Henjin_Quilones Posted January 29, 2018 The City of Bandari An entry into "A Safe Haven", the Fifth Anniversary Challenge, Category A Also Chapter 7 of the Chronicles of Hesperia Spoiler Ch. 1: The Fireball Ch. 2: The Crash Site Ch. 2.5: The Eagle at the Great Wall of Hesperia Ch. 3: The Return of the Druids Ch. 3.5: Historica United Ch. 4: The Banishment of Galaria Ch. 5: Stopping at Tíre Keep Ch. 6: The Nagra Luca The druid Henjin Quilones, Galaria the former princess, and Hamisha the returning exile stepped out of the rowboat and began making their way up the dock and onto the shore. They had to duck around several sharks hanging by their tails on the beach, strung up by the fisherman who lived in the house by the dock. Before them spread the City of Bandari, the jewel of Mwamba. Hamisha, who was leading the way, paused to take it all in, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. She recognized so many faces that she had not seen in hundreds of years, not since the council of this city had voted to send her away. They had seen the Bahari, the master fisherman at work hauling in his nets as they tied up at the dock. Ahead of them was Chuma, smithing away at something at his forge. Winda, the elf scout, was standing up on a balcony overlooking the market, but her attention was fixed on something happening around the corner of the massive building on the hill. "That is the dragon hatchery," Hamisha told the others. "The dragons come here and lay their eggs, and then the elves take the best care of them until they hatch. They are very watchful and observant, too. Inside that building are sand pits kept at the precisely correct temperatures to maintain optimal egg health. The gnomes of this city tend to some sort of subterranean network of pipes that bring hot steam under the sand; there is always vapor of some kind coming out of the holes behind the hatchery." "But up on the side of the building," continued Hamisha, "You can see a sight that is quite rare; an adult male dragon meeting his hatchling for the first time! That is Nyeusimoto, and he is the dragon companion of Lord Mkuu, one of the elf princes of the land." "Watch your step in the market here. The sellers can be very pushy; or at least, the humans of three hundred years ago were. I doubt much has changed in the intervening time." "And whatever you do, do not mess with the aelfcats or the dragon knights, or step in the way of a centaur!" "It is good to be home." More pictures: Spoiler ___________________________________________________________________________________ ....................................................................................................................................................................... C&C welcome! This one was light on story, heavy on build. For those curious about the figures seen throughout the build, my category B CMF series will shed some light on most of them, besides the aelfcats, who are new. This is by far my largest build, being about 100x100 studs, making it four times the size of my previous record, and I have been working on it since July or August. It was hard getting good shots of it, and I really only had one chance at pictures, as it took an hour or more to move it from my LEGO table to my outdoor photo site and re-build the sections, and then moving it back again resulted in stuff breaking. Fitting all that into the kids' nap time is not easy. Ah well. Someday it is my dream to have a designated photography studio in my house, or at least nice gear (besides just a camera), but that will have to wait until I win the lottery. For now it will be good to take this apart and have bricks to build other things finally. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TitusV Posted January 29, 2018 (edited) Yes, another one of your big builds I love so much! Maybe I'll start first with two little remarks. First, I don't really like the trees. Better: I do like them, but not their colour. Using brown would have made them stand out much better, I feel. Second: not completely sold on putting the walls at an angle, I fear... With my duty to give constructive criticism done: o my... All these details man, they're just making me drool! The little ship, all the statues (and I've found quite a lot of them, of which I can only approve ), the hanging sharks (I had seen that one done with normal fishes, but this is just brilliant!), the roofs (the sand green is yummie-yummie, and I need to get myself some dark cheesey slopes as well), the smithy (which is quite commonly "overused" in medieval builds, but yours is just right) Edited January 30, 2018 by TitusV Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KevinyWu Posted January 30, 2018 Wow, for once I can't think of anything to improve upon... 6 hours ago, TitusV said: Second: not completely sold on putting the walls at an angle, I fear.. I actually think the walls are great, giving it a unique style of architecture that is appropriate given that this is a newly