AoM: Guardsmen Keep (Phase III)

[Legofin2012]

Up in northern Mitgardia, close to the boarder with the Frozen Beyond, a stone keep perched atop the rocks. Home to the third Blood Lord, a dwarven master, and leader of the Northern Guardsmen. When the warning bell chimes, these men are the first to respond.

So my final Gatehouse phase, and last build for the defence part. Also my largest GoH build so far!

A young ice fisherman leaves for a day of fishing, as the dwarven Blood Lord overlooks.

Also wanted a working drawbridge on this.

Took a while to build this one, although I feel the photography kinda lets it down at the end

- Thanks for looking!

Edited July 13, 2018 by soccerkid6
Fixing broken picture link

[Gunman]

I really like the smoke effect there mate but I will have to agree. Your photography is killing your moc atm. You need more lighting.

[TitusV]

looking awesome! I love the view, with the central arch topped of with a wooden section (which is superbly done!)

[Legofin2012]

9 hours ago, Gunman said:

I really like the smoke effect there mate but I will have to agree. Your photography is killing your moc atm. You need more lighting.

Thanks, and I know, I'm having the problem with either too much or not enough light, too much gives glare off a lot of bricks, and not enough ends up like this 

9 hours ago, TitusV said:

looking awesome! I love the view, with the central arch topped of with a wooden section (which is superbly done!)

Thank you, I got worried about 3/4 of the way through building when I realised I may only have 5 arches  Luckily the last arch turned up eventually 

[dathil]

it is awesome, I like the waterfall, and your general architecture too

[mrcp6d]

Yeah, LEGO is usually both flat (or worse, round!) and pretty shiny which is good for glare/reflections.  You can avoid a lot of it by diffusing your light.  You can buy some purpose built diffusers, or you can get one of those pop-up light boxes (or make your own)--the lights go on the outside and the fabric sides diffuse their photons/waves, or you can tape some klennex over your lamps*.  Using indirect daylight from the window during midday also helps.  There are a couple good photography tutorials floating around here somewhere that can help you out a lot more than I can.

I really like this build by the way! 

 

*Don't burn your house down....

[Henjin_Quilones]

This looks great, Legofin (aside from the photography, of course)! I am glad you have a working drawbridge included, as that is a great detail and enhances the playability significantly. You are always good at the rocks, too, and the architecture is wonderfully Mitgardian. Your snow looks great, though I think that it should be concentrated on the bottom of the roof rather than the top; melting snow slides down a roof and gathers at the edge before falling over the edge, in my observations from living in snowy climates. Keep up the good work!

[soccerkid6]

Great overall layout with the round tower on the left, and house extension on the right. They frame the gate nicely The round tower is likely my favorite section, great shaping there.
The angled section of rockwork is excellent, and I like the coastal look the water gives.

I think the waterfall could be improved a bit, just in shape, as the technique itself works well. Having it flare out so much towards the bottom looks a little unnatural. Really nice build overall! Good use of the mixel joints

[en_zoo]

really nice! I just love that wooden-roofed section at the top!

[Legofin2012]

On 22 November 2016 at 2:14 AM, dathil said:

it is awesome, I like the waterfall, and your general architecture too

Thank you, I'm hoping to study architecture/design later on, and I found lego to be great practice 

On 22 November 2016 at 8:33 PM, mrcp6d said:

Yeah, LEGO is usually both flat (or worse, round!) and pretty shiny which is good for glare/reflections.  You can avoid a lot of it by diffusing your light.  You can buy some purpose built diffusers, or you can get one of those pop-up light boxes (or make your own)--the lights go on the outside and the fabric sides diffuse their photons/waves, or you can tape some klennex over your lamps*.  Using indirect daylight from the window during midday also helps.  There are a couple good photography tutorials floating around here somewhere that can help you out a lot more than I can.

I really like this build by the way! 

 

*Don't burn your house down....

Thank you very much for the tips, I actually have a pop-up light box, I just don't have space for it at the moment  for these photos I had put paper over the lights, although maybe tissues would work better, kinda softer. 

And thanks  Don't worry, they're LEDs, they don't seem to generate much heat 

On 23 November 2016 at 8:40 AM, Henjin_Quilones said:

This looks great, Legofin (aside from the photography, of course)! I am glad you have a working drawbridge included, as that is a great detail and enhances the playability significantly. You are always good at the rocks, too, and the architecture is wonderfully Mitgardian. Your snow looks great, though I think that it should be concentrated on the bottom of the roof rather than the top; melting snow slides down a roof and gathers at the edge before falling over the edge, in my observations from living in snowy climates. Keep up the good work!

Thank you, (I know, I feel like the photography completely lets this build down ) I knew from the start I wanted the drawbridge to work, even if it is just pulling on stings  not that a crank system would be hard to install. I'll take your work for it, and keep that in mind for future builds, been a few years since I've seen snow around here!

