Medieval Village 3d

[Socorro Henson]

Villagesscattered the medieval landscape as they played a vital role in the agrarian economy, feeding the inhabitants of an entire kingdom. These villages grew around rivers, providing water to the community, and hydraulic power to watermills. Grinding grain into flour - the most valuable processed food back then - was a profitable business for feudal lords who alone had the resources to build these mills. The power developed by water also served their own power, enforcing mandatory milling and collecting taxes around their mills.

The set has been designed to the same doll-house style play we have seen in other castles giving the builder the flexibility to pose the structures how they see fit. This technique allows the designers to utilize empty space to make the structures larger and not use up many pieces to close off the backside of the buildings as through use of hinges two buildings can be combined together should closure be desired. This modular design style takes influences from the LEGO modular sets that we all love and has been designed with group play in mind as each building can be built using its own instruction manual.

Continuing their target to Adult Fans Of Lego (AFOL) this set adopts the iconic black styled box donning the immediately recognizable Icons logo (formerly known as Creator Expert prior to the summer 2022 rebrand). Both the front and the back of the box showcase the contents of this set very well, showcasing the different ways the structures can be displayed and some of the notable play sets. While the box can show off a lot of the contents inside the set this alone is not enough to show off all the included details and build techniques. This review aims to highlight these details better to ensure you can make a more informed decision before you purchase.

While the set is split into two instruction manuals and two main structures the designers creatively built the set in a way such that it features five different buildings. Each of the buildings included in this set have their own unique function and include structures that we have not previously seen in LEGO structures. The buildings included are an old farmhouse, a cheese factory, an inn, a barn, a shieldsmith workshop and a watchtower. The buildings are designed to be modular allowing you to display them however you see fit, following the same techniques used in other recent castle sets that give you display fluidity. The set itself is packed with secrets and hidden references, some of which we will highlight in this set while others we will leave for you to find to ensure there is still magic in your build experience. In this review we will be covering details of the structures, some of the great colors used and go into details of the build techniques we see deployed in this set.

When opened up you can see the power of empty space. While each of the three structures themselves are relatively small, the use of hinged pieces lets you open it up to create the narrow passage way between these buildings. While they are connected at hinges, the designers did a good job at hiding these, ensuring they blend and do not mar the facade of the buildings. As we dig into each of the building seperately we can see what makes them special, while exploring the similarities and differences between how they are each built.

In contrast, when the buildings are placed side by side and opened up we see the true size of these buildings, with them feeling a lot smaller. Despite this the buildings still look beautiful when displayed this way, with the dollhouse opening being hidden in the inside walls. Each building is distinct in its color, shape and design allowing for a nice varied contrast, while all feeling unique. While there is more to this set I feel that this building on its own would make for a great LEGO set, and were it released at a lower price point would make for an affordable entry point into castle for LEGO fans, as the theme is currently filled with very expensive sets. While the colors themselves are varied you can see a lot of repetition in building techniques across the buildings, something we see even more as we build the second structure. We will explore this repetition further in the article and how this unfortunately may detract from the building experience. I will caveat however that I have been fortunate to build a lot of the newer castle sets, so while some of these techniques may seem repetitive to me, I may be skewed from biases having built this technique a lot. It is important to note that repetition does not mean the technique is bad however, as everything from the walls to the roof are gorgeous in this set.

To supplement the buildings and to add play and details the designers have included a large number of mini builds in this set. These mini builds can be placed in the larger structure but are designed to be removed such that they can be posed as desired. Each of the mini builds add small details that enhance the set and each feel like they could be part of a LEGO Castle advent calendar. The first thing we build is a 21Bright RedRed and 1White crowned cheese stall. While a small build this stall makes great use of a variety of shapes and colors, including 24Bright YellowYellow, 191Flame Yellowish OrangeBright Light Orange, 1White and 312Medium NougatMedium Dark Flesh to capture different cheeses. It is incredible how just through use of 11 pieces you can create so much recognizable variety. Alongside the cheeses are a variety of baked goods, items that are commonly eaten with cheese. While the build itself is simple it is interesting to point out some creative techniques, firstly with the roof detailing. In the past we have seen the curved patterns accomplished through use of slopes and arches, but instead this time we get a more rounded shape accomplished through the use of brackets and rounded off 11 studs, a simple change that adds a fun new shape. Although not easily noticable the designers were able to connect the thin bar of the frames to the flat roof through the use of a 11 rounded tile with a hole in it. This very versatile piece allows for bars to connect to anti studs, a connection that previously would not have been possible allowing for much thinner detailing. This looks a lot nicer than it would have had they used 11 rounded bricks.

Utilizing a large number of small pieces is the cart. Unlike other carts we have seen in other castle sets this one is sized to be hand drawn. While an intentional design decision I wish it was instead sized larger and drawn by a horse or cow as this set is missing the larger animals we saw in the original this is based off. The build itself is rather straight forward but it is interesting to notice that clip and bar connections are used in full effect to accomplish the angled walls of the cart. By placing it at an angle we get more shape variety than had we seen them built up with bricks at a right angle.

The old farmhouse is the smallest of the three buildings in the first set but from an exterior does not disappoint. Both the roof and door are a standout and will be explored in their own paragraphs later. The walls of this building leverage the half timbered building technique that is commonly found in German architecture spanning back as early as the 12th century, this named Fachwerk in native tongue. The 1White and 26Black of the walls contrast well, and even though the walls lack texture there is an illusion of it. To accomplish the thin 26Black strips the designers used studs on side construction and build horizontally utilizing 3 plate wide deep bricks for the main structure and a single plate for the thin detail. This technique is repeated across the entire structure and is something that we have seen before in LEGO castle buildings and will continue to see in the future. Where depth is achieved however is with the window shutters, with the designers using an ingot piece with its beveled shape to add some depth and curves to an otherwise flat wall.

A roof technique has seen in many castle sets is a thatched roof built using layered claws in 308Dark Brown. This technique it never fails to disappoint, with the shapes capturing the rough straw effect perfectly. To ensure the repetition is broken up we see a few slopes in 5Brick YellowTan interspersed amongst the larger claw pieces. What is new is how the designers curved the claws around a rounded window in this set. While it is far from perfect giving that there are gaps on either side of the window, the curve feels very naturally done and adds yet more character to the roof. To accomplish this curve clip and rod techniques are used to pose the claws at an angle, with the construction detailing being hidden by the layer of roofing above.

The outside is not alone with details, with designers using two large arches offset in height to build the roof trusses. This simple detail was easy to omit but shows the attention to detail. The interior however is rather sparse, with the main draw being the colored yarn on the wall that compliments the loom. It is important to note that the space is intentionally left to have enough room to store the loom should you wish to bring it indoors. What may seem like a simple detail is seen on the floor. The staggered 192Reddish Brown jumper streak that runs contrast against the 38Dark Orange tiles adds for a fun floorboard pattern, while also providing space for minifigures to stand within the building.

With many doors in sets utilizing a single piece door I always appreciate it when I see a brick build door. Although the build is far from the best brick built doors I have seen the 141Earth GreenDark Green tiles, both with its sharp and curved edges helps create the old rickety door feel. Brick built will always be something I appreciate as it helps highlight the creativity of LEGO, and although it drives up piece count and as a consequence price, it is nice to see from time to time. At the front we see a fun layered cobblestone technique using rounded tiles at the base of the door, a costly technique due to its use of a large number of pieces but a fun technique.

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