20 replies to this topic

[Hinckley]

Here is my latest contribution to the Fabuland Builders Guild:

Gryfon Goat's Mill and Cottage

See full gallery here

I gave landscaping another shot with this one and I'm pretty happy with the result, although I'm open to suggestions as I'm a landscape novice and could use some tips from the experts out there... I didn't put quite as much thought into the house as I did the other ones because I concentrated so much time on the landscape that I didn't want to spend too much time on the rest of it. Not to mention there was limited space left once the landscaping was done. So I kind of cheated by covering the whole house with "ivy" to make it more visually interesting. I should call this more of a WIP since I haven't done the interior yet, and with that mill, I have a huge opportunity for a cool "Fabuland edge." I just wanted to get this up and keep the momentum going...

Here are some more pics-including the FBG obligatory frog:

Click any pic to see the closeups
Comments and criticism welcome and appreciated.

[LegoLyons]

Wowsa, thats lovely.

Great landscaping, love the stream, and the stairs/steps. The mill is very clever too.

Well done.

[Shadows]

Hinckley, on Apr 26 2008, 03:15 AM, said:

Here is my latest contribution to the Fabuland Builders Guild:

Gryfon Goat's Mill and Cottage

Another winner, no doubt about it. Here's the angle to take. You didn't have to scrunch the house in because you put so much effort into the landscaping, instead, it's quite the opposite: Gryfon Goat values the natural beauty of the area so much that he didn't want his home to interfere with it.

I must say, you don't see a lot of examples of blue tudor, and I think it works perfectly well within the playful side of the Fabuland Spirit. I'm looking forward to seeing the Edgy interiour as well.

My only slight alternative would be to try to thatch the roof instead. I have no idea how one would do that, but in my mind, it would look great.

I'll wait to index this until you are absolutely certain about the landscaping, but I think it would be a crime to change it.

[Hinckley]

imperialshadows, on Apr 26 2008, 03:30 AM, said:

My only slight alternative would be to try to thatch the roof instead. I have no idea how one would do that, but in my mind, it would look great.

I'll wait to index this until you are absolutely certain about the landscaping, but I think it would be a crime to change it.

Thanks for the feedback and justification for squeezing the house in.

I actually tried a thatch roof and didn't like it and took it off. I wanted to use Fabuland roof and I figured out a great technique to change the angles of it, but it didn't look right either. When I do the interior, I may re-visit the roof.

[Inertia]

Absolutely great  

Another great FBG creation!  

[Wilhelm screamer]

I am torn between the detailed landscape and ingenious waterwheel.

FBG ON!

[SirNadroj]

Man, oh man, Hinckley, this is pure brilliance!  

Where do I start?

First off, the landscaping is tremendous! You did an excellent job! The water is also great; it looks as if it's cascading down the rocks!  

The house itself is really adorable. The tudor aspect to it really fits in with the "feel" of this MOC. Also, I think the choice of colours is perfect. The blue.black with the brown roof works well! The blue turnstile base as a tudor detail looks very cool.  

The paths/walkways are awesome. Love how uneven it it.  

Personally, I like the ivy. It just fits in with the feel of this even more.    Can't wait to see an interior!  

The only thing is I don't think this modularly fits in well with the other Fabuland MOCs of yours.  

Brilliant! Can't wait to see more!  

(The Goat's get the best houses! ;-) )

[Sir Dano]

Very nice. Although I think your beyond novice when it comes to landscaping because its just   -ly

[Asuka]

A very original and charming work. The timber framing looks great and the landscaping rocks!    
The uneven stairway with that fine stone arch´s brilliant and all that cool and SNOT wet work
looks just beautiful. The waterwheel and that neat bench´re very fine as well. Maybe the brown
roof doesn´t fit with the mainly blue building that good.... maybe it´s a little too much blue in that
MOC after all.... I don´t know. Anyway, it´s an interesting and frogging sweet work for sure.  

[Zarkan]

Very fun! The little water wheel is my favorite part of course, but everything is great. Fabutastic!  

