Best LEGO Castle at BrickCon 2015!

We were recently at BrickCon, the annual LEGO convention in Seattle, Washington. There, we met David Frank, whose massive diorama won the Best Medieval Castle at the show. We chat with David about his LEGO design style, architecture, and how he built this amazing piece.
Find more photos of David's LEGO castles and builds at: www.flickr.com...
Shot and Edited by Joey Fameli
Music by Jinglepunks
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Tested is:
Adam Savage / donttrythis
Norman Chan / nchan
Joey Fameli / joeyfameli
Jamie Hyneman / jamienotweet
Thanks for watching!

[@cullyn]

That build is stunning! It is no wonder it won!

[@waseemshah9353]

cullyn Garhwali gane

[@MaMastoast]

I cant even imagine the amount of money that thing has cost... great build though

[@zenertox1411]

+MaMastoast Probably over 9000

[@ulysse21]

In daily french, bucks ( 1000 euro / $ ) is called : briques ;) so in this case it must have cost 9 bricks ? lol

[@THGForever1]

I love, love to know a little bit on how the structure was created. Like how it is just that more meaningful, how David explained that his was from his wife's story! Amazing...just amazing!

[@bcgrote]

Stunning piece! Fascinating to hear his development as an artist as well.

[@tilago]

Apart from that last line, you can tell the norm really has a soft spot for architecture and Lego sculpture, hope we get more content from the event

[@aaron.silveira]

Amazing. I've built with Legos all of my childhood but I'm always put off by the sheer amount of pieces that are needed to create the images in my mind. I envy this dude very much

[@iamironclaw]

I actually built an exact copy of that whole set when I was 5 years old, with just 10 lego pieces. I think this guy stole my design.

[@BooooClips]

that is so dam cool!!!

[@Lunzicle]

Thats so cool how David and his wife do these things together. True love :)

[@HolmAdrian]

I saw some of this on LegoWorld in Copenhagen. Really cool!

[@ToxicJumperify]

That lego guy. has got some serious muscle mass for a dude that plays with toys. respect!!

[@Humineral]

Not really, he just holds his fat well like Joerg from the slingshot channel.

[@ToxicJumperify]

+Dave sorry i dont agree. you do not get arms that big by holding your fat well... He obviously is a well built dude either way though.

[@Kanashto]

+Dave Joerg lifts ... and im putting this out there without knowing for sure, but I know he lifts ...

[@Humineral]

ToxicJumperify Yeah he's got arms, but he has no delts or delt seperation, no bicep peak, no formarms, no traps, moobs/gyno and some double chin action. His bodyfat percent is of the charts, you just can't and shouldn't even attempt to estimate muscle mass at that size. Kanashto I really like the guy but fuck no. You can see the folds on his sides where the boobies baby please start to droop.

[@Kanashto]

Dave man you sound like luimarco :p

[@BROON71]

That was super rad! Thanks for sharing that with us, Norm!

[@elad2973]

One of the best I have ever seen

[@Bricksbychristian]

i love this mountain terrain in the front, i need something like this

[@ObsessedGames]

That is truly a beautiful piece of work. I've definitely gotta keep my ear to the ground about the next BrickCon to see if I can see all this stuff first hand.

[@luckystrke]

Great ARTIST!

[@Oli414]

Wow! That's pretty amazing! So sad that Lego is so expensive, pretty sure these are tens of thousands dollars worth of legos

[@PersonalSubChoice]

Awesome build! id love it if you did more Lego videos like this one

[@ncdefenceman]

Guy really seems passionate about his work. Great interview and awesome questions!

[@Sc0pee]

1:16 The girl on the left is thinking "Hmm I wonder what they are filming here, can't see shit - I must have a better look---Ooooh!". Love the emotion on her face :D

[@AlessandroGrieco]

Bodybuilding and legobulding, a strange coupled xD

[@nutmeg453]

1:38 Norm... Let the interviewee talk! YOU HAVE A PROBLEM! EVERY TESTED COMMENT SECTION SAYS SO!

[@sandruin381]

Great interview Amazing MOC Interesting story behind it Love it!

[@malikbaptiste8034]

I love this guy! Living the dream

[@GrantDavis]

Dang. Didn't even know you guys were there. I had best Castle Building 2 years ago, wish I could have met you!

[@renzo260]

very cool stuff!

[@louisz4121]

Respect for that man.

[@russcassevah4315]

Really wish you guys did more Lego stuff!

[@saltesen]

Wow, that guy has got some mass. Did you ask how much he could bench?

[@nutmeg453]

Yeh! At first I thought he was a bit chubby but his arms have quite a bit of definement.

[@saltesen]

+Timothy Alder yeah. i paused the video at 1:20 and you can see his triceps quite clearly. Those arms are pretty big.

[@bobyknish]

I was thinking the same thing XD

[@DarksouIjah]

Holy hell that is an amazing build. I really wish he knew the amount of pieces it took to build.

[@lorezyra]

I would love to see these Lego Sculptures built in (almost) real time. I want to see *how* they build these magnificent structures!

