Flockwood village

[(Luc)ky Luke]

This is my first build for the Guilds of Historica. It took me a long time to get the cottage right, especially the roof.

I would really appreciate if people have suggestions or things that I could improve in future builds. 

Somewhere deep within the mountains of Mitgardia a small village called flockwood will stick out of the snow like a fallen warrior not ready to give up on life. The smoke of the chimney’s rising above the trees like beacons of hope. The lights of candles flickering in the nights and the reflection of the moon and the snow like a million diamonds. Life in this village is harsh and everyone has his or her own specific task; the butcher prepares the meat, the blacksmith repairs and makes tools, the carpenter makes all sorts of furniture, the hunters will catch most of the food and so on. When someone manages to reach the village they would describe the village not as a bunch of people but as one single organism. Flockwood is not just a village it’s a family.

You can find more photo's on my flickr page here.

Edited September 26, 2018 by (Luc)ky Luke

[Henjin_Quilones]

The trees are really nice, and I like the overall layout. The snow also looks pretty good, especially the bits on the roof. 

The things I think could be improved include the log bricks in the house, which, while appropriate for the small shack, look a bit odd with the plates between to throw off the illusion of vertical logs. It might look better if you used the log bricks sideways to make it look more like a typical log cabin with horizontal logs. Also, using a different color for the door can cause it to stand out better, even just dark brown or dark tan, or dark orange would make it pop out against the reddish brown. 

Beyond that, the biggest thing to improve is photography. I applaud the use of the white background to eliminate distractions, but the little gap in the corner should probably be fixed somehow or other for future photo shoots. Also, the angle of photography is a bit high, and the results might look better if you shoot from more at minifig eye level, rather than from a high, tower's eye view; this allows the viewer to enter into the scene better and experience something closer to what the figs themselves might see. Finally, adjusting the brightness in some sort of photo editor would enhance the view, too, as right now they are a bit dark. 

That being said, this is a very nice little build and a great addition to Mitgardia. You asked for constructive feedback, so I gave it! I look forward to seeing more from you, as well as reading the story when you get it written. Keep it up!

[W Navarre]

Very neat, I like the snow spilling over, and the trees!  I think if you changed the color of the path that would be good, because those tan colors don't quite go with a snowscape.

[Bracari]

Nice trees and snowscape. I do like the roof and its angles. The path does seem to have a little too much color variation to me, but that is something I am struggling with also as a novice builder.

[halixon]

Wow! Very nice for your first build in the Guilds! The cottage looks great! (Though a little small)

[Ayrlego]

Great snowy landscape, especially the cheese slope fur trees! I agree with Henjin's recommendations for the cottage, although using the log bricks SNOT for such a small cabin could prove difficult. Perhaps using a mixture of plates, bricks and log pieces might work for a ramshackle look, including some dark brown for some variation in colour? Maybe something like this? 

[zoth33]

Love the snow.  The cottage is nice.  You did a fine job on the roof.  The trees look great.  Overall nice little build.  

[TitusV]

For a first build, this is defenitely very cool! Though I feel like th cottage could use a window, one can clearly see that you've put a lot of work into it  

The snow is great as well, especially on the trees (cool design, very appropriate for this scale)

[soccerkid6]

You're off to a strong start already! Excellent stonework on the cabin, and those pine trees are fabulous Nice Mitgardian touch having antlers at the roof peak, and your snow sculpting is superb
That's a difficult roof shape to handle, and you pulled it off well. If you have the parts in the future, fully tiling the roof usually looks nicer than exposed studs. Or building with bricks sideways to maintain a smooth surface.

I think tan and dark tan work fine for paths in the winter, but for such a small build a more organized color transition would probably be better.
Here are examples of other winter builds I've seen that use tan or dark tan in paths:

One last note, I think your Mitgardian minifigures are great

 

[(Luc)ky Luke]

 @Henjin_Quilones  @W Navarre @Bracari Thank you very much for your feedback. I try to incorporate your feedback in future builds.

@Windusky Thank you. The cottage is small due to lack of bricks unfortunately.

@Ayrlego Thank you for the tip. I am definitely going to experiment with that. 

@zoth33 Thank you.

 @TitusV  Thank you. Yes I did put a lot of work in it that I would not have spend in something else. It was a lot of fun building and experimenting.

@soccerkid6 Thank you for the tip.

[TheLordOfBricks]

Very nice! A good start, and good to have you! :) The house is great, especially the sloping roof with the snow. The trees and snow are good as well. Keep it up! :)

[Grover]

What a great little build!  While I second what soccerkid6 says about the various browns in the path, I think the snow and the trees really distract from the extra colors in the path.  I like the small cabin, too--I have noticed that in the colder climates, many people build smaller because it's easier to heat a smaller structure, so this works, I think.  Great job!