finally started the castle with mom today, this one has an absolute ton of pieces and it looks like a lot of little detail work (the trees) that i might take on once we’re done with the structure — the part mom wanted to do anyway. i think we’ve both been both looking forward to this project (the building of castle) and dreading it (the sheer number of pieces). maybe me looking forward to it a little more and mom dreading it a little more but it’s pretty cool we get to spend time doing projects like these together at least
Box frontBox rearStart of the frameFirst facade of the hill? Mountain?Another facade/wall/thingI googled, Neuschwanstein Castle is on a “rugged hill of the foothills of the Alps” I mean that sounds pretty cool to me
welp, got another missing piece 🙁 sucks because we’ll have to put it on pause mostly until we get it since we’re still on the bottom. and, uh, mail to my house from lego to here in the good ol’ us of a might be an issue at the moment…
[edit: didn’t pause just stole a replacement piece out of another bag and kicked the can down the road. probably do the same next time we work on this one as we’ve got a bunch of this hill to build and it uses a ton of those pieces]
The missing culprit (a 2x1x2 “roof tile” in pale green)We continued building what we couldBeginning of the curved wallFinally getting to some actual castle bitsSweet rampart
small progress today, not a lot of pictures as mom was a bit more with it and we were a little chatty (and two were really, really blurry)
Wall in progressWall in place (back left)
small update today was a little struggle but we finished up. kicked the missing piece down the road yet again. also uh we are ready for castle and ready to be done with the hill
This ramp/walkway/path/road? was neatLooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggg castle is longStopped here for the day with a problem area
and a couple more steps/bags done today i was expecting the back of the hill for support structure but nope it was castle time???
Had another picture before this one but it was real blurry so i deleted it, oh well. but neat little castle bit anyhowThe road to the front continuesThese interior windows, how are we ever going to see them?They do look cool, thoughConnecting the road… oh that’s what that round thing in the front was that we built like forever agoAdd a little castle structure and the book called these two towers something specific fix this caption later mindtap ok
more (saturday, october 4th, 2025)
Brain fried today. Captions gonna be slackingAnother spiral staircase tower? Were the other ones?First row of windowsHaven’t really taken many pictures of the back but there was a ramp and windows here this timeFrontRear with mini courtyardAttached to the main structure. The angle tower here was neat and I was wondering what was going to go in that space but it was thisFull-size courtyard. This is where people gather for guided tours of the real thing. Maybe I’ll find some minifigs to put here
tiny bit more today (sunday october 5th?) mom was kinda tired and i really wanted to do some work on the train station
More castle groundsA lot more castle groundsThe guard tower (very square)
okay lets fix the filler text in with the actual text now that i’ve started. didn’t get much done today since it’s a friday and usually i’ve got a thing to do but instead woke up puking so, you know, great start to the day. but i got some brick time in maybe it’s a wash. anyway. the floating train station, 3rd set in the cyberpunk neoncity set from lumi. i have mine in a different layout from theirs here — i think i’ll have the izakaya on the far left then apartment then game stack then train station? we’ll see once i’ve got all four built but i do know it’s gonna look so fucking cool and anyone should be damn envious
Front of the boxBack of the box — with an unreleased set! Game Stack hasn’t been released yetSide connector bit for connecting to the other CPNC setsWhat the blocks typically look like under the pavementBeginning of the train station illusion, I think?The first of the power connection bricks. This one has a switch and mains power (USB-C) on the other side
oop forgot to upload these
My sorting style — generally by size and/or typeAll of these are different. The ones on the bottom of the picture have a solid back. Middle ones have a hollow back. One above that to the right has two pegs (instead of a solid or hollow back). The one to the left of that is a corner piece (two pegs, rounded edge). To the left of those are just plain 1x1x1 blocks… but the black plastic is like vantablack and it’s hard to see themLess text, more building.Wasn’t sure what this was but since I’m adding these after the next gallery it’s a queue for the info desk?Angular wallOne of the first “neon” (led + acrylic) signs
took a couple days off for being sick but did some work on this today but also did some lego stuff with mom, busy day with the bricks today (tuesday, september 23rd) but also the game stack came in the mail today! will have to get a couple pictures of the box and make a temp post blah blah anyway here’s more pictures
My first errata page(s). They had to fix a page in book one and a page in book two (there are three books)Running a little lighting and some stairsInformation booth seems helpful. Staffed by actual people in the future though? I doubtInfo booth mounted on a hinge so it can swing in and outFacade workThat thing in the corner was so damn hard to put togetherThat lighting I ran earlier was the light for inside the boothAnd this little light on the top right too