discovered place. Excellent work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zoth33 Posted January 30, 2018 Very nice work. The main building is excellent. The statues are creative. I really like the dragons colors. And you have some awesome minifigs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted January 30, 2018 This is a great build, I really love all the cheese slope arches, not to mention the roofs, especially the pyramid one on the tower! Bold move slanting the walls, but I think I'll have to go with Titus, I'm not sold on it. From some angles it works, from other angles it just messes with the eyes and looks confusing. I think a flat or battlemented roof would have made more architectural sense. Nonetheless a really good build with so many different details and areas to stare at! Great work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henjin_Quilones Posted January 30, 2018 On 1/29/2018 at 2:27 PM, TitusV said: Yes, another one of your big builds I love so much! Maybe I'll start first with two little remarks. First, I don't really like the trees. Better: I do like them, but not their colour. Using brown would have made them stand out much better, I feel. Second: not completely sold on putting the walls at an angle, I fear... With my duty to give constructive criticism done: o my... All these details man, they're just making me drool! The little ship, all the statues (and I've found quite a lot of them, of which I can only approve ), the hanging sharks (I had seen that one done with normal fishes, but this is just brilliant!), the roofs (the sand green is yummie-yummie, and I need to get myself some dark cheesey slopes as well), the smithy (which is quite commonly "overused" in medieval builds, but yours is just right) Thank you for both criticism and praise, Titus! If LEGO made Mixel joints in colors other than light and dark bley, I would be all over that; as it is, I built the trunks using a technique I saw and liked on Flickr, and that required that they be grey. Besides, lots of trees in the real world have grey-colored trunks. As for the walls, see my reply to Kai below. 19 hours ago, KevinyWu said: Wow, for once I can't think of anything to improve upon... I actually think the walls are great, giving it a unique style of architecture that is appropriate given that this is a newly discovered place. Excellent work! Thanks, Kevin! I was definitely trying to make it seem different from what we have already seen. 17 hours ago, zoth33 said: Very nice work. The main building is excellent. The statues are creative. I really like the dragons colors. And you have some awesome minifigs. Thanks, Zoth! Glad you like the parts I like best! 7 hours ago, Kai NRG said: This is a great build, I really love all the cheese slope arches, not to mention the roofs, especially the pyramid one on the tower! Bold move slanting the walls, but I think I'll have to go with Titus, I'm not sold on it. From some angles it works, from other angles it just messes with the eyes and looks confusing. I think a flat or battlemented roof would have made more architectural sense. Nonetheless a really good build with so many different details and areas to stare at! Great work! Thanks, Kai! I saw SK using some cheese slope arches and was inspired. The tower roof took a few tries to get to work. As for the walls, as I said in reply to Kevin, I was going for something that I have not seen done before. I tried it and kind of liked it, especially for the main building, in particular the challenge of making the windows fully vertical in a sloped wall. Once I did it for that building, I decided that it would be kind of cool to make it the distinctive architectural aspect of the whole city, that they built buildings that looked quite a bit like tents, perhaps reflecting the original dwellings of the inhabitants prior to settling in this location. None of the buildings have battlements because none of the buildings is a military or defensive building, just common civilian-type. If you still don't like it, well, you don't have to, I guess. I won't be offended. I might cry for days, but no offense taken... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted January 30, 2018 48 minutes ago, Henjin_Quilones said: If you still don't like it, well, you don't have to, I guess. I won't be offended. I might cry for days, but no offense taken... It's indeed a novel idea, and its hard to please everyone with something brand new! Like I said from some angles it looks good, but as a whole it comes across to me as a bold but not entirely successful move. Personally I think it just needs some refinement (something to break the angle vs. angle of the roof and walls, and take away the falling wall look it has in some cases), but it's not to be expected that one would strike on the best of the genera at the first try. Anyways, it boils down to my likings vs. someone else's, and (to paraphrase) a MOC that satisfies its creator need satisfy no one else! And regardless of whether or not I think slanted walls the best architectural choice, it still remains a great MOC! