It is hard to not get emotional about this build. Keanu is not just my son. He is my best friend and best building partner I could ever have. We began our journey building MOCs together ages ago when we decided to enter a competition that the LEGO company was holding for Lord of the Rings. We knew we needed to build something that would stand out from the rest of the entries, so we chose Minas Morgul. We learned how to work together on this build, and what a joy it was to build it. We received the honor of being one of the runner-ups in that competition.
We had so much fun creating this build. We worked with angles, which was a big challenge for our very limited experience level. Two obliging dragon heads helped create the watchers protecting the bridge which was covered in a ragged crowd of orcs and our three travelers crept up the cliff stairs trying to avoid being seen by them.
Many years later, and just a couple weeks before Keanu would be leaving for college, we decided to build Minas Morgul again. For all you parents who counted down the days to their kids move out day, you know what a mess my heart was in. My heart still lies within that build, and it will be one of my most treasured memories. To honor this special moment we built in lights to give it a green glow.
Angle after angle until we both were ready to scream, but it proved to be a good challenge for us. Since building this there have been many LEGO sets that have been released that work with angles and I sure wish we had been able to learn these new and amazing techniques before building this!
We ran out of dark grey pieces to build up the cliff behind the fortress, and had to compromise a lot on its design, but it worked okay.
The wraith on wings was a challenge, but I fiddled until I got him just right. The hardest part was trying to make him in proportion to the rest of the build.
It was not designed to be highly detailed, and best viewed from a slight distance to really appreciate it. The best part was to light it up late at night and sit beside the soft glow.
The lights worked amazingly, and we were so very proud of this build. It broke my heart, and yes I cried a lot when I had to take this down, but stay tuned because I have plans to build a small version that can stay permanently on display.
