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26445147240_44a31589bf_z.jpgP1040038 by Chris Warburton Brown, on Flickr

Above: Queen Annetta reads her proclamation to an invited audience in the Great Audience Chamber of the Palace of Belson. Admiral Woodbrose, Minister for the Colonies, gives support.

A Royal Proclamation for the Re-establishment of Certain Learned Societies

Whereas in the time of our late grandfather, King Arlin the First, of blessed memory, certain societies were founded for the discovery and propagation of all kinds of knowledge and learning, and whereas in late years these societies have fallen into abeyance and decay, and whereas in recent months divers of our worthy subjects have petitioned for the restoration of these societies, therefore we have resolved this day to re-charter, re-launch and re-establish these said societies.

26717603915_a60f9a221a_z.jpgP1040060 by Chris Warburton Brown, on Flickr

As our great Empire of Corrington is even now expanding into previously unknown seas, with new islands being added to our realm almost daily, it is our desire that the noble arts of discovery and exploration receive due recognition and encouragement. Therefore we declare that the body previously known as the Fraternity of Nautical Science shall henceforth carry the title 'The Royal Society of Navigation and Discovery' as a mark of our favour and approval. And moreover, we do hereby decree that any subject of the Crown of Corrington who makes a worthy expedition of discovery by land or sea shall be acknowledged by the striking of a medal of commemoration, the firing of a 21 cannon salute at our palace, the declaration of a public half holiday, and the granting of a reward of 5 doubloons from our Royal treasury.

26717613245_b59a8fba9c_z.jpgP1040056 by Chris Warburton Brown, on Flickr

And moreover, we have long and fully resolved with ourself to extend not only the boundaries of the Empire, but also the very arts and sciences. Therefore we look with favour upon all forms of learning, but with particular grace we encourage philosophical studies, especially those which by actual experiments attempt either to shape out a new philosophy or to perfect the old. In order, therefore, that such studies, which have not hitherto been sufficiently brilliant in any part of the world, may shine conspicuously amongst our people, we declare that the body previously known as the Society of Natural Philosophy henceforth carry the title 'Royal Society of Natural Philosophy' as a mark of our favour and approval.

In due course we intend to favour further learned societies, some long established and some new, and we await with interest the petitions of those amongst our subjects who wish to contribute to this endeavour.

Given under our sign and seal this 29th day of April in the 616th year After Empire at our Royal palace of Belson,

Annetta Regina

[This is my first proper architectural MOC for BoBS, and ironically Hawksbrugh can't claim any credit for it! I know its not quite up to Gideon's standard, but why should Oleon have all the best palaces? The build was inspired by The Hall of St George at the Winter Palace, St Petersburg; the basic scheme is unchanged, but I have altered the dimensions to suit the Lego columns...and I didn't have enough gold bits, or a bas-relief statue of St George! I visited it when I was 14, but don't remember much]

Edited by Fuzzy MacFuzz

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Beautiful build Fuzzy, loving the way you made the walls and pillars completely white, and left the doors, flag, and throne area to bring in a dash of color! pirate_satisfied.gif Very nice crowd and floor design as well, and great use of that shell piece (?) behind the queen! pirate_wink.gif

A couple of things which I would suggest for future builds would be to tile the top of the build in white and give us an overview picture without any parts of the build cut off (well, that or make all the pictures all LEGO scenes...), and I also think that the red behind the queen could use a bit more in gold details - although, as I said, what you already have is quite cool! pirate_classic.gif And now that I see your inspiration I would suggest some more gold accents and some chandeliers, but as you said that you don't have the pieces I guess that will have to wait! pirate_laugh_new.gif Great job, anyhow, and I'm definitely looking forward to more architectural builds from you! pirate_satisfied.gif

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This is a lovely build, and thoroughly encapsulates the grandeur of the Corrington Court. From the angle of the shot, the studs appear to simply be faux crenelation detail.

My issue is with the first block of text. The Queen's words in this are a run-on sentence. I could get three sentences out of the text, with some minor alterations. The word 'whereas' doesn't even work for the expression at all, and the third 'whereas' would best be replaced with 'presently'. I understand the impulse to make the language florid, but the grammar made it lacking.

I know this seems to be a bit picky. I wouldn't normally point out grammar mistakes, given the many members that do not have English as a first language, but a Queen's speech should be properly polished.

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This is a very nice build. It definitely creates the sense of grandeur that one would expect in a royal court such as we have in Corrington. Long live the Queen!

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Gedren, just to clarify, if I may; I have deliberately used archaic English here. The use of 'whereas' to mean 'in view of the fact that' was common in 17th century official documents. You are right that this sentence does not obey the modern rules of grammar, but this is very common in 17th century writings, even those of monarchs. And I know that the word 'divers', for example, meaning 'several' is no longer in use, also 'hitherto' meaning 'previously'. I appreciate that this may be difficult for those who have English as a second language, but I had hoped that the atmosphere such archaic language creates might make up for that.

