Howl's Moving Castle

Hi fans,

As the sun sets on my Howl's Moving Castle project, I just wanted to post one last update to thank the 1,389 supporters (as of this entry) who took the time out to help me try and advance my cause--that is, uniting LEGO & Studio Ghibli for a brief moment to create a beautiful product.

I encourage you all to continue showing your support for this potential pairing of forces by supporting other well-designed Studio Ghibli projects on the Ideas site. 

LEGO and Studio Ghibli are both everlasting sources of inspiration for me, and if for nothing else, at least I have this one-of-a-kind custom-designed and built LEGO Howl's Moving Castle model on my shelf to keep me company.

Here's one of my favorite photos of the Castle, to keep you company.

THANK YOU!

--K--

Hi fans,

Perhaps not such an obvious benchmark to many of you, but when it surpassed 1250 supporters I became immediately aware that Howl's Moving Castle is officially more than 1/8th of the way to Review!  Do me a favor--double it!  At 2500 supporters, or 1/4th of the way to Review, I will reveal another surprise to accompany the project.  So far the project has grown to include the revised model of the castle (Version 2.0) and Howl & Calcifer minifigs.

Thanks for all your support, and keep sharing!

--K--

Hi fans,

I am thrilled to have made it this far.  At the time of this writing, I have 1202 fans, and I extend a big thanks to each and every one of you!  (Well, one of those supports was from myself, so 1201 "thank yous" and 1 "you must be exhausted from all this hard work!").  Please keep sharing and commenting, so we can reach 10,000!

As promised in an earlier post, I have something fun to share with all of you to celebrate the 1,000 support benchmark.  I am proud to present to you a brand new Howl minifigure!  Redesigned, and applied to an actual minifigure, Howl is now ultra-detailed to make your Howl-based adventures that much more realistic.  And who's that little fiery guy he's holding?  That's right--this Howl comes with my interpretation of a Calcifer "microfig"! 

These ifigures are meant to accompany the Moving Castle model, and can be displayed alongside, in the UCS fashion.

Hope you enjoy!

--K--

Hi fans,

The 1,000 support benchmark is around the corner, and I could not be more excited (except perhaps if it had happened about a year ago!).  I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone who supported my Howl's Moving Castle, wrote a review about it, shared it, commented on it, followed it, gave it a shoutout on their own page, gifted me a rendered minifigure (!), messaged me their thoughts, and everything in between!

Once I reach 1,000 supports, I will return the favor by releasing something special to complement this project.  Although I am pessimistic about reaching the required 10,000 supports before my time runs out, I will rest satisfied knowing so many people appreciate the hard work I put into this and my other projects.  Not to mention I have a beautiful Howl's Moving Castle LEGO model sitting on my shelf that I can admire forever!

I'm sure if this site were more accessible to Studio Ghibli fans, we'd have reached our goal within hours.  Please help spread the word (and images of the built model)!

Stay tuned, and THANK YOU!

--K--

EDIT: Due to a huge outpouring of support in the part few days, the 1,000 benchmark was reached quicker than I had anticipated!  Expect the promised release of something special around mid-November.  Thank you all!

Hi fans,

I'd like to share with you a few photos of some more details I glazed over during the build.  First up we have the "mouth" of the castle--when it opens and closes, 2 smokestacks in the back raise and lower.  Here's the mouth in the open position. 

Next is the back door to the castle.  A paramount feature of the castle in the film, this door is used by the inhabitants to travel to various locations across the land set up by Howl himself as alternate hideouts and fronts.  ...Just see the movie (or read the book)!

Then we have some of the final greebling on the right side of the castle--not seen so well from the final build photos I uploaded last week.

Finally, I would like to share with you a special development on the Howl minifigure first depicted in my original description.  My good LEGO buddy GlenBricker (https://ideas.lego.com/profile/GlenBricker/projects) has donated a 3D rendering of my Howl minifigure, so a special shoutout and Thank You to you, Glen, for this awesome contribution to the effort! 

Keep sharing and supporting! Thank you :)

--K--

Hi fans,

Here is a moment worth remembering: The unveiling of the LEGO Howl's Moving Castle!  It's 99% finished (may modify some greebling, mostly with minor additions as I see fit)

Please enjoy.  I had an extraordinary time building it, as I hope you all are able to, one day.  Please, please, share and support!

--K--

Hi fans,

Today I would like to share with you the more or less completed upper portion of Howl's Moving Castle.  This is the portion of the castle that has more castle-like elements (as opposed to the industrial steam-punk look of the lower portion), complete with a crow's nest of sorts high up at the top.  This assembly will fit comfortably into place on top of the finished lower portion. 

In addition, I would like to share with you the legs, which haven't really been mentioned at all, because I was saving them for the end.  These attach to the body using technic liftarms, bricks, and pins. 

I wonder what will come tomorrow...

Enjoy,

--K--

Hi fans,

I am back with more progress, more views, and more tips for your reading pleasure.  I am working on the upper bulk of the castle, which will fit nicely on top of the main bulk from previous updates.  Here are some views of that upper turreted section, along with another view of the main bulk to keep you intrigued. 

As for the the building tips, well--I would like to remind you all about the importance of the order of construction.  I had finished a huge chunk of the model, and later decided that I wanted to add a 1x4 plate on top of a few plate wedges deep in the interior of the model, to help it structurally.  I nearly broke the entire model apart trying to wedge this one plate into position (I would have had to take apart technic beams and liftarms to insert it properly, but then I would have been left with a pile of bricks).  I eventually gave up, but then had a terribly rough time putting back together some of the features that were not meant to be removed at certain sections.  Long story short, the Moving Castle is back together, and I found an alternate solution for the model. 

Planning is very important for your MOCs!  Sometimes it's better not to put off design flaws until later, because you might forget what those flaws are, and remember 3/4 of the way through the building of your MOC! 

All is well in my studio.  Stay tuned.  The next couple of updates you won't want to miss :)

Upper turrets, cannons, and other ad hoc features

More of the blast furnaces coming into shape.

Another view of the main section, with added greebling.

Enjoy

--K--

Hi fans,

I hope you're ready for more.  The first photo shows some blast furnace detailing on the back of the Castle.  This is just the lower portion--the smokestacks you're all anticipating are coming later. 

As you can see from the bottom two photos, I have begun some other sections of the model, to be fastened together later.  All of these unique fastening techniques should provide for some nice three-dimensional flavor (some of which you can see already). 

I'm thinking of switching out that round gear for a propeller fan instead.  I'll let you know how it goes.

I hope you enjoy seeing it come together!

--K--

Hi fans,

We are back with another update for you!  I have added some more shelling, and you can see the build-up of all kinds of funky protrusions, machinery, buildings, and other aesthetic features of the greebling.  Throughout all this work, an interesting challenge is to keep all the greebling "balanced" on each side of the castle.  There is very little symmetry in the shelling, yet each piece is laid with intent, building up to a balanced overall look.  This is important, because the castle will eventually rest on four puny feet, as it does in the film.  This overall aesthetic balance is something achieved very successfully in the film, despite the physical imbalance the castle exhibits, especially while walking (or should I say "wobbling"). 

Enjoy the progress, and I hope to surpass your expectations!

Stay tuned,

--K--