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleJohn Posted February 1, 2018 Truly a spectacular build, Henjin! I personally really like the angle of the walls, as it gives the island a very unique style of architecture (and looks cool too ). Angled walls aside though, everything here is truly brilliant. The sheer size of the main building is quite impressive, but add to that the massive doorway, extravagant windows, and a fabulous roof and you have a really stunning building. And that's just one of them! The various details throughout the scene like the fishing boat, sharks hanging up, the vendors and their wares, all the little insets with statues, everything is fabulous. Oh, and that quiver on the stone statue is a design I'll definitely be using at some point I do have one question though: What are the parts that make up the trunk of the palm tree behind the main building? I don't recognize them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henjin_Quilones Posted February 1, 2018 On 1/30/2018 at 5:32 PM, Kai NRG said: It's indeed a novel idea, and its hard to please everyone with something brand new! Like I said from some angles it looks good, but as a whole it comes across to me as a bold but not entirely successful move. Personally I think it just needs some refinement (something to break the angle vs. angle of the roof and walls, and take away the falling wall look it has in some cases), but it's not to be expected that one would strike on the best of the genera at the first try. Anyways, it boils down to my likings vs. someone else's, and (to paraphrase) a MOC that satisfies its creator need satisfy no one else! And regardless of whether or not I think slanted walls the best architectural choice, it still remains a great MOC! Thanks, Kai! 3 hours ago, LittleJohn said: Truly a spectacular build, Henjin! I personally really like the angle of the walls, as it gives the island a very unique style of architecture (and looks cool too ). Angled walls aside though, everything here is truly brilliant. The sheer size of the main building is quite impressive, but add to that the massive doorway, extravagant windows, and a fabulous roof and you have a really stunning building. And that's just one of them! The various details throughout the scene like the fishing boat, sharks hanging up, the vendors and their wares, all the little insets with statues, everything is fabulous. Oh, and that quiver on the stone statue is a design I'll definitely be using at some point I do have one question though: What are the parts that make up the trunk of the palm tree behind the main building? I don't recognize them. Wow, thanks for the praise, LJ! Glad somebody likes the angle... The quiver was an idea I got from someone on Flickr, so copy away! And the palm tree in the back is made of tires stacked around a click-hinge core (the tires are of a mold that has been discontinued since 1977, in a color that has not been used since 1968). I liked the discolored look of them, and the vaguely tan-grey appearance of them after 50 years, so I figured that they could work. One of the benefits, I guess, of inheriting my father's childhood LEGO sets, or what remains of them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike S Posted February 2, 2018 This is perhaps my favorite entry because of the unique architecture. The angled walls effectively set the mood as a new and foreign place. Excellent work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunman Posted February 2, 2018 As said in flickR, awesome moc mate... my favourite part is that awesome dragon up there. The beacon also looks great.... and the gigantic building is top notch too with that roof :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soccerkid6 Posted February 3, 2018 I had been really looking forward to seeing your big build for the Safe Haven challenge, and it doesn't disappoint! The sloped walls look great to me - very smoothly incorporated, and giving a unique flair to the city Using the tall slopes to set the angle of the walls, and then the inverted slopes of the matching size to create vertical window frames is super clever. Lovely roofs as well, cheese slopes can look a bit bulky depending on how they are used, but yours are excellent. And then the hatchery's roof of sand green plates and tiles quite beautiful - made even more so by the additional roofs over the entrance and large windows. It really does look like a building substantial enough to house a dragon hatchery, the hot steam chimneys are a very fun touch. The adult dragon looks so menacing perched on the roof While the tree design is incredibly effective, I do think it would have been better to use something else in this specific build. The dark bley of the hatchery and large monument make the trees almost disappear from certain angles. Speaking of the monument - that is really nicely done, and again adds a lot to the