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Found 135 results

  1. Ben Andrews

    The Observer-Tree

    Hello fellow humans! Here is a build that i completed very early this year, after dedicating many, many hours to it over last year. When I was a kid, I always wanted to build a large tree house out of LEGO but never had the parts or the disposable income.. Now, I have both of those things, I thought it was time to get it on the drawing boards. I would have posted it heaps sooner, but these pics were taken for Bricks CULTURE magazine #6 and wanted to do the right thing by them and hold off until the next edition was out. As I'm still getting used to uploading images and yet to tweek the RAW ones to a usable file size, this is all i have for you to check out here.. Though if you'd like to check out some of the finer details and the rear side, please jump over to my Flickr account here and have a squiz! There is quite the philosophical story behind it all, but I'll leave that for the pages of BC. Thanks to Cristian Brunelli for the great photographic shots, as my camera, if you could call it that, wouldn't stand up to the task in the state of my studio. Oh yeah, just by the by, the chairlift, waterwheel and waterfalls all move thanks to the Power of a single XL PF Motor and a string of gearboxes.. And I'd be more than happy to prove it to you, if someone has some footage.. I was lucky enough to get these shots! haha! Anywho, Enjoy.
  2. brunoctoday

    MOC - Tree Lorry Danish Edition

    Hey guys! Today I'm going to show you my latest LEGO(R) creation/MOC. It's a "pre-christmas". I'm prepairing my LEGO(R) city for the Christmas time and this is a good add to it I think. It is a version of the danish tree lorries that carry the trees to put in the familie's houses. I hope you like it!
  3. Full Plate

    Archery Practice

    Archery Practice Chapter I: The Tranquil Meadow Chapter II: Old Bagshaw's Residence Chapter III: The Poacher Chapter IV: Making Camp Chapter V: Solitary Council Chapter VI: Escaping Home Chapter VII: Waylaid Chapter VIII: Archery Practice Chapter IX: Honour the Fallen Bonus Landscape: Avalonian Countryside Averil trod through the forest, bow in her left hand and knapsack in her right. Dawn had just broken and the grass was still wet with dew. This was Averil's favorite time of day, when everything was quiet. Her hunting party would not meet up for another couple of hours, so she had some time to herself. Time she preferred to spend alone with her thoughts. Her thoughts and her bow. Before long she reached her usual practice spot. There was an archery range in town of course, but Averil preferred to be here, away from the noise and the people. She grabbed an apple from her knapsack and put it on the top of a small rock in front of a tree. It wasn't exactly the perfect target, but at least it wouldn't damage her arrows the way a wooden target would. - 'Perhaps I should swipe one of the straw targets from the range', she muttered to herself. It wasn't a very big distance, but then, the apple wasn't a very big target either. She was just here to warm up, not to push herself. Although she hunted daily it could sometimes go days without her taking a shot. That was not enough to keep up her skills with the bow. Practice was very much still a necessity. She nocked an arrow, aimed carefully, and released. Pieces of the apple flew as the arrow drilled straight through its core. Averil walked up to the tree and picked up the apple. She carefully removed the arrow and wiped the apple clean. - 'No point in letting you go to waste', she told the apple before taking a big bite of it. She sat down on the rock, savouring the silence just as much as her snack. However, the silence did not last long. Something stirred back on the path. Averil's grip on her bow tightened. It wasn't an animal, the movements were too rhythmic. A moment later she saw a man heading up the path towards her. It was Jarvis. Jarvis was the leader of her hunting team. He was old and had a weathered look, but he was by no means fragile. Not exactly a good shot, but an excellent tracker, lithe and knowledgeable. Averil liked the man, but him appearing here made her a bit suspicious. As Jarvis came closer he greeted her with a wave and a smile. She returned the greeting half-heartedly. - 'Enjoying your morning practice?', Jarvis asked as he came up to her. - 'Have to keep up my skills with the bow, sir', she replied hesitantly. Jarvis chuckled. - 'Do I look like a 'sir' to you? Well, no one can deny your skill with the bow, but why not come train with the others?' - 'Well, I enjoy practicing out here.' - 'I'm not asking this for your benefit, I'm asking for the benefit of everyone else. I'm sure you could help improve the bowmanship of the men, myself included. Why not come and help out?' - 'I'm not that good' - 'Hogwash!' Jarvis laughed. 'You do remember I handle the cadavers right? I don't think you've made a single shot that didn't pierce both lungs. And you don't get carried away like some of the others, you always wait for the broadside shot. I could probably send you alone into the forest and you would produce as much game as the rest of our team together. But I'm sure you've never hunted alone, right?', Jarvis said with a wink. Averil froze. Did he know about her poaching? - 'Relax, I don't care about your past', Jarvis continued. 'We all have them, and for most of us that is why we're here in this remote, upstart colony where anonymity comes easy.' - 'I... I don't belong here.' Jarvis chuckled. - 'You think any of us do? But you are here, right? And if you are not planning on leaving you might as well make what you can of the life you lead here. Help build this colony into something great. Not for lord dimwit's sake, but for all of us. Help keep everyone fed, and help keep your hunting fellows safe. Did you know the other hunting teams have all lost men over the past month?' Averil nodded. Out of the four teams, only theirs had not lost anyone to the forest, at least not since she joined. - 'You can help teach the men how to defend themselves against whatever is out there. Let go of your past and live your life here and now. People need you here. Won't you let them depend on you? Or are you going to continue living in your past?' Averil looked down. - 'I'm not sure I can do it.' - 'You won't know until you try. Why don't you come shoot with us?' Averil knew why she held on to her past. Because her father was still out there, somewhere, and she was still waiting for him to return. Even after more than five years she was still holding on to hope, and moving on with her life meant she was giving up on that hope. She didn't want to do it. She wanted all this to be temporary. She wanted to be his precious, mischievous daughter again. She wanted her family back. But Jarvis was right. That would never happen, even though she wanted it with all her heart. She had to live her life, like Gammy and Leeson were already doing. Maybe her feelings would subside in time? But yes, she wouldn't know until she tried. - 'Ok, I will go shoot with you', she replied. - 'Thank you. We really are quite a merry bunch, once you get to know us, you know?' As they went on their way, Averil paused and turned back towards the tree one more time. - 'Goodbye, father', she whispered to herself. *** So, this is the build I used for my tutorial on the axe tree technique, which is one of the reasons it has been so delayed (the other reason being that another little human being has joined our household ). I grossly underestimated how much work it is to put together a tutorial, but now it is finally finished, and I'm certainly happy about that If you're interested in how these types of trees are built, you can check out the tutorial here. Other than that, this was my first try at an irregular base, which made me realise that my arsenal of wedge plates is quite limited. It may not have been the best choice for such a thin build, but it was interesting trying it out. Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed it! C & C always welcome
  4. Full Plate

