Floating Fantasy Castle

Welcome to my project, 'Floating Fantasy Castle'. This project has been a dream of mine, to build a real-life version of an abandoned castle on a floating island. I've combined my passion for woodworking, 3D modeling and printing, concrete work, custom lighting, and painting to bring this imagination to reality. This project features an intricate medieval castle, perched atop a floating mountain, surrounded by smaller floating rocks. I can't wait for you to see the final outcome and experience the magic of this unique creation."

The 'Floating Fantasy Castle' project is not only a showcase of my skills but also a tribute to the magic of imagination. The castle, with its intricate details and stunning architecture, is a true testament to the power of creativity. I've put my heart and soul into this project, and I am confident that it will transport you to a different world.

One of the most challenging aspects of this project was the floating mountain and rocks. I had to use a combination of woodworking and concrete work to create a stable structure that could support the weight of the castle. It was a daunting task, but the end result is something I am extremely proud of.

The castle is also equipped with custom lighting that brings the structure to life at night. The lighting adds a whole new dimension to the project, creating a mesmerizing effect that will leave you in awe.

I am thrilled to share this project with you and can't wait for you to experience the magic of the 'Floating Fantasy Castle'. It's a true labor of love, and I hope it inspires others to believe in the power of their own imagination.

The 'Floating Fantasy Castle' project required a wide range of materials and tools to bring it to life. From woodworking and 3D modeling to custom lighting and painting, each element of the project required specific items. Below is a list of some of the materials and tools used in the project:

Background Piece:

• 1/2 inch plywood
• Wood glue
• Wood Vinyl
• 4 wood blocks
• Wood screws
• Hand saw
• Wood filler
• Fixture hooks
• Aluminium L brackets
• Small nut bolts
• Printable templates (available on my website)

Floating Mountain:

• Styrofoam sheets (2 inches)
• Glue
• Sharp knife
• Styrofoam shaping tools
• White Cement
• Plaster of Paris
• Aluminium foil
• Thin metal rods

Castle:

• 3D modeling software (I used Fusion 360 and Blender 2.9)
• 3D model slicer (I used Cura 4.1, you may use Prusa Slicer)
• 3D files (files are available on my website)
• 3D printing filaments (I used PLA filament)

Back Lighting and Spot Lighting:

• 12 volt 5050 RGB LED strip
• 3 IR receivers
• Electrical wire
• Enameled copper wire
• 12 volt 3 amp power supply
• Controller remote
• 3D files (available on my website) of the spotlights with their fixture hardware
• Gluesticks for the diffusers

Backdrop:

• Masonite board
• Wood stripes
• Fixing hardware
• Glue
• Templates (available on my website)

Extra:

• Spray paints
• Acrylic paints

Download the Files Now (Click here) [Make sure to use the Promo code Infinity23 for a Flat Discount].

The bundle will have the following-

• The 3d files for the castle,
• Template files for the back plate,
• Template for the Islands.
• Spot light 3d files(Free),
• The Blender file of the Castle (Free).
• The PDF format guide for this project.
• Basic Assembly Guide. (PDF)

Print all the files accordingly.. I have printed all the paper files on A4. And the Castle with PLA filament.

Make sure to check the scaling of the files.

Firstly take a half-inch thick plywood piece, you can also take a thicker sheet. Make sure to have a sheet at least large as you have printed the backplate template.

Now after attaching the template pieces together, stick the sheet on the plywood. make sure that the shape doesn't deform too much after gluing.

Take a fine teeth jigsaw blade and carefully cut along the template lines. Take proper safety and time for this part.

After you have cut the backplate in its shape, sand and file the edges to make those smooth and perfect.

After the backplate has been cut into shape, it's time to add the complimentary parts and fixtures for the project.

Firstly take the "L" brackets and mark their intended position, I haven't included any fixed position in the templates as that completely depends on your choice.

now take a piece of 1-inch thick wood, and split that into 4 pieces. The size is not a big deal here, as these pieces will be there just to act as a spacer between the back panel and the wall, so the light can shine around.

Make sure to have a notch and a space cut out in two of the blocks as I have shown in the picture, these will be the place for the hooks. Also, make space on the wood for the screw head to slide with ease. Secure the hooks in place using small wood screws and make sure that they are parallel to each other along with a level with the horizontal line.