did a little bit yesterday after lego with mom but was running late so i kinda just left all my shit on the table, ugh. i did finish up the next day (today, friday september 26th) but wasn’t really feeling very well so it took me like two days to get one set of instructions done, not great. on the plus side though, finished up the first book and onto the second book — and i found another error that’s not in any of the errata so i got to remember to email them about it. also not a lot of pictures like other steps due to not feeling great and just trying to clear up the mess so mom and i can work on the castle tomorrow
A door.With an awning.Angled wall and security cameraIt’s really a dramatic angle. The door is on straight.Tuck this little bit of wiring under a roof bit…The wiring you see in the awning picture up and left one is the light that ended up on the ceiling for the information booth. Hard to get a picture through the doorway but I think you can tell what’s up
lots of lighting bits today, still a few things to go and i’m not sure how the “animated” thing (the blue and green lights in the last picture today) is supposed to animate yet but i guess we’ll see?
We start the day with a … man I dunno what even to call some of these yet. But it was on the left.Train goes here (eventually)See, here’s the train sign and everything“Ever since installing the flashing stop sign, we hardly have any trains fall off the tracks anymore!” (from the instructions)Maglev train track (and neon)See, neonPower hubWiring everywhereHere was the second set of errata but … yeah okay they are slightly different but honestly this one was only cosmetic (unlike the other)Wiring absolutely everywhere at this momentTesting connectionsWiring wildly out of controlMuch tidier wiring. Testing lights and connections — unfortunately where I stopped for the night the train sign and neon aren’t connected yet. But it looks so coooooooooool already
little work today and serendipity occurred as the timing of the only bag/step without wiring was the one i was in the middle of as mom wanted to do lego stuff so we worked on the train together. this is the first one of these sets that she’s done any work on and being able to have a little time where we got to do it together was really cool. that’s why there’s not as many pictures this time, but i did take a quick video
Train framesResting on top of the rail…Actually on the rails. With the lights on too. I took a video
small progress on the train station today too, added a little bit of 3rd story here’s some pictures. on the plus side i checked the instructions and the next step doesn’t have any special parts (so no wiring) so i might be able to have her help me out with it
A door and some stairsA wall goes upAnd a (tilted) window goes inThird floor lightingDone with the step and done for the night
ah, went ahead and did a couple more bags/steps next one is step 11 and the first step of the 3rd (and final) book… really coming together. finally put the big neon sign together and i’m still not sure how it animates. maybe there’s a power controller or something further in the set to make them alternate?
Think this should be the thing in front of the train…Probably because it wasLittle side railAnother swing-out wall structureI think the hinge pieces might be among my favoritesFor some reason, thought this was supposed to animate. Not sure how yet?Some wall, some wiring. And a staircase for good measureCleaned up wall, cleaned up wiring.Someone should have cleaned here, too…Bad staff, leaving a mess in the toilet.Just kinda slid into this hole here with a knob on the back to push/pull it into place
okay, got a couple steps in today (sunday, october 5th somehow) and put in one of the bigger neon effects which of course i adore
Not super interesting yet but I like these translucent tiles…of which there were a bunch of in this stepWiring for this step starts here (the pogo pin connector block)Grey blocks attached to wiring make the neon effectWasn’t sure what these were at first, but they’re desks. One has a mouse alreadyLots of windows on this floorDesks and monitors. Wiring for the next floor, too (pogo pin receptor on top)Finished walls + windows and ledgeAnother swinging rear door for play accessI had to rebuild this section during the “finished walls + windows and ledge” because I put the wrong piece underneath the fan section – a grey 1×6 plate – the manual was a little unclear in this step as it’s used the same indicator “not silver” for both white and grey?In place with the lights on, third floor of the train station is the control room
so this arrived like a week early in the mail and i don’t know, i kinda doubt mom would be interested in this one. but i’ll check with her next time we sit down to work on neuschwanstein castle to see if/when she wants a little intermission from long-term project. i wanted this set for me at the very least so maybe i’ll intermission myself between lumibricks sets
showed up in the mail today (september 23rd, 2025) this one is in the queue after i finish up train, which is gonna take a bit. no pictures yet just wanted to get the post started since i was doing stuff on my site for the other builds anyway.
