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Basiliscus

CHALLENGE II: Category C: At The Races

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Previously

Even for Varlyrio it was an unseasonably warm winter's day, and it seemed as if half of Illaryian was in the stands to watch the races. With the queen's call for entertainment, the Supano Amancio had asked all of the finest horse breeders in Varlyrio to prepare their steeds to compete in the largest horse racing event in a generation. Outside the capital in an area of flat land the nobles had put up stands from which to watch the entertainment, which had turned into a competition to show of their wealth and status. Staffen had paid for a grand timber frame to be made in a style celebrating Varlyrian's ancient past, and once the labourers had made the structure safe he arranged for plasterers to come and cover it in stucco and paint it white. Finally, a few artists had come and added some detail to it to help make it stand out. It hadn't been cheap, but there was no mistaking that the Conzaga's had arrived.

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Staffen knew that he had to. After the recent attempt to poison his son Bernaldo he had to show his enemies that the Conzaga's would not be bowed by the threats. Bernaldo was his son and, at least nominally, his heir. Staffen had situated him pride of place in the front row of the stand guarded by his own minotaur bodyguard.

"But father, no-one would dare attack us in public like you think! Minos can take the day off and enjoy the races.", said Bernaldo when he was told of the plan. This was typical of his naivety - he had underestimated the ruthlessness of his family's enemies - a mistake Staffen would not make twice. Staffen insisted it was Minos or he stayed inside the manor and Bernaldo reluctantly agreed. After being cooped up for weeks for his own safety Staffen knew his son would leap at the opportunity to get his freedom for the day.

Around the grandiose Conzaga display was simpler timber stands for the ordinary folks. The crowds chattered loudly enjoying the day away from their trades. At the opening ceremony, they cheered for the riders; when they thundered passed they whooped and groaned and money changed hands and back again. But Staffen was not even listening, he had more important matters on his mind.

As part of the queen's push to impress her subjects the Conzaga's had been approached to freely give out their wine to the common folks. When Staffen had objected to this, the envoy had opened a chest and the sparkling contents made him reconsider. There was a queen's ransom in diamonds inside! It was easily enough to pay for every man, woman and child in Historica to forget their woes for the day. While the diamonds were a welcome boost to the Conzaga treasury Staffen's head spun at what to use it for. He could raise an army to muscle out his competitors, bribe spies to find Bernaldo's attacker or build an impressive architectural feat to make him remembered down the ages.

Whatever he decided Staffen knew - this was a good day for the Conzagas.

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This is awesome. Love the all-Lego photography. Your choices in fig heads and posing are top notch. Lots of intriguing characters and everything is really clear and vibrant.

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Oh, sounds like someone is having fun with the queen's new ideas! Great figs, the crowd is very fun and the wall reliefs are a nice detail, is that a hurdle there in dark green?  One detail I wish wasn't like that is the whip in the horse with the fallen rider, while from a different angle it would look right, here it seems to be coming out of the horses body! Also, as a tip for all LEGO photos, try to add more walls to the left that are not so interesting, so that you can have room to crop comfortably and get a less flat angle: also get the floor to be arranged correctly instead of just square (if you desire an angled shot).  Great to see an entry from you though! The arches with the curved slopes are cool and I love the curtain behind Staffan, NPU!  Keep it up mate! 

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Nice scene.  I really like the backdrop in the middle section with the feather pieces.  The plate roof is excellent and I like the way the staggered plates shows some nice shading.  The figs are wonderful and the horse race is looks great. 

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Really good horse racing vibe. As mentioned before the expressions are great. Everyone seems engrossed and excited by the race save Staffen, who does look like a calculating so and so. It will be interesting to see what his new wealth will achieve and more of the Queen’s goals. Where did she get the funds from hmmm? The special stand for the Conzagas is really well done.

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Nice scene! The Conzaga stand looks great and appropriately grand. I like the use of the cloth pieces. I have to echo Navarre about the picture, it would be nice to see it at an angle.

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hahaha very nice! :laugh: I like the story/idea behind it as well as the execution. That type of roof is eeally attractive (I don't recall having seen it before..) - simple and effective. My fav bit must be the figs though :thumbup:  Which part have you used for the bottom part of the marquee?

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Really nice work!  I like the details int he stonework, the many spectators, and the racers themselves.  The color choices of the dark orange and white work well, too.  The story is good: clear and concise, easy to follow.  I look forward to more builds and stories from you!

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Nice captured action and good job making the stands look really crowded :thumbup:

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On 1/17/2019 at 11:39 PM, mccoyed said:

This is awesome. Love the all-Lego photography. Your choices in fig heads and posing are top notch. Lots of intriguing characters and everything is really clear and vibrant.

Thanks for the compliments! There's definitely a strong vibe of all LEGO scenes in GoH at the moment, which I'm enjoying.

