AoM: Archery, Phase I: A Shipment Goes Missing

[DrColossus]

In the valley south of Pikesteel, west of the Bay of Storms, a stream flows. If you follow the stream south, where it empties into a pleasant little pond, you'll find the tiny village of Raven's Eye, where Olin the Smith has recently come to dwell. Northeast of the village, there is a small bridge over the