Medieval Castle Project: Plans and Alternatives

It took me awhile to find the concept for my project, but I have finally landed on an aesthetic I am happy with, something cool I can make, and a dynamic component that will hopefully work well and add to the project. Building on my upcycle project and my available resources and interests, I plan to do another art piece which I will 3D print and paint to display in my room so that I can admire it every now and then, and hopefully it will be something worth admiring. In my previous post I discussed the fantasy aesthetic and my appreciation for it, and my project actually will end up being pretty close to this aesthetic. My plan is to create a medieval inspired castle, or a part of a castle. I’m still not sure on all the details, of how it will look, but I plan to incorporate a liftable front gate that could be activated via a crank of some kind, and a drawbridge which could act in similar fashion. I might only finish one of these depending on time and progress, but I hope to incorporate both. The featured image from yarpen (1) does a good job of illustrating what my concept for these two key features is. It doesn’t necessarily represent what I plan to have a structure of the castle look like. For that, I have made the quick sketch below. My sketching skills are pretty limited but hopefully you can understand the idea, and my printed model with have more detail.

I plan to have a pretty classic medieval castle design, with the prominent conical features on the corners, square featured ramparts, and a stone exterior. A stretch goal would be to include some items in the interior courtyard to make it look lived in. An alternate aesthetic would be to go in a more gothic direction for the architecture and gate system. I do really enjoy this aesthetic, and have made a (rough) sketch below to illustrate what it could look like.

It consists of a more “spiky” architecture, with a taller form, large upward spikes, an a darker exterior. It includes a large ominous clock near the peak as well. I thought a more traditional gate could work here, as the drawbridge and vertically lifted gate don’t quite fit the aesthetic. I do think this design would take a lot more detailing to match the gothic aesthetic. Another alternative would be a more sci-fi fantasy inspired design. This is a much less defined category of what a castle/fortress could look like, and I drew the following simple dome building.

I started with trying to sketch something curved, as that fits a futuristic feel, and contrasts with the typical rigid and boxy nature of medieval architecture. What I drew looks quite like a cistern, inspired by the following image from bluefishds (2).

Overall, I am happy with my aesthetic choice, and think I can make something really cool!

Sources:

(1) yarpen, 2016, Medieval castle – Artwork / Finished Projects – Blender Artists Community

(2): bluefishds, Environment Panoramic View Of Sci-Fi Dome Castle, Floating Island And Waterfall Stock Photo, Picture and Royalty Free Image. Image 169148910.