19 hours ago, soccerkid6 said:

Great overall layout with the round tower on the left, and house extension on the right. They frame the gate nicely The round tower is likely my favorite section, great shaping there.
The angled section of rockwork is excellent, and I like the coastal look the water gives.

I think the waterfall could be improved a bit, just in shape, as the technique itself works well. Having it flare out so much towards the bottom looks a little unnatural. Really nice build overall! Good use of the mixel joints

Thanks, the tower took a few attempts to get to a point I was pleased with  I wasn't sure about the waterfall either though, but this isn't the last time I'll include one in a build, so hopefully I can improve on future attempts!

2 hours ago, en_zoo said:

really nice! I just love that wooden-roofed section at the top!

 Thank you, it wasn't initially planned, but I wasn't happy with too much grey 

[Mpyromaxos]

Beautiful built and very good job with the bridge and the turret! I like also and the little waterfall and the house with the very nice smoke effect! 

[Legofin2012]

12 hours ago, Mpyromaxos said:

Beautiful built and very good job with the bridge and the turret! I like also and the little waterfall and the house with the very nice smoke effect! 

Thank you, I experimented with a few things like the tower, waterfall and angles, so glad they turned out ok 

[TheLordOfBricks]

Awesome job man! This is great! I really like the gatehouse here! I think it is well done, and it looks really good! One suggestion, if you could put a little snow on the stone bridge, that would be great... Otherwise, this is great! Keep it up!

[Legofin2012]

On 26 November 2016 at 5:39 AM, TheLordOfBricks said:

Awesome job man! This is great! I really like the gatehouse here! I think it is well done, and it looks really good! One suggestion, if you could put a little snow on the stone bridge, that would be great... Otherwise, this is great! Keep it up!

Thank you very much, and yeah, I thought about snow on the bridge, and than just kinda, forgot 

[Slegengr]

This is a nice keep gate, Legofin!

The functioning drawbridge is a great addition!  The stonework and round tower are nicely done.  The snowy landscape and the water definitely help to complete this build and place it in Mitgardia!  The shack is great as well, with the thatched roof and end beams, latticed windows, sand green window shutters, and the chimney and smoke!
Though the technique is fairly simple, I still love those little cheese slope trees!

[Legofin2012]

On 30 November 2016 at 6:28 AM, Slegengr said:

This is a nice keep gate, Legofin!

The functioning drawbridge is a great addition!  The stonework and round tower are nicely done.  The snowy landscape and the water definitely help to complete this build and place it in Mitgardia!  The shack is great as well, with the thatched roof and end beams, latticed windows, sand green window shutters, and the chimney and smoke!
Though the technique is fairly simple, I still love those little cheese slope trees!

Thank you, a while ago my nearest pick-a-brick (13 hours away) had olive cheese and modified 1x1s, so it was a great opportunity for simple and nice trees 

[Blufiji]

While the waterfall could be a bit more natural looking, I really like this moc. The towers have a good amount of texture, and that wooded section to the right adds a bit of northern charm to the build.

[Legofin2012]

On 01/12/2016 at 9:13 PM, Blufiji said:

While the waterfall could be a bit more natural looking, I really like this moc. The towers have a good amount of texture, and that wooded section to the right adds a bit of northern charm to the build.

Thanks, I'm maybe adding another waterfall in my next build, so hopefully I can try and improve 

[The Maestro]

You have out done yourself here, everything is just amazing and i love all the little details. The rock work is my favorite part.

[de Gothia]

Wow! that wall looks really alive when it´s curved! I like all the wooden parts to it aswell! Great work here!

[Legofin2012]

On 3 December 2016 at 10:06 PM, The Maestro said:

You have out done yourself here, everything is just amazing and i love all the little details. The rock work is my favorite part.

Thank you, I did spend quite a while on the rocks, glad you like them, still just kinda disappointed how the photos turned out 

On 4 December 2016 at 8:24 AM, de Gothia said:

Wow! that wall looks really alive when it´s curved! I like all the wooden parts to it aswell! Great work here!

Thanks, contrary to the rocks, the tower was built first, something I've been wanting to try for a while 

[LittleJohn]

Excellent build, LegoFin! The working drawbridge is a great addition, and both the rockwork and stonework are superb as well. The shield under the roof-line of the little shack is a nice touch. Great to see some angled/round sections too, together they make for a really nice overall layout 

[Umbra-Manis]

Good looking build Legofin!

[Legofin2012]

On 20 December 2016 at 1:05 PM, LittleJohn said:

Excellent build, LegoFin! The working drawbridge is a great addition, and both the rockwork and stonework are superb as well. The shield under the roof-line of the little shack is a nice touch. Great to see some angled/round sections too, together they make for a really nice overall layout 

Thank you, I didn't want it o be too square as some of my older builds had been, so "unusual" shapes were an aim for this build 

On 20 December 2016 at 5:34 PM, Umbra-Manis said:

Good looking build Legofin!

Thanks!