On 1/18/2019 at 1:02 AM, W Navarre said:

Oh, sounds like someone is having fun with the queen's new ideas! Great figs, the crowd is very fun and the wall reliefs are a nice detail, is that a hurdle there in dark green?  One detail I wish wasn't like that is the whip in the horse with the fallen rider, while from a different angle it would look right, here it seems to be coming out of the horses body! Also, as a tip for all LEGO photos, try to add more walls to the left that are not so interesting, so that you can have room to crop comfortably and get a less flat angle: also get the floor to be arranged correctly instead of just square (if you desire an angled shot).  Great to see an entry from you though! The arches with the curved slopes are cool and I love the curtain behind Staffan, NPU!  Keep it up mate! 

Yes, it's supposed to be a hurdle in dark green but at this angle it's not obvious.

The whip coming out of the saddle was supposed be like it had been caught in the saddle, but I appreciate it's not that obvious. The rider is also facing the wrong way for being dragged, but oh well, live and learn! :grin:

I do agree that normally angled shots add extra depth to all LEGO shots but in this case I was limited by the 32x32 base. The horses take up so much room that having it flat like this was the only way it would work. I appreciate it looks a bit flat as a result.

On 1/18/2019 at 1:43 AM, zoth33 said:

Nice scene.  I really like the backdrop in the middle section with the feather pieces.  The plate roof is excellent and I like the way the staggered plates shows some nice shading.  The figs are wonderful and the horse race is looks great. 

Cheers! Yeah the feathers as curtains thing was just one of those ones where you're looking for random parts and the idea just comes to you.

On 1/18/2019 at 3:20 PM, Muakhah said:

Really good horse racing vibe. As mentioned before the expressions are great. Everyone seems engrossed and excited by the race save Staffen, who does look like a calculating so and so. It will be interesting to see what his new wealth will achieve and more of the Queen’s goals. Where did she get the funds from hmmm? The special stand for the Conzagas is really well done.

Thanks! Glad you liked the figs, that was definitely one of the fun parts of this one. I tried to make it seem like everyone was really engrossed in the racing.

I'm sure Staffen will manage to spend the Queen's money soon enough...

On 1/19/2019 at 6:34 AM, ZlatanXVIGustaf said:

Nice scene! The Conzaga stand looks great and appropriately grand. I like the use of the cloth pieces. I have to echo Navarre about the picture, it would be nice to see it at an angle.

Thanks for the comment!

On 1/19/2019 at 1:31 PM, en_zoo said:

hahaha very nice! :laugh: I like the story/idea behind it as well as the execution. That type of roof is eeally attractive (I don't recall having seen it before..) - simple and effective. My fav bit must be the figs though :thumbup:  Which part have you used for the bottom part of the marquee?

Cheers! The roof is just 2x2 tiles raised by a plate here and there. If you mean the brown marquee then the base is just 2x2 tiles in dark brown and 1x2 bricks with groove in brown. If you mean the white one then there is actually a motif of angels holding up a cup but you can't really see it because of the lack of contrast and because the horses are in the way.

On 1/19/2019 at 5:58 PM, Grover said:

Really nice work!  I like the details int he stonework, the many spectators, and the racers themselves.  The color choices of the dark orange and white work well, too.  The story is good: clear and concise, easy to follow.  I look forward to more builds and stories from you!

Thank you!

On 1/20/2019 at 8:49 PM, Gideon said:

Nice captured action and good job making the stands look really crowded :thumbup:

Cheers!

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On 1/22/2019 at 10:02 AM, Basiliscus said:

If you mean the white one then there is actually a motif of angels holding up a cup but you can't really see it because of the lack of contrast and because the horses are in the way.

Uhm, no, I actually meant that kind of curtain behind Steffen. So, the 'bottom end of the marquee', that's how I thought of it :laugh: Dark brown and dark red? I can't tell which part those are.

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23 hours ago, en_zoo said:

Uhm, no, I actually meant that kind of curtain behind Steffen. So, the 'bottom end of the marquee', that's how I thought of it :laugh: Dark brown and dark red? I can't tell which part those are.

Ah, I see, it's actually these parts. Hope that helps!

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Wonderful use of those wing elements, and the dark orange cloth pieces :thumbup: The racing horses are well posed, and the amount of figs packed into the regular stand areas certainly conveys a crowded sporting event :classic:

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Excellent entry !

A great action scene perfectly put in scene and with an excellent photography !

Just my favourite entry of this category's challenge ! :wub:

Great job ! :thumbup:

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This is a great single-shot build.  You can convey nice packed stands, with the action of the horse race beneath.  A horse race is a perfect competition for Varlyrio, and I love the story (Supano needs to start killing people off soon to backup your concerns :devil_laugh: I love the feathers for curtains and the colors you've used.  Great job!

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Another very nice build, Bas, fantastic work with those stands!  The Conzaga's area has some really clever designs going into it, especially that curtain and the pizza tiles filling in the arch, and the common people's stands are packed to perfection :laugh: :grin:  I'm not so crazy about the hurdle and the horse race itself, but this is still certainly a worthy entry! 

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Nice all-LEGO scene! It is a bit flat for my liking, but that's understandable given the constraints. The faces of the people in the stands is the highlight to me. 

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