atmosphere of the city. Superb rockwork along the coastline, the few angled sections are top-notch Plenty of detail and activity to admire in the market area: the forge, and stepping alcoves with little statues are especially impressive. One other thing that stood out to me was the floor pattern of the courtyard by the hatchery, it's hard to make grill tiles look good in a medieval setting but you did it really nicely there! All in all, a stunning model that I will certainly return to admire again Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Maestro Posted February 3, 2018 Nothing short of amazing, the shear scale of this blows me away and I cannot wrap my head around how detailed it is. I love this different style of architecture and that sand green roof It works so well with the black. The smithy is fantastic and the varied species really seats it apart from historica. The trees are different, and I like that you tried something that you might not usually see on the mainland. All up this is a fantastic build, I look forward to seeing more in this style Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grover Posted February 4, 2018 Very nice! I love a ton of the techniques that you have done, not the least of which include the sand green tiles on the roof, the dragon, and the level of detail. Unlike some of the others, I like the slanted wall. I like the tiles you stack into the arches to form the cobblestone-keyed arches. My only criticism is that it's almost too busy. Not quite, but almost. I think if you had tried to add another layer of texture it would have detracted from the overall effect. Personally, I don't like the Chimia faces, but that's not really a criticism as much as a preference. Thanks for sharing! I look forward to your next build! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Stad Posted February 5, 2018 Love the amount of detail in this moc, it really feels like a bustling port city. The buildings are all spectacular, and my only problem with the sloping walls is that you got to them first (I've been planning a moc of my own using a very similar technique). They look really great, and do a good job of setting this place apart from everything else we've seen so far. If I had any criticism, it would be that the black-on-black details on your roofs are very hard to see, especially when you have so many brightness values in each image. I'd also love to see that dragon in a picture of its own, to get a better look at him. He kind of blends into the black on the roof right now. Otherwise, this is an all-around fantastic effort and I'm really excited to see where your story goes from here! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henjin_Quilones Posted February 6, 2018 On 2/2/2018 at 11:19 AM, Mike S said: This is perhaps my favorite entry because of the unique architecture. The angled walls effectively set the mood as a new and foreign place. Excellent work! Thanks, MIke! Another fan of the angles. On 2/2/2018 at 11:59 AM, Gunman said: As said in flickR, awesome moc mate... my favourite part is that awesome dragon up there. The beacon also looks great.... and the gigantic building is top notch too with that roof :) Thanks, Gunman! There will be more with the dragon to come, so stay tuned for that. Glad you like the roof and the beacon, too! On 2/3/2018 at 1:59 PM, soccerkid6 said: I had been really looking forward to seeing your big build for the Safe Haven challenge, and it doesn't disappoint! The sloped walls look great to me - very smoothly incorporated, and giving a unique flair to the city Using the tall slopes to set the angle of the walls, and then the inverted slopes of the matching size to create vertical window frames is super clever. Lovely roofs as well, cheese slopes can look a bit bulky depending on how they are used, but yours are excellent. And then the hatchery's roof of sand green plates and tiles quite beautiful - made even more so by the additional roofs over the entrance and large windows. It really does look like a building substantial enough to house a dragon hatchery, the hot steam chimneys are a very fun touch. The adult dragon looks so menacing perched on the roof While the tree design is incredibly effective, I do think it would have been better to use something else in this specific build. The dark bley of the hatchery and large monument make the trees almost disappear from certain angles. Speaking of the monument - that is really nicely done, and again adds a lot to the atmosphere of the city. Superb rockwork along the coastline, the few angled sections are top-notch Plenty of detail and activity to admire in the market area: the forge, and stepping alcoves with little statues are especially impressive. One other thing that stood out to me was the floor pattern of the courtyard by the hatchery, it's hard to make grill tiles look good in a medieval setting but you did it really nicely there! All in all, a stunning model that I will certainly return to admire again Thanks