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Japanese Castle

A Himeji-style castle keep with five white tiers under dark kawara roofs and deep white eaves, triangular and curved gables, gold shachihoko on the ridge, a stepped stone base, a timber gate, a tiled white wall, pines and a moat.

702 parts 58 steps Expert

Japanese Castle assembled model

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Build steps

Step 1 of 58

  1. Step 1 · 13 pieces

    • Baseplate 32 x 32 Green 3811 1×
    • Tile 1 x 8 Dark Blue 4162 4×
    • Tile 2 x 4 Dark Blue 87079 8×

About this build

Seven hundred and two parts, fifty-eight steps, one keep. The model takes its cues from Himeji Castle in Hyōgo Prefecture, a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose white plastered walls earned it the nickname White Heron Castle.

Like Himeji, the model rises from an ishigaki, a base of sloping stone walls. Steps 3 to 9 build it in five courses, alternating flat rings of dark gray bricks with battered rings of light gray 45-degree slopes, so the base leans inward as it climbs. A strip of dark blue tiles along one edge of the 32 x 32 baseplate stands in for the moat.

The keep itself is five white tiers, and each one repeats a pattern: wall courses with black lattice windows, a white plastered eave two studs deep, a skirt roof of 33-degree kawara slopes, then gables. Two gable types appear. The chidori-hafu is the triangular one, built from white and dark gray 45-degree slopes; the kara-hafu is the curved one, made from a pair of curved slopes. The tiers shrink as you go up, so slope counts change from tier to tier even though the method stays the same. Steps 42 to 45 finish the top roof with a black ridge and a gold shachihoko at each end, the fish-like ornaments seen on the ridges of many Japanese castles.

The last thirteen steps build the grounds: a roofed timber gate, white walls with loopholes, seven pines, shrubs and stone lanterns.

Rated expert, this is a long evening or two; expect something like three to five hours. Sort the white bricks by length before starting, since the tiers draw on them constantly.

Parts list

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Parts list
PartName / IDColorQty
Brick 1 x 2 with Grille2877 Black 50
Brick 1 x 13005 Black 4
Plate 2 x 83034 Black 1
Slope Brick 45 2 x 4 Double3041 Black 3
Slope Brick 45 2 x 1 Double3044b Black 2
Plate 1 x 2 with Groove with 1 Centre Stud3794b Black 4
Plate 2 x 103832 Black 1
Baseplate 32 x 323811 Green 1
Plate 2 x 2 Round with Axlehole4032a Green 20
Brick 2 x 62456 White 2
Brick 2 x 43001 White 16
Brick 1 x 23004 White 41
Brick 1 x 13005 White 36
Brick 1 x 83008 White 57
Brick 1 x 63009 White 24
Brick 1 x 43010 White 34
Plate 4 x 63032 White 1
Plate 2 x 83034 White 1
Plate 4 x 83035 White 5
Plate 6 x 83036 White 6
Slope Brick 45 2 x 13040b White 28
Slope Brick 45 2 x 1 Double3044b White 14
Brick 1 x 33622 White 2
Plate 2 x 63795 White 2
Plate 6 x 63958 White 1
Plate 8 x 841539 White 12
Plate 2 x 164282 White 1
Brick 1 x 1 Round with Hollow Stud3062b Trans Orange 3
Brick 1 x 83008 Light Bluish Grey 4
Slope Brick 45 2 x 43037 Light Bluish Grey 28
Slope Brick 45 2 x 23039 Light Bluish Grey 4
Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Double Convex3045 Light Bluish Grey 8
Brick 1 x 1 Round with Hollow Stud3062b Light Bluish Grey 3
Cone 1 x 14589 Light Bluish Grey 3
Plate 1 x 1 Round6141 Light Bluish Grey 6
Slope Brick Curved 2 x 2 x 0.66715068 Dark Bluish Grey 4
Brick 2 x 62456 Dark Bluish Grey 6
Brick 2 x 23003 Dark Bluish Grey 4
Brick 2 x 83007 Dark Bluish Grey 20
Brick 1 x 43010 Dark Bluish Grey 14
Slope Brick 45 2 x 23039 Dark Bluish Grey 28
Slope Brick 45 2 x 4 Double3041 Dark Bluish Grey 2
Slope Brick 45 2 x 2 Double3043 Dark Bluish Grey 16
Tile 2 x 2 with Groove3068b Dark Bluish Grey 1
Slope Brick 33 3 x 43297 Dark Bluish Grey 23
Slope Brick 33 3 x 23298 Dark Bluish Grey 26
Slope Brick 33 3 x 3 Double Convex3675 Dark Bluish Grey 20
Plate 2 x 63795 Dark Bluish Grey 2
Slope Brick 33 3 x 34161 Dark Bluish Grey 6
Slope Brick 33 3 x 14286 Dark Bluish Grey 10
Tile 2 x 487079 Dark Bluish Grey 1
Plate 2 x 43020 Very Light Bluish Grey 2
Plate 6 x 83036 Very Light Bluish Grey 4
Plate 2 x 63795 Very Light Bluish Grey 1
Plate 2 x 164282 Very Light Bluish Grey 3
Tile 1 x 84162 Dark Blue 4
Tile 2 x 487079 Dark Blue 8
Brick 2 x 2 Round without Reinforcement3941 Dark Green 6
Plate 2 x 2 Round with Axlehole4032a Dark Green 2
Plate 4 x 4 Round with Hole and Snapstud60474 Dark Green 12
Brick 1 x 1 Round with Hollow Stud3062b Pearl Gold 2
Plate 1 x 2 with Groove with 1 Centre Stud3794b Pearl Gold 2
Cone 1 x 14589 Pearl Gold 4
Plate 1 x 1 Round6141 Pearl Gold 2
Brick 1 x 13005 Dark Brown 12
Brick 1 x 63009 Dark Brown 2
Plate 4 x 63032 Dark Brown 1
Brick 1 x 1 Round with Hollow Stud3062b Dark Brown 24
Total pieces702