PlaymoFriends
Creative => Customs Gallery => Dioramas & Buildings => Topic started by: playmogirl on February 21, 2008, 17:05:46
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As long as I am sending pics today, here is my latest castle! I love building with Playmobil. This castle was so large I couldn't get the draw bridge open, so I had to take out a section.
I have a huge lot of castle parts coming that I am looking forward to playing with!
Anne
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Wow, that is some castle! I think the door in the bottom right corner is a weak point though - bit too easy for the attackers to get in. All they have to do is knock and say they have a Playmobil parcel to deliver, and the door will fly open.
I like the way Steck can incorporate roofed buildings into the wall system - with System X there is the one keep, but no way to build more roofed areas (other than towers) into the walls.
It's so big there appears to be a boy trapped behind it!
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Certainly is a great castle. I was going to correct Martin and point out that the small door opens on to the moat, but if the blue stuff is the moat, then it appears to have flooded the central courtyard. ;D
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Now that is a castle! I think all you need on that tower door is a 'No Admittance' sign.
i agree with what Martin said about Steck allowing you to have roofed buildings in the wall system and I love those round towers!
Gepetto
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Certainly is a great castle. I was going to correct Martin and point out that the small door opens on to the moat, but if the blue stuff is the moat, then it appears to have flooded the central courtyard. ;D
Currently there seems to be floodings everywhere!
Bogro
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Now that is a castle! I think all you need on that tower door is a 'No Admittance' sign.
or maybe "Tradesman's Entrance", so the plumber knows where to call.
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Hello, Anne ...
Very nice Steck Castle ... :wow:
At first, I just couldn't understand why all of your little Klickys appeared to be using ladders. It seemed that for coming and going it would have been a lot easier just to use the doors. Then, I saw the tiger! (And, is that also a leopard wandering around on the inside of your castle?)
There must be a story that you would like to share with us about how this happened? And, is it a permanent arrangement? Or, are your Klickys hoping to someday be able to inhabit ALL of your wonderful Steck Castle?
All the best,
Richard
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Wow, that is some castle! I think the door in the bottom right corner is a weak point though - bit too easy for the attackers to get in. All they have to do is knock and say they have a Playmobil parcel to deliver, and the door will fly open.
I like the way Steck can incorporate roofed buildings into the wall system - with System X there is the one keep, but no way to build more roofed areas (other than towers) into the walls.
It's so big there appears to be a boy trapped behind it!
Thanks! Yes that door needs to be changed. I got some parts yesterday so I have a number of improvements to make.
I don't like the system X castles at all. I have the Eagle castle, and the smaller rock castle. The rock castle is not bad. I recently added the Eagle to the rock, it still didn't stay together well. I will not buy the larger system X castle, ever.
The boy is my 7 year old, he is the one who set up all the knights and ladders for the picture!
Anne
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Certainly is a great castle. I was going to correct Martin and point out that the small door opens on to the moat, but if the blue stuff is the moat, then it appears to have flooded the central courtyard. ;D
You caught me, not enough green felt on hand :D
Anne
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i agree with what Martin said about Steck allowing you to have roofed buildings in the wall system and I love those round towers!
Gepetto
I love the round towers too. I got mine from Ridge Road last summer for an incredible price. I am still mad that I didn't buy more than one!
Anne
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Hello, Anne ...
Very nice Steck Castle ... :wow:
At first, I just couldn't understand why all of your little Klickys appeared to be using ladders. It seemed that for coming and going it would have been a lot easier just to use the doors. Then, I saw the tiger! (And, is that also a leopard wandering around on the inside of your castle?)
There must be a story that you would like to share with us about how this happened? And, is it a permanent arrangement? Or, are your Klickys hoping to someday be able to inhabit ALL of your wonderful Steck Castle?
All the best,
Richard
Thanks, Richard! My 7 year old set up all the klickys. I believe the ones on the ladders are attacking. The tigers and leopards belong to the castle residents. They fight along side their masters. I try to keep the building permanent but the klicky set ups never remain the same. I look forward to the day when the kids are older I can set them up and they will stay that way! My 7 year old is great at setting up, but after he gets all his men in position, he has a battle and there are always many casualties.
Anne
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I love the round towers too. I got mine from Ridge Road last summer for an incredible price. I am still mad that I didn't buy more than one!
Anne
It's a shame they haven't introduced round towers to System-X yet. The early Crusaders saw round towers in the Holy Land, and from the 13th Century on started incorporating them into English castle design.
The round tower had several advantages over a square one - it deflected missiles better, no corners made one more difficult to undermine in a long siege, and they presented better interlocking fields of fire.