[@KubrickFR]

The book he talk about at the begining seems to be "To Whatever End" (Echoes of Imara Book 1) by Claire Frank

[@23kikiriki]

+Mathieu LANCE Tnx

[@gizmotoystore8124]

super great build :-)

[@Unknownety]

How can an 16-18 century castle win the medieval castle category? Considering that the medieval times ended in the 15 century. And that that castle clearly uses traditional Baroque architecture, that was a popular architecture style between late 16 century and half way into the 18 century. Not really medieval, as the "dark ages" were between the 5 century and late 16 century. I wouldn't like to be the builder of an actual medieval castle in that show, and lose to something that isn't even medieval.

[@aldomann]

+Unknownety because people just don't know history. The same happens in music, they listen to Bach and say "man, I love classical music".

[@Alibeeee]

The first thing I thought was that that wasn't medieval at all.

[@Unknownety]

And I think it's a bit funny to see an actual medieval castle in the background a few times. Tho this is still a rather well built and detailed piece of art, but I think some other builder should have won the medieval castle category, otherwise it should have just been called the castle category in my opinion.

[@wwaxwork]

+Unknownety It's a fantasy castle from a non fiction source. Which doesn't make it eligible either way from the title of the category, but I'm guessing it was just a more generic castle genre with a incorrectly specific name.

[@Sc0pee]

+Unknownety Yeah..I get the picture that this guy had this amazing work of art ready way before the competition was even announced and just decided to participiate with what he had to the competition...

[@dingublcoffee]

First I have to say, amazing job, its beautiful. With that being said however, this is neither a castle nor medieval architecture!

[@MikeCasucci]

that's incredible

[@samuelleask1132]

I would LOVE to come to the LEGO conventions but I don't live in America :(

[@NANONilsWORLD]

unglaublich was manche Menschen für Zeit und Geduld haben so etwas zu bauen. Ich bin ehrlich neidisch auf so etwas. Möchte ich eigentlich auch machen ;-)

[@JohnSmith-kf8mv]

Lego sets and cities that have the water area at the same height as the building area look right weird to me, so this castle with its drop down to the water, well I love that stuff. :)

[@ASilentS]

Medieval? Nope Castle? Nope

[@DaroffApFire]

+namedcreekrocks No it doesn't. A manor house and castle are two very different things. What was shown is a manor house.

[@ASilentS]

+Daroff I'd like to start out by saying that I'm pretty sure we're all on the same page that it isn't a "real" castle. Even the artist agrees and refers to it as a "manor house". But you are wrong in the assumption that "manor house" and "castle" are mutually exclusive. Merriam-Webster gives one definition of castle as "a large expensive house". To say that it isn't a castle because it is a manor house isn't the best way of going about it.

[@DaroffApFire]

SilentS A castle is a private, fortified structure. The Merriam Webster definition even says this. "a large fortified building or set of buildings". A manor house is large, but it isn't a fortified structure. So yes, a castle and a manor house are in fact mutually exclusive. =P Definitions aside, this is still an impressive Lego sculpture. I've been looking at other things that David has done, and they're all awesome!

[@ASilentS]

+Daroff Right, that's one definition Merriam-Webster gives but not the only one. And coming from the other end, a manor house could very well be a castle that happens to serve as the main residence on the lands of a lord. Not only are the terms not mutually exclusive, they are mutually inclusive.

[@DaroffApFire]

SilentS The merriam webster dictionarey also isn't a source of historically accurate terms either, lol.

[@DaroffApFire]

That's a Manor house, not a castle. David seems to know this, but nobody else does, apparently lol. It's still amazing though. Nice work David!

[@WickedSpade]

Here's a new challenge for youtube...go to brickcon and "fall" accidently on a display

[@radabize]

This is insane :o

[@CatfishCameras]

I bet that guy could sell his work, especially after winning all those awards

[@greenmumm]

+CatfishCameras yes but it probably wouldn't even sell for what all those pieces cost

[@Steampunk360]

If this could be shipped without breaking [yes i know that is near impossible on an affordable stand point] I bet this would sell for a ton of money. He should build real structures and sell them. Have a site for "I will build your house in lego" I bet people would want a model of their homes. If they are model or lego collectors that is. Great creation.

[@antivanti]

Hey Norm. You should start filming with stereo 180 degree camera set up so we can experience these things in VR just as if we were there! =P

[@slobdog21]

Reminds me of Ultima 7!

[@andyraven]

that is a amazing!

[@asebaninja]

intresting stuff.

[@cmanbacon10v3r2]

3:27 he says foliage wrong lol.

[@asebaninja]

+Cman bacon10v3r Lol, nitpicker, your right though.

[@cmanbacon10v3r2]

Im not a nitpicker I say words wrong everyone does its part of being human. But the build was super cool !!

[@gekesulen]

Norm has allot of good questions XD

[@joshwwarren]

Are those his real arms?

