MaasEffekt

Varlyrio Guild Challenge 1B: Daughter of Ceto

Recommended Posts

Hello again!

Thanks for stopping by!

Here is my second moc for the Varlyrio Guild Challenge. It is for 1B Family and known associates.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

45266944494_f3eea07398_t.jpg Octavia... What can i tell you about her? I've defeated her pet kraken once. Nobody anticipated that! That is how i've got mer scar on mer face. I mertioned it earlier, if you were paying attention. I think she will never forget it, nor forgive it, but that is when we crossed currents for the first time, and later we managed to form a bond. A strange friendship i would call. Merbe more?

She is an octopus lady or something, a daughter of Ceto. Scary creature of the deep. Like mer sisters... Did i mertion, she has eight legs? Strong, large, long, lime limbs, with sticky stuff on them. I believe its called suckers. Well, it sucks to be grabbed with those, i can tell you that! Squeezes you like you were a sponge on the waterbed. She was not friendly at first, and that is an understatement. So under, it's underwater. Utterly hostile, but nowadays she "tolerates" us. Mer, a little bit more. Her older sister Pri'Scylla is not like that, but she is getting there i presume. I'd like to. Until then, Octavia is the connecting link between our volk.

We had our battles, and differences with the Children of Ceto, but these days there is a fragile truce between our people. Officially.

Back to Octavia Oceana. That is her whole name by the way. Do not tell anyone, i told you! I will deny it! She would hug me to death with her tentacles. Not a bad death, but still a death. Anyway, she has long dark green hair like a garden of beautiful seaweeds. Eyes, as dark as the depths of the waters, a killer stare, which is one level less menacing than the petrifying gaze of her younger sister Echo. Alluring lips, pretty, but assertive face, with some shiny silverish lines all over it. She likes the deepest parts of Lorelei Loch. The ice cold water is her favourite. Not a big social... How do you dryskins say it? Social butterfly? She has a soft spot for abandoned places, especially ship wrecks of yours. Knows how to defend herself, but not a fan of fighting. Do you want to know more? Mer too!

45435202664_98dc9f825c_z.jpgOctaviaIntro3 by Erhard Maas, on Flickr

46085769082_01bbd05feb_z.jpgIMG_2902 by Erhard Maas, on Flickr

45435094844_6564b224c3_z.jpgOctaviaUW2 by Erhard Maas, on Flickr

45411998844_68fdd78cde_z.jpgIMG_2917 by Erhard Maas, on Flickr

More pictures can be found in my Flickr album.

 

Edited by MaasEffekt

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is another amazing small build!  The colors are great, it gives a sense of being underwater, and the positioning of the figures is perfect.  I didn't know there was a lime green kraken set of legs, but it's great!  I really appreciate this, too, because you are one of the few people who shows that you can build great things in small packages.  There's a lot of people out there who say that you don't need a lot of bricks to build anything great.  While true, I find that disingenuous for the most part because the people saying this usually have large collections and even though they may build something small, they have a huge collection to draw from and so only use the choicest parts and thus needed a large collection to make a small build.  On the other hand, you have taken what you have and really made some spectacular builds, with even some non-standard color choices, but it all works.  Great job!  I look forward to reading more of your story.

By the way, are you a native English speaker?  I ask because your writing is outstanding.  I took 5 years of German and can't write as well in German as you do in English.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello!

Thanks! The lime kraken legs part is from the Alien Conquest theme. The Alien Commander minifig used it. There is also a dark red version of it from the Atlantis theme. The Atlantis Squid Warrior.

Mainly i collect minifigures, so i do not have a lot of bricks- nor a lot of money for bricks, but i don't want to make mocs with LDD, because i like the real world Lego more. Of course sometimes i am using the LDD to make plans for a build. As for the unusual colors, i have a lot of "Nocturnus colors", so i am trying to use those to create this Sunken city underwater atmosphere- habitat. So these are the reasons why i think i have to focus on creating vignettes, and other small builds. And as a beginner builder, i have to start small. I was thinking about some microbuilds too, for the future.

