Earlier in March I built and streamed Lego 21325 Medieval Blacksmith on Twitch. The set is great; it’s incredibly detailed, tall, and looks fantastic on display. It’s been on my desk since, with a rotating cast of knights and peasants minifigs next to it every so often. Since then, I’ve wanted to build something to sit next to and accompany it, so this month I decided to build a barn, as much in the same style as I could.
When the set was announced late 2020/early 2021 one of the most common requests and ‘complaints’ from AFOLs (in my circles at least) were the absence of goats from the set. The goat element in question had only appeared in one set previously, 7189 Mill Village Raid, and now goes for astronomical prices on the aftermarket: anywhere between £40-£100. Fan anticipation was hoping the Blacksmith set would bring the piece out of retirement or reissue it, but the original mold for the goat has since been lost. The set designers confirmed this. So my barn MOC is a means to continue the civilian castle theme, remedy the original set, and mostly just flex that I own goats. Yes, really.
The MOC was built independently from the set but continues the same colour patterns, and for the most part building techniques, with plenty of SNOT bricks and tiling on the sides. I’m not very good at building roofs so I designed a flat log roof instead using log pieces; no where near as complex or advanced as that of the host Blacksmith building, but as a simple barn for livestock, why would it be? I wanted to introduce a bit more colour so there’s more crops and some flowers too at the base. The barn doesn’t physically connect to the Blacksmith set in any way currently, but the curved plates both structures share allow for some nice pasture land in between for the goats and apple picking.
The MOC did really well on social-media channels and I even had a message from someone asking for instructions. As far as AFOL inside-memes go, I guess I’ve officially made it! Along with Widmore Keep previously I’d really love to display the MOC in public, and that’s my hope, maybe even with more goats. The Barn will probably stay built and on the desk for a while in case that opportunity ever presents itself.