Challenge 1: The Far East Guard Tower (Mitgardia)

[A_Goodman]

On the Eastern edges of the Mitgardian Tundra a Guard Tower is being rebuilt. Although it suffered minor damage the importance of this watchtower requires it to be refitted and put back into operation as soon as possible to protect Mitgardias Eastern border. In the middle of a heavily wooded area an elevator is used so as to ease the lifting of the masonry required to rebuild the structure. 

PS I apologize for the background it was the best I could do.

Eastern Guard Tower 1 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 2 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 13 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 4 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 11 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 5 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 12 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 10 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 9 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 8 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 6 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 3 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 7 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Edited October 14, 2018 by A_Goodman

[The Last of Nergoue]

Very nice tower!

[zoth33]

Nice build.  I like the tower itself the texturing, the damaged spots, the roof is nicely done and i like the guys pulling up the roof section.  The scaffolding and the workers outside the tower is a nice touch.  The landscaping is good too.  I also like the knight chilling out eating the apple.  

[Ayrlego]

Good construction scene. I like the attention to detail you have made with things like the pile of stones, damaged section of the wall and crane. The landscaping is nicely done with a good mixture of different types of trees. Good job!

[Basiliscus]

A really big and impressive tower here @A_Goodman! I like the way you've used slopes going in and out to show the damage to the tower, makes  it look more natural. Your landscape area looks very nice and the trees are simple yet well done.

Unfortunately, the photography here lets down the MOC a little. The photos are shot with a very low f-stop (f/1.8 in some cases) which makes for a very shallow depth of field. It would help greatly if you put your phone on a stable surface and allowed it to take a longer exposure which would allow you to up the f-stop and therefore improve the depth of field. Also some additional lighting or post-processing would help brighten it up a bit as it seems quite dark.

I'd also suggest that you link to a slightly smaller resolution image via Flickr, as these seem too big. To do this, click "Share" (forward arrow) on the photo on Flickr and click "BBCode" at the top. Then choose a slightly smaller resolution, say 640x??? and copy and paste the link into the post. That way you'll get smaller images with a link to Flickr for those who want to see the larger images.

Also some images are not properly rotated which would help us see the detail.

I don't mean to sound too critical but good photography is about 50% of making a good MOC - if you need any help please ask!

 

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2018 by Basiliscus

[mccoyed]

I agree with Basiliscus about the photography here. Take it from me, I had my phase of using sheets for backdrops too. I eventually learned to use GIMP for brightness correction and now I use photoshop to get rid of my ugly off-white background paper and its seams. There's no rush getting to that stage, but it's worth thinking about so that your presentation matches your building skills, which look pretty good here.

 

[A_Goodman]

@Basiliscus I have to say I am 100% with you a have a decently nice camera but just cant seem to figure out how to use it very well leading me to use my phone for these images. I think I will try again today since I can still upload for the rest of the day. I appreciate the feedback and will definitely take some advice when it comes to enhancing my photos because it truly does take away form the build. You would recommend gimp for a beginner?

[Muakhah]

I really like the trees with the white bark and red leaves. Is that a type of birch or beech? I can never remember.

[Gabe]

Nice build, you've got some lovely landscaping going on and the broken tower corner is well done. Regarding GIMP, i'm not that technologically minded but i found it quite intuitive... i just googled how to use various functions if i wasn't sure how to proceed.

[Gunman]

Tundra! The place to be in Mitgardia :) That hole in the wall is very clever :) And I really like that pile of stones over there... Also nice folliage part of your landscaping :) Keep it up!

[A_Goodman]

Just wanted to add these here, a little higher quality

Eastern Guard Tower 3 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 1 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Eastern Guard Tower 2 by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

[W Navarre]

Very cool, I really like the way you made the hole! 

[Basiliscus]

On 10/15/2018 at 5:58 PM, A_Goodman said:

@Basiliscus I have to say I am 100% with you a have a decently nice camera but just cant seem to figure out how to use it very well leading me to use my phone for these images. I think I will try again today since I can still upload for the rest of the day. I appreciate the feedback and will definitely take some advice when it comes to enhancing my photos because it truly does take away form the build. You would recommend gimp for a beginner?

That's fair enough! Photography isn't that difficult to master for LEGO, since as long as you use a tripod you can take as long an exposure as you want as the subject won't move. I have used GIMP briefly (I prefer Photoshop Elements myself) but to be fair if you take good photos the amount of post processing should be significantly reduced.

You've done a good job with the second batch of photos, they're much sharper than the first lot, it looks like you've put the camera on a tripod (or something stable). Looking at the EXIF information on Flickr (see image below) shows that the camera chose a high f-stop (f/14.0 will give a wide depth of field) but the photos would lose their graininess if you reduced the ISO from 6400 to 100 and increased the exposure time accordingly. To do this it is imperative you put the camera on a tripod or some other surface. It's also worth checking if your camera can delay the shutter by a second or two because even the motion of the camera when you click the shutter can affect the picture quality.

If you want any more help feel free to shoot me a PM and I will try and help.

[Rogue Angel]

I really like this build!  I like the terrain and landscaping, as well as the overall shape of the building.  I really like some of the action like the roof being set, the load being raised, and the two lifting the bricks.  I really like how you used the dark bley slopes to portray the limits of the brick work completed, and I LOVE the use of the stud shooters in the birch tree.  This never occurred to me....

[Grover]

I really like this a lot.  First, I will say that I didn't mind the dark background, as its texture made it look like a mountainside or something, perhaps where they got all their dark stone from.  Secondly, there's a lot of great things going on here.  I like the color choices--not many people build out of the dark grey, and I think it really adds a different mood here.  I also appreciate that you didn't litter the working area where the people have obviously trod for so long with plants.  It's unrealistic to me to see a bunch of grass in the middle of a road.  I also like that you immediately went to higher plants on the border of the work area.  In an area with a lot of foliage, it's realistic to have an abrupt change to higher plant life.  In an area like Kaliphlin, it would be unrealistic, but here it makes it look like an area with good rainfall and nice growth (i.e., Mitgardia or Avalonia).  The pine tree is nice, and the birches are great.  Makes you wish that TLG had a yellow foliage part like alt bricks, as the birches could easily become aspens.  The stacked boxes and barrels in the background are quite nice as well.  Very well done, and I look forward to your next build!

[soccerkid6]

Very glad to have you in Mitgardia! This is a great start to your GoH builds |
The tower looks like it's in good hands and will soon be ready to protect the border well. The sturdy scaffolding, crane, and block stacks are all excellent. And I love your little birch tree

Your second batch of photos are much better too

[de Gothia]

The second round of photos do more justice to this moc. The hole in the tower adds so much realism to the thought a land in war. 

[halixon]

Interesting build! It feels minimalistic, but that's not a bad thing! One thing, in particular, I really like is the rock pile. It's quite eye-catching.

[Henjin_Quilones]

Those builders raising the roof section must really trust that scaffolding to hold up the tower while they add more weight to the top of it! I like the vegetation and the cleared working area, it being quite monotone appropriate for a construction site. My biggest gripe would be what I would call an overuse of textured bricks - I don't really like the visual impression of the masonry bricks stacked in a tower like that so repetitively. It's not bad, and it works, but it is not my favorite. The bustle about the scene is nice, though, and you have done a great job of conveying the labor involved in repairing the structure.