i think i saw these on an instagram ad and well, they got me. i picked this set to go first as it was the smaller of the three that i picked up. funwhole on amazon link i got the bus, izakaya, and “mansion” (apartment?) link isn’t even a referral i just want them to sell more so they make more of these cyberpunk sets. i did these lighted ones on my own as the light wiring bits is really small and technical
this was my next project and the one that really impressed me with how everything came together. plus all the lights? and other “blocks” (as in city, not as in lego) from the same company can just click together and share power? i’m sitting here typing this out just mind blown
A final virtual walkthrough of the full Izakaya set block. I’m very excited to work on the next set, ApartmentStarting outFirst wiring placedInside the IzakayaVending machine vibesIzakaya walk-up window2nd floor tea houseMore progressAnother angle of progressFront door viewAlley walk-up windowChecking out more lightsBack alley viewTakoyaki hutAnother alley viewCompleted and displayed
weirdly, this one is called “mansion” when you look at it on amazon but packaging refers to it as “apartment” so that’s the one i’m going with. except in the title and again in the text. but i only used apartment once, or well twice now that it’s in this sentence too. anyway, here’s my progress so far, just started it this weekend (july 19-20 2025)
Running wiresFirst stage completePlacing lightsShort-order windowOpen 24 hours!aw look at the cute little exhaust fan + stairway to nowhere (yet)
did a little more, this is ~24 hours of progress total
Rolling door rollsGarage door facadeJust a chill lil’ vending machine2nd floor in progressStairway to heaven?Power junction under the desk2nd floor lights: working!
and did a little more today (tuesday, july 22nd)
Just an ordinary repair shop…..& ripperdoc behind rotating wallInterior lightingBuilding the garageGarage second floorFront view, now with more tubeStill wondering where this light on the floor above the garage is going to end up (it has a power transfer connector)
finished up the first book of instructions, second book is a little thinner
Sliding entry doorInterior: bathroom under constructionLight wire routing and pogo pin connection panelExtra little connection bit detailThe wall to the apartment swings out. Seems like that would be bad irl though. Here is why I called this power junction box “under the desk” in an earlier picture (the keyboard was several days ago)
saturday, july 17th: more progress. did bags 8 (five bags), bags 9 (five bags), and about four-fifths of bag 10 (two bags) to do this roof two floor apartment because i really wanted to see all the lights and there wasn’t really a good way to check without finishing
Kind of what a ceiling looks like irl, right?Starting electrical (and a bit of trim)Turns out, this is a floorSorta coming together…Trim, with lighting kit runSecond floor loft bed: installedA wall, another pogo power connectorLittle more wiring detailBag complete but it’s not ready yet…Couple windows installed nowFour stories, back viewApartment window detailsAll four stories together and lit up. Only have a tiny bit more detail (the roof, notably) but this one is definitely taller than the izakaya, or at least will be. It’ll be neat to see them together finally.
finished up today, sunday, july 27th. it’s so neat how these will just click together and share power. i really, really want more of these cyberpunkish sets soon because i am enthralled.
