food.

At least one falcon.

At least one horse. Preferably a stable full.

In the Great Hall there would be benches along the walls. I presume the mere idea of people getting into bed is a no-no, but in the private tower rooms there would be a chest with clothing/bedding in it, and stools to sit on.

I assume they are religious so there should TOTALLY be a chapel, complete with tapestries on the walls, an altar, a podium with a teeny Bible, and a wall-cross (which should earn you some points). Medieval people did not sit for services, they stood or knelt.

Torches. Many, many torches.

Flags flying from every tower. Flags showed that the lord of the keep was in residence (noble families usually had more than one place to live so they could move to the summer residence to allow the stinky place to get cleaned out).

AND you can get away with something that looks like a wizard's room by calling it an "herbarium" or "stillroom" (and put in plants) where the lady of the keep would make medicines.

Perfect! I can already see all your suggestions and love the history of them! Great ideas, VV-sama!

Kiki-chan, I think the castle looks wonderful!!! WOW! You're super skilled in every way!!!

[kiki-chan78]

Stormlight, yeah... there's overprotective, and then there's whackadoodle. Trust me, this is whackadoodle.

I'm getting most of the lego pieces through bricklink, and also going to a lego fanexpo in a couple of weeks. With luck I should be able to pick up the weirder and fiddlier blocks there. But, ultimately, this is being purchased by brick.

Misty. You ROCK!

I love the tapestry idea, though, gonna implement it with lego 'tapestries/flags'... since this is going to a 9yr old. Not sure how well he'll take direction on attaching ribbon to his Lego Castle. Also gonna keep the 'tapestries' on the inside due to unmedicated ADHD little brother.

Added in a little archery range type thing, plus a little 'grass' to brighten things up.

[victoriavictrix]

Kiki-chan, here's a thought for the chapel I bet you can do stained glass windows using clear plastic from drink bottles and stained glass paints. Lion and Lamb (can you see me sneaking Narnia in there?) Holy Lamb of God, kid-friendly images.

Speaking of Narnia, that is explicitly Christian, is Narnia acceptable?

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/fff1688 ... b4ff92d80b

https://www.ebay.com/bhp/lego-narnia

[kiki-chan78]

Misty, okay.... asked my husband if he thought Narnia would fly with whackadoodle. Not likely. Turns out she's got issues with FICTION. And here I thought the reason it'd be shot down is the magic, witch and other fantastical creatures.

I stuck an Herbarium in there, also got the falcon, and treasure chest. The Herbarium might need another plant.

I also put a bedroom in there. They're single beds, so no hanky-panky can go on.








The lanterns were swapped out for legit torches. Thinking of turning the room under the falcon room into tiny-chapel.

Might end up relocating the Herbarium to that second floor near the archery field; or should that be an armory type thing with Herbarium on the first floor with the fireplace? >.>;;;






I'm sure that stables with horses and hunting dogs will be a gift for another time. ^.~