Challenge III - Cat.B: Rebuilding Valnötsträd

[Louis of Nutwood]

I was born in a small village in the southwest of Valholl called Valnötsträd. The village was founded by Grandfather, Föbvr the Wise, who left the cold mountains in pursuit of a simpler life as a farmer. The village was protected by an ebony rock wall to the west, a forest of walnut trees to the east, and was cut by the Datvälen river, born atop of the cold mountains in the North, to pour its waters in the flat lands of the south.

 

Grandfather Föbvr lived in the house across the bridge. Built strategically atop of the hill, it was the first thing one greeted when entering the pebble path that crossed Valnötsträd. After a fire, the house was fortified with two watchtowers, where he spent most of his days. It stood in a higher ground, so whoever was inside, had the advantage to weather wave a friendly hand or loose an arrow and avoid unwanted company.

 

After the attack on our village, the family was called to discuss the project of reconstruction. Unanimously, all agreed it was time to invest on reinforcements, acknowledging the budget was strict. Uncle Sverko asked for a watchtower, while mother wanted a gatehouse. Uncle Fobr the Young needed huge walls surrounding the village, whereas Grandmother only wanted a bigger stove in her kitchen.

 

Around the shore, facing the river, a short wooden palisade with blackwood logs sharpened in the edges like spears was hammered to the ground. It was short and it was thin, though perhaps it did not matter. Huge walls have never kept trespassers and raiders from getting in. Highstürm Keep in the south had huge walls and was invaded in a fortnight. Dallenvöre Castle in the west had the thickest of the barricades but succumbed to the attackers just as easily.

Little by little, I saw our village reassemble, stronger that it ever was. Towers took the place of straw roofs and wooden cottages gave way to stoned manors. Our once weak and thin farmers now took classes of spear handling and took turns to protect our houses by day and night. These were changed times.

The golden rays of the setting sun hit the back of my neck, while a gentle cold wind scratched my face. White snowflakes held loose from the sky, landing on top of our crops, and along, came the understanding that winter was upon us.

No one really knew how strong our wood was.

But we were ready to test it.

Louis of Valnötsträd

________

Edited pics and story added.
Hope you enjoy!

Edited August 5, 2019 by Louis of Nutwood
Edited pictures

[W Navarre]

Awesome, very fun style for the Manor, and I love that tree!  I'll remark that the path is a bit overwhelming in colors and texture, but overall well done, and props for making cool interiors!  

[Eoin Wallace]

Wow! I agree with @W Navarre very nice

[mrcp6d]

Nice overall shaping/composition here.  I really like the fortified cottage and the big tree is particularly well done. 

There's 2 or 3 more colors in the cobblestones than necessary though and I think it leads to a rather intense pixel effect when viewing.

[Grover]

This is very nice.  I love the overall composition of your builds--you use all of the 3D space--variation in height of ground, different levels of builds (the bridge vs. the water), and you have a very dark overall color palette.  The autumnal tree is really awesome looking.  I love the snow on the dark red leaves.  The texture is very nice, and the inclusion of the interiors is fantastic.  I would agree a bit with mrcp6d that the cobblestones look a little busy on this scale, whereas they have been less noticeable in other builds.  It might cut back on their prominence if you included some 1x1 and 1x2 square plates amongst them to make it seem like they were more buried in the road rather than sticking up, but this is really a nitpick.  It's a beautiful build, and I'm really enjoying seeing your work and your stories!

[Louis of Nutwood]

On 6/15/2019 at 10:02 PM, W Navarre said:

Awesome, very fun style for the Manor, and I love that tree!  I'll remark that the path is a bit overwhelming in colors and texture, but overall well done, and props for making cool interiors! 

Thanks, Sir Navarre. I'm glad you liked the manor, as I tried making some different design to it. Adding the watchtowers to a common cottage seemed fitting for the challenge and I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. You've mentioned about the cobblestone path before, and I can see how it might draw too much attention in this scale. I kind of like it though. But I think I'll try to mix them with more subtle colors and some plates. Might work out for the best. Thanks a lot for your feedback, man. Though, I bought a crate of those studs, now it's just a matter of finding a new use for them. 
 