Adding a tree I didn’t finish last nightStarting work and wiring on the roofHVAC unit in placeJust gotta run some venting…And a little more “duct work”…Cell phone tower on the building for good 5GProbably helps to have some fresh air, tooSecurity cameraDon’t fall in the open manhole!Here’s the finished work! Plus my thumb. Wish I’d checked that before uploading but meh whatever. The real neat thing is this video below where you can see the Izakaya (right) is plugged in, but the Apartment (left) isn’t. I push them together and with a little luck, poof, magic power and everything lights up. I need more of these sets in my life <3
this set just dropped on lumi’s site or amazon and figured it looked like fun while waiting for the cyberpunk train station set (which came out yesterday, september 12th) a little quicker than expected but i’d already bought this one, might as well full send. also this was the first one i got with only the lumibricks branding — much, much better brand name than funwhole, right?
update: 18 september 2025: finished
Front of the box, AKA how it will look at the end, dramatizedMore dramatic shots and a lot of text from the back of the boxLayer 1: StructureLayer 2: Additional structureLittle work bench and some flooring…After and before – that piece on the right is one big weird brick and there’s 4 of them that make these neat little mountainy thingsScenic photo, everyone takes thatThe first of the lights – above the deskThe first fixtures and some detail work…Installed more floors. And a wall. And a bookshelf!Probably hook up this wiring at some point and make things interestingBunkbedsSecond set of lights and more wallsCloseup of the wall detail (poster)More interior detailFirst time turning the lights on outside of testing – the first junction box is installed (rear)A slot for the battery boxA sliding device to mask the slot for the battery boxStarting to look a little like alpinesWe’ll just put a cute little crag right here…
lotta work done today don’t usually smash through almost an entire booklet of instructions in one day but might be a little excited for the cyberpunk train station
edit: okay so i finished up the actual rest of the book, first time i’ve finished a book of instructions in 24 hours but here we are, i’m going fast so i can get to the next one(s) i guess? and then i’ll have ……………
Just a cute little desk I didn’t mess up on at all and had to completely redo because of that little grey slice…Outside of (easily) removable wallInside of (easily) removable wallIt feels like this is probably all of the first floor and I should be working on the rest in the next book. Will I finish tomorrow? Will I no life Destiny Rising? Tune in next week
yeah yeah did more the next day (sunday 14th september)
FloorBut also ceiling and useful bits. The thing on the lower left with the wires coming out of it is the pogo pin power connector (so it’s kind of plug and play)Side wall and maybe like an AC unit or somethingOffice coffee pot and model rocket, standard office decorBooksBooks on a bookshelf (and desk, computers, lamp)Outside lightingWindows are inLights work!Pies cooling outside on a windowsill? I will stealThis looks neat but is on an exterior wall…Oh, the wall swings out. Convenient.Stairway to the observatoryI will steal.Outside lighting checkInside lighting check. There’s a sweet little planet display that rotates and the moon rotates around the planet as it goes around the Sun. If this was motorized, I’d lose my mind
tuesday, september 16th saw more building, few more steps (#10, 11, and 12) two left – but one of those is just finishing touches. this last step should be the projector level (neat) so i’ll be able to figure out which i want to “project” of the five that came with it — i chose constellations
Another floorWhich is also another ceilingThird floor balconyNeat little lit globeLooks like the start of an officeHandy outside lightingNo office would be complete without six screensSweet little lightbox that’s going unseen 99% of the timeGlobe lights upCeiling lightbox lit. This one is neat it should be on the wall or somethingSpeaking of walls, here’s a wallStart of the projector/telescope boxProjector bitsKinda looks like a cameraProjector: openProjector: closed
finished up today so here’s the last of the pictures. we were just about done last time with only a few little bits to add really
Hidden detail on this side…And another on the opposite side…Betting the projector goes hereCompleted Alpine ObservatoryIn place and all lit up
mom had a couple strokes, so we figured we build some lego projects together to help with her dexterity. i had a good time so i picked up some other brick projects with lights and have been really enthralled with those too.
The box that everything came inStarting out…In progress…Getting there…Coming together…Almost done…Heterochromia!
ooh this one was a good time and i really liked how it all came together. enough to hang up on my wall, as a matter of fact… unfortunately, this set was short a brick that went under other bricks so we had to wait a while for a replacement to get mailed in from denmark. lego is super cool that way though and is eager to fix any missing pieces!
