Malbork Castle -Poland

**Tomdaviesclay** · #1 08-11-2015, 04:27 PM

I chose to build this model of Malbork Castle as we would be visiting it on our cruise of the Baltic Sea. Sadly we had to cancel our cruise three weeks ago due a medical problem that my wife suddenly developed – arterial fibrillation. We would have flown to Amsterdam on August 15. She will soon have a procedure at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore called a catheter ablation. Please keep her in your prayers.

The Malbork Castle is located about an hour's drive from Gdansk, Poland. The castle was built by the Teutonic Order of Holy Mary in Jerusalem. In 1225, the Pope sent the order to Poland to convert the local pagan population to Christianity. The castle was built from red brick. The construction began in 1275. It is the largest castle in the world by surface area as well as the largest brick Castle. It was designated a UNESCO site in 1997. It has an extremely interesting history.

The Malbork Castle model was published by GPM. It was a rather difficult model to build in that the directions are all in Polish. There are 84 2" x 3" photos of various views of the Castle. Each photo has a series of numbers pointing to the various parts. There are 10 pages of parts with numbers next to the parts, but not printed on the part. Except for several numbered areas on the base, there are no numbers showing where various parts are joined together. The most frustrating part of the build was that the various components of one part were scattered among the 10 pages. So the basic structure of part 4 was on page 3, part 4 A was on page 5, part 4B was on page 7 etc. I spent more time looking for parts than actual construction. It was like working a jigsaw puzzle. One of the aspects that made this difficult was that the entire model, except for two small gate houses, was all the same color of red. It would be an even more attractive model if the roof had been a different shade of red as in the real Castle. The model is extremely detailed. I had six small pieces left over and no indication where they belonged.

This lovely model is certainly not for first-time modelers :-)

We are disappointed that we could not take this cruise, as we have spent many months researching what we wanted to see in each of the 10 cities that we would be visiting. Gdansk has a number of models. I recently posted the model of the waterfront. I have nine more kits for Gdansk, several of them containing more than one building. I have also recently posted my model of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg. I also have the Mint Tower in Amsterdam which I have not made. It seems that Holland America is not offering this same cruise next year so we are looking to find a cruise that will especially visit Gdansk.

In the meantime, our church is sponsoring a 17 day trip to Turkey next spring, which will follow the footsteps of St. Paul. My wife has had a desire to visit Istanbul for a long time. This tour has four days in Istanbul. We are considering this trip if our health permits. I have been unable to find any models of any buildings in Turkey except for the Blue Mosque which Canon offers as a free download. If anyone knows of any models in Turkey, please let me know.

**Mike Stamper** · #2 08-12-2015, 11:54 AM

Congratulations on finishing such a complicated model and commiserations for not being able to visit the real thing.

If I remember, there is a covered bridge on legs that doesn't appear in your pictures - could they be the six parts you have ?

Just looking at the model, it's impossible to work out how big the real thing is - I put a few figures on mine and decided it was a waste of time because they were so small in comparison with the buildings - they almost disappeared!

**SCEtoAUX** · #3 08-12-2015, 12:24 PM

Did a Google Maps street level tour of the castle. It is indeed impressive. The model does it justice.

**Tomdaviesclay** · #4 08-12-2015, 01:19 PM

Thank you Mike and Doug for your kind remarks.

Mike, I am aware of the little bridge but I chose not to add it because it just hangs out in the middle of nowhere. The foundation plan should have been a little larger to accommodate it. It is in a position where it could be easily knocked off. If you think it adds to the structure, I will put it on as I do have all the parts.

**Mike Stamper** · #5 08-13-2015, 09:00 AM

That bridge is a bit like an appendix - It doesn't do anything and sometimes gets in the way.

I made it but never kept it, especially when I was taking the model to a show.

As the old song goes "It never will be missed"