Start out by combining a:
3446 Small Steck Castle:
PLUS....
3268 Knight's Empire Castle:
PLUS....
7927 Magician's Workshop (x2)
EQUALS.....
my custom Kingdom of Laplamis SUPERCASTLE PLAYSET!!!! hehe, lol
I'll just post some highlights here but you can view the full album at:
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/BlackPearl2006_album/Playmobil/Playmo%20Medieval/?albumview=slideshowThe 3268 Castle's masonry blends almost seemlessly with old steck, as you can see. The main differences (other than the building system) is that the sytem x walls are shorter than steck, and, as far as I can tell, cannot be built upon vertically (though you can build horizontally and add walls or towers on top of the new horizontal surface; you just can't put one wall on top of another, especially since the battlement edges are moulded as part of the wall pieces and are not removeable.)
I even managed to mate the steck tower to the system x tower (the tallest "west tower" on the left). Not an exact fit, but nothing my dremel couldn't remedy. I didn't have enough pieces to complete the corners, so it's incomplete for now. I kinda like how the system x tower/roof are slightly different styles than the steck towers.....sorta realistic how some castles have older parts of the castle that don't match later additions of the castle because the parts were built in different time periods over the centuries.
I added two 7927 Magician's Workshops by using the extra walls to expand the system x castle walls (wider when looking on from the front). I customized one wizard into "The White Wizard" (wearing the armour of a crusader in white and red), and left the other wizard stock. The leftover wizard parts became a wizard's apprentice.
And the whole castle sits atop a custom-shaved styrofoam base I made to fit the castle's contours (and to give it a real "floor" instead of using the living room carpet as a floor which was difficult to mitigate when attempting to pose clickies). The styrofoam is composed of two pieces that lock together like a jigsaw puzzle and can be disassembled for storage. I sprayed the foam edges with rubberized seal to prevent the styrofoam bits from flaking off. I mean to colour the outter edge green to simulate grass, and the inner courtyard was either to be dirt or cobblestone. For now it's unfinished and remains white. My son picked away at the rubberized edges though, despite repeated reprimands to make him stop. 4 yr olds!
I have stories for each character, namely groups: Royal Court, King's Men, The Griffin's Kingdom Men, Woodsmen (I swear I'm not copying Robin Hood!), and the King's Entourage. I have some "dark" knights and a dragon (not pictured) for a seperate posting.
Enjoy! (p.s. sorry for the sideways images...for some reason photobucket won't flip them the right way no matter how many times I deleted them, pre-flipped them, uploaded them, and went cross-eyed!
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