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By CHAVALAH - Dec. 31, 1969 Being a huge Harry Potter fan, I thought it would be fun to have my own
castle to play with, and what better way to make it than with Hirts Arts
supplies. This very, very, VERY large project took me about 6 months to
create. I did not have a map of the school, so I studied the first five
books to come up with ideas of how the school was connected together. I knew
there would be no possible way for me to create every room they talk about
in the book, but I was sure going to try.
The dimensions of the castle are; 30 inches wide x 23 inches deep, and 21 inches tall. It is hard to see in the pictures, but the main castle walls range anywhere from 24 to 34 blocks tall, and 28 to 30 blocks wide. The attached Quidditch Field was made with left over blocks. It?s dimensions are 22 inches wide x 23 inches deep, and 11 inches tall (tallest hoop).
The molds used to create Hogwarts were: I also used poly-clay, balsa-wood, matte-board, and cardstock. I also have almost every character they talk about in the books (that attend Hogwarts) in the school. Each character has a small sticker on the bottom of their base to identify them and which house they belong to. There are over 100 characters, and 23 animals/monsters/sub-humans. The castle is made up of 4 levels (3 main levels with a small 4th level on the top). Level 1 includes; The Great Hall, Kitchens, Divination Class Room, Gryffindor Common Room, Charms Class Room, Transfiguration Class Room, Potions Class Room, History of Magic Class Room, Girls Bathrooms, & Slytherin Common Rooms (I couldn't get the whole thing the in photo). Level 2 includes; The D.A.D.A. Room, Hufflepuff Common Room, Hospital Wing, Quidditch History, The Owlery, Boys Bathrooms, Philosopher's Stone Room, and Ravenclaw Common Room. Level 3 includes; The School Library with Restricted Section, Dumbledore's Office, The Chamber of Secrets, open Dueling Area, a Large Balcony and the Summoning Square. Level 4 includes; Herbology Lab, Pumpkin Patch, Herbology Class Room, and the Astrology Tower. The Grounds of the school have the Womping Willow holding the Weasly's Car, the beginnings of the Dark Woods surround Hogwarts, and the Quidditch Field. The Quidditch Field has a corner for each house of Hogwarts, and the stands are made with Hirst blocks and poly-clay. The banners were printed on light paper and carefully cut to fit the stands. The banner stands were made of balsa-wood and long matches. The gate of the Quidditch Field is made from a wire basket I had laying around my house...it was easy to cut and to bend into shape. The players on the Quidditch Field I found at a second hand shop in the Harry Potter Trivia 2 Game...the game was missing, but all the peices where there - SCORE FOR ME!!! I attached them with glue and then made the Golden Snitch out of the poly-clay and suspended it in the air with invisible fishing string. The front of the Castle has several statues in the arches that represent the founders of Hogwarts School, as well as the house names and crests. Oh-yeah, that round balcony in the front? It was made with the small round blocks from the ruined tower kit, but I didn't have a way of attatching it to the rest of the castle, so I used some spare arch peices from the Bell Tower kit as braces. I was really happy with the look when it finaly dried. I have used Hirst block before, but I have never done anything quite this large or difficult, but it was so much fun to create my own design and then see it come to life. I enjoyed making this castle so much that I have already started with Diagon Alley, only this time I'm using street lights and sound-bites from the DVD's built into it! Maybe I will enter it next year if I am done. "Thanks for looking!" HERE ARE THE PICTURE DESCRIPTIONS:Hogwarts School & Quidditch Field (full version)
This is a picture of the entire school and Quidditch Field...but it's not
that great because I had to back up so far to get it all into the shot.
But, I thought I would include it so you could see how large it is. I used
6 molds to create this Castle and Quidditch Field! In fact, you can see the
entire "Wizard's Tower" on the back right side of the top level...this is
the Astrology Tower where they hold classes at night to look at the stars...
Front View of Hogwarts
This is a close-up view of the Castle. You can't see most of the towers in
the back, but it is still a good picture of it.
