Steck ...

[WarriorOfToys]

Very cool!
I can't wait to read even more about your city.

There will be updates in my story and map threads soon too.

[Gis]

So we have finally made a lot of progress on our Playmoden. Here you see our table…still need to put lots of boxes underneath though.



The surface is 190 cm (6’2) by 240 cm (7’10) so it’s a great start for diorama’s

We tried to lift the big castle of Winterhaven on the table however some of the old Steck connectors failed at the wrong moment, with the following result



I was debating on rebuilding it for a while already, because there were some flaws in the built. I guess I don’t have a choice anymore.

In the meantime I have built the Guard Tower of Winterhaven. Here you see the layout of the prison!



There are still two of the black bar steck pieces missing but I am hoping to get them in Wolfsburg! The hallway on the left, leads from the Treasure Chamber of the Castle to the 2x1 cell. There is no visible door in the cell and the only way to open it is from the castle side. There are two 1x1 holding cells and a bigger cell which includes the round towerbase. You can also see the outside stairs because the main entrance to the Guard Tower is situated on the first floor!

The following picture shows all the flooring in place and the ladder leading down to the prison. Obviously there is no ladder leading down into the round towerbase.



On the next layer of steck, you see two hallways and the main room. Guards that are not on duty have the possibility to relax in this room. One guard should be in this room at all times. For the rest of the levels the tower is used to go from level to level with ladders.



Here you see the completed second layer with flooring.



The thirds layer features the battlements on the left side wall. For the rest the rooms are almost identical to the floor below. However there is no access directly to the round tower. On this level you can find the sleeping quarters. The guards sleep in the main 2x2 room and the 2x1 room that is linked to the round tower is exclusive for Captain of the Guard. Even though there is no door and nothing blocking the other guards from going in, this has not been violated as there is a lot of trust between the guards.



Here you see the flooring of this floor done.



The rest of the tower can be easily imagined so here is the finished building.

 

Side view

 

Backside view



Courtyard view



I hope you enjoyed this step by step guide. I really enjoyed building this and it’s the first building which is completely finished! Ok I still need those two pieces but then it is done. It will of course still need its furniture and what not, but the building will be DONE! Well unless you make valid comments on how to improve it of course *grin*

What do you guys suggest to use as beds for the guards?? 

Any feedback is more than welcome. Now for rebuilding my castle….LOL

[tonguello]

Very cool Gis!!! HUge tower! I can't wait to see the whole castle!!

As for the guards to sleep, what about the straw beds from Noah's arc? Too "humble" for the guards?

[bonniebeth]

Ok, first things first. That's a wonderful playmoden. I'm so jealous! That's exactly what I have been dreaming of. 

That is a nice lot of steck you've got there. Sorry the castle broke, but sometimes I think there's as much fun in setting it up than in having it finished. So, happy rebuilding!!! But it looks absolutely fantastic! Can't wait to see it furnished. 

[Wolf Knight]

YOUHOOHOO!!!! I love this Guard Tower!!!

Gis, you did a great and detailed work!! Good idea to have three panel rooms and not for or six as I try to do and eventually my fourway connectors finish quickly....

I also see that you don't bother blocking the back inner walls with stone-like walls instead of using the open wooden frames! Another good idea...it would certainly save me pieces...

You do a great work with flooring...I am stuck with my current project, so I'll have to come back to your pictures for reference...

Thanks for the pics and inspiration, and always looking forward to more Gis!!!

[Gis]

Very cool Gis!!! HUge tower! I can't wait to see the whole castle!!

As for the guards to sleep, what about the straw beds from Noah's arc? Too "humble" for the guards?

Thanks a lot Gaston!

Currently there are a couple of other projects that are more urgent then the castle, so it will be a while...one day though....

Yeah, I am using that as sleeping places in the attic of the Inn so I don't feel it suited for the guards that need to be well rested. I think it will come down to fabricating something on my own.

Ok, first things first. That's a wonderful playmoden. I'm so jealous! That's exactly what I have been dreaming of. 

That is a nice lot of steck you've got there. But it looks absolutely fantastic! Can't wait to see it furnished.

Thanks a lot Bonnie!