On 6/16/2019 at 12:01 PM, Eoin Wallace said:

very nice

Thanks, fellow Eoin! Now that the village has a watchtower, I can see you wandering in our wastelands. Watch out.

On 6/16/2019 at 4:03 PM, mrcp6d said:

Nice overall shaping/composition here.  I really like the fortified cottage and the big tree is particularly well done. 

There's 2 or 3 more colors in the cobblestones than necessary though and I think it leads to a rather intense pixel effect when viewing.

Thank you, sir! You feedback is most welcomed. 
I've been working on my trees, and I feel this one really stood out. I'm happy you liked it, as I am very pleased with the result as well. 
I can totally see how the studs can draw too much attention, and it's fun that you mentioned the pixel effect. Nice way to put it, as now i can really see what you mean. Next time, I'll try to add more sober colored plates and maybe use less colors in the path. I agree it might be a better decision. Now I'm wondering what to do with my crate of studs. 

On 6/16/2019 at 6:30 PM, Grover said:

This is very nice.  I love the overall composition of your builds--you use all of the 3D space--variation in height of ground, different levels of builds (the bridge vs. the water), and you have a very dark overall color palette.  The autumnal tree is really awesome looking.  I love the snow on the dark red leaves.  The texture is very nice, and the inclusion of the interiors is fantastic.  I would agree a bit with mrcp6d that the cobblestones look a little busy on this scale, whereas they have been less noticeable in other builds.  It might cut back on their prominence if you included some 1x1 and 1x2 square plates amongst them to make it seem like they were more buried in the road rather than sticking up, but this is really a nitpick.  It's a beautiful build, and I'm really enjoying seeing your work and your stories!

Aah, fellow knight Grover! 
Your detailed feedback is always a delight. It makes me happy you liked it and took time to comment, as your evaluations are always careful and constructive. 
I had a lot of fun building this one. At first, I wasn't going to include any snow. But then again, it gives a whole different feel to the MOC. About the color palette, I don't really see it as very dark, but I think it functions. Any suggestion to make it lighter?

And the studded cobblestone, yeah, I see how it might be too much. Adding 1x1 and 1x2 plates between the studs is a great idea I will definitely implement in my next builds. I only need to figure out what to do with my bunch of studs, now. 
Thank you again, Sir Grover. One day, I might even have a fence ans 'fancy' (huh? huh?) as yours.

Cheers!

[Grover]

12 hours ago, Louis of Nutwood said:

Aah, fellow knight Grover! 

Your detailed feedback is always a delight. It makes me happy you liked it and took time to comment, as your evaluations are always careful and constructive. 
I had a lot of fun building this one. At first, I wasn't going to include any snow. But then again, it gives a whole different feel to the MOC. About the color palette, I don't really see it as very dark, but I think it functions. Any suggestion to make it lighter?

And the studded cobblestone, yeah, I see how it might be too much. Adding 1x1 and 1x2 plates between the studs is a great idea I will definitely implement in my next builds. I only need to figure out what to do with my bunch of studs, now. 
Thank you again, Sir Grover. One day, I might even have a fence ans 'fancy' (huh? huh?) as yours.

Cheers!

The comment about dark colors was meant as a compliment, not a criticism.  I love the fact that you use the dark red, black and browns in your build.  I think it makes the build more realistic (as some of TLG's brighter colors are not found often in nature), and also makes a better contrast between the white snow and the trans light blue water (which I really appreciate here as it's a winter build).  If you look at my really crappy Category A build with the giant chicken (which was thrown together in 15 minutes), the bright green grass makes the scene seem rather flat and boring (the lack of any real landscape doesn't help).  Had I used dark green, it would have at the very least provided a contrast with the white chickens.