No, i am not a native speaker. My native is hungarian, but i have a passion for English (started to learn about 20- 25 years ago maybe). Also one of my hobbies is writing- in hungarian. One of my English teachers- who liked my English writings too, told me that non- native speakers think differently, so their writing style can be very unusual in a good way.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Very nice fig here. I do think the presentation could be a bit better with the dark blue plate lacking any detail. I like what you did with the "fig base" section and I think you could have actually just shot that against white and left out the blue plate. You should also look into GIMP (free) or Photoshop to brighten your images or even go the extra step of cutting out background and replacing it with something neutral. Blue would have worked nicely for this one because it would give that watery effect and you wouldn't need the base plate.

For fun:

23u9cuu.jpg

That just shows what I mean. Lots more small touch-ups would be needed (blurring the edges for example) to really whip it into shape, but I think the effect is better than sticking a really great little build on a flat blue plate.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I like the use of the lavender and green, they work well together.  The scene really gives you the impression its under the water.  The fig is really great, she is beautiful and menacing at the same time nice job.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
17 hours ago, mccoyed said:

Very nice fig here. I do think the presentation could be a bit better with the dark blue plate lacking any detail. I like what you did with the "fig base" section and I think you could have actually just shot that against white and left out the blue plate. You should also look into GIMP (free) or Photoshop to brighten your images or even go the extra step of cutting out background and replacing it with something neutral. Blue would have worked nicely for this one because it would give that watery effect and you wouldn't need the base plate.

For fun:

23u9cuu.jpg

That just shows what I mean. Lots more small touch-ups would be needed (blurring the edges for example) to really whip it into shape, but I think the effect is better than sticking a really great little build on a flat blue plate.

Hello! Thanks! You are right! I do not know why i built it on the blue plate. Never did it before, never will again. I realized i screwed up with that move, when i took the photos. I redid the whole thing without the blue plate. I also retook the photos. Updated the original post. For my sins, and laziness i will kneel on Lego bricks for three days. :classic:

14 hours ago, zoth33 said:

I like the use of the lavender and green, they work well together.  The scene really gives you the impression its under the water.  The fig is really great, she is beautiful and menacing at the same time nice job.  

Hi! Thank you!

Edited by MaasEffekt

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The vignette is much better without the blue! I like how you continue to match the surroundings with the figs, as it really boosts the visual appeal of the vignette to have a simplified color scheme. Many builders make the mistake of thinking more is more with color, but here less is clearly more! I am glad to see the merfolk of Varlyrio being fleshed out more and more, and hope you will continue to bring us builds and figs! Good work. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

hehe nice job again ^^ the seabed looks a little cluttered, but who knows what lurks in those Varlyrian deep waters after all! Nice to see more lore about it - keep it coming! :thumbup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 12/3/2018 at 5:40 PM, W Navarre said:

Nice work with the seabed and the buried warrior! 

Hey! Thanks!

On 12/3/2018 at 7:57 PM, mccoyed said:

Hahaha that background pic you have is so awesomely over the top.

:sweet:

On 12/4/2018 at 9:57 PM, Henjin_Quilones said:

The vignette is much better without the blue! I like how you continue to match the surroundings with the figs, as it really boosts the visual appeal of the vignette to have a simplified color scheme. Many builders make the mistake of thinking more is more with color, but here less is clearly more! I am glad to see the merfolk of Varlyrio being fleshed out more and more, and hope you will continue to bring us builds and figs! Good work. 

Hello! Thanks! Glad you like it! I will try to build a 16x16 moc next time- for the Guild Challenge of course.

On 12/7/2018 at 7:49 AM, en_zoo said:

hehe nice job again ^^ the seabed looks a little cluttered, but who knows what lurks in those Varlyrian deep waters after all! Nice to see more lore about it - keep it coming! :thumbup:

Hi! Thank you! I am still adjusting to this underwater stuff, so i will try to find the balance for the surroundings.

On 12/7/2018 at 8:41 AM, Basiliscus said:

Lovely minifig parts usage! The lime green looks great.

Lovely work on the seabed too.

Greetings! Thanks very much! I am a fan of the bright colors, but also know that i have to be careful, and keep a healthy contrast with another darker one.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you guys think about the plants are leant one way? I've tried to represent an underwater current with that.

Edited by MaasEffekt

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Very nice little build, love the alien conquest helm on the skeleton, and the black baseplate looks great. My favorite part of this post though is the story, your characters accent, and the ocean slang. Great work!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent way to intoduce Octavia, and the underwater landscape is lovely :wub:
You included quite a few unusual parts, but they all look fitting here :thumbup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.