LEGO CUUSOO

Submitted for your consideration, here is my version of Saruman's iconic tower, Orthanc, from The Lord Of The Rings. Total brick count is 3053. The circular base is 24 studs in diameter (approximately 7.5 inches or 19 cm) and the tower is roughly 100 studs in height (approximately 31 inches or 80 cm).

The main thing that I wanted to accomplish with this model was to duplicate as much as possible the incredible surface details that are so prominent and unique to Orthanc. As such, I placed a huge emphasis on the use of brick #3743 which is the 1X4 flat plate with ridges on the surface instead of studs. I felt that this was the perfect brick needed to convey the vertical ridges that are all over the tower's facade. Unfortunately, this brick is no longer produced by LEGO and Bricklink prices are very high for this particular piece. Since I have about 260 of these bricks in this model, the cost of building an actual physical version of it would be pretty extreme. Because of this, I am only able to provide screenshots of the LDD file that I have designed instead of actual live photos.

With the recent addition of the Lord of the Rings license to the LEGO stable, I feel that a LOTR UCS set should be just over the horizon. Orthanc would be a strong contender for just such a set. Please vote and let LEGO know that we all want a LOTR UCS set!