Love the build, though, and I forgot to mention that the waterfall is great.  I really like how you used the trans clear for the water.  I see a lot of MOCs (not so much on GoH) that use blue or trans blue for the falling water.  I've never seen a waterfall in person or in a photograph that has water the same color as the river/stream.  It's always pure white from the foam.  I look forward to your next build!

[Louis of Nutwood]

11 hours ago, Grover said:

The comment about dark colors was meant as a compliment, not a criticism.  I love the fact that you use the dark red, black and browns in your build.  I think it makes the build more realistic (as some of TLG's brighter colors are not found often in nature), and also makes a better contrast between the white snow and the trans light blue water (which I really appreciate here as it's a winter build)

Thanks again, my dear knight. 

I can totally agree that our day-to-day reality can be more sober - in terms of color and some other social terms, I guess. I'm happy you find a sense of reality in my MOCs, as I plan to keep using this palette (gotta make the investment worth it). But it's also something great about TLG colors: there's never a limit for the imagination. So, heck.. if you want to build a blue mountain with golden trees and pinkish water streams, go for it. I totally encourage it - it is even one of the topics on the Summer Joust, as an incentive to use different colors. 

11 hours ago, Grover said:

If you look at my really crappy Category A build with the giant chicken (which was thrown together in 15 minutes), the bright green grass makes the scene seem rather flat and boring (the lack of any real landscape doesn't help).  Had I used dark green, it would have at the very least provided a contrast with the white chickens.

Now, don't be so hard on yourself! You clearly put some effort in it, especially when writing the story. And, hey! You have an entry for both categories, which is more than I was able to pull of. It's creative and fun, and you should be proud of having a gigantic chicken on your brick selection. 

11 hours ago, Grover said:

though, and I forgot to mention that the waterfall is great

Yesss! Thank you! It wasn't easy to get it like that. I literally used ALL my transparent plates and bricks in this build, but I'm happy how it turned out. You mentioned the foam and the different colors for the fall and the stream, and that's precisely what I questioned myself when building. I'm happy you mentioned and liked it, Sir Grover. 

[adde51]

Great build with some really nice details (the tree, the bridge and the rockwork to mention some). The darker colours work very well and adds some realism. As mentioned before, keeping the path more subtle with 1-2 colours and if possible a little less studded, would probably give the whole scene a ”cleaner” look. As well as perhaps a few more slopes/tiles to cover some of the snow. But I think I get where you’re coming from with the look you went for. Overall, great entry! 

[de Gothia]

Great cosy moc!  like that you have put some interior in the build. Lovely entry!

[Louis of Nutwood]

18 hours ago, adde51 said:

Great build with some really nice details (the tree, the bridge and the rockwork to mention some). The darker colours work very well and adds some realism. As mentioned before, keeping the path more subtle with 1-2 colours and if possible a little less studded, would probably give the whole scene a ”cleaner” look. As well as perhaps a few more slopes/tiles to cover some of the snow. But I think I get where you’re coming from with the look you went for. Overall, great entry! 

Thank you for your warm comments, fellow Builder!

I really like this color palette, but eventually I should try to adventure in some different patterns for my next builds. Rethinking the path to something more subtle would be the first thing. For the snow, I totally understand how slopes would bring a better definition rather than the studded Lego texture, but in such small spaces (and with so few slopes), it surely was a challenge. 

I'm happy you liked the 'vibe' of my village, though. I'm planning to expand it, of course. Let's see how it goes. 

Thanks again!

5 hours ago, de Gothia said:

Great cosy moc!  like that you have put some interior in the build. Lovely entry

Thanks, Duke de Gothia!

Certainly fitting an interior was one of the major tricks in this model. But I'm very pleased with the solution of having a number of interconnected floors in it. And I surely plan to keep adding interiors to my MOCs, as they are one important part of the folks life. 

Cheers!

[soccerkid6]

I very much like the layout of this model with the bridge crossing the river, and then a winding path leading up to the newly fortified house

The stonework on the buildings is excellent, and fits well in Mitgardia. The small piles of snow topping various surfaces give a great winter look.