[@kimmy6019]

where can i buy lego, but not in sets.. the ones inside a bucket(one colorway).. is there such thing? please help

[@BooooClips]

fuck he's huge!

[@txm100]

"Do you have any architecture background to help you build that LEGO castle?"

[@TheTimeRocket]

They should start putting cameras inside these models.

[@chickenmonger123]

Stealth buff as fuck.

[@WickedSpade]

where's a Lego King Kong to smash it all when you need it...

[@awesomeblader45]

What is the book? I am now some what interested in finding it.

[@Tsumami__]

God what is that $10k worth of castle build kits combined???

[@rubbinitraw7568]

how would you even go about acquiring the pieces?!

[@axelbengtsson8195]

I'm sometimes baffled by the childishness in the comment section on Tested videos. "With my expertise I can tell you that that is not a castle". We all see what it is, just shut up.

[@srdjanerceg694]

is that like castle from medieval or just like castle where some rich families live cant tell tho beacuse u can see there some medieval ship cant tell

[@jx592]

Lego IS art

[@forgottenalex]

QUICK, some pour Krackle all over that project before he tears it apart

[@Jimmyhickey90]

kinda surprised he didnt plug the book name/author. i want to read it after this

[@buffgeek]

+Jimmy Hickey www.clairefrankbooks.com/

[@huggybear100]

gutta be someone out there thats offering to buy this....

[@sydandtaytum]

i wonder if he's ventured into the art world and tried to sell his piece after he is done (instead of taking it apart). i bet he could get a lot for it- enough to pay for the pieces and then some.

[@laggot]

whaaaaat this is in seattle?!

[@srdjanerceg694]

from 3:19 to 3:25 is not a floating town it is lake town from movie the Hobbit -.-

[@williambriggs6200]

Wow

[@QurttoRco]

5:15 Norm has someballs telling that to a guy with looks quite a lot heavyer the him

[@lucysixm]

Wow. I don't own enough plant parts to build a convincing window box.

[@RickardLejonhjarta]

is there a thing that doesnt have a Con in america?

[@razer1337x]

wow

[@justliam2768]

Looks more like The Grand Budapest Hotel than a castle.

[@Ibushi]

Isn't there a lego application? Can you recreate this on that? Atleast, that way, you have a fully detailed, brick by brick, map of it and save it that way, not just pics.

[@matthiassmedlarsen3676]

+Ibushi Lego Digital Designer is just that. You used to be able to order all the bricks needed for a model you made in one package, but they discontinued that for some reason.

[@BrickBreakFTW]

What's the name of the book?

[@JesseFowlerDesigner]

Daro? This is Stonemaster.

[@TheWongFong]

@2:38 "Ho....ly...Shittt....."

[@lordtelion]

Well nice build and everything, but that shouldn't have won best MEDIEVAL castle because in NO WAY does it looks like a MEDIEVAL castle! More like a Buckingham PALACE which is NOT medieval. Still like it though and i want to see this book!

[@daseincog]

Looks more like a Georgian-style manor house than a medieval castle.

[@michaelthomas3209]

Dude is yoked!! Castle is also cool.

[@Leichenfaust44]

* Best Lego Castle BUILDER

[@qwertyferix]

This only won because nobody built a 1:1 Richard Castle out of LEGO.

[@thepandaahbear9025]

How did they fill the little mountain, the castle is standing on?

[@buffgeek]

+ThePandaahBear Its all lego just like the inside of the manor house. Stacked Brick and arches.

[@thepandaahbear9025]

buffgeek ok thank you :)

[@lynmar]

why would you disassemble it? isnt there a lego museum somewhere in the world? why not try and sell it to them first to display it forever. im sure youd get your money back you invested then some to put back into your next project

[@jx592]

Looks more like a manor

[@kaasbaas2607]

dont bricks get stolen alot at those conventions?

[@KenpachiFN]

Meanwhile I can't even spell Leagou

[@red_freckle]

big dude. can get get him to wear a hulk costume and smash his building? k, thanks.

[@nophobia123]

i always feel like ive missed out after watching tested videos. please show more of the objects you guys are filming and less of yourselves. its just a let down to not see more of these cool creations

[@Waylander_]

So funny he has like tiny hands and and small limbs but hench lmao

[@williambriggs6200]

😯😯😯😯😯

[@jackesioto]

It's actually a palace, not a castle!

[@meridianherschel1618]

#justrichpeoplethings

[@ZzDe0]

My multi colored square Lego house was way better.

[@andystew4013]

Thats not a castle.

[@furrydevil1]

+Andy Stew It kinda is, the definition of a castle is "a large building, typically of the medieval period, fortified against attack with thick walls, battlements, towers, and often a moat" (Sorry to be that guy that copy and pastes a definition)

[@furrydevil1]

***** A manor house is a castle

[@justliam2768]

+Furry Devil No, it's not. the clue is in the name.

[@suthinscientist9801]

It's really a palace and not a castle.

[@joeb3794]

Hey can I have some lego changes and animals guys hat's trees cups plants and cash and calsels