    Seasons

    Built a few seasonal vignettes after seeing this cool technique for a circular base posted by o0ger. Experimenting with different shapes and colors for micro trees. Enjoy :)
  5. John (LittleJohn) and I decided to do a collab series based around re-imagining old set themes. Adventurers is a theme we’ve liked for years, though we never had any of the sets. After getting some of the original figs at Brickfair, Virginia, we wanted to put them to good use. The landscape and temple were inspired by Grant Davis and Mark of Falworth. Johnny Thunder and his team of Adventurers have discovered an uncharted jungle island. Within the dense vegetation they find the entrance to a ruined temple! After leaping from pillar to pillar, over the crocodile swamp, Johnny reaches the gateway. They’re not the first ones there though, as the treasure-seeking gang boss, G.R. Edy is there with some henchmen. Will Johnny be able to prevail, and will Dr. Kilroy fall to the alligators? We hope you enjoy, and you can see plenty more pictures on our website
  6. Microscale Tree Mini-tutorial This is a short tutorial showcasing a technique for building microscale trees. This technique was used to build most of the trees in my MOC Avalonian Countryside. The pieces needed are shown above. The centerpiece of the tree is the 6 stemmed plant piece (19119) which is essential for the design. The rest of the pieces are pretty standard, and some can be exchanged for other pieces. As seen on the 1x2 plate in the lower right, the plates need to have a little hole in the center column, as this will be attached to the stems. I believe the hole is pretty standard in pieces nowadays, but not sure for older pieces. First we put together the trunk. Nothing strange here, just attach the 1x1 round bricks to the telescope and put the plant piece on top. For the canopy we construct little building blocks that we will then hang on the stalks. These building blocks are easily constructed from 1x2 plates and a 2x2 plate as shown in the top right. We need three of these. We then proceed to hang these on the tree. They should hang on the 3 lower stems that are more horizontal. After hanging each part we will then secure it by attaching another 1x2 plate directly to the stem. This is done by inserting the stem into the little hole on the center column at the bottom of the plate. Our tree should now look as on the left. The next step is to add 1x2 plates to the top of the tree. These are again attached directly to the stems. I find they look best if placed in a kind of windmill pattern as shown in the center picture. We now have our completed tree as shown on the right. If all our trees look exactly the same, it won't look natural. So let's look at some modifications that can be made to break the pattern. Some of these modifications can also help if you are short on certain parts, or want to use colors that doesn't have certain elements. First some variations of the trunk. Instead of the standard telescope trunk, we could use technic connectors. It gives a thicker, straighter trunk, but is a bit more complicated to connect to your build. Another option is to use a regular bar, which gives a very thin trunk. We can also just use straight up 1x1 round bricks, and possibly mix in some 1x1 round plates in the mix. This works well if we want to do a tree with shifting colors, like a birch or similar. There are also endless possibilities to modify the canopy. Instead of building an anchor shape from 1x2 plates we can more round plates as in the top left. For colors like olive green we can't use a 2x2 round plate, but can instead use a 3x4 leaf element. The leaf is then hung from the top right hole of the leaf element. We can also just alter the orientation of the regular design, as shown in the bottom left, where we have put the anchor shape on the right side. It is a very small change, but still helps break the pattern. Also just want to point out that the 6 stem piece does come in different colors, so if you are building a canopy in dark orange, you may want to use a 6 stem piece in dark orange as well, as the green can sometimes be seen through the canopy. Some examples of what the finished trees may look like. There are lots of other ways to build trees like this, so just go ahead and try different things. If you lack a piece for something, just try replacing it with something else. It might just end up even better :) Happy building!
  7. Full Plate