Also before attaching these pieces to the back panel, make sure to measure the distance between the holes of the hooks and try to keep that in a round number, so it will be much easier for you to drill holes for screws to hang this structure.

Then make two slots for the aluminum L brackets and mark their corresponding positions. Make sure to check the leveling with a spirit level before proceeding, as an unleveled placement will surely ruin the project.

When the holes have been drilled for the brackets and the wood blocks, secure them with wood glue and screws for the wooden blocks, and small nut and bolts for the bracket. Make sure to countersink the holes before adding any screws. the front surface should be totally smooth.

You can now add some wood filler to fill the holes, but as we are going to cover the front using wood vinyl anyway, I skipped the step.

Now its the time to finish the backplate. For that , firstly i spray painted the backside with black paint and then with silver spray paint, I used the black at first because otherwise the silver would take atleast two coats to shine properly. You can skip painting the backside, or simply can use any other paint or method to achive the same result, but as for me, this was more easy.

paint the sides with dark brwon paint (matching with the wood vinyl). You can use some wood filler in this stage if you have any large gaps in the plywood or have any imperfections.

Now its the time to add the wooden vinyl sheet on the front side, here i made a mistake while doing so, as you all can see that i have used two sheets of vinyl here, but accidentally removed the L brackets before this step for wase of painting the sides (I used nuts and bolts, so it was a easy job). as a result i firstly attached the piece without the brackt and then after realizing the mistake, i peeled off the upper sheet a bit and sttached the bracket, also i made two small cutouts in the lpower sheet frpm whrer the brackets will be coming out.

After successfylly attaching the vinyl, its time to trim the excess pieces off, with the helpp of an exacto knife. Be very careful while doing so, as any wromg move can ruin your piece.

Its funtime now, Lets add the rgb led strips, Firstly measure out the excat sizes from the strip and cut out the individual pieces, I have used total 5 piecs, one being extreamly small. Try avoinding any gaps betwwn the strips, as they may look bad and can make shadow areas on the wall later.

Now simply peel back the adhesive covers and place them nicely on the backplate. Make sure to check the polarity and place the positive pads at the same side. Then using some electical copper wires, bridge the gapos, while making sure of the polarities.

After attaching the led strips, its time to place the controller board, I have place mine at the bottom area of the board, and also attached the small IR reciver diode near the very bottom. wire everyuthing together as they meant to be, and check every connection again before adding the power cord cable. After adding that cable, Its a good time to check the lights for the first time. Simply hook up the power supply and turn on the leds with the included IR remote.

If everything goes right, which it should be, then its time to get to the next step.

Let's start making the island, In this step, we are just going to make the rough shape using nothing but Styrofoam, this stuff is also known as Thermocol. If you can manage to get a thick enough sheet of this form board then it's great, but I couldn't find larger than 1.5-inch sheets. So I stacked 3 of them on another and glued them together. use waterproof glue, if available otherwise normal glue will be enough.

use some clamps for better protection for the adhesion. if you don't have clamps, you can use something heavy on the top, to give an even pressure.

After the glue has been dried well, it's time to get the templates for the islands. Print the templates on A4 sheets and then cut out them roughly. trace the shape on the foam block and start cutting the island in shape. First start using small cuts, and then keep adjusting the cuts until you are satisfied with the shape. You can also customize the whole island shape if you want.

Be careful of the small foam pieces, as they are maybe harmful if inhaled, and make sure to clean the area after all of these before your mother can find out about the mess.

After making the rough shape of the island, it's time to turn this into a proper rock island look. for this, we will be needing some white cement, some plaster of Paris(PoP), and some normal cement. Don't use any kind of sand for this process. The ratio for the mixture will be 3:1:1.

Mix the cement with a very marginal amount of water and get started. Firstly take a plastic sheet to protect the work surface from being a mess. start applying the cement mixture on the island in bulk, using crumpled aluminum foil, giving the natural rock texture, You just have to simply let the aluminum foil sit on the wet cement while drying so it can take the imprints.

Do this same thing on the whole bottom area of the island. make sure to check the shape and details as progress.

