Basiliscus Posted October 16, 2018 (edited) Conzaga manor, situated just outside of the Varlyrian capital, was once the main home of the Conzaga family, famed throughout Historica for their wines. During the turmoil caused by Ravaage, although Varlyrio escaped much of the fighting, the common people baulked at extravagant displays of wealth and it wasn't uncommon for rich nobles to be attacked in daylight. For their own safety, the Conzaga family abandoned their most ornate and lavish home for residencies further from the capital and easier to defend from bandits and unruly peasants. As time passed, nature began to reclaim the once neatly tended gardens, and the Conzaga family kept a low profile until the civil wars ended. Now with peace reestablished under Queen Ylspeth, the Conzaga family feel their position secure enough to once again show their wealth to the world. Once Conzaga manor is restored to its former glory, the family's reputation will be rebuilt! The younger son Mychel has been sent by his father to oversee the work and ensure the peasants follow orders. As he explains to the foreman what needs to occur, his bodyguard Meiyo keeps a careful eye out for any trouble. One of the first jobs is to remove a rather unruly weed known as "mare's tail". This weed produces a vast underground root system which needs carefully dug out to ensure full eradication. After such lengthy neglect, the vines have dried out and the only grapes are wizened and sour. First, all the dead leaves and grapes need removed before they can produce fresh fruit. The once tranquil pond has now been overgrown with weeds, this will need cleared out before any visitors can be invited to share in the manor's opulence. Some thought has been given to defence, with a stout door and only arrow slit windows a last resort to keep out an angry mob. A determined attacker with siege weapons would not be deterred however. -------- So the theme was rebuilding, and since I've been away from GoH for so long, I felt it was necessary to introduce my Varlyrian family rebuilding their reputation in their homeland. Edited October 16, 2018 by Basiliscus typo, unwanted links Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muakhah Posted October 16, 2018 This is a really nice sturdy looking manor house. The roof and the angel carving over the door are my favorites. But the details of the gardens, the digging up roots, clearing the pond and pruning the vines are what bring it to life. My only question would be is there any way to cover the door from inside? I presume there are murder holes or something concealed in the giant archway? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Basiliscus Posted October 16, 2018 4 hours ago, narbilu said: Just...wow Thanks 3 hours ago, Muakhah said: This is a really nice sturdy looking manor house. The roof and the angel carving over the door are my favorites. But the details of the gardens, the digging up roots, clearing the pond and pruning the vines are what bring it to life. My only question would be is there any way to cover the door from inside? I presume there are murder holes or something concealed in the giant archway? Thanks for the kind words. Obviously I had thought that there were murder holes above the door well before you suggested it @Muakhah, I definitely didn't steal that idea from you right now! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gabe Posted October 16, 2018 A very fine, solid building, Basiliscus! I like all the different stonework textures and the pillars look suitably grand. The freize above the door is pretty cool as well. I'm not so sure about the low ground floor windows on the side of the building though - they look a little oddly proportioned on the wall. Looking forward to seeing more of Varlyrio through your character's adventures! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunman Posted October 16, 2018 What a cool build... Very clean build... Amazing choice for the border... Everything is just so well put.... So great job man... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccoyed Posted October 16, 2018 Fantastic build! I love every part of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zoth33 Posted October 17, 2018 The building is amazing. The texturing of the walls is great. The pillars really add another dimension to the build. The windows are very nice, the door is fantastic and i love that color for the roof. The landscaping is really good too, I like the grape vines and the small pond both really nice touches. wonderfully done. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted October 17, 2018 This is a lovely Varlyrian build, great job with the roof first of all, but I also really like the overgrown fountain and the vines. Great pillars too and fantastic texture on the walls! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Basiliscus Posted October 17, 2018 On 10/16/2018 at 12:31 PM, Gabe said: A very fine, solid building, Basiliscus! I like all the different stonework textures and the pillars look suitably grand. The freize above the door is pretty cool as well. I'm not so sure about the low ground floor windows on the side of the building though - they look a little oddly proportioned on the wall. Looking forward to seeing more of Varlyrio through your character's adventures! Yeah, I agree the windows are too low, they wouldn't be much use to defend with! I put them there and only realised they looked strange when I started placing minifigs, and I was too lazy to fix it. The same goes for the gaps in the arch above the entrance, in an ideal world I'd have liked to find a better solution but I needed to meet the deadline. 21 hours ago, Gunman said: What a cool build... Very clean build... Amazing choice for the border... Everything is just so well put.... So great job man... Thanks, I had a load of the dark red slopes and hadn't found a use for them until now! I like that because then you don't feel it was a waste of money! 15 hours ago, mccoyed said: Fantastic build! I love every part of it. Thanks 11 hours ago, zoth33 said: The building is amazing. The texturing of the walls is great. The pillars really add another dimension to the build. The windows are very nice, the door is fantastic and i love that color for the roof. The landscaping is really good too, I like the grape vines and the small pond both really nice touches. wonderfully done. Thank you, a few of the ideas were inspired by other AFOLs, you can see some links on this photo. 2 hours ago, Kai NRG said: This is a lovely Varlyrian build, great job with the roof first of all, but I also really like the overgrown fountain and the vines. Great pillars too and fantastic texture on the walls! Thanks! Varlyrio is quite exciting as there aren't as many previous builds, so it's nice to get a chance to flesh it out a bit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W Navarre Posted October 17, 2018 As I said on flickr this is awesome, I like the story you are setting up too! And, I may say, the red border is perfect as well as bold! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rogue Angel Posted October 18, 2018 Fantastic build! Love the use of the plates and tiles in the wall, the pillars are excellent, the roofing, the supports, all excellent. I also really like the fountain and the vineyard/bushes. Most Impressive! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
halixon Posted October 18, 2018 Amazing build! NPU on the pillars! And I love the foliage Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Basiliscus Posted October 18, 2018 22 hours ago, W Navarre said: As I said on flickr this is awesome, I like the story you are setting up too! And, I may say, the red border is perfect as well as bold! Thank you! I'm trying to introduce the Conzaga family gently, but I've got more planned for them over the next few weeks. 10 hours ago, Rogue Angel said: Fantastic build! Love the use of the plates and tiles in the wall, the pillars are excellent, the roofing, the supports, all excellent. I also really like the fountain and the vineyard/bushes. Most Impressive! Thanks for the kind words. I've not had as much time as I would have liked over the last few years for building, but I'm making a big effort to put that right now! 10 hours ago, Windusky said: Amazing build! NPU on the pillars! And I love the foliage Cheers, I was going to share the part I used but I can't find it on Bricklink, I saw them and thought they looked like good pillars so I bought a load of them for this purpose! I've been meaning to do a grey building for a bit now, most of the time I go for exotic colours. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grover Posted October 21, 2018 Gorgeous build! The roof is awesome, the tiny details like the columns, and even the quarter circle and macaroni tiles by the fountain add detail in a subtle way. You have also built one of the few holes that I think looks realistic. The posing of the minis is awesome, and I think you have achieved an excellent level of detail without being cluttered. The inclusion of the dark green under the bushes that is slightly sunk provides a great shadow effect where there would be less/different grass from the lack of sunlight. Really well done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gideon Posted October 21, 2018 Nice build, with some excellent details The half-overgrown pond is a great concept! I also really like the pillars and the other detailing on the front, but unfortunately I think the details (especially the rounded shape) get a bit lost because the background is also lbg. Having some other color for the walls in between would have helped imho. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adde51 Posted October 21, 2018 Nice one! Great texture and very pleasant colourscheme. And that roof is just great! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Basiliscus Posted October 22, 2018 23 hours ago, Grover said: Gorgeous build! The roof is awesome, the tiny details like the columns, and even the quarter circle and macaroni tiles by the fountain add detail in a subtle way. You have also built one of the few holes that I think looks realistic. The posing of the minis is awesome, and I think you have achieved an excellent level of detail without being cluttered. The inclusion of the dark green under the bushes that is slightly sunk provides a great shadow effect where there would be less/different grass from the lack of sunlight. Really well done! Thank you for the comment, and for taking the time to look for and call out all the little details. 19 hours ago, Gideon said: Nice build, with some excellent details The half-overgrown pond is a great concept! I also really like the pillars and the other detailing on the front, but unfortunately I think the details (especially the rounded shape) get a bit lost because the background is also lbg. Having some other color for the walls in between would have helped imho. That's true, I think it's not so bad in the first shot because of the angled but the second shot at minifig level definitely loses the light bluish grey a bit, it's been blown out a wee bit by the light. 19 hours ago, adde51 said: Nice one! Great texture and very pleasant colourscheme. And that roof is just great! Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
en_zoo Posted October 22, 2018 oh man I love that wall texture! also, nice start of the story, curious to see what's next Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Last of Nergoue Posted October 22, 2018 Really nice moc, the architecture and color choices look very nice! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Basiliscus Posted October 25, 2018 On 10/22/2018 at 9:53 PM, en_zoo said: oh man I love that wall texture! also, nice start of the story, curious to see what's next Thanks! Yeah I've lots of story ideas, hoping for plenty of time in the run up to Christmas to build them. On 10/22/2018 at 10:51 PM, The Last of Nergoue said: Really nice moc, the architecture and color choices look very nice! Cheers for the comment! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henjin_Quilones Posted October 26, 2018 This is an excellent build! I think that the best parts have already been mentioned, most notably the columns and the wall texture, but I also love the roof and the posing of the figs around the scene. You created activity without visual busyness. The two weakest aspects I think are the odd gaps in the curve on the front (I'm not blaming, as curves in LEGO are hard!) and the windows on the ground floor being oddly low and large for a defensive position. But you mentioned those already, so I know I am preaching to the choir here, so to speak. That said, this is a very strong entry into the contest, and I look forward to seeing what else you cook up with your story! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soccerkid6 Posted October 28, 2018 Very imposing structure that makes brilliant use of the plate and tile wall design Especially when paired with those columns, and the lovely terra cotta roofs which add a nice touch of color The various peasants are all well posed and I hope we get to see the result of their labors in restoring the manor. I like how you included the Varlyrio colors in your border too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Basiliscus Posted October 29, 2018 On 10/26/2018 at 8:45 PM, Henjin_Quilones said: This is an excellent build! I think that the best parts have already been mentioned, most notably the columns and the wall texture, but I also love the roof and the posing of the figs around the scene. You created activity without visual busyness. The two weakest aspects I think are the odd gaps in the curve on the front (I'm not blaming, as curves in LEGO are hard!) and the windows on the ground floor being oddly low and large for a defensive position. But you mentioned those already, so I know I am preaching to the choir here, so to speak. That said, this is a very strong entry into the contest, and I look forward to seeing what else you cook up with your story! Thanks Henjin! Yeah if I had a little more time I'd have come up with something better for the curve, there's probably a solution that doesn't leave gaps (or as big gaps) but I didn't find it. 11 hours ago, soccerkid6 said: Very imposing structure that makes brilliant use of the plate and tile wall design Especially when paired with those columns, and the lovely terra cotta roofs which add a nice touch of color The various peasants are all well posed and I hope we get to see the result of their labors in restoring the manor. I like how you included the Varlyrio colors in your border too Cheers for the kind words. I think it's a great technique, parts intensive but I already have a lot of light bluish grey plates and tiles, so it wasn't a problem in this case! Glad you spotted the Varlyrio colours in the base, I do like the white and gold, it's a nice choice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrcp6d Posted October 29, 2018 Really like the wall texture here! This MOC is a lovely slice of Varlyrio. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