    Axe Tree Tutorial

    Hi everyone! So, awhile back I created a new technique for making trees from axes and droid arms - the axe tree! I have since been asked numerous times how these are built, but as the building process is quite complex I decided that a tutorial would be the best way to explain it. This is that tutorial and hopefully it will all be explained here :) So if you want to try to build one of these trees - keep reading! Feel free to ask questions or give general feedback on the tutorial in the comments, either here or on the relevant pictures on Flickr. Enjoy :) First, let's take a look at what we need. The different types of pieces needed are shown in the picture. Tree bark: 500 x Droid Arm (30377) (dark brown) 200 x Axe (3835) (black) Building guides: 12 x Round Brick 1x1 (3062b) (brown, black or dark brown) 12 x Cone 1x1 (4589b) (brown or black) 12 x Bar 4L (30374) (black) 30 x Round Plate 1x1 (4073) 3 x Plate 4x4 (3031) (any color) 2 x Plate 6x6 (3958) (any color) 8 x Jumper Plate 1x2 (3794b) (any color) 1 x Jumper Plate 2x2 (87580) (any color) Support structure: 1 x Plate 2x2 (3022) (any color) 1 x Cone 3x3x2 (6233) (black) 5 x Technic Connector #2 (32034) (black) 5 x Technic Connector #3 (32034) (black) 15 x Technic Connector 2L (6538c) (black) 2 x Technic Connector Triple (10288) (dark brown) 25 x Technic Axle 2L (32062) (black) 2 x Technic Axle 3L (4519) (black) 2 x Technic Axle Pin 3L (18651) (black) 2 x Technic Connector with Axle Hole (32039) (black) 10 x Hinge Cylinder (30552) (black) 10 x Hinge Plate 1x2 (60471) (black) 10 x Bar 1L with Clip Mechanical Claw (48729) (black) Foliage: 150-200 x Leaves 5x6 (2417) (any color) 10+ x Plate 1x2 (3023) (same as leaves or black or dark brown) Now this is only a rough list of what we need. Many of the items are not strictly needed and can usually be replaced by something similar or even omitted altogether. The droid arms and axes are obviously critical to the tree design. The droid arms are not exchangeable, but the axes can be replaced by regular bars if desired. Axes are a lot cheaper than bars, but is somewhat more limited in terms of color. The axes also gives a different texture to the tree. If you do use bars, 3L bars are the easiest to replace with, but also the most expensive. 4L and 6L bars can also be used, but this will alter the design process significantly. The 6L bars also have the little protruding rings which further complicates things. I would go with axes :) The items for the support structure can be varied depending on how you want to design your tree. The items listed are what is needed to build the particular design in this tutorial, but as these elements are generally cheap I would advise to get hold of a range of technic connectors with different angles so you can design trees in whatever shape you would like. For the the foliage you can choose whatever color you would like. In this tutorial we will be using green and dark green. If you for some reason would like to use 3x4 leaves that is also possible, but I certainly prefer to work with 5x6 leaves and will not be using them in this tutorial. That is it for pieces. Let's start building! So how are these trees built? The tree basically consists of a support structure, “dressed up” with bark. The bark is essentially tubes built from just droid arms and axes. Tubes can be built in different sizes. I will refer to a tube's size as the number of axes in the circumference of the tube. That is, if a full circle of a tube has 8 axes, it is size 8. The picture shows tubes of sizes 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24. They can be built in other sizes as well, but multiples of 4 are easier to build. Size 8 is the absolute smallest that can be built though and the upper limit is somewhere around 28 or 32. First we will have a look at how to build the bark. In order to build the bark tubes we need to first build guides, which make the assembling process simpler. These guides are not part of the tree itself, and will be removed at the end of the process. We will have to build different guides depending on the size of the tube being built. The picture shows the bottom plates for guides of sizes 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24. We need one of each of these, so go ahead and build them :) In order to use the guides we build little pillars that we put on the guide plates. These are the connection points for the tubes and are simple to build. We need 6 of these for now. We'll start by building a size 24 tube as this will be the bottom part of the trunk, so go ahead and attach the pillars to the guide plate. This is one of the main building blocks for the tubes. We will be building a lot of these. The orientation of the bend of the droid arm is important. I also think it is a good idea to connect the thicker side of the droid arm to the axe. This is because it makes for easier connection to the rest of the tube, as the thinner side needs less force to clip on. Another thing to note is that the point on the axe we connect to is thinner on one side, so the droid arm needs to be connected perpendicular to the axe blade as shown, or it will not stick. Go ahead and build 6 of these for now. Now we connect these to the guide as shown above. I find it easier to connect them pointing outwards as on the image on the left and then just rotate them in once I've attached all of them. Do pay attention to the orientation of the droid arm bend. The result should look like the image on the right. Now for something similar, yet different. We now connect the droid arm at the other end of the axe. Again, pay attention to the orientation of the bend of the droid arms. We need 6 of these as well. Now things get slightly more complicated. We need to connect these on the guide just above where we connected the previous parts. But we will attach it from the opposite side, and the bend will also need to go behind the axe that we previously connected. Do zoom in on the left picture to get a good idea of how it is connected. We will then proceed and connect all of the six blocks the same way. The end result is seen in the middle picture, and from above in the right picture. At this point there are only two steps left to building the bark tube. These can be repeated as many times as we want to get a tube of desired length. The first step of the two is basically the same as what we did in the beginning. Attach another 6 droid arms to axes as in the left picture. We again attach these to the structure, but this time we connect to one of the axes rather than to the pillars. This requires a more careful touch and we need to apply counter pressure on the axe we attach to or things may fall off. Note that the bend of the droid arms goes behind the bar of the pillar as seen in the middle picture. We will go ahead and do the same with the other 5 and the end result should be like the picture on the right. Time for the second repeatable step. This is probably the most challenging, and the most finger-pain-inducing ;) What we do is that we connect 6 droid arms to bars/axes all around the tube. The left picture shows how one of these are connected. Now, in order to accomplish this connection I usually connect the droid arm to the bar on the left first, and then actually just push the other side of the droid arm down onto the shorter bar. This process is shown in the middle and right pictures. Make sure you attach the thicker part of the droid arm to the bar on the left as it is easier to push down the thinner clip. In subsequent repetitions of this step we will be pushing down onto axes rather than onto the pillars like here. This means we need to apply counter pressure with the thumb at the bottom of the axe we attach to, or the axe may slide down instead of the clip connecting to it. On the plus side, axes tend to have a rounded end which makes pushing down the clip on it easier. If you are confused about which two bars you should connect with the droid arms, just remember that the droid arms should be connected so that it goes behind the bar that is currently the tallest. Once you have connected one, figuring out the other 5 will be easy. Ok, so now we have reached the repetition stage. From here on out we just repeat the steps shown in the two previous images until we get the length we want on our tube. The top left, top right and bottom left, shows result of the next 1, 2 and 3 steps respectively, while the bottom right is the finished tube. Note that as we build the tube higher the axes tend to want to pull inwards. This is fine, and is because the bottom guide plate doesn't match the natural size of the tube completely. The same goes for the pillars which tend to want to bend a bit to the sides, which is quite visible in some of the pictures. We don't have to force them to stand straight, it is fine if they are a bit crooked. The pillars are there to help with the building, not to force it into a certain position. So there we go! A full size bark tube :) Now, let's take a quick look at the support structure that goes inside the bark tube. It is pretty simple and is built by technic connector elements. These do not connect to the tube pieces, but rather the tubes either hangs or leans on the support structure. As mentioned, the guides are not usually part of the tree. However, for the bottom part of the tree, a guide plate actually makes for a good connection point to the rest of our build. So we will leave the bark tube attached to the guide for the bottom tube. In the pictures the structure is shown without the bark tube to more clearly show how it is connected to the plate of the guide. Next we will attach this inside the tube we just built. Just attach the support structure inside the tube. Plain and simple! Now, this particular attachment of the support structure is adequate for smaller trees, but if you would like to build something bigger, or just want more stability (always a good thing) another, more sturdy, way is shown next. Or you can just skip ahead to the following picture :) This is an alternative, and more stable connection for the support structure. The downside is that you will have to use a different plate than the one used to build the bottom tube on, which means we have to detach the bark tube when it is done and then reattach it on top of this instead. It also has only 4 connection points, which means 2 pillars will be unconnected. It adds a lot of stability to the support structure though, and I would advise using something like this if you are building big trees. The added complexity is worth it. Now, whatever your choice, we need more bark tubes for the tree, so let's build them. First we will build a size 20 tube that goes directly on top of the size 24 one. The building process is very similar to the size 24 tube, except we are using a different guide plate with only 5 pillars on it. The other steps are essentially the same, so let's just go ahead and start building :) As you can see, the size 20 tube suffers from the same desire to bend inwards as well as the pillars wanting to bend slightly sideways. Again, this is fine so don't worry about it :) We will be building this tube a bit taller than the size 24 one. This is to make the tree look more natural as the thickness of real trees tend to have a higher rate of change close to the roots. The tube on the right is the result of 6 repetitions of the two building steps. We will now detach the tube from the guide. First, we gently pull the pillars from the plate, which will result in something like the picture on the left. The bottom plate and pillars may need some slight repairs afterwards. Second, we want to pull out the pillars from the tube. This should be done without harming the tube itself, which can sometimes be a challenge. The way I do it is to put my thumbnail in between the pillar and the first droid arm attached to it, and then pull gently. The result is shown in the next picture. Now, for each pillar you pull out, you will notice something loosening and perhaps even falling out. This is as it should be, and these pieces should be removed. The results of pulling out all the pillars can be seen on the right. You may have noticed that the axe heads on the tube points somewhat straight out, which definitely looks strange. In order to give the bark a smoother surface we now need to rotate all those axe heads in towards the bark. The axes can be rotated in two directions though, so which direction do we choose? We actually alternate the direction :) This is because the axe heads are lined up in a diagonal fashion around the bark and it will look unnatural if we just push all the axe heads in the same direction. If we instead alternate, we will break the diagonal pattern, and instead we will have “patches” of axe heads here and there on the bark. There is still a pattern to it, but it is not very noticeable. Pushing in the axe heads may sometimes make the axe a bit looser. This is because the side of axe handle is smaller on the sides, so the clip attaching right under the axe head will not be firmly connected once we rotate the axe. However, since the tubes are quite sturdy it will generally hold together well anyway. The exception is the end parts of the tube, where an axe may fall off completely if we rotate it. So at the ends we just rotate the axes to whatever direction will still hold the tube together. It is time to add the completed size 20 tube to our tree. But we want to make sure it is somewhat stable and doesn't wobble around too much. To do this we attach two 1x1 round plates on each side of the support structure as shown on the left. This will help hold the tube in its right place. We then add the tube to the tree. Make sure you put it in with the axe heads pointing down. Also, try to get the two tubes to interlock as much as possible. This is not that easy, as a size 20 doesn't line up that well with a size 24, but by trying different positions and applying a little bit of force it is usually possible to make the two sit quite closely on top of each other. It is even possible to attach some of the loose droid arms of the top tube to some of the axes of the bottom tube, but usually just 1 or 