[WhiteFang]

This is a very nice looking cottage. I love it so much, and your landscape is terrific. I really love the way you made for your hills and path. The river path looks cool too. No doubt, a great Fabuland MOC  

[Erdbeereis]

This is fantastic!   

I love those rocks! And the house looks great!

I am really liking these new Fabuland MOCs. The look of the Fabuland pieces with normal pieces is very nice.

Top-notch work Hinckley!

[zero1312]

*dies*   

[Brickmaster]

Hey. This is awesome.

I must note that these waterfalls are probably the best I've seen for how simplistic they are. The House looks great, and especially like the little turntable highlights you used in blue.

My only gripe is with the green slopes. They just seem too green-y in that area.

Ace job

[Hinckley]

Thanks everyone for the nice feedback. I appreciate it!

I will respond to specific things a little later but wanted to point out that the turntable detail that everyone likes isn't my own. At least, I don't think. I remember using that in WIPs since emerging from my dark age, so I must've picked it up somewhere. I think Jake McKee used it in his train books, but I think I saw it on Brickshelf somewhere used as an architectural detail before that. Anyway, like I said, it's been in a ton of WIPs of mine, but this is the first time a WIP has become a MOC with that particular detail intact.    Just want to make sure I give credit where credit is due...wherever that may be.   I'm not really even sure it's not mine, but I doubt it...

Thanks again guys and I'll respond more later.

[Sinner]

Great MOC!   Is this on a raised base or is it solid Lego? Like the others, I think the roof looks a bit odd. Maybe yellow would work better. The landcaping is great however, and I hope to do more of that myself in the future. I like the criss-crossed stair effect. I look forward to seeing the interior. My biggest grip is the placement of the wheel; I can't see it generating much power as it seems to be out of the flow...

Hinckley, on Apr 27 2008, 11:36 AM, said:

Anyway, like I said, it's been in a ton of WIPs of mine, but this is the first time a WIP has become a MOC with that particular detail intact.  

Are you sure about that?  



You forgot to mention that the waterwheel isn't your idea either!   On that subject though, it is always very hard to be sure who was first with a particular part usage; I think I was first with the hovercraft-pieces-would make-a-good-tugboat idea, but I could be wrong. But it doesn't really matter as a good Lego MOC is more that the sum of it's parts.

[Shadows]

Sinner, on Apr 26 2008, 10:18 PM, said:

You forgot to mention that the waterwheel isn't your idea either!  

He probably takes credit for inventing tudor as well...   

[Sinner]

imperialshadows, on Apr 27 2008, 12:26 PM, said:

He probably takes credit for inventing tudor as well...   

He didn't?  

[Hinckley]

imperialshadows, on Apr 26 2008, 09:26 PM, said:

He probably takes credit for inventing tudor as well...   

I take credit for your face!

Oh, wow. Look the turntable was in my last smackdown MOC. Who would've guessed? That is not a raised base, that's all brick built. I tried a tan roof and it just looked weird with a lighter roof. I really wanted it to look like thatch, but I think the cottage and the hill are just too dark to allow for the light roof. It looked really bad. I tried a black roof too and that didn't really work, too dark, so the brown roof was baby bear's porridge-It was just right. I will try a thatch roof at some point, but on a lighter colored building. I feel I had a good technique going.

As for the power issue, there is a channel that flows under the porch to the water wheel. I had a gate that opened and closed the flow, but it didn't allow enough room for the house. I had taken a picture of that channel but my camera card just started acting funny (I'm afraid I'll need a new one soon) and all the first batch of pictures was corrupted. Then, I forgot to take that particular photograph again...but Gryfon, smart goat that he is has diverted the flow from the waterfall to harness it's power and be able to control it.

Freaking smarty, who let you in the guild?  

[idontknow877]

Wow, this is truely amazing

First, the landscaping is amazing. The stream is great, the rocks look nice and the plants on the roof gives it a good touch.

The mill is awesome and the stairs look cool.

Once again this is awesome!

[Commander Red Hat]

Nice work Hinckley, i absolutely the landscaping and the foliage on the building!