Bonsai!
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Super Star Destroyer?
I think I’d need to buy a bigger house first!
It’s not a Star Wars set
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A very elegant rock for the bonsai to sit on?
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raises eyebrow
Upon research, I see the SSD is “only” 3,000 pieces… soooo… a Death Egg? The big one? Wait, you said not Star Wars…
The black box makes me think it’s an Iconic set… but I think the new Lion’s Castle is only a few thousand as well…
Oh, wait. Is it one of those “art” pieces? Like a painting or something?
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It’s a map. The pieces are all very small 
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Middle Earth Map?? Faerun map??
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Just a regular world map. The pieces for the ocean are a variety of colours (not just blue) so I might try and do a sea surface temperature anomaly map.
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My partner would like to know which light bricks you are using?
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Love it! Especially the engines.
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Game of Bricks. I also have a set from them for the big Disney Castle, but I haven’t built the castle yet.
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Lego is currently having a Dungeons and Dragons Ideas challenge. Sets have already been submitted and top 5 are now up for public vote pick one that will become an available set.
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They all look great, the Mimic chest is crazy but I’d vote for the Dragon’s Keep, just because it has a dragon and is huge. So much to play with!
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Okay, due to the sheer size and scope of this project, this might take a few posts, but we will see.
26 numbered steps, closer to 50 full-sized bags and who-knows-how-many bags in total (most of the bags have 2-3 smaller bags inside them), and these two monstrous manuals:
We started on the 25th, almost immediately. First bag is all secondary characters, just set-dressing if you will.
By Bag 2 we have moved into the foundations of the castle itself, utilizing a neat angle for the building that apparently official-LEGO has never used before:
By bag 3 or 4 we have finished the castle’s bakery.
Interesting note here: the castle has a bakery, but no throne room. I thought that was an odd choice… no bedroom either, except for 1 kid. Everyone else sleeps on the floors, I guess?
Anyway, next few steps sees the start of a secret cave attached onto the bakery, but secret-like.
Those beige plates hide a trapdoor allowing people to access the cave (or, more accurately, allowing people in the cave to access the castle). The cave is a nice touch… there are candles and supplies and a map.
In order to not push the Image Limit in a single post, I’ll carry on with the 26th’s work in a moment…
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Right, next morning we were back at it! Finished up the floor (literally the floor) above the bakery, and the start of… I’m going to call it the “Entertainment Room”? Possibly the Banquet Hall?
Minor niggle: I like it when they keep the fireplaces in a line so that the chimney’s “make sense.” This build they do on one section of the castle, but not for these rooms. Ah well. Harpiscord is a really, really nice touch.
Lookit at that tower. Look at it! I mean… come on…
Bakery and entertainment done, time to work on the flour mill. Again, an interesting choice to include. The other castle I have (the 3-in-1) has a forge, which makes more sense to me… by they’ve already done that, and be damned if the mill isn’t a brilliant design.
When you rotate the water wheel, the grindstone rotates. Just brilliant stuff. And that little chute for depositing the grain onto the mill? Chef-kiss.
The floor above the mill is a kid’s playroom… complete with a yellow LEGO castle. You should’ve heard Andy giggle when she realized what it was…
Next few steps were building up and connecting tissue between the previous sections, linking them together. The water by the waterwheel is utterly brilliant… there’s a little window that, if I hadn’t built it myself, would never know was there BUT provides a source for the water that makes sense if the caste is open or closed. The things they think about! Oh, and the other half of the Banquet Hall.
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Next morning and we’ve finished up the roof… that THATCHED ROOF COTTAGES!
Sorry, not a cottage. But for children raised on a steady diet of Homestar Runner… anyway…
This stupid little alcove right here. There’s a little golden frog inside…
…that is hidden when the castle is open!
Like… what!? Unbelievable. And a perfect smooth-tension design. Amazing stuff.
The other half of the kid’s bedroom (that connects to the play-area with the LEGO castle):
And then a few more steps and we are done the first section of the castle!
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But wait… there’s more! The other half of the castle, in fact!
Foundations for the castle’s dungeon, drawbridge, gatehouse, armoury, and the “rear entrance” which… well, it’s a silly design, but it’s super cool.
What is this? A plain rock wall adorning the side of the castle? No!
A secret door leading to another storage room for the Forest People… and wait!
A sliding secret door to escape from one of the dungeon cells! Yeee!
More work on the gatehouse and the start of the weapons storage. Lots and lots of weapons in this castle.
Basement has a treasure chest (full of coins, gems, and “the amber that drove the Black Knight mad when he first held it”. Also around this time we assembled the blue wizard that apparently hasn’t had a body in 28 years!? Picture of him much later.
Working portcullis to protect the rear. Again, silly, but super cool. And those steps were assembled sideways. Like, we build them, and then rotated the whole assembly 90 degrees to get that smooth-step look. Super clever.
Some beautiful work on the door leading “towards” the rest of the castle… and a working drawbridge, because of course it has to have a working drawbridge. LEGO Castles ALWAYS have working drawbridges.
Oh, and hey, another working portcullis. Because why have one really clever bit of engineering when you can have two?
And there we go. The other half done. I didn’t even get to talk about the fantastic “bat cave” that leads to the other dungeon room and also to the secret room under the castle! Nor the toilet with a brown frog far underneath it outside! Like, come on. Come on! Insanity. So cool.
It all clicks together super-smart, it all folds open super smart, there are a hundred (well, closer to 30) little mini-figs…
What a build. What a joy! Gods, I can’t wait to play with this. 
Joking aside, I have started writing a few scripts for my pirate and castle sets. For, ya know, when I have all that “time” I definitely have while working, writing novels, and attending university. All that time.
Thanks for joining me on this crazy build! I 100% wasn’t expecting it, and I don’t think I have any more builds on the horizon (maybe… MAYBE the free “Santa’s Workshop” that Andy got as a “thank you” for buying this monstrosity… she also got a free blanket, and it is SUPER warm and soft).
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