2. In the end, there will usually be a bit of a gap between the tubes on one side of the tree and you may feel it doesn't look that nice. Don't despair! We will deal with that later :) Do also note the result of the axe head rotations on the tube in the picture on the right. Let's add some branching to our tree to make it nicer :) To do this we will use the triple technic connector shown on the left. We just attach it at the top on the support structure and it should look some like the picture on the right. Apart from adding branches this also helps the stability of the tree as the triple connector will press down on the top tube, holding it in place. If the height of the tubes are right that is :) From this stage onwards we may have to do some small tweaking here and there. This tree is not built with exact and precise connections, and each tree we build will be different. So don't be afraid to change things up if they don't fit as well as you would like. Even if the tree collapses, the tubes themselves are very sturdy and you can easily rebuild the support structure and add the tubes back. A little side note. There are many ways to create branching of the tree. On this tree we used the triple connector, which branches equally on both sides, which is good for the balance of the tree. Another way to branch can be seen above. This creates one branch on one side while letting the main trunk continue straight upwards. In general, the technic connectors allows you to design your tree pretty much the way you like, so feel free to experiment with it :) As our tree has branched, we should again make the bark thinner. We start by making a size 16 tube. This will be the continuation of the main trunk. Again, the process of building the tube remains essentially the same. Just use the guide for the size 16 tube and get building :) The result is in the bottom right. We also need a tube that will be our branch. We will make that one size 12 so it is thinner than the main trunk. I am not even going to show you the process of building a size 12 tube, as it is, again, essentially the same as all other tubes we've built. The result is shown on the left. We now have two tubes that are ready to be added to the tree. Before we move on though, I would recommend that you stabilize the base of the tree a bit. As we are adding branches the tree can become a bit lopsided so go ahead and add some extra plates or something down there for support, just in case. Better safe than sorry :) Now that we don't have to worry about toppling our tree anymore, let's add to our tree. On the right we will build a bend upwards as this will be the side where the main trunk continues. We will then put the size 16 tube there as seen on the right. Try to get it as far down as possible, to avoid getting too many cracks, though some cracks in the bark are inevitable and will be remedied later. Time to put the size 12 tube on the left branch. Wow, that looks great! Fits like a glove ;) So what is wrong? There are actually two problems here. Firstly, the internal radius of the size 12 tubes, as well as size 8 tubes, are too narrow to allow connector elements with pin holes through. The only connector that fits it is the straight smooth one (element 6538c), so let's go ahead and build the left branch out of these instead. We do also have another problem though, and that is that the shape of the tube doesn't allow it to fit very well against the other tubes. So what do we do? We need to shape the tube in order to make it fit better. Shaping the tube basically means that we pull out some axes and droid arms to give the end of the tube a shape that fits better with our tree. In the left picture I have removed 2-3 layers of droid arms and a couple of axes on one side. When doing this there will inevitably be some loose droid arm ends. This is fine, just move them so they fit with the shape we're trying to accomplish. We then try to put the tube on again, with the longer part of the edge on the top. The result is a that the tube fits much better with the tree as seen on the right. There are probably still some cracks here and there around the branching point, but it is fine for now :) In order to add leaves to the tree later we need to add some connection points for the leaf elements. The connection point is easily built as shown on the left and is then attached to another triple connector. We then add this to the right side of the tree, and we now have a leaf connection point :) We need leaves on the left side as well, but here we will use a different technique. First, let's add another connector with a slight bend upwards as seen on the top left. We then create a leaf connection point that we can connect to the pinhole of the technic connector. If you happen to have any 41532 elements lying around you can use them instead (this is what I ended up using in the bottom right which is why it is not protruding as much). For the end of the branches we need some very thin tubes. These are the size 8 tubes, which are the smallest ones you can make with this technique. What is that you say? The technique for size 8 tubes are essentially the same as all other tubes? Good guess, but umm... no :) Well, it's pretty similar, except for one main difference: the orientation of the droid arm bends are all reversed! This means the droid arms will bend outwards instead of inwards as is the case in all the other tubes. Other than that the process is just like the others. Building the size 8 should be pretty easy, and since it is only two droid arms per layer they are very quick to build. The end result is seen on the right. We need two of these btw :) Remember that the size 8 tubes also can only fit the smooth, straight connectors, so we will build the inner structure with those here. We would also like to attach leaves at the end of the branches, so let's add some leaf connection points at the top of the size 8 tubes before we add them to the tree as seen in the top left. The hinges with axle hole can be put right on top of the axle handles. Another version is to use element 32039 to get a different angle, this can be seen on the left branch in the right picture. On the main trunk we will first add another size 12 tube (yes, we need to build one more) before putting on the size 8 on top. Let's also add a connection point to the main trunk similar to the one added halfway up the left branch, that is, above the size 12 tube but below the size 8 tube. This time though, we will have it pointing to the back, so we can have leaves all around the tree. This is shown in the bottom left. Now things are starting to look like a proper tree, kind of :) But the leaf connection on the extreme right looks a bit too bare. Let's do something about that. We will build another really short size 8 tube that is to be attached on the rightmost little branch. Now it looks less bare. Also we add some more leaf connections at the very top of the tree. And, that's it! What do you think? Pretty ugly isn't it? ;) There are quite a few holes in the bark here and there. Don't worry, we will deal with that later. Or... maybe not :O We'll see! You may also have noted that I did not take my own advice to stabilize the bottom plate. That cost me dearly as my tree toppled over when I was halfway through building the foliage. No fun :P So, do stabilize it :) Ok, this is actually my favourite part of the tree building, since this is when the tree actually starts looking like a proper tree. It can also be one of the more frustrating parts, as foliage can be quite fragile, and it can sometimes be very hard to reach places where you want to add more leaves. Whatever the case, it is certainly a crucial step to tree building. I have chosen to work with green and dark green for this tree. If you would like to use other colors, by all means, go ahead. I'm quite fond of the dark orange / dark red combination myself :) We also need some droid arms for the foliage assembly. We start with the darker colour, as these will be the leaves shadowed by the others. A good way to start is to just connect a leaf element to each stud of the connection points. It is not shown in the picture, but at this point we should also put a 1x2 plate of the same colour as the leaves over the two studs where the leaves are connected. This will help keep the leaf elements in place. Now before adding more leaves I will show the method used to give volume to the foliage. Just attaching leaves to each other will give a very flat feel to the foliage, and it generally doesn't look natural. Real foliage has volume, and in order to achieve this, we either need to build loads of connection point for leaves all over the tree, which is not really possible with this technique. Or, we can create a vertical distance between leaf elements to generate more layers of leaves. We use droid arms for this. The droid arms can be attached to the “beams” of the leaf elements, and we can then attach another leaf element on the other end of the droid arms. Using two droid arms in parallel helps create a more stable connection between the two. Apart from creating a distance between the leaves this also gives the option of putting the leaves at different inclinations, which helps preventing the foliage from looking layered. You can also have the top leaf be turned 45 degrees compared to the bottom one, by attaching it to different “beams” as shown the right picture. In general, anything that helps the foliage look less structured is good. We are trying to create an organic looking tree here. As a last note, I want to say that there are loads of other ways to build a nice foliage, and this is just one of many ways to do it. If you prefer to do it some other way, please go ahead :) Ok, back to building the foliage! Here we have first connected a few more leaf elements to the first ones we added. After that we use the droid arm method to created a few more layers to the tree, both above and below the leaves we already have. More leaves have been added. Try to keep it balanced, and add more where things look sparse. But don't add too many layers upwards just yet. That is what the lighter color leaves are for. Around 50-75 leaves of the darker colour should be enough before switching to the lighter hue. Now we'll start using the lighter color leaves. I just wanted to begin by showing this. As we now have already quite a number of leaves on the tree, things start to get more fragile. Attaching new leaves gets harder, especially when doing it with droid arms. So what I usually do it build them like this before attaching them. Do note that the thicker part of the droid arms is the one we attach to the leaf. This will then be attached on top of one of the darker leaves as we see fit. We will also need to support the bottom of the darker leaf while attaching, or things may fall apart. Here we have created a couple of new layers with lighter leaves on top of the darker ones. If you find it hard to connect these (and you probably will in the beginning), try to attach them at an angle, and when attached you can then adjust them as you'd like. It is hard to explain, but as you keep building you will get the hang of it :) Here we have added a lot of leaves on the right side of the tree. Once we have attached a leaf with droid arms we can just add more leaves to it by connecting normally with studs. Don't be afraid to create long chains of leaves like this. If the leaves bend downwards from the weight that's fine, it gives a nice curvature to the leaves and helps to make it look less structured. We can also attach some lighter leaves on top of the darker ones directly by studs. Now the foliage is pretty much done. There are probably 75-100 elements of the lighter colour used here. Note the layers and different degrees of inclination, which help give the tree a fuller look by obstructing the view through the foliage. At this point I have also learnt from my mistakes and created a more stable base :) Some closeups of the foliage to get an idea of what is going on. Ok, so we are pretty much done. But how about those cracks and gaps in the trunk that I mentioned we'd fix later? Well, at this point many of those are already either obscured by the foliage or they are no longer noticeable since the contrast between foliage and trunk is so much bigger. That being said, there are usually some things that need fixing. In the case of this tree it was at the branching points, which is often the case. At certain angles you can see through the tree, which is certainly not desirable. So how do we fix the cracks in the trunk? We fill them up with stuff :) Essentially we can use anything that fits and sticks in black or dark brown color. Axes, droid arms or any combination of the two work well. I also like to use the little short bars with clips on them. Four of those can be assembled into a little ball that you can stick into little holes and crevices in the bark. Do note that pieces added this way have a tendency to fall out when the tree is moved. So use it sparsely, or make sure that the added pieces are firmly stuck. That's it! We are done with the tree and this is the final result :) Now all we have to do is build a landscape to add the tree to. Here is an example of a landscape built around the tree. Landscaping is beyond the scope of this tutorial though :) Some thoughts on this technique: I have built quite a number of these trees since I developed the technique about a year ago, and though I do think it's aesthetically pleasing, I find that the instability of it limits its usage quite a bit. It's fine for just having and photographing, but bringing it to exhibitions is quite risky. I also think there are a lot of improvements that can be done to it, in particular when it comes to the supporting structure and foliage. With all the awesome technic builds I see floating around, I'm sure there are plenty of people who have the knowhow to significantly improve the stability of the design. I'd definitely be interested to hear thoughts and ideas on how to improve both the technique and the tutorial itself, as this is my first time writing one. And I'd love to see any trees you all build :) Happy building!
  8. soccerkid6