Let the cement cure for at least 24 hours before reapplying cement on areas with imperfections.

after 24 hours peel off the foil from the surface, revealing the awesome and realistic-looking rock surface.

Make sure to do the same process with the smaller islands.

After the pieces have been dried and cured well, it's time to attach the pieces together. For doing so, I took some small pieces of metal rods, used some cycle spokes, and simply chopped them into smaller pieces.

Using some epoxy m-seal, bridge the rods and make some small pieces as shown in the pictures.

Now drill holes in the desired locations in the island and as the inside is just foam, it's time to melt out some foam to make space for some concrete mixture.

After hollowing out the piece, fill the voids with the same concrete mixture used before, and fill the hole. Then insert the rod piece inside the hole, and let them cure. I want to point out something here: you have to hollow out a but area for a better bond.

As the concrete dries, repeat the same process on the smaller island pieces and secure them in their corresponding places, You can use some support using ropes, or a support structure while doing so. moreover, make sure that all pieces are leveled and well-connected. Also, make sure to hide any visible rods while doing the work, so no one can see them without ease.

Then Let the whole thing cure for at least 24 hours before the next steps, 48 hours are recommended for proper strengthening of the piece.

This is the most interesting step of this project. Download the 3d files for the castle, and print that out using a 3d printer. if you don't have the access to a 3d printer, then you can order the piece to be printed from a 3d printing farm. I have printed my castle using PLA filament with 20 % infill and minimal supports.

I had a first print which have two issues, 1st being my printer went shut at 20 % progress and thus resulting in a visible layer shift after restarting the printer, and the 2nd being the size. I printed the piece in a bit smaller size, resulting in a mismatched castle on the island.

So I reprinted the castle in black filament this time as I ran out of the white one, and removed any stringing and supports with lots of patience, As I printed this part on my Ender 3 and my machine isn't that well calibrated, so it made some stringing, but I cleaned them with an exacto knife.

After the print has been cleaned, I sprayed the piece with primer spray paint and applied two coats. after the primer has been fried, it's a matter of painting the castle in whatever color you want, as I was going with more rocky-looking textures on my island, I kept the painting in a gray tone. Use Acrylic paint and an assortment of brushes to do the work, You can also use an airbrush if available.

I also have included the picture of my old castle painted in silver and gold color which I gifted to my little sister after I printed the new one for me.

Now, attach the castle to the island using a smaller piece of Thermocol sheet. I have taken a box for resting the island on, Using some hot glue I have placed the foam piece on the island and then similarly attached the castle to it.

This foam piece is simply to elevate the castle from the island. you need to choose the height depending on your preference.

I forgot to mention that I have trimmed off the sides a little bit from the caste, as they were protruding too much for my liking.

It's time to fuse the island and the castle. Again, make the same cement mixture(this time double the amount of plaster-of-Paris) and start adding the concrete around the castle.

Keep adding more concrete until the top of the island looks nice and more natural to look, covering every part of the island including the sides of the castle. As we have taken more plaster this time, the mix should have some small lumps, if you don't have that try adding some more plaster. If nothing works, simply use the same aluminum foil technique used previously.

when you are satisfied with the result, let the cement cure for at least 10 hours before adding any more details on that. then let the whole piece cure for another 24 hours.

After the concrete has been set, it's time to paint the whole island, I have gone with the gray stone effect, but you can use any other stone-looking colors you want. I once thought to make it an island with some greenery, but I stayed with the gra theme.

I used water colors for painting the island, as the island is made of concrete, and it soaked all the colors very well, giving it a very good real-life texture, I have painted the piece more than what's in the pictures, I just forgot to take pictures of those.

also at this time, I finished the castle paints, added details, and some depth with deeper shades of gray. One thing I want to share is that not having proper tools and equipment sometimes limits our capabilities. as my paintbrushes are quite old, I couldn't achieve the detailed look I wanted.

whatever I'm more and less happy and proud of what I have accomplished. and may improve my skills on upcoming projects.

I have made these two complimentary spotlight sets for my project, which are also RGB and can be individually controlled with their controllers.

simply download my 3d files for the lights and print them. take 3 segments of RGB LEDs. Remove the protective casing from the controller board and remove all the attached components.