We have been living in our house for 4 and a half years now and if we used the guest room to house guests 20 times it's a lot. So when we got more serious about our PM habit it was the obvious choice to convert it to a playmoden, Our collections has grown tremendously in the last 6 months and all that Steck was basically bought in the first three months after joining here, I blame Wolf Knight and Gioginetto for that mainly!!!

YOUHOOHOO!!!! I love this Guard Tower!!!

Gis, you did a great and detailed work!! Good idea to have three panel rooms and not for or six as I try to do and eventually my fourway connectors finish quickly....

I also see that you don't bother blocking the back inner walls with stone-like walls instead of using the open wooden frames! Another good idea...it would certainly save me pieces...

You do a great work with flooring...I am stuck with my current project, so I'll have to come back to your pictures for reference...

Thanks for the pics and inspiration, and always looking forward to more Gis!!!

Thank you Sir Wolf, as a fellow "steck builder" your praise means a lot to me!

The main castle as you might remember measures 5x12 Steck units! There are only four wall units between the castle and the Tower, so making the tower to big would mean that it would start encroaching on the attention of the castle. I felt 4x4 would already be to big, but 2x2 was def to small so yeah 3x3 was the perfect measurement. It also only needs to house 10 guards of which three are awake at all times. so it really doesnt need to be any bigger. I am still working on the guards, of course I'll share when they are done!

In regards to the open back: Initially I was doing it to give me access to the inners of the building but the hallways changed that, still this way I can put some stuff in and the back of the castle will also mainly wooden frames (buying more in Wolfburg *grin*) When I started building this the castle was still in one piece. When I was done I had exactly 2 pieces of normal Steck wall left so it is also born out of necesity.

And yeah I did need to rebuilt a couple of times to make sure the flooring worked, but that was my main goal for this build, make the flooring work!! Once I found the way to do it I decided to copy it hence the similarity between the two upper 3x3 floors. All in all, I need to find the 2 Prison pieces and a black window (to replace the one tan one) in Wolfsburg, I don't think that should be a problem. If you need to have a fresh set of eyes look at your current project send me an email :-)

[tonguello]

I blame Wolf Knight and Gioginetto for that mainly!!!

Me too!   

btw....my first castle is still in transit...I think I'll get the firsts days of december. and one of my argentine sellers has reserved for me another small castle for my birthday in january, I can't wait! Im so anxious!

[playmo1989]

it's very beautifull gis i'am gonna copy it i printed your pictures ,the only differen't i'll do is put a square tower not the round one... very nice !!!!!!   

[skypurr]

That is a wonderful space you have there Gis - does it have a lockable door to make it child proof? 
Your guard tower is wonderful,    :wow:I think the flooring is amazing, that is where I always come unstuck, I never have enough of the right floors.
BTW I won't ask what you said when the castle collapsed!   

Elaine

[Gis]

it's very beautifull gis i'am gonna copy it i printed your pictures ,the only differen't i'll do is put a square tower not the round one... very nice !!!!!!   

Thanks Alexis, I am intrigued by the idea of a square tower!! You have a camera already???

 

That is a wonderful space you have there Gis - does it have a lockable door to make it child proof? 
Your guard tower is wonderful,   :wow:I think the flooring is amazing, that is where I always come unstuck, I never have enough of the right floors.
BTW I won't ask what you said when the castle collapsed!   

Elaine

It doesn't have a lockable door as of yet, the kids have been good sofar, we'll see if it will become necesary, we have discussed it for sure!

Thanks a lot for your praise Elaine, like I said earlier, when I built the castle I was more focussed on the building then on the flooring. When I will rebuilt it, I will make sure to think about how the flooring will fit because it's a fun puzzle...I like puzzles! In regards to not having the right floors -> Ebay (just tell sandy you ordered them for me *wink*)

The kids were both in the room and Quinten was under the table when the castle collapsed. I knew it was a risk to lift it and when I saw the little gap appear in one of the old connectors I new it was likely to happen. It was 2 more centimeters up or ~70 cm down so we went up....and it came tumbling down!!! Quinten got quite a scare because it did make "some" noise so we were more concerned with consoling him!