Challenge l - Rebuilding the defenses.

[Alfadas]

I want this tower done before winter comes! We are almost done with the stone foundations. Aah there is the last wagon with stone. Good. On schedule. Any word on the lumber? No? Still nothing? What am I paying these fools for...

Time to rebuild. This was once a mighty watchtower, you could see to the Avalonian border on top of this tower. Once. It was due for renovation for quite some time now, and with the tower suffering some major damage the past months, we decided to replace all the woodwork entirely and repair most of the stonework. The floor inside was still pretty nice so we left that. Now the stonework was almost fully repaired. It was just waiting on the lumber. No word from them yet. Quite worrying in these times of peace. Wonder what happened to them. 

Link to album on Flickr.

Just a quick build, nothing too spectacular. I kinda forgot this challenge was a thing so it was kinda rushed. Still came out okay. Hope you like it!

Edited October 14, 2018 by Alfadas
bit more story

[Basiliscus]

As you say yourself, it's quite simplistic but there are things to like despite that. I like the way you've layered up the grass to break up an otherwise flat area, and it's nice to see that the brown track is lower than the grass which looks more realistic IMO. There' s a nice sense of action going on from the way you've posed the minifigs.

The grass stalks and 1x1 round plates you've scattered on the grass don't look particularly natural, they look like a bit of an afterthought. I also find that 2x3 or 2x4 wedge plates in green help the grass boundary and layering look more natural and less square. The building is nice and straightforward but the holes are a bit confusing, are they supposed to be windows?

[Alfadas]

44 minutes ago, Basiliscus said:

As you say yourself, it's quite simplistic but there are things to like despite that. I like the way you've layered up the grass to break up an otherwise flat area, and it's nice to see that the brown track is lower than the grass which looks more realistic IMO. There' s a nice sense of action going on from the way you've posed the minifigs.

The grass stalks and 1x1 round plates you've scattered on the grass don't look particularly natural, they look like a bit of an afterthought. I also find that 2x3 or 2x4 wedge plates in green help the grass boundary and layering look more natural and less square. The building is nice and straightforward but the holes are a bit confusing, are they supposed to be windows?

Thanks! The 1x1 round plates are supposed to be small rocks but indeed look quite weird. 

Wedge plates. Yes. Really need to get some of those. Thanks for reminding me :)

The holes are supposed to be battle damage, but yeah I should have clarified more. 

[mccoyed]

A good effort, but I do think you can do better than this. I don't think that's a great choice of angle if you're going to have only one picture. I know you've got limited pieces, but the regularity of the plating for the grass gives this a Minecraft playset or Lego Worlds feel where some wedges or wing pieces or even 1x2 plates could have broken up the geometry and elevated the effect. Those scattered detail bits like the foliage and studs as stones are a solid attempt to break it up and add some interest to the terrain, but the darkness of the image means these details either fade in too much or wind up seeming haphazardly placed where they catch some light. Hate to be so critical but I hope these comments are useful anyway.

[Rogue Angel]

A lot of action going on in this build.  I like the use of the screwdriver(?) with the hammer.

[Alfadas]

3 hours ago, Rogue Angel said:

A lot of action going on in this build.  I like the use of the screwdriver(?) with the hammer.

Thanks! It's supposed to be hammer and chisel, but as I don't think there is an actual chisel I just used that thing. 

[Gabe]

Even simple builds deserve to be shown in their best light - the angle you have in the main pic isn't terribly flattering i'm afraid, and it is terribly dark too. I would try a slightly elevated 3/4 shot, rather than the overhead one you have chosen. I do like the fellow carving the block of stone, that injects the scene with some much needed purpose. 

[Grover]

I felt the same way about my build--didn't have enough time.  Despite that, there are some good things going on.  I agree with Basilicus, in that it's nice to see the brown dirt lower than the green grass.  I think the high level of detail in grass and other flora are usually neglected on short time frame builds like this (and mine--there's no detail in the grass there either).  I think my favorite part is the guy with the screwdriver as a chisel.  Very well done.  As some of the others have said, better lighting can help.  I built myself a little light box out of cardboard, an old wall calendar a few desk lamps, and some white spray paint, and it has made a HUGE difference.  Something like that could be useful.  Better pictures make people look more, regardless of build.  Conversely, you can have an awesome build and no one will look at it because the lighting is poor.  Hope to see more from you in the future!

[soccerkid6]

Good to see you getting an entry in, and I'm sure your future builds will be better Nice touch with the small plates and cheese slopes to indicate chips of rock from the shaping process.
Besides the previous suggestions, I think using some slopes and inverted slopes in the stone wall to give cracks and more organic crumbled edges would help showcase it's poor condition

[Alfadas]

6 hours ago, soccerkid6 said:

Good to see you getting an entry in, and I'm sure your future builds will be better Nice touch with the small plates and cheese slopes to indicate chips of rock from the shaping process.
Besides the previous suggestions, I think using some slopes and inverted slopes in the stone wall to give cracks and more organic crumbled edges would help showcase it's poor condition

As said, it was a bit rushed as I completely forgot about it for some reason... Thanks for the tips. I think some slopes would indeed make for a more realistic look. Maybe next ruins I build :) 

[Henjin_Quilones]

The arrangement of the figures is nice, but as others have said, the angle of the photo makes it hard to tell what's going on. I like the way you have layered plates for the terrain to build up some height, and the road below the grass level is nice, too. Some wedge plates would have been nice to break up the hard angles, though, and a less uniform distribution of the flower stalks and 1x1 round rocks would also improve things some.