You might like to know that the third paragraph is actually the words of Charles II, I stole it from the original charter of the Royal Society (1662).

How strange it is to be debating 17th century grammar usage on a Lego fan site!default_head_back.gif

Edited by Fuzzy MacFuzz

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Great build. You did a great job with the columns and the general size of the space. The colors work, and good text as well! Love it!

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Wow Fuzzy, this is great! I mean really, really great! I love everything about the scene, you've really captured the grand feeling of a palace here I think.

I also really like how you made your story and I love the fact you used the actual words of Charles II in the third paragraph. Thanks for letting us know that - I love a good historical Easter egg!

I'm most definitely looking forward to more of these architectural builds from you!

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Lovely! My favoured detail is the floot, but your architectur is quite good as well! Great job, keep it up!

About the story:

Elysabeth is wondering wether the Fraternity of Nautical Science and the Society of Natural Philosophy are different branches of the same venture?

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What a great throne room, I love the colourscheme and the whole design. THe white balustrade is lovely, as is the ceiling above the queen.

The only critique I have is not about the build but about the suboptimal photography. I'd recommend to take another day time and make a better picture in daylight next time. That would immensely improve the impression others get from your MOC. The build itself, however, is just great!

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A nice, regal scene with nice architectural details!!!! I wish i had those white columns myself pirate_sing.gifpirate_sing.gif I also like the queen's throne. For me it is perfect! Since you mentioned that you lack golden bricks, i wont take their absence into consideration, so this build is as good as it gets (you can always come back with more gold when Corrington gets richer pirate_tong.gif ), but as Elostirion said, better pictures would help people get the most of your creations.

Also, press your bricks better (first picture on the left) pirate_tong.gif

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A fine build. Where are you from? What has inspired you to MOC a queen? I wish I knew... pirate_laugh2.gif

I have deliberately used archaic English here.

And I wish I could write in that style. A bit difficult for us non-natural-speakers.pirate_cry4.gif

We could be using a bit more of "prithee" and "hitherto" and "thou" and all these fine funny forgotten words. pirate_laugh_new.gif

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A very nice throne room with lots of nice details. Whether it is deliberate or not, the red throne does a great job drawing the eye away from the white architecture to the sovereign; likely similar to how thrones rooms were originally designed.

The monocled courtier in the front row is my favourite bit though. he cracks me up for some odd reason.

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Thanks everyone for so many lovely comments. They make me happy pirate_satisfied.gif. I worked on this for three weeks (its hard to find spare hours with kids, wife, social life, paid work, house work etc.!) and its been a labour of love so the feedback means a lot. If Hawksbrugh gets his way many more architectural builds will follow.

Garmadon, thanks for your very constructive criticisms, I wish I had tiled the wall top as you suggest, I had the pieces needed. Its great to learn from the master builders on BoBS.

I agree with Elostirion that the photography is weak, photography is certainly my big weak spot currently. And if I'm honest I rushed this last night because I was desperate to get it posted in April and I am away this weekend. The build took me a week longer than I expected, it took ages to get the columns right, and I couldn't wait to show it off! But I will try and take day time photos of future builds.

Blackdeathgr, I will squeeze the bricks better next time! In the end the build is very sturdy but at times during construction I was scared to squeeze in case it all collapsed.

I think I will continue with the archaic language though I understand Gedren's objections. Thanks for the encouragement Celes. I am not trying to set a trend though Captain B., I just enjoy those old words and phrases. Ayrlego, I will try and dig out a few more of these historical Easter eggs in future posts especially for you!

Titus V; Corrington's 'special ability' is learned societies, so we are launching two initially, Natural Science under the guidance of Bregir and team, and Navigation under the guidance of Mike S and myself.

Kwatchi, the colour contrast that draws your eye to the throne is deliberate, though the credit should go to Vasily Stasov, the interior designer of the Winter Palace, not me, (its worth a quick read of the history of the prototype).

Edited by Fuzzy MacFuzz

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I am loving this, Fuzzy. It is a really nice reminder that architecture isn't just something that occurs on the exteriors of great palaces. And incidentilly, this instantly reminded me of the winterpalace in St. Petersburg! Those pillars and that balcony is looking very stately, as is the throne.

I do agree that photography could be improved, but white in white is a bit hard to photograph. Might one ask what your photography equipment/setup is?

Lastly, the New World Branch of the Royal Society of Natural Philosophy joins its mother organisation in great gratitude for the honour extended towards our humble society.

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Beautiful palace scene! Love the whole throne section, especially the use of the pearl gold shell.

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Beautiful interior. I think solid white works very well with the red-and-gold throne as a brilliant focal point, and it's all very nicely done. The crowd looks good, the shell piece is perfect for the setting and the queen's new attire is noted. And of course the speech is appropriate as well. Good work. :classic:

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