    Nordheim Paddock

    This is the second module for the collab that John and I are building. You can see the first, here. The hay cart has steerable front wheels, and the shelter’s gate can open and close. There are many small farms outside Nordheim’s walls, and cattle paddocks with lean-to shelters are a common sight. There are more pictures on brickbuilt. Thanks for looking, all your feedback is appreciated
  9. soccerkid6

    Benoic Watchtower

    Thanks to de Gothia for letting me place this watchtower in Benoic. Having recently acquired quite a few dark green plates, I wanted to try a landscape in that color and chose to put a small tower/cottage combo on it. There is a full interior, though because of the small size the furnishings are fairly frugal. Both doors are functional as well. The corner stonework was inspired by Dwalin Forkbeard, the cottage was inspired by Legopard, the ‘gear’ mushrooms were borrowed from Captain Flint, and the tower windows were inspired by Gideon. Benoic has many stone watchtowers within its lands to provide warning in case of attack, and also as bastions of defense. This particular tower also has a small cottage to serve as living quarters for the soldiers stationed there. More pictures can be seen on brickbuilt. Thanks for looking, your comments and suggestions are always appreciated
  10. mechamike

    [MOC] The Last day tree.

    There is not many Last day tree’s left in the world, I know of only a few and all of them I found in Kaliphlin. Some say that the tree will bloom and shed its petals in just one night before the world will end, but I believe that’s just a myth, like so many other things that surrounds them. Most people fear them, rumour is that even the beasts avoid them, but I also seen people bend before them in respect and praying in the shadow of their crown. I once heard a story that they grew in great numbers as a thick dense forest, but people cut them down for the hard wood, but the dying roots poisoned the land and the great Siccus desert emerged. But then some say the water in the Moruth swamplands in the Darklands once was poisoned from sap of the trees and that corrupted them minds of the people living there. Who knows what is really true? One thing I can confirm, that you get burns if you touch the leaves. I still have a blister that will not completely heal. But I still think they look beautiful, just like so many other tree’s in this world. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  11. Full Plate

    Bonsai Tree

    A bonsai tree, complete with a small table and a shallow pot. This is my entry for Swebrick's 'Build a tree' contest. Hope you like it
  12. Full Plate

    Waylaid

    Waylaid Chapter I: The Tranquil Meadow Chapter II: Old Bagshaw's Residence Chapter III: The Poacher Chapter IV: Making Camp Chapter V: Solitary Council Chapter VI: Escaping Home Chapter VII: Waylaid Chapter VIII: Archery Practice Chapter IX: Honour the Fallen Bonus Landscape: Avalonian Countryside Mercy paid full attention to her surroundings as she was walking down the road. It was a peaceful countryside landscape with ripening fields and green meadows. She was alone on the road, which was probably for the best, as her seemingly leisurely stroll was full of dark intentions. She knew her prey was heading here, but would still be a few hours away, giving her plenty of time to scout the road for a good spot. She stopped on the road in front of an old, derelict stone shed. There was plenty of cover around the building, which was to her benefit. Not that she would ever use a position that close to the road, but it would make it less obvious where the shot came from. She turned and looked out over the field on the other side of the road. Beyond the field was long ridge running parallel to the road. It wasn't particularly high, but high enough that climbing it was out of the question. It was very far from the road though, making it very hard to land a shot from there. That suited Mercy just fine. - 'If it's hard shot, no one will expect it', she thought to herself. Mercy had made plenty of difficult shots in the past, and she could do it again. Not that she cared about making difficult shots. People in her business who tried to show off did not last long. People hired her for reliability, and that's what they got. The less fancy the better. An assassin who could be identified by their style, equipment or anything at all, was not worth their salts. But when a hard shot was the superior option, Mercy would not back down from it. - 'Well, better get going', she told herself. It took Mercy the better part of an hour to make her way up to the ridge and prepare a spot for herself. As she was done she gave the site around her another glance. Everything seemed to be in order. She had prepared the place where she would be lying, it should be comfortable enough for a few hours of wait. She had trimmed the bushes around her to allow for unencumbered and quick escape. Her crossbow was loaded and ready, and so was the spare, although she knew she wouldn't need it. It had been years since she last missed a shot. - 'Might as well get to work', Mercy thought to herself. She lay down in the pile of leaves she had prepared for herself, supporting herself on her arms and elbows. Now started the waiting game. It was another hour before the party came into view. It was four men travelling on horse, but Mercy was only to take out one of them. The man riding first would be instantly recognised as Sir Darby by most people who had spent time in Albion. A slight legend from his time on the battlefield and generally well-liked among the commoners due to his low birth. He was not her mark however. Neither was the second man, a stern black-haired man, who Mercy knew only as Sir Darby's second-in-command. Mercy didn't like him. People who were hard to read, usually had something to hide. The last two were both red-haired men. Similar features, but Mercy read them as completely different types of men. The first had the look of a veteran despite his obvious youth. A confident, care-free man with a smile on his face. Mercy didn't like him either. Confident men needed to be taken down a peg. Coming up last was what seemed like a sorry excuse for a man. He looked scared for no apparent reason and he didn't seem too stable in his saddle. Mercy had no idea why he would be travelling with seasoned soldiers and she didn't really care much. - 'Once I'm done I probably won't see any of you again', she tought. Mercy's instructions had been to assassinate one of the riders, but not Sir Darby himself or his second-in-command. This was the first time she had ever been offered a choice of target, and it actually annoyed her. Taking someone's life was not a matter that was to be left to chance. People hired her because she was the best, and she delivered exactly what was requested. But when it was not clearly specified she felt slightly lost. Deep down, though, she knew the real reason she was upset was because someone was going to die based on her decision. That was not the way it was supposed to be. She was an instrument of death, but not the initiator. She was just implementing somebody else's choices, and though she didn't like to admit it, that made a difference to her. - 'Your assassin daughter has a conscience - aren't you happy Mum?' she thought to herself wryly. Mercy took careful aim at the veteran redhead. - 'Sorry' she whispered as the crossbow string twanged and the bolt flew toward its mark. Sir Darby was enjoying the scenery. Rural landscapes and ripening crops was certainly more to his taste than bustling cities and high society. Out here he felt free and he enjoyed every second of it. As he took a deep breath of the fresh air, a flicker on his right caught his eye only to be followed by a low thud behind him. Sir Darby knew what he would see before he even turned his head, although he sorely wished he'd be wrong. Sir Darby was not wrong. Kipp had a wooden bolt sprouting from his throat. His face was screaming, but made no sound. His horse was rearing out of control. Sir Darby had seen enough bloodshed in his days to know that this was it for Kipp. He was losing a friend, but he could not let emotions get a hold of him right now. Assessing their situation was paramount. Sir Darby saw Harlon and Nyle dismount, but for different reasons. Nyle carelessly ran up screaming to his brother who had now fallen to the ground. This was pretty much what Sir Darby would have expected of him. Harlon dropped down to take cover behind his horse. Sir Darby thought that pretty pointless. The danger was over by now. If this ambush was meant to kill all of them there would have been a barrage of arrows headed for them simultaneosly. No, this was a flawless, precise, single shot, serving some specific purpose. But what purpose? Sir Darby needed to locate the assassin if he was to understand the reason behind this attack. The bolt had certainly come from their right, from the fields. But beyond the fields was a steep ridge, and such a skilled assassin wouldn't let himself be trapped in a field with no escape. No, the shot must have come from the ridge itself, although that was an exceptional distance away. Sir Darby quickly scanned the top of the ridge for anything that stood out. There was nothing there. Except... in that one spot the vegetation seemed lighter than elsewhere. Intentional or not, that would be the position for an ambush. Sir Darby kept his gaze intently on the spot, focused on catching any hint of the assassin's presence. It had only been a few moments since the first shot, so the shooter had likely not retreated yet. In the background he could hear Nyle wailing and Harlon barking at him to take cover, but Sir Darby zoned it all out, singularily focused on catching any movement. The seconds passed slowly. And there it was. An ever so slight stir, but it was definitely there. No glimpse of the assassin unfortunately, but they had a site they could examine, which would surely yield some clue. That was the best he could do. Pursuit would be impossible. Sir Darby turned his eyes back to the chaos on the road. Now was the time to see to his companions. As Mercy left the area she could feel her heart pounding. That man had stared right at her! Had he spotted her? She had waited for him to look elsewhere before leaving, but he hadn't looked away once. In the end she had to leave as carefully as she could. There was definitely no chance of them pursuing her, especially not with that whimpering runt in their tow. But still, that piercing stare had certainly rattled her. And it felt strangely good. - 'This was an exciting one' she thought as she walked away. *** Bonus pictures: Whew! Wall of text Ok, so in the end I built some trees again, but this time with a new technique at least Was trying to create a row of willows that are pretty typical for the agricultural landscape in south of Sweden where I am from. The trees are cut down to "knobs" once every 2-3 years which gives them a distinctive look. Not entirely happy with the result, but I think they are at least recognizable (although my wife thought they were some kind of alien trees ). Here's what they look like in real life: link Also tried to make a composite image for when the assassin takes aim, but my image processing skills are just not good enough so it I ended up looking rather unnatural unfortunately Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed it! C & C always welcome
  13. soccerkid6

    Land of Rauor: Farm

    This is the third of 4 micros I built as prizes for the Guild Creation category of the Summer Joust. This particular model was focused on a city of Rauor. You can see the first and the second builds already. Rauor is just a fictional land I made up, and tried to develop the culture and setting of with these 4 micro builds, the rest of which will be posted soon. C&C welcome
  14. This is one of 4 micros I built as prizes for the Guild Creation category of the Summer Joust. This particular model was focused on the landscape of Rauor. Rauor is just a fictional land I made up, and tried to develop the culture and setting of with these 4 micro builds, the rest of which will be posted soon. If you'd like to see more details about the Summer Joust, check that out here: link. Thanks for looking, C&C appreciated
  15. adde51

