Kai NRG Posted April 3, 2021 Salida Este is a fortunate place... it's got yet another fort. In fact, that was not where I initially planned on putting this fort, but it turned out rather Asian and seemed to fit there best. I have a lot of window panes, but not quite enough for this size of a creation, and it turned out neither of my brothers have a single one... so I had to make do with a combination of stickers, cheese slopes, and transparent bricks. It was really fun to experiment with some pink and purple colors for this creation. The lavender was inspired by one of @evancelt's builds. Definitely going to be including more trees with pink flowers in future creations! This build got pretty tall! From this high angle you can get a feel for how I did the water, mostly blue, lime, and dark green plates under there. If you're interested in the building process, there's a build log on my blog and here's a time lapse video too! C&C welcome as always, I hope you enjoyed the MOC! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
evancelt Posted April 3, 2021 Gorgeous, @Kai NRG! The MOC is so large that the pictures of the whole thing are taken from a distance - glad for the close up shots on your blog. Really like the "broken" stone effect in the wall panels, and that's a pretty tree! Is the guy under the tree the only minifig? Normally your builds have so many (colorful!) figs that I missed seeing more of them in this build. It by no mean detracts from the overall awesomeness, though. Great work! I may try that water color technique out (very soon ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ross Fisher Posted April 3, 2021 I honestly think those broken windows worked really well. Although perhaps a tower this fragile should be a lighthouse, rather than a fortification. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Wolf Posted April 4, 2021 I think the design of this fort is awesome! I believe this is the first Japanese castle style build we've seen in BoBS, and you've done a splendid job. I really like the unconnected/rotated slopes used in the lower walls. And the trees are beautiful. A unique build. Fantastic! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maxim I Posted April 4, 2021 You were so kind to post WIPS of this, and I was absolutely fan of your progress. The result is quite surprising with the oriental tower on top, but it works very well! Also how you did the cracks in the wall, breathtaking! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fraunces Posted April 4, 2021 I really like the design and especially all the cool color details, the cracks in the walls and the small tree. Nice angles too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ayrlego Posted April 7, 2021 Beautiful creation Kai, the pinks and purples create an almost soothing atmosphere and the lime green looks surprisingly good under the trans light blue. The time lapse video was a great insight into your building process - especially how you placed the star part of the for on the base and how you handled the angles. Thanks for sharing! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Thriceman Posted April 7, 2021 Fantastic, definitely something I'd put on my display shelf! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted April 7, 2021 On 4/2/2021 at 9:41 PM, evancelt said: Gorgeous, @Kai NRG! The MOC is so large that the pictures of the whole thing are taken from a distance - glad for the close up shots on your blog. Really like the "broken" stone effect in the wall panels, and that's a pretty tree! Is the guy under the tree the only minifig? Normally your builds have so many (colorful!) figs that I missed seeing more of them in this build. It by no mean detracts from the overall awesomeness, though. Great work! I may try that water color technique out (very soon ) Thank you! Yes, there is only one minifigure in this creation. There really wasn't a good place for other figures to stand, and besides I wasn't sure I could do a good job finding soldiers to fit with the general theme! On 4/3/2021 at 3:01 AM, Ross Fisher said: I honestly think those broken windows worked really well. Although perhaps a tower this fragile should be a lighthouse, rather than a fortification. That's a great idea. I wish I would have thought of it, I would definitely have tried it out! On 4/3/2021 at 9:35 PM, Capt Wolf said: I think the design of this fort is awesome! I believe this is the first Japanese castle style build we've seen in BoBS, and you've done a splendid job. I really like the unconnected/rotated slopes used in the lower walls. And the trees are beautiful. A unique build. Fantastic! Thanks Capt Wolf! Japanese castles are very cool and I was glad that the war took a turn which let me go in that direction! On 4/4/2021 at 1:26 PM, Maxim I said: You were so kind to post WIPS of this, and I was absolutely fan of your progress. The result is quite surprising with the oriental tower on top, but it works very well! Also how you did the cracks in the wall, breathtaking! Thanks Maxim! Yes, I purposefully stopped posting WIPs once I got to the tower, I thought it would be a fun surprise! On 4/4/2021 at 5:00 PM, Fraunces said: I really like the design and especially all the cool color details, the cracks in the walls and the small tree. Nice angles too. Thanks Fraunces! 7 hours ago, Ayrlego said: Beautiful creation Kai, the pinks and purples create an almost soothing atmosphere and the lime green looks surprisingly good under the trans light blue. The time lapse video was a great insight into your building process - especially how you placed the star part of the for on the base and how you handled the angles. Thanks for sharing! Thanks! Yeah, quite a few angles going in different directions here, but with the water and smooth rocks they were fairly easy to integrate! 57 minutes ago, Dutch Thriceman said: Fantastic, definitely something I'd put on my display shelf! Thank you! Sadly, I didn't have room for it and it's back in the part containers already. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aanchir Posted April 7, 2021 Oh my gosh! The pink and purple accents here are SO lovely, especially in contrast with the warm earth tones of the tower! When I saw the first picture on the front page, at first I thought you used Aqua/Light Aqua for the stone walls. I suspect this might be an issue with the white balance in your photo, but to be honest it would look just as nice that way (albeit a bit more fantastical) as it does in the actual Medium Stone Grey that you chose. I also really like the choice to use Dark Stone Grey for the natural, weathered rock foundation and Medium Stone Grey for the stones that have been built into a wall by hand. It really boosts the model's visual clarity even from a distance. The way you designed the water is lovely as well, although I kind of wonder if it might work better if you used 1x2 tiles for the upper surface of the water like in the Ninjago City sets instead of 1x1 tiles. Because 1x2 tiles can be arranged in a more uneven layout, they work nicely for implying wavy or fluid movement, whereas 1x1 tiles result in a vaguely "pixelated" look that feels almost more like ice cubes than liquid water. The unconventional window construction is also quite brilliant, and feels believably like individual window panes, although I do think extensive use of glass windows like this would be unusual in a historic context like this — in real life, that sort of thing typically wasn't possible until the sort of modern architectural techniques used in skyscrapers were developed. Perhaps if you changed some of the transparent panels to another contrasting color like tan or medium nougat to represent infill for a timber-framed structure, it would feel more convincing as a load-bearing historic building. But of course, if you had more of a fantasy setting in mind, then it's perfectly fine to keep the design as-is without worrying about historical accuracy or realism. After all, it's a lovely design one way or another! Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how fantastic a job you did on the roof tiles! They feel extremely believable, and the subtle curvature of the eaves adds a lot to the design. Great work in general! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ross Fisher Posted April 7, 2021 2 hours ago, Kai NRG said: Sadly, I didn't have room for it and it's back in the part containers already. I know that pain! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SATSOK Posted April 9, 2021 Congratulations !!! very nice build and interesting technics :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted April 9, 2021 On 4/7/2021 at 1:08 PM, Aanchir said: Oh my gosh! The pink and purple accents here are SO lovely, especially in contrast with the warm earth tones of the tower! When I saw the first picture on the front page, at first I thought you used Aqua/Light Aqua for the stone walls. I suspect this might be an issue with the white balance in your photo, but to be honest it would look just as nice that way (albeit a bit more fantastical) as it does in the actual Medium Stone Grey that you chose. I also really like the choice to use Dark Stone Grey for the natural, weathered rock foundation and Medium Stone Grey for the stones that have been built into a wall by hand. It really boosts the model's visual clarity even from a distance. The way you designed the water is lovely as well, although I kind of wonder if it might work better if you used 1x2 tiles for the upper surface of the water like in the Ninjago City sets instead of 1x1 tiles. Because 1x2 tiles can be arranged in a more uneven layout, they work nicely for implying wavy or fluid movement, whereas 1x1 tiles result in a vaguely "pixelated" look that feels almost more like ice cubes than liquid water. The unconventional window construction is also quite brilliant, and feels believably like individual window panes, although I do think extensive use of glass windows like this would be unusual in a historic context like this — in real life, that sort of thing typically wasn't possible until the sort of modern architectural techniques used in skyscrapers were developed. Perhaps if you changed some of the transparent panels to another contrasting color like tan or medium nougat to represent infill for a timber-framed structure, it would feel more convincing as a load-bearing historic building. But of course, if you had more of a fantasy setting in mind, then it's perfectly fine to keep the design as-is without worrying about historical accuracy or realism. After all, it's a lovely design one way or another! Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how fantastic a job you did on the roof tiles! They feel extremely believable, and the subtle curvature of the eaves adds a lot to the design. Great work in general! Wow thank you! I really appreciate your thoughtful comments. The water is actually 1x2 tiles, staggered between rows... I wish I had that many 1x1s! Scrolling back up, it does have a significantly pixelated look though. A layer of trans light blue plates would do away with that I'm sure, but I don't have enough for that purpose. I may try trans clear between light blue and the base colors next time. I hear you on the weirdness of having windows! It was definitely a whimsical choice. I tried white panes very briefly but (besides not having enough) didn't think the huge chunks of solid color fit with the rest of the vibe. Aesthetics over realism! Again thank you! After putting a lot of thought into a MOC, it's a joy to find someone enjoying it thoughtfully like that! On 4/7/2021 at 2:40 PM, Ross Fisher said: I know that pain! Indeed--though I've done it so much, that some small part of me is always dissatisfied until a MOC is back in it's proper parts and places. 8 hours ago, SATSOK said: Congratulations !!! very nice build and interesting technics :) Thank you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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