10_2 (church)

Here's a redesign of the 10_1 model. It's built using set #10. The structure is similar, but there's been some improvements.

The lower roof is more consistent and less cluttered. The upper roof is different too. The lower windows make use of pillars (nice effect), and the ridiculously large rear circular window now has a more appropriately scaled replacement. This church is not as tall, but it's slightly larger inside.

The downside is this church is more plain in appearance. My recommendation is to build both and decide which is preferred. One more thing: This church uses all the blocks in the set! A very nice accomplishment for a set #10 design.

enjoy!

12_1

After a long break, a new model has emerged. Last spring a new box of Ankerstones was purchased from George Hardy. Which brings my collection to set #12. And with that, I present my first set #12 model.

This model was started with the ambitious goal of using all the stones in the box. Alas, I failed in the task, but I'm quite happy with the result. When finished, there were four stones left. Four tiny stones. They could have been packed within the structure. Used to fill a hollow cavity, or embellished the outside just a little more. However, there comes a time when a construction is complete. And about that goal of using all the stones? Well, that can be a challenge for another day.

Because this is a larger model, a modular construction technique similar to that seen in the 8_5 design was used. The tower was created first. It's a building by itself. The roof of the main building was done next. An arcade was created to support the roof. Then a facade was wrapped around the structure. The front being separate from the rest. All these pieces were created symmetric in design. Keeping things symmetric made the design phase easier.

Here are the plans for this construction. The images are rather small, but hopefully large enough to see. Use caution when constructing the tower. The stones are small and must be placed correctly. Also, the roof in the peak is hollow. Blocks were used sparingly to make the construction as large as possible. The model stands about 20" tall.

This is a fine construction that will take some time, and a steady hand. Four blocks in set #12 are unused. What are they?

8_4 (church)

Does this model look familiar? It's a redesign of the last model found in book #6.

It's really a set #8 design. Richter books often entice readers with a final model that can be built when the next block set is purchased. It's that teasing which prompted me to create my own designs.

I hope you enjoy building these models as much as I like creating them. I only wish I had more time to play.

In other news, I see the factory is producing new Ankerstein sets. The new Märchenkasten set appears to be marketed towards young children. Well, I suppose all Ankerstein building sets are geared towards children. Some of us just happen to be a little older. I've only seen an image of what these new sets look like. Anyone care to comment?

My first impression was that the block assortment is a bit odd. The block sets also include a few wooden pieces, but I have no idea what these wooden bricks(?) look like. The set includes what appears to be a nursery book of fables. Very cute!

This got me to thinking. If I was to design my own block set given a limited box size, what block assortment would I choose? For added challenge, make the box size be that of a set #4. I've not compiled a complete assortment, but I would have a mix of #1, #3, #4, #5 followed by #15, #17, #19, and #31. I would round out the selection with #110 and #112/113 arches and sufficient #208 and #210 roof tiles. Although I do not use pillars much, I would include four #181 pillars.

My assortment sounds similar to what you get in set #4 and the Heinzelmännchen set, but in those sets, you don't get any #3 or #17 blocks. I always felt that was a missing element in those sets. From what I can see, that issue has been addressed with the Märchenkasten. I not only look at Anchor Stones as building blocks. I like them for their Mathematical properties. One of the things my kids like to do with the blocks is pack them in various ways. Many of their structures consist of building a larger cube from blocks availible. I always found this an interesting project for them. Building cubes from #3 and #17 blocks posed no challenge for them, which made me wonder why these blocks (I call them thirds) were left out of the children's sets.

Another idea would be to creae a large mini set (ala Kleine Gernegross). The block assortment would closely follow that of set #8 but using the smaller scale of a KG set. One could probably get close to the assortment of set #16 in mini scale to fit within a single set #4 box size. Due to the number of blocks, the set might cost upward four times that of a set #4. However assortment wise, you would have something close to eight times the size of set #4. Smaller caliber blocks are harder to build with due to their size, but they're nice in that they take up far less space. It'd be interesting as a special limited edition.

8_5 (fortress)

Here's a fortress constructed using set #8. OK, maybe not a fortress, but it's a fine structure with a view.

The inspiration for this building comes from the plan booklet that accompanies set #12. There are several fine structures found in that book.

The interesting thing about this construction is that it's modular in design.



The structure consists of three symmetric buildings combined to form one asymmetric design. The buildings could be combined in a variety of ways. This is just one possibility. If you don't like the door at the base of the tower, rotate that building a quarter turn towards the passageway.

Here's the plans. Enjoy!