Age of Mitgardia - Farm Phase 2 - Up Sheep Creek

[mccoyed]

Some distance from where young Burri Aker takes Patches to eat, the Aker family's sheep have gotten a bit out of control.

Goda Aker plays her pan flutes and tries to corral them as best she can. Once they're all collected and accounted for, they'll have to be taken across the stream. Too bad it's in a sorry state of repair.

Good thing her husband, Burri's father, is there to fix it. Stannar Aker prefers fixing things to dealing with sheep and cows. They always get testy when he's around.

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Phase 1 Here

Builder's Notes:

I tried to do a more realistic riverbank here... not sure I really pulled it off! That staff in Goda's hand is supposed to be a shepherd's crook. I don't have any of the Brickforge ones so I had to improvise. Hopefully it looks all right. Maybe a simple staff would have made more sense.

[Slegengr]

Nice build, mccoyed!

I think the riverbank turned out pretty good, especially through the use of angles and color variation. I figured that was a shepherd's crook in Goda's hand, but it is a bit large and "un-curved" for my taste. I would not say not to use it though...

I like the simple foliage in the build, especially the small trees. The rickety bridge is nice as well.

Looking forward to phase III, mccoyed!

[MassEditor]

Fantastic build Evan, great colors and overall wonderful composition. Love the lushness of the scene and those great brick-built sheep (from which set is that cow?). The river looks good too, the carved out sections of the river bank is a technique I haven't seen but looks very natural. That's the type of river bank I look for when I go noodling! The only suggestion I would make is raising the ground adjacent to the river one plate above the water.

The crook looks great to me - personally, I prefer purism as much as possible so my hat's off to you for going with a realistic, brick-built version!

[mccoyed]

Nice build, mccoyed!

I think the riverbank turned out pretty good, especially through the use of angles and color variation. I figured that was a shepherd's crook in Goda's hand, but it is a bit large and "un-curved" for my taste. I would not say not to use it though...

I like the simple foliage in the build, especially the small trees. The rickety bridge is nice as well.

Looking forward to phase III, mccoyed!

Thanks, Sleg. I agree that the crook is too large and looks like a brown polearm or something. Any ideas on how to make it better and more curvy?

Fantastic build Evan, great colors and overall wonderful composition. Love the lushness of the scene and those great brick-built sheep (from which set is that cow?). The river looks good too, the carved out sections of the river bank is a technique I haven't seen but looks very natural. That's the type of river bank I look for when I go noodling! The only suggestion I would make is raising the ground adjacent to the river one plate above the water.

The crook looks great to me - personally, I prefer purism as much as possible so my hat's off to you for going with a realistic, brick-built version!

Thanks Patrick. I try to include a lot of rocks so everybody remembers its Mitgardia. I wish I had more olive/sand green stuff because I feel like a different shade of grass would also be better to evoke the North, as you and others have done. The cow is from Brick Forge actually, so much for purism. I do agree about the river bank needing to be one stud higher, but there's going to be a dam in Phase 3 so I think I may be justified. Can't wait to see what Kabel says hahaha.

I appreciate the compliment about the crook. I would prefer to have a Brickforge one, myself. I don't like to "overuse" 3rd party elements (as some do), but there's certain things I just like better for variety or detail. Sometimes, though, I use the 3rd party stuff just to justify the purchases. I wasn't as good at thinking around brick-building weapons and stuff like that when I started collected 3rd party stuff.

[Blufiji]

Very nice and peaceful feeling build.

[Slegengr]

Thanks, Sleg. I agree that the crook is too large and looks like a brown polearm or something. Any ideas on how to make it better and more curvy?

The first thought I had would be to turn the smaller brown handle 90 degrees (as a direct extension to the pole) and attach the cheese slope directly to the stud on the side, sloped to represent the leading edge of the crook curve. This would not make a true curve, but would be more to scale. Without trying it myself, I have no idea if this solution would look better than what you did.

One idea I had for a shepherd crook was to try to utilize the Indiana Jones whip as the curved end, but this would make a very coiled crook indeed!

I do like your solution, as I recognized it right away, and this is something at too small of a scale to build perfectly with only LEGO elements.

[kabel]

I really like the landscaping job you have performed here. The bank looks really great as do the brigde and the sheep. However, I'm not sold on the cow, I think Lego does a better job on them on its own.

[mccoyed]

Very nice and peaceful feeling build.

Thanks!

The first thought I had would be to turn the smaller brown handle 90 degrees (as a direct extension to the pole) and attach the cheese slope directly to the stud on the side, sloped to represent the leading edge of the crook curve. This would not make a true curve, but would be more to scale. Without trying it myself, I have no idea if this solution would look better than what you did.

One idea I had for a shepherd crook was to try to utilize the Indiana Jones whip as the curved end, but this would make a very coiled crook indeed!

I do like your solution, as I recognized it right away, and this is something at too small of a scale to build perfectly with only LEGO elements.

Actually, I did try the cheese on the end of the three-way handle. Looked even MORE like some kind of pole-hammer or something. :P

I really like the landscaping job you have performed here. The bank looks really great as do the brigde and the sheep. However, I'm not sold on the cow, I think Lego does a better job on them on its own.

Thanks Kabel! Thing is, I only have this cow. I've seen the TLG cows though, and I don't disagree with you. I just don't have any and I think they were too expensive on BL the times I've checked.

[Lord Vladivus]

Nice build- cool river bank!

[soccerkid6]

An easy way to do a shepherd's staff is to use a brown minifig hand attached to a bar:

Very good landscape, I like these banks better than your others. Another way you could try would be SNOT plates, like here:

[mpoh98]

Nice work! I like those trees, and the riverbank is nice! The landscaping is excellent, and the foliage/greenery looks fantastic! That rickety bridge is great as well. And those brickbuilt sheep are fantastic, looks familiar. ;) I love using that technique for goats and sheep as well.

I agree with Isaac, those small little details would add a lot to this already fantastic build!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

As, the rural topic continues.

Nice work on layout, nature and animals.

[de Gothia]

I like those river banks, looks very natural with one side carved out and the other is not. I´m not a fan of the brickforge cow though...

[mccoyed]

Nice build- cool river bank!

Thanks LV. I have a bunch of ideas, thanks to SK and Kabel and others, on how to do it even better next time!

An easy way to do a shepherd's staff is to use a brown minifig hand attached to a bar:

Very good landscape, I like these banks better than your others. Another way you could try would be SNOT plates, like here:

I tried to the shepherd's crook the way you built it, but felt it looked too small and flimsy. How come it looks so good in your build!? Should have went with that!

Those river banks look great, btw. Will definitely try that technique next time.

Nice work! I like those trees, and the riverbank is nice! The landscaping is excellent, and the foliage/greenery looks fantastic! That rickety bridge is great as well. And those brickbuilt sheep are fantastic, looks familiar. ;) I love using that technique for goats and sheep as well.

I agree with Isaac, those small little details would add a lot to this already fantastic build!

Do you know who started that technique for sheep and goats? I know I saw it here and on Flickr but have no idea who began it. Looking at SK's version again, I actually like the full stood 1x2 plates better.

As, the rural topic continues.

Nice work on layout, nature and animals.

Thanks Cap'n.

I like those river banks, looks very natural with one side carved out and the other is not. I´m not a fan of the brickforge cow though...

Thanks DG, but there's just no pleasing you purist types sometimes.

[mrcp6d]

Do you know who started that technique for sheep and goats? I know I saw it here and on Flickr but have no idea who began it.

It's been around for so long, who knows.

I've been racking my brain about the crook, haven't had bright ideas about how to turn the corner either.