    MOC Fantasy tree

    Again, never really sure if I post things in the right place but hopefully I do. A fantasy-inspired tree to celebrate that spring is finally here (in Sweden)! Hope you enjoy it. Fantasy-tree (1) by Andreas Lenander, on Flickr Fantasy-tree (2) by Andreas Lenander, on Flickr Fantasy-tree (3) by Andreas Lenander, on Flickr Fantasy-tree (4) by Andreas Lenander, on Flickr
  16. Full Plate

    Escaping Home

    Escaping Home Chapter I: The Tranquil Meadow Chapter II: Old Bagshaw's Residence Chapter III: The Poacher Chapter IV: Making Camp Chapter V: Solitary Council Chapter VI: Escaping Home Chapter VII: Waylaid Chapter VIII: Archery Practice Chapter IX: Honour the Fallen Bonus Landscape: Avalonian Countryside The evening sun glistened in the waves below. The wind rustled the leaves above. Soon the sun would dip below the horizon, draping it all in gloomy shadows. But for now everything was beautiful. Averil sat down under the looming tree, took a deep breath and stared into the sunset. Just being here made her smile. She found herself imagining that this here, was all there was. Just the fading sun and breaking waves. The towering tree at her back and the delicate flowers spread out around her. This was a moment she wished would not pass. But it would. And she would have to return home. Return to a home that was not home. Return to Newquay. Averil had joined the colony of Newquay together with her brother, Leeson, and Gammy less than a month ago. It had been a reluctant but necessary decision. Averil's poaching had not been fruitful and the family was starving. At Newquay, at least they were able to fill their bellies. Leeson had been made an errand boy, and was always running all over the place doing his chores. Averil could tell that he liked it. Back home all he ever did was scrounging for food and waiting for her to return with fresh game. Here he had something to do and he was happier for it. Even Gammy had been enlisted to help in the manor's kitchen, cooking for the lord and lady and their friends. Averil frowned upon her entering service, but she too seemed happy. And Averil couldn't deny that the occasional tidbits Gammy swiped from the kitchen wasn't a welcome change to the bland stew they were usually having. Averil herself had been assigned as a fisherman at first, but as she didn't know the first thing about fishing, she was quick to display her skills with the bow, which had earned her a spot on a hunting party. There had been some suspicion as to where her mastery stemmed from, but Averil had explained that her late father, a longbowman in the King's army, had taught her since young. It was a truth with modification, but confessing to years of poaching would certainly have earned her a trip to the gallows. Her fellow hunters were good men and quick to welcome to her, showing her the tricks of the trade. She already knew most of what they showed her, but she feigned ignorance to support her own deception. Learning archery from her father was all well and good, but what reason could her father have had for teaching her hunting? Better to smile and pretend to be learning. Still, being self-taught, there were a few new things that she did not know. Understanding the territorial instincts of many of the animals here had been an eye-opener for her. And the woods around Newquay was new ground for her, as her poaching had kept her at a good distance from the colony. Most of all she had been very surprised to find that there was actually game to be found around here. The weeks before joining the colony she had found nothing during her trips to the isle, and now there was game again. Not plenty, but there was some, which was enough. It made her wish she had held off the decision to move here. If game was coming back, they could've survived by themselves. If only she had waited a few more weeks, she wouldn't have to be here. The truth was that she did not belong here. These people were good, faithful workers, building something together. All of them doing their best to make the colony successful. Even with their witless lord governing them, there was a camaraderie here that she had not expected. But still, she was different. She craved adventure, not fellowship. She did not want to have everything staked out for her. She abhorred routine and despised rules. They may make your life smoother, but they didn't let you live. And that's what Averil wanted - to live. But what good did it do to linger on that now? They were here, and even if Leeson and Gammy would have wanted to leave, they couldn't. They had committed themselves to Newquay and its doltish lord, who would certainly not let them go unless he wanted to. They were trapped. She was trapped. She longed to be back home, her real home on the mainland, but she was trapped. She looked up at the tree above her. It's branches stretched far out over the sea. Perhaps it too, longed for something? - 'I wish we could both go' she told the tree. 'But we can't. Like it or not, we are both rooted to this place.' She sighed. The last sliver of sun disappeared beyond the horizon. It was time to head back. - 'Well, back to reality' Averil said as she got up. 'Be good.' She gave the tree a quick tap and walked away. *** Ok, next build: no trees! I promise! ...maybe Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed it! C & C always welcome
  17. Here's my build for the 1st gatehouse phase in Age of Mitgardia. I wanted to experiment with ground texture, and was inspired by K.Kreations, and Brick Vader. A warrior sets out from one of Nordheim’s outer gates, headed into the tundra of Mitgardia. Gates closed: Thanks for looking, more pictures can be found on my website, link. As always, your comments and suggestions are quite welcome
  18. Full Plate

    Solitary Council

    Solitary Council Chapter I: The Tranquil Meadow Chapter II: Old Bagshaw's Residence Chapter III: The Poacher Chapter IV: Making Camp Chapter V: Solitary Council Chapter VI: Escaping Home Chapter VII: Waylaid Chapter VIII: Archery Practice Chapter IX: Honour the Fallen Bonus Landscape: Avalonian Countryside It was a sunny day, but down in the forest it was still dim. The extensive canopy overhead was not letting much light through, giving the woods an eerie atmosphere. An old man was mumbling to himself while making his way through the underbrush. Although vegetation was heavy the man seemed to move through it with both ease and speed, deftly avoiding having his robe snagged by twigs and branches. The man was short, but surprisingly nimble. The staff in his hand used to move plants out of his path, rather than to support himself on. - 'Ho ho! You all just grow and grow!' he exclaimed suddenly, only to go straight back to his muttering. The old man kept on moving, his grey, matted hair swaying as he moved. The man left no trail after him - all plants moved back into place as he passed, neither broken nor bruised. As he moved onwards, the forest grew brighter and brighter. - 'Ho ho! Here we are!' As the man spoke, he broke through the edge of the forest and found himself standing in a great, circular meadow, in the middle of the forest. In the center of the meadow stood three huge trees, surrounding a peculiar stone formation. The man stood there for a while letting his eyes adjust to the light and taking in the full view of the place. He then began to slowly head down a small path towards the center of the meadow. On his way he stopped by a smaller tree growing out of a big tree trunk. The trunk seemed to have been sawed off previously and parts of the former tree was lying in the meadow, almost overgrown by now. - 'How are you this fine day? Recovering well I can see. Ho ho ho! You will be back to your former glory in no time.' The man's face turned less cheerful as he turned his eyes to the decomposing parts of the old, broken tree. - 'The earth will clear the corruption... But where did it come from this time...?' he asked himself quizzingly. After a few moments contemplation the man turned and walked up to the stone formation. - 'You have anything to tell me today?', he asked. 'We shall see.' The man put his staff aside and lay his two hands on the surface of the stone. - 'Ho ho! Cold as always', the man exclaimed and then closed his eyes and went silent. A couple of minutes passed before the man opened his eyes and removed his hands from the stone. - 'Silent little bugger, aren't you? Or perhaps you just don't want to talk to a surly old fart like me? Ho ho ho!' He turned to look at the huge trees. - 'Well, how about you then? Got anything to say?' The man stood silent for a short while and then turned towards one of the trees. - 'Mountain avens are blooming?' he asked, looking slightly surprised. He walked over to the base of the tree. The tree’s bark was completely white, and its leaves had a pale green shade. The man bent down and examined one of the many white flowers blooming by the tree. - 'Ah yes, they certainly are, and quite a few of them. Looks like the icy man-beasts are back. Ho ho ho! They sure made a mess of the world last time!' He looked up at the tree. - 'Well, someone will deal with it', he stated. 'And if not, it’s just the end of the world. Ho ho!' The man walked over to a dark tree bearing blood red leaves. - 'Looks like your heather is still growing in abundance. Well, I have no idea what that means, and I hope it stays that way! Ho ho ho! Who knows what those goblins are up to? Well, I guess I should look into it...' Lastly he turned to a tree with a golden canopy. - 'Anything from you? … No? Well, good for you! We can’t have chaos in all corners of the world all at once now, can we?' He examined the rock formation. - 'Well, grumps here still won’t talk to me, so I guess we’re on our own. Ho ho! I do hope you all help your brother grow back now. You need him as much as he needs you. And I need you all.' He picked up his staff and started back towards the forest. - 'And see what you can find out about this horrible corruption. It seems to resist the earth’s cleansing quite well.' As he passed the small tree growing from the stump he spoke to it shortly. - 'I only did what was necessary. I'm sorry it caused you such pain...', he said shaking his head. 'I'll be back to check on you soon. Until then; grow well!' And with that he was off into the forest. - 'Ho ho! This is getting interesting!' *** Yay for loopy monologues! Hopefully it was too weird to be boring, but not too weird to be understood Concerning the build, I’m not so happy with the white tree. Think it would have looked much nicer with some blacks and browns thrown in, but I wanted a purely white one for story purposes. Also wanted tan bark for the tree with orange leaves, but sadly I have no droid arms or bars in that color. Time to hit bricklink again Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed it! C & C always welcome
  19. drdesignz