The round tower enjoyed a resurgence during the Tudor period with improvements in cannon power. Gun forts along the coast such as those at Pendennis
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd97/Martin_Milner/round%20towers/Pendennis_Castle.jpg)
St Mawes
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd97/Martin_Milner/round%20towers/StMawes_Castle.jpg)
and Portland
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd97/Martin_Milner/round%20towers/portland_castle.jpg)
to name but a few, were composed entirely of rounded sections, and the string of Martello Towers
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd97/Martin_Milner/round%20towers/MartelloTower-2.jpg)
erected to keep that pesky Napoleon off our shores took the idea of a small self-contained gun tower to its logical conclusion.
Of course some people are more illogical with their choice of location.
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd97/Martin_Milner/round%20towers/SwallowsNest.jpg)
I've visited the first three castles, really gun forts, and see many Martello towers, though not this particular one which is in South Africa.
Pendennis and St Mawes make a marvellous day's visit as a pair.
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd97/Martin_Milner/round%20towers/falmouth_map1.jpg)
Originally built to protect the approach to Falmouth Harbour in Cornwall, the guns of each could fire 1/2 a mile across the mouth of the river, which was a mile wide, so they needed one each side.
By Elizabeth's reign the technology had improved enough that guns could fire a mile, so now only one was required. Pendennis was chosen (being the same side of the river as Falmouth, I guess, it was easier to support and supply by land) and sections were upgraded or added to from the date of the Spanish Armada until WW2, when it was still in use (with new guns).
St Mawes meanwhile was mothballed, and remains structurally almost unchanged from the day it was built.
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Great history lesson, Martin ...
I love Castles and Forts! My very favourites are the Spanish forts of the Caribbean!
see attachments
I wish that Playmobil had made slanted walls and Spanish senty boxes before they discontinued their Steck System.
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I love the round towers too. I got mine from Ridge Road last summer for an incredible price. I am still mad that I didn't buy more than one!
Anne
I know, I hesitated too long on those also, now best price is $27 and I may get one as penance.
Gepetto
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Matrin,
Thank you for the pix! Can't have too pictures of castles and forts(especially when they are so well done).
Gepetto
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Lovely fort, Richard!
Very interesting to see that too, because the same sort of "pepperpot" sentry box can be seen at Fort George in Scotland
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd97/Martin_Milner/Fort_george_turret.jpg)
and Charles Fort in Kinsale, Ireland.
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd97/Martin_Milner/p99980-Kinsale_Cork_Ireland-Ft_Char.jpg)
I've stood inside the one at Charles Fort - the soldiers must have been somewhat shorter then I am, as I had to crouch to see through the spy windows. I'd like to think that the Spanish stole the design from the English, but much more likely the other way round. They don't look like they'd survive a direct hit from a cannon ball, but good proof against musket and pistol shot, and the wind!
Military architecture as you may guess is one of my hobbies!
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... I'd like to think that the Spanish stole the design from the English, but much more likely the other way round. ...
I allways thought they were a invention by Vaubain, a French military architect.
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Hello, Martin and Bogro ...
Lovely fort, Richard!
Very interesting to see that too, because the same sort of "pepperpot" sentry box can be seen at Fort George in Scotland
I allways thought they were a invention by Vaubain, a French military architect.
The wonderful thing about military architecture in the Caribbean is that it's such a marvelous blend of almost all of the European styles.
For instance ... A Caribbean island might first be discovered and colonized by the Spanish. The Spaniards would build and fortify it against the French, Dutch, English and Portuguese invaders.
Then, as an example ... A French invasion might be successful, but since the fortifications would no doubt be damaged during the battle, the French would probably repair and "improve' the fortifications in their own architectural style. They would then await their turn to be attacked by the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and English.
Later, the Danes as well as some religious orders, such as the Knights of Malta, added their own unique architectural style to the mix.
This architectural polygot in the West Indies began with arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and continued well into the 1800s. So, for more than 300 years, most of the European naval powers had a profound and lasting influence on the overall style of architecture in the Caribbean.
Military architecture as you may guess is one of my hobbies!
Me too ... ;)
Hello, Anne ...
Who would have thought that a Playmobil castle, "invaded" by your 7 year old son, would have launched a discussion on European military architecture in the Caribbean? ... :lol:
All the best,
Richard
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Who would have thought that a Playmobil castle, "invaded" by your 7 year old son, would have launched a discussion on European military architecture in the Caribbean? ... :lol:
That's the beauty of the wonderful world of Playmobil, and Playmofriends! :yup:
I am also a "castle fancier".
Best regards,
Jimbo
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It's a shame they haven't introduced round towers to System-X yet. The early Crusaders saw round towers in the
Thanks for the photo show, Martin. The pictures look great!
I've found the steck round towers a little frustrating because they're just a little too small on the inside...
To Playmogirl:
The castle looks great!
-Tim
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I've stood inside the one at Charles Fort - the soldiers must have been somewhat shorter then I am
Martin, if you could get into the sentry box at Charles Fort then you're one up on me - I couldn't fit! Too many "full Irish breakfasts" -Kinsale is a great town for eating in! - & Guinness probably.