And the interior looks very cozy with those warm beds. I saw your updated pictures on flickr and think your editing and adjusted photo angles show off the quality of the model beautifully

[(Luc)ky Luke]

Love this build! It has relatively small but very detailed houses, I really love the style you use in your stone textures and the story is very well written. I struggle a lot with making snow in Lego but you make great snow! The only advice I would give is making the path less 'busy'.

[Louis of Nutwood]

On 7/11/2019 at 12:48 PM, soccerkid6 said:

I very much like the layout of this model with the bridge crossing the river, and then a winding path leading up to the newly fortified house

The stonework on the buildings is excellent, and fits well in Mitgardia. The small piles of snow topping various surfaces give a great winter look.

Thank you for the kind words, my good lord SK. 
As our weather can be mischievous sometimes, warm feather beds and wood for the fireplaces are necessary for the whole of our days, right?
I'm happy you liked, and happy the architecture is fitting. 

On 7/11/2019 at 12:48 PM, soccerkid6 said:

I saw your updated pictures on flickr and think your editing and adjusted photo angles show off the quality

Yes! I tried implementing the recent suggestions, and surely the result pays off. Thanks again for all the help!
I didn't add the new photos to the thread since this is part of an ongoing challenge. Once it is done, I'll make sure to reedit the post with the nicer looking pictures.

Glad you liked, SK. I'm currently working on the village's expansion, and thought of rearranging the cobblestones to a more organized (and cleaner) manner, but still using a whole bunch of studs.
Any suggestions on this topic?

Cheers!

[BrickofTime]

The snow is really well done.  Hanging on the rooftops and edges.  Congrats it's beautiful.

[Louis of Nutwood]

On 7/11/2019 at 2:33 PM, (Luc)ky Luke said:

 

Love this build! It has relatively small but very detailed houses, I really love the style you use in your stone textures and the story is very well written. I struggle a lot with making snow in Lego but you make great snow! The only advice I would give is making the path less 'busy'.

 

Lord Luke, what a pleasure to read your thoughtful commentary. 

Thank you for the kind words. Know you are welcome to pass by the village of Valnötsträd and prove our premium ale. 

Building snow has been a challenge I’m facing for some time, now. But our fellow castle-builders here in GoH were kind enough to give me a lot of welcomed tips (which is basically buying huge amounts of white curved slopes).

As for the path, I can understand how the pattern I used can feel a bit too overwhelming.

As I’m currently working on the village’s expansion, I’ll rework the pebble/cobblestone paths, reducing the use of color and rearranging the studs in a more organized way (I have this bunch of studs that need to be put to use). Hopefully it will look better. Any suggestion on how to organize it?

Cheers!

4 hours ago, BrickofTime said:

 

The snow is really well done.  Hanging on the rooftops and edges

 

Thank you, fellow wanderer. Building snow can be a true challenge. But it’s really a matter of having enough white curved slopes and a lot of trial-error initiative. 

I’m glad you liked it, though.

For the guild!

[Ayrlego]

Really great build Louis! I especially like the mixture of formal and irregular borders/base. A lot of great details including that fantastic tree - I find getting a decent spread really difficult but you have nailed it here! The snow also looks great and I think the texture of the buildings works well. Great entry all round!

[Louis of Nutwood]

On 7/28/2019 at 4:38 PM, Ayrlego said:

Really great build Louis! I especially like the mixture of formal and irregular borders/base. A lot of great details including that fantastic tree - I find getting a decent spread really difficult but you have nailed it here! The snow also looks great and I think the texture of the buildings works well. Great entry all round!

What a pleasure to read your commentary, Dear Count Ayrlego!

Coming from such a skillful builder, it makes me even prouder of this MOC. Thanks for mentioning the tree, as it is one of the parts I like the most of the whole thing. But also, consider yourself being an inspiration for tree building (I'm thinking of your recent mainly yellow build), as they are always stunning.

If you ever adventure yourself in coming to the village of Valnötsträd, I'll make sure to pour the finest mead we own.

Cheers!