Level 1
This is a shot of the bottom floor of the school, but I couldn't get
everything into the picture...sorry...I used the regular 1 inch blocks and
wall sections mostly for the class rooms, since they didn't need windows.
The front left of the castle has a large round (almost) tower that continues
up to the 3rd level - made from the Ruined Tower Kit. You can see a little
of the back left tower - this was made from the small round peices from the
Ruined Tower Kit. There is also a half circle tower on the back right of
the Castle that continues up the the 3rd level. Again, this was made from
the large round peices of the Ruined Tower Kit.
Level 2
This is a shot of the 2nd level...again, it doesn't show the side rooms of
the castle very well.
Level 3
This is the 3rd level...pretty exciting, huh? It has the Summoning Square
for witches and wizards to meet, Dumbledore's Office, a large Dueling Area,
The Chamber of Secrets (bottom level of the "Wizard's Tower" mold), and my
favorite part of this level...the School Library! It has a large room full
of bookshelfs, tables and chairs, and several small prints of famous
paintings on the walls. There are stairs leading upstairs towards the 4th
level, and the Restricted Book Section on the other side...you can see Harry
in is invisibility cape trying to creep in.
Level 4
This is the 4th level...There are only a few buildings that reach up to this
level; the Herbology Tower and the Astrology Tower. The Astrology Tower is
made from the "Wizards Tower" mold, but I added this great round staircase
and archway entrance towards the class room. The Herbology Tower has mostly
1 inch bricks for the base, but there is a decorated section in the middle.
There is a small pumpkin patch on the right and a plant lab on the left
side. The class room is made of poly-clay with Hirst blocks (arches) for
the tops of the walls, and matte-board for the roof. This section was my
favorite one to do!
Quidditch Field (Quidditch Field 1)
This is a shot of the Quidditch Field...boy this was fun to make! Most of
the Field was made from left over blocks from the Castle. I used wall
sections for the base of each tower, and then pillars to hold up the banners
for each house. The banners are printed on light paper and attached to
balsa-wood and long matches (painted, of course). The benches are made out
of poly-clay, and the field itself is sand, grass, and light shrubs from a
craft/train shop.
Quidditch Field Players (2)
This is a close-up of the players flying in the air. The hoops are
balsa-wood stands with poly-clay circle hoops on top. The Golden Snitch is
also made out of poly-clay and attached with invisible fishing string.
Quidditch Field Top View (5)
This is a top view of the field so you can see the shape and blocks used.
You really could use any of the 1 inch blocks to create this...it was a
great way to use the last few blocks I had left-over!
Quidditch Field Gate
This is my favorite part of the Quidditch Field - the gate! It was cut from
an old wire basket laying around my basement. It was very easy to cut and
bend into shape. I attached a handle to it and cut it to fit the archway.
Then I made the Golden Snitch design out of poly-clay and glued it to the
door...and to top it all off - the Hogwarts School Banner!
The Right Side of the School
This picture shows the right side of the castle. You can see the half circle
tower with all the arch windows. This is the Slytherin Common Room (level
1), Ravenclaw Common Room (level 2), and an open balcony area on level 3. I used the Ruined Tower mold to create this half circle tower. It was really
going to be a full circle, but it takes soooooooo long to cast all of those
bricks, that I got tired and changed my plan. I like the way it turned out,
now both sides aren't the same.
The Left Side of the School This is the left side of the castle. You can see the car in the Womping Willow (I know, I know...it's not that great of a tree for the Womping Willow, but give me a break - this castle took forever and by the time I got the that part I was poor and unable to make the one I really wanted. I will correct it in the future.) You can also see the back small tower going all the way up the castle. This was made with the small round bricks from the Ruined Tower mold. You can also see the "Wizard's Tower" behind the small round tower, and of course, I used the Wizard's Tower mold to create this part of the school. I liked the design of the Wizard's Tower so much that I thought I would use it in it's original concept, only in this school it is now the "Astrology Tower" (level 4) and the room for the "Secret of Chambers" (level 3).
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