    Bonsai Trees

    I typically only build large scale vehicles in the Model Team and Creator type themes, but recently have been trying more natural designs. Here are a group of bonsai trees. Multiple people asked me to submit it to Ideas, so I did: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/133892
  20. My Temple of Shanara presented in Expo LUG Brasil 2015. Temple of Shanara is an elven temple to one of the last Trees of Life in my Elven Kingdom Hybrasil. Comments and suggestions are welcome! Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr Hybrasil - Temple of Shanara by FantuX, no Flickr
  21. LittleJohn

    [M - E02] A Daring Heist

    Location: E02-Jurin II Tags: Building, Vehicle, Piracy, Spying Job: Explorer After a long vacation, MANTIS had another mission for me. Un-like most of my previous missions, this one involved infiltrating an Octan base and gathering information about a chemical that accelerated plant growth. I was thrilled to find that two of my good friends, Isaac Redsyn and Massi Editoro, were also on the same mission, as well as a MANTIS commo. Isaac was of course assigned to be the driver, which was to be expected. What wasn't expected was the vehicle he would be piloting... An Octan hoverplane. So, you're sure you know how to drive one of these things? Of course I do! I've driven tons of rigs! ... Apparently not enough though. Could you get this thing right side up for once?! I'm trying, I'm trying, but it keeps going every which way! Where are the brakes on this anyways? Hoverplanes don't have br- Massi to helicopter, are you guys ready up there? We might be, if Isaac knew how to drive this... Almost, we're getting into position. Stand by for signal. Roger. In position, proceed with distraction. Yes sir! Here you go little plants, drink up! Go, go go! What was that?! I've got it! Go up, go up! Mission accomplished, good job everyone. Now to take it back to the lab for the scientists to test and analyze. A few more shots of the build: More pictures here: Link It was good to do another AG build, after so many castle builds. C&C welcome!
  22. Sci-FiFleetAdmiral

    The Falcon's Nest

    Hello fellow EBers, I would would like to present my latest build: The Falcon's Nest The Falcon's Nest by Joshua, on Flickr The Falcon's Nest- tree platform details by Joshua, on Flickr The Falcon's Nest- Lenfel riverine patrol boat by Joshua, on Flickr The Falcon's Nest ------------------------------- As the riverine patrol boat rounded the bend in the river, Elfrida beheld a sight such as she had never seen in her lifetime. Ahead of them, standing at the water's edge, were a half-dozen tan trees, speckled with brown spots. But that was not what was so mind-blowing about them. Rather, it was the fact that they were giants, soaring up into the sky for hundreds of feet, their huge roots disappearing under the pale blue water. Ringing the colossal trunks, every twenty feet or so, were wooden platforms, some with doorways to rooms bored into the tree, others with huts, supported by thick beams. A narrow bridge, without railings, spanned the river, connecting two of the largest trees. Whatever she had imagined the so-called 'Falcon's Nest' to be, it paled in comparison to the real thing. Behind her, manning the tiller of the boat, the captain called to his sailors. "Lower the sail boys! And get that mooring line ready!" As the crew carried out their orders, movement on the bridge ahead caught Elfrida's sharp eye. A Lenfel Scout Sniper stepped out onto the walkway, watching the boat approach, then turned to call down to someone, presumably to say they had arrived. Rounding the biggest tree's trunk, they came within sight of the small dock built into the trunk. A figure walked out to the end of the dock, waiting for them to pull up. Elfrida grinned and waved when she saw who was waiting for them on the dock. ----------------------------------------- Captain Rhinedall Alden smiled, and waved back as the boat pulled close enough for him to see his old friend, whom he hadn't recognized at first with her shorter hair, standing amidships, waving to him with a huge grin on her face. Stepping forward, he prepared to catch the mooring line, as it was tossed to him by a sailor. ----------------------------------------- As soon as the boat bumped against the dock, pushing a small rowboat out of the way, Elfrida jumped nimbly onto the dock, and embraced her childhood friend warmly. He returned the embrace, then held her at arm's length. "Look at you! You've changed so much, I barely recognize you now!" She laughed. "I'm a full-fledged Ranger now Rhinedall. Of course I've changed. You however," she looked him up and down, "haven't changed a bit!" "He grinned, and they started walking towards the ladder leading up to the first platform, after untieing the patrol boat so it could continue on it's way. "Why'd you cut your hair?" Rhinedall asked curiously. The other replied, "I found it was starting to get in the way during combat. Plus, knowing I was being deployed here, I decided long hair might not be the best idea in a humid environment. Why? Don't you think it looks good?" Rhinedall shrugged. "No, I do think you look good. It's just going to take some getting used to, that's all." Changing the subject, he added," You must have lot to talk about." She smiled. "I do indeed. But first, got any ale in this place? Elfrida and Rhinedall had known each other since childhood, growing up together in Stonebourgh. Both had joined the Rangers when they'd gotten old enough, but they were sent to seperate places, Rhinedall to Stonewald, Elfrida to Durrough, where, during her stay there, she had run into a young knight by the name of Haymar, and decided to take a break from her tedious ranger training, and join his company, participating in several notable quests and events, such as the Battle of Durrough. Having recently left Haymar's company, she had traveled to Stonewald, to finally complete her erstwhile training. It was here that she and Rhinedall ran into each other again, and their old friendship was renewed, only to be broken again when news of the Great Western Islands reached Stonewald, and Rhinedall was deployed there, to establish a Scout Sniper outpost. Now however, they had been reunited once more, as Elfrida was now a full-fledged Ranger, and had also been deployed to New Lenfald, to check up on and help with improvements, to both the Emerald City, and the outpost, which had been dubbed The Falcon's Nest. And we won't be separated again. Not if I have anything to say about it, that is. She was snapped out of her reverie, by the shout of a panicked (and unseen) Scout Sniper, on lookout duty somewhere in the outpost. "River Serpent!!!!!!" Grabbing her bow, Elfrida followed Rhinedall out of the small hut were they'd been having lunch. Seems I'm about to find out just how good my Ranger skills are. ------------------------------------------------ The Falcon's Nest is my entry for Lenfald's LC 21: New Lenfald Rising, over on Merlin's Beard. Hope you all like it!
  23. Full Plate

