For many years, peace has reigned in the kingdom, and the lords have grown complacent, their vigilance fading with the passing of time. But beyond the borders of the realm, a new power rises from the waves: the Krakens. A long forgotten house of mighty knights, once thought to be little more than a myth, has returned from their island keep to claim what they believe is rightfully theirs.

The “Driftwood Keep” is a massive, multi-level fortress perched on the unforgiving rocks of Kraken Island. Accessible only by ship, the island is nearly impossible to capture. The castle itself blends traditional medieval architecture with Viking design, sitting atop an ancient cave that holds the century-old terrors that inspired the Kraken knights' name.

The “Driftwood Keep” boasts a fully furnished interior, including a Kraken Pit below a working trap door, a dungeon, a storage area, a map room, a throne room, an armory, and living quarters. The castle can be displayed both open and closed, and comes with a boat and the Krakens' feared longship.

The set includes an impressive selection of minifigures: 10 Krakens and 2 Horse Knights and a spooky ghost.

New features of the "Driftwood Keep" 2.0

After receiving lots of feedback to my original Series 9 submission from the amazing LEGO castle community, I made sure to include as much of it as possible into this updated version:

Updated rock work: When I first submitted my "Driftwood Keep" a lot of people were really excited about the impressive cliff the castle is built on. However, some people were also concerned that the rocks might use too many small bricks, might be unstable or boring to build. Thus, I made sure the rock work of this updated version contains a lot more big rock pieces that make the whole model more stable and reduce the overall piece count while making sure the original look of the rocks stays almost identical, so the model does not lose its impressive silhouette.
Newly added upper bridge: My original submisison featured a narrow, one stud wide arch that connected the upper halves of the "Driftwood Keep". A lot of people really like the look of this but were a bit sad that it was only a cosmetic feature and did not serve any real purpose. As a result I decided to completely rework the upper half of the castle. The narrow, one stud wide arch, was replaced by a three stud wide bridge that is fully walkable and turns to a six stud wide balcony when the model is closed.
Added proper bridge access: To accompany the newly created bridge I also updated the walls of the upper house section. Instead of having a regular window on one side and a narrow bay window on the other side, I added a big double door to the upper house that directly leads to the newly formed balcony. When the model is opened the double doors are split in the middle and make sure that the new bridge is still accesible even when the model is opened.
Removal of the bay window in the courtyard: My original Series 9 submission featured a bay window to the right of the big main gate. This bay window made the whole right side of the model look to wide and not in line with the overall design language of the castle. Therefore I decided to completely remove the lower bay window and replace it with more rock work to make the castle flow better.
Lower overall piece count: While redesigning different parts of the model and completely reworking the instructions I found a lot of area is in the castle that were built inefficiently. In the process of redsigning the model I managed to reduce the piece count by over 100 bricks.
Updated minifigures: I changed the antagonist from Griffin to Horse Knights since they offer more variety when it comes to legs and torsos. I also added a spooky ghost and an additional bird. While doing so I also added a nice horse head to the rowing boat to give it a bit more character.
New map: I also added a map of the kingdom in the basement to connect the "Driftwood Keep" to other place in the medieval world.
Smaller changes: While redesigning the bigger design elements of the "Driftwood Keep", I also had time to update a couple of smaller more hidden features like the fire place, the entire prison section, the supports for the main battlements, some of the furniture, the shield attachments and many more.
Overall stability: As with all big models there are usually stability concerns. Therefore I used the redesign process to make a number of design elements a lot more stable (e.g. the upper crane, the roofs, etc.).

So as you can see the new "Driftwood Keep" version 2.0 is better in every aspect while also having a lower piece count than the original. Please let me know in the comments what you think of all the changes I made. If you have any questions about the model or want to give more feedback, please leave a comment below!

Thank you for checking out my submission to Series 11 of the Bricklink Designer Program. I really appreciate your support!

Width: 27,5cm/ 10.8 Inches
Length: 57,6cm/ 22.7 Inches
Height: 45,1cm/ 17.8 Inches