The Gothic Castle Book Counter is a functional fantasy display designed to help you track your reading in a unique way!
Printed stained glass windows slide into place on the castle walls and are backlit with LED tea lights, giving the model a beautiful cathedral glow on your bookshelf.
I used these LED tea lights in my version:https://a.co/d/03in1wd8
You can also find remote-controlled tea lights for very cheap online, which can make turning the lights on and off much easier once the castle is on your shelf (I think these would work but haven't personally tested https://a.co/d/0jiVp3VI)
Interchangeable banner inserts slot into the front of the castle, allowing you to track whatever you want:
• Books read this year• Books bought• Sales earned• Days since you last cried
A blank banner is also included so you can customize your own label.
The castle sits on an optional drawer base that can store your stained glass windows and banners when they’re not in use. To keep the entire project support-free, the castle was designed to print in multiple pieces. The spires print separately and the interior of the castle doubles as a hidden stash compartment. Even the small spires can hold tiny items.
This model took a lot of design time and testing to get everything fitting just right. If you print one, tag me so I can see it, and make sure you’re following for more designs!
Print Settings
Tested on Bambu Lab A1
• Layer Height: 0.20• Walls: 2• Infill: 5% Gyroid• Supports: None required
For best results, make sure you have good layer adhesion and minimal corner lifting. The drawer uses tight tolerances, so if a corner lifts during printing it may affect how smoothly the drawer slides.
Filament Usage & Print Time
All prints tested on my Bambu Lab A1
Castle
285g filament
10 hours
Drawer + Base
241g filament
5 hours 30 minutes
Roof
60g filament
3 hours
Banners / Signs (printed together, two-color)
15g filament
45 minutes
Stained Glass Windows (printed together, four-color)
70g filament
3 hours 45 minutes
You may want to print multiple copies of certain numbers for overlaps (for example the number 11).
Total Project
~670g filament
~22.5 hours print time
Filaments Used
For my version I used:
• Onyx Sparkle Black PLA – Bambu Lab• Glitter Gold PLA – Printed Solid• Translucent Blue PLA – Bambu Lab• Translucent Green PLA – Bambu Lab
Any translucent PLA or PETG will work well for the stained glass effect.
I sincerely hope you love it!
Happy Printing,
Christian, @CraftyKid3D