    Making Camp

    Making Camp Chapter I: The Tranquil Meadow Chapter II: Old Bagshaw's Residence Chapter III: The Poacher Chapter IV: Making Camp Chapter V: Solitary Council Chapter VI: Escaping Home Chapter VII: Waylaid Chapter VIII: Archery Practice Chapter IX: Honour the Fallen Bonus Landscape: Avalonian Countryside The crackling sound of the campfire brought back all kinds of memories to Sir Darby. Some of them fond. Most of them not. Sir Darby would always associate campfires with war, and memories of war were seldom pleasant ones. He had learnt the hard way that one was never as safe as one felt around a campfire. Sir Darby got out a whetstone and proceeded to methodically sharpen his sword. It was a habit he had developed from young - a way to remind himself that even here, in the warm glow of the fire, the harsh reality was still out there and he needed to be ready. The problem was; how could he be ready for what was to come, when he had no idea what to expect? Sir Darby had had to leave home for the Overgrown Isle with very short notice, without any men, and without even knowing the real reason for his departure. He had left his family at home, not being able to tell them much about where he was going, or even when he would come back. He was positive that he was part of some scheme, masterly manipulated from behind the scenes. But by whom and for what purpose was still unknown. All was not gloom however, because he was not alone. He was sharing this campfire with two of his most trusted men, with a third out to gather fuel for the fire to last them through the night. Things could surely have been worse. Sir Darby studied the two men at his sides. To his right sat Harlon Sherburne, a tall, dark man with a constant frown on his face, grilling a fish over the fire. Harlon was not the type to talk about himself, or to talk much at all for that matter, but Sir Darby could not think of anyone he’d rather have by his side in the heat of battle. Harlon had been Sir Darby’s right hand man for almost 20 years, always carrying out his charge well and above what anyone could expect. Not popular with the men, at least not at first, but a second-in-command didn’t need to be - he just needed to have the men ready for battle. In the end, a leader who kept his men alive was much preferred to one that kept them happy. The man on Sir Darby’s left was in many ways the diametrical opposite to Harlon. Kipp Wyght was a stout, red haired man, with a big mouth and a merry personality. Sir Darby also knew him to be fiercely loyal and the most skilled man with a blade he had ever seen. They had met only on Sir Darby’s latest military campaign, but Kipp had quickly proven to be one of the most valuable soldiers to the war effort, as well as an avid entertainer among the men, raising spirits wherever he went. Kipp was currently in the process of recounting an event involving a dead rat, a bowl of soup and a serving maid at The Fat Sow. From what Sir Darby could tell, the tale bore little resemblance to actual events, but Kipp’s stories seldom did, nor did they need to. Sir Darby smirked at Kipp's detailed description of the maid tumbling out the door just to land upside down in the water trough. - ‘...and since then, I'll never again be welcome at The Fat Sow!’, Kipp concluded his story. - ‘You forgot how she slapped you right across your face’, Harlon pointed out while turning his fish over. - ‘That was no slap’, Kipp replied. ‘Only the gentle caress of her silky smooth hand on my cheek; a memory that I will cherish forever!’ Harlon just sighed. The sound of twig cracking announced the arrival of the last man of their party. Nyle Ogden came into view carrying a bundle of sticks. Sir Darby hadn’t known him before they set out, and have even been reluctant to bring him along, but as Kipp’s younger cousin, Kipp had insisted on bringing him along. In the end Sir Darby had agreed, and in any case it was out of his hands. Nyle had put in a request of transfer to Newquay together with the other two, and the request had been granted. They were now Lord Cowden’s men, and Sir Darby should be happy to have them around. Still, from the looks of his damp pile of sticks, he was neither a seasoned outdoorsman, or a quick learner. - ‘Hey Nyle!’ Kipp hollered. ‘Good job fueling the fire! You can just put them down right here.’ - ‘Thanks’, Nyle mumbled and dropped the pile next to the campfire. Sir Darby knew that Kipp would sneak off later to find some proper kindling. Coddling people had never been Sir Darby’s way, and he had a hard time understanding why Kipp would treat his cousin this way. It was not his place to get involved though, as he had neither authority or full knowledge of the situation. It still irked him though. - ‘Are we getting close to Newquay yet?’ asked Nyle. - ‘About 2-3 days more to the coast, then we have to find passage over to the island’, Sir Darby replied. - ‘It is awfully cold here’, said Nyle. - ‘We’re pretty far north by now’, Kipp answered. ‘Probably as far north as the Mitgardian border in the east.’ - ‘But it is still summer’, said Nyle. ‘And Mitgardia is up in the mountains, while we’re in the low plains. Should it really be this cold?’ It was true that is was particularly cold. Sir Darby had not spent much time in this part of Avalonia, but even in the lower hills by the Mitgardian border it wouldn’t get this cold in summer. He had even noticed the leaves starting to wilt, which shouldn’t happen for at least another month, if not two. It was definitely not normal. - ‘It is... the Algus’, Harlon replied. Sir Darby was more than a little surprised. He had never heard about the Algus except for in the old wives’ tales, which he did not put much stock in. To hear this from a man of logic and deduction like Harlon was unexpected. - ‘I heard the rumour from some traders coming down from the mountains a few days before we departed’, Harlon continued. ‘They claimed that the Algus had appeared and with them had come the freezing cold. Some cities had been attacked, but their fates were unknown to them. I didn’t really take it seriously, until I had it confirmed by some of my... ‘sources’.’ - ‘But, that means they are close?’ stammered Nyle. - ‘I don’t know’, replied Harlon. ‘I don’t know if this is really the Algus of the legends, or if it’s something else. But there is something out there, somewhere, causing the cold, and I doubt they’re friendly.’ It went quiet. Sir Darby was processing what had been shared. The Algus. Possibly somewhere near. This was a surprise. And in Sir Darby’s experience, surprises were wont to kill you. - ‘Well, it won’t be a surprise anymore’, he thought to himself. ‘Now I can be prepared for that as well.’ Seems he had been right; one was never as safe as one felt around a campfire. *** My first post in a while now. A lot of work and travelling, but managed to build something in between things :) Also, decided to weave in some of the Algus event into the story. If I got any of the lore wrong, do let me know :) Hope you enjoyed the MOC :)
  24. The dream was back. A stone dragon, advancing on me, as I stand, unable to run away, cowering in fear. I've seen it so many times that I know it by heart. I'll wake up as soon as it closes in on me. I am about to look away, bored of having the same experience every day for weeks, when I realize that something is different this time. The dragon's eyes are closed. The eyes have always been open before. Bright red eyes, piercing into me, bringing me fear at first before I began to grow used to the dream. Is that why it's different? Do I only keep seeing this because I need to feel fear, because I cannot allow myself to grow comfortable? Is the dream merely a product of my subconscious trying to scare itself, or is it something else? As I try to figure out what the meaning of this new image could be, its eyes open. And that's when I realize why the dragon had felt so familiar before. The eyes belong to someone I know. * * * The misty air cools my skin as I walk briskly over the bridge at Hagron Swamp. The swamp is a place of mystery; I have never been here before, and my parents had never told me about it. Yet, ironically, it is the home of the person who everyone in Morkerna know about: Gremlon. For months, after our adventures in Nocturnus, he has been more reclusive. In the past, he had clung to me constantly, like a shadow, watching my every move like an overprotective parent. Now, this change is almost frightening. For months, I had wondered why he had drawn away from me; now, I believe, I know why. * * * The flimsy porch creaks loudly as I step onto it. Gremlon is not in the treehouse, yet he has claimed that this is where he goes when he is away from me. Lies. It is these lies that have aroused my suspicions of him, these lies that have brought me to loath him. As I begin to curse the lying wizard, I hear footsteps from behind me. It is Gremlon, strolling across the bridge, looking shocked to see me here. He starts to speak, but I cut him off, grabbing him and slamming him against the wall. "What the hell is going on, Gremlon!?" He stares at me, feigning perplexity, so I continue. "Why have you been leaving me? What aren't you telling me!?" He still maintains the same blank stare. Finally, I snap. "My parents weren't killed by supporters of the Desert King, were they? You killed them!" It is the only reasonable conclusion I could reach after seeing his eyes in the nightmare. It must be true, it must be because I need it to be true, because I need to have someone who I can punish for my parents' deaths, and I want to hate Gremlon, and so I tell myself that he is guilty. He must be. "Come on, Elisa, you know I didn't kill them!" And I do know, and what he says is true, but I cannot allow myself to believe him; I must hang onto my illusion of his guilt in order to satisfy myself; I must attack Gremlon, hurt him. Or I can do what is right. Because even as I want to blame Gremlon for my parents' death, I also want him to be innocent, for our old relationship to be restored. I let go of him and walk away, mumbling an apology. Another pair of builds from last summer that I had intended to post here earlier but neglected to. Hagron Swamp (the base of the tree) was a fun experiment in mood and colors. My favorite part might be the lever plants (or perhaps the colors), and overall I think it turned out pretty well for a one-day build. The treehouse was definitely the more difficult of the two, but I'm also really satisfied with this scene. The hardest part was probably the trunk texturing, but I think that it looks a bit better here than in the swamp. Also, I quite like the architecture of the whitewash section on the left, with the arches on the bottom and the angled beams on top. Thanks for viewing!
  25. Lankygit

    [MOC] Usonian Style House

    I actually built his MOC towards the end of the summer, but I have only just found the time to document it. It is a small building built to the Usonian Style. The Usonian Style House was first designed in mid thirties by American Architect Frank Llloyd Wright. They were designed to control costs during the economic depression, Wrights Usonian houses had no attics, no basements, little ornamentation and utilised open plan living. I hope you like my attempt, more images on my Flickr. LEGO Usonian Style House by Chris Brown, on Flickr LEGO Usonian Style House by Chris Brown, on Flickr LEGO Usonian Style House by Chris Brown, on Flickr LEGO Usonian Style House by Chris Brown, on Flickr LEGO Usonian Style House by Chris Brown, on Flickr