Please make sure to have the same IR receivers otherwise you have to route the wires and keep the board outside of the light body.

Using some insulated copper wires from an old motor or a transformer, connect the led pads with their corresponding pins on the board, and make sure to triple-check the polarities and any sign of shorts. For that simply take some insulated copper wire and measure an amount that will be enough to fit inside the body, you have to do some trials before getting the right length. attach the IR receiver diode with 3 electrical wires and connect the power wire as shown in the picture.

feel free to comment down below for any help regarding any steps.

after the internal electronics have been done, make sure to check the connection once again and turn on the lights. if everything is fine, then start glowing everything in its place.

glue the IR diode in its slot, with some E7000 glue. also, attach the board inside with the help of the same glow and a bit of hot glue. as the glue dries, attach both halves of the lights with some glue and let the glue cure.

After the glue has been dried, cover any important parts, like the led strips, wires, and the power cable with some masking tape, and apply coats of black and silver paint inside the slot for the LEDs. this will ensure that no light bleeds through the 3d printed light body, and will also act as an internal reflector of the lights.

then place the LEDs with their adhesive and check the lights. seal the ends, especially the soldered end with some E7000 glue, and let that cure.

after everything works, it's time to sand the sides of the light, a measure to remove any unwanted bumps or lumps in the body.

Now fill the led slot with clear hot glue and make a cover for the lights, as the glue will dry it will turn a bit cloudy making a great diffuser for the work.

Finally using some masking take, cover up the power cable and the light-emitting opening, spray paint the whole thing in silver or any other color you want, and then apply a layer of clear coat to protect the paint.

I have made a 3-way splitter cable to run all the LEDs with a single adapter. It's now time to wire up everything and test the whole lighting setup at once. Make sure to check if the remote is working with the lights.

if any problem is found, simply fix that.

attach the wires, place the island on the back panel, and place the led spotlights above and below the actual piece. I made a wooden frame beforehand and used that as a background for this project. If you want, I can include the process of making that as a pdf file and attach it with the other files.

I made the board because in my house we have brick walls, and I didn't want to let the wires show up in front of the walls, so I carefully routed every wire behind the board. If you have drywalls in your house, you can run the wires through them, which will be preferable.

after everything has been wired up and working fine, it's time to sit back with the remote and admire the beauty of your latest creation.

go through every possible light combination and pattern.

while making this project, I realized many things that the perception of looking at something lies on us, I started this project in 2020 to make anything contest and continuously try to finish the project each year. I'm a student and after my studies and college lectures(Now it's university). it's very hard to follow our passion. Also, I made other projects in between times and didn't want to finish this project in mid-years (don't know why). And being a student means having lots of responsibilities (study, assignments, family, etc) its also true that we don't have much money to spend on things of our liking, I have invested soo much time and money in this project, that I developed a fear that I may ruin the project and thus only procrastinated the whole 3 years, each year when I started the project again, my exams and assignments made it impossible to finished and I didn't want to just finish it anyways because this was my largest project also till now.

Having said that, this year was tough I was once again under extreme pressure, but I tried to finish the project this time. and finally, it's here. I have learned a lot since 2020 and those skills and knowledge have helped me to make this project better, which I can't think of in back 2020. also then I didn't have this many tools also.. and I dreamt of a somehow different-looking castle. but I bought a 3d printer and learned to 3d model in fusion 360 and blender, created this model, and finished this.

Everything you have seen in this project happened over 3 years and I have worked on this project in parts, so please pardon me if any mistakes were made during writing this project guide.

A Great thanks to the Instructables team for helping me to finish this project this year, as while writing this project, I have a 102 fever and haven't slept for more than 4 hours daily for the last one and a half weeks. while giving exams and making assignments beside. I almost missed the chance to post the project even this year, and have marginally finished it. I want to thank every person who helped me in this journey, my family, my friends, and the members of the Instructables.

Thank you so much to all my viewers and fellow participants. Have a good day.

Also, Feel free to ask me anything related to this project in the comment section below. I will be editing the video of this project very soon (hope so). and once again I will return with some new projects soon.

Peace.