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)
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