for the detailed comment, SK! Your approval of the slope goes a long way in affirming my decision! The walls and window combination of angles was the first part I started fiddling around with. I have a love of roof styles, in particular part-intensive ones, so glad you like them too. I do agree about the trees, another color would probably have been better, but I liked the way they looked on their own so much that I kept them. Again, thanks for the feedback, and thanks for the blog mention, too! On 2/3/2018 at 4:08 PM, The Maestro said: Nothing short of amazing, the shear scale of this blows me away and I cannot wrap my head around how detailed it is. I love this different style of architecture and that sand green roof It works so well with the black. The smithy is fantastic and the varied species really seats it apart from historica. The trees are different, and I like that you tried something that you might not usually see on the mainland. All up this is a fantastic build, I look forward to seeing more in this style Thanks, TM! It is definitely my biggest to date, and it used up almost all of my grey parts (especially dark bley - I have no bricks or 1xX plates left in that after building the hatchery). I hope to continue to build in Bandari and in Mwamba in general for a while, so more should be coming... once this is disassembled and sorted, that is... On 2/4/2018 at 4:09 PM, Grover said: Very nice! I love a ton of the techniques that you have done, not the least of which include the sand green tiles on the roof, the dragon, and the level of detail. Unlike some of the others, I like the slanted wall. I like the tiles you stack into the arches to form the cobblestone-keyed arches. My only criticism is that it's almost too busy. Not quite, but almost. I think if you had tried to add another layer of texture it would have detracted from the overall effect. Personally, I don't like the Chimia faces, but that's not really a criticism as much as a preference. Thanks for sharing! I look forward to your next build! I agree about the almost-too-busy vibe of it; I had to be very careful not to cross the line there, and there are details I left off for that reason. I do like Chima faces, at least the cat/wolf ones, as they make for some cool (to me) anthropomorphic animal races. But I get where you are coming from! Glad you like it, Grover! On 2/5/2018 at 10:22 AM, The Stad said: Love the amount of detail in this moc, it really feels like a bustling port city. The buildings are all spectacular, and my only problem with the sloping walls is that you got to them first (I've been planning a moc of my own using a very similar technique). They look really great, and do a good job of setting this place apart from everything else we've seen so far. If I had any criticism, it would be that the black-on-black details on your roofs are very hard to see, especially when you have so many brightness values in each image. I'd also love to see that dragon in a picture of its own, to get a better look at him. He kind of blends into the black on the roof right now. Otherwise, this is an all-around fantastic effort and I'm really excited to see where your story goes from here! You will get your wish sometime fairly soon, Stad, and see the dragon on his own. Great minds think alike, they say, so if you want to build your own sloped walls, go for it! I would love to see your own take on the technique and what you do with it architecturally. Glad you like the build, too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccoyed Posted March 10, 2018 Incredible work. Missed this when it was first posted. Just jaw-dropping. My favorite is the interior smithy cuz I think it's the best one I've ever seen on GoH. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hersbrucker Posted March 10, 2018 Wow, great! I will take some stuff to my MOC! Love the Minifigures mix!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henjin_Quilones Posted March 16, 2018 On 3/10/2018 at 9:27 AM, mccoyed said: Incredible work. Missed this when it was first posted. Just jaw-dropping. My favorite is the interior smithy cuz I think it's the best one I've ever seen on GoH. Thanks, mccoyed! High praise indeed for the smithy. On 3/10/2018 at 9:56 AM, Hersbrucker said: Wow, great! I will take some stuff to my MOC! Love the Minifigures mix!! Please take anything you want and use it! Glad you like the figs, they are almost entirely taken from my CMF entry to the same contest, with the addition of some centaurs and aelfcats (humanoid--or elf-oid--cats, from Chima). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LegoModularFan Posted March 20, 2018 Oh wow, this is incredible There are so many things I love about this MOC, those angled walls are very well done, great architecture and a lot of great techniques! Your builds are always spectacular! As a modular fan, this MOC encouraged me to visit more Historic Themes and GoH forum! Millions of thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