How it started2nd set of panels coming in2nd column in placeColumn 3 placed inAlmost all there! (notes in post)Everything’s in placeUp on the wall today!
picked this one up to be the next project with mom, figured it would also look cool when we’re done (check out that water in the front) and after this we’ve got neuschwanstein castle too. having a really good time doing all these sets both with mom and the ones i’ve done on my own. if you’d asked me a year ago if i was gonna be that guy i probably would have been surprised… but i also still have the lego bricks from the sets i got as a kid somewhere in my garage still. maybe i wouldn’t have been that surprised.
update: finished on 6th sepetmber 2025
started today, sunday august 24th or whatever day it is. time is weird when you don’t really have a day-to-day schedule anymore
Front of the boxBack of the boxFirst parts of the framePutting in a seabedBottom of the Great PyramidThese represent the rolling dunesFinished up for the day with a little ramp/chute thing
got around to more work today (saturday, august 30th) not a whole lot but progress is progress
“Mini” pyramidsThese trees were awful to plantMiniature Minifig statueProgress for the day, next up we start work on the Great Pyramid
and a lil’ more on sunday. two days in a row who are we people?
I was wondering what these floating blocks were gonna be…Framing for the “log ramp”I thought these were gonna be tomb detailsBut no, this is the cutaway cross-section of the tombDisappointed by the lack of 20000 Jew minifigs to move these blocksGetting there! Just “three” more bags (actually somewhere between five and nine but only three “steps”)
finished here, saturday uh 6th of september
A little winch setup to haul bricks up. Smart.Pyramid shell structure, part onePyramid shell structure, part twoPyramid shell structure, finished – with gold capstoneThe back side, but there’s a neat cutout to represent the tomb insideThe finished product <3
these two were pretty quick and we did them during intermissions of the next post (above this one) which was a nice little break from how detailed that one was. these were building up instead of specific placing on a grid idk they required different skillsets
Maneki-neko halfwayManeki-neko completePlayful cat and gubbinsCat collection!
got this one as a gift with purchase of some of the other sets i picked up, figured it would also be a nice little milky way project intermission. it was.
mom really wanted to do a castle and this was the first one i found for sale that was an actual castle shape and not just a building facade. although, lego does have a new one for sale coming out soon in august that i might pick up that’s more of the medieval castle style she wanted to build — lego neuschwanstein castle #21063 — but we haven’t really made much progress on this one lately
Himeji Castle … or at least that’s what the frame says. There’s a neat Japanese nameplate you can use here as well
more today after mom’s physical therapy
More front wall and garden todayItty bitty little steps
update: saturday, july 26th: a few wall details in. we’re done with bag 5 of 17
Exterior wall part oneExterior wall part twoI think it’s a little guard house. It looks like a little guard house.
more stuff done this week
Some mini roof detailsSide entranceMore front walls?Main castle flooringLooks like a little bit of plumbing hereFinished up for the day with a couple interior walls
more progress, still have bags 11-17 left to do after these:
Another tiny little guard house?Arch supportSmaller detail and front wallingPorthole windows? (It wasn’t, it was a connector) but the other spaces are intentional windowing detail I thought was neatMore of the windowing detailCurious what these interior wall details are (long slits)Third level of building — fourth overall if you include the platform I guessHere’s where we finished for the day after bag #10
mom had real physical therapy today (august 12th, 2025) so she wanted to read/rest a little after, but an hour later we got in two bags — more than normal lately — so i’ve got some new pictures to show off
Tiling to give the castle that iconic Japanese lookAnother floor of structures (and what will be windows)Close-up (ish) of additional constructionAdding neat little roofing detailsMustachioed building #1Mustachioed buildings #2 and #3 also have mustaches on the other side. So I suppose they’re Double Mustachioed ™
more photos, more work – probably finish up tomorrow (sunday, august 17th 2025)
Starting work on the Main KeepMustaches (boomerang) = awningsAccording to the book, each floor of the Main Keep was made to resemble the floor plan from the actual castleReally coming together nowFourth floor detailFourth floor finished (more mustaches)
we finished up today (thursday, august 21st 2025) and gonna put it into the display cabinet this weekend with the rest of our lego projects, pretty stoked about the next one (pyramid of giza) and the one after that too. maybe by the time we’re done with the next two there will be some more new sets out and we just kinda keep chaining them. gotta have something to do in retirement, right?
Interior detail with page notes50+ tons of roof tile weight saved feels like a lotMain keep finished!Add some trees and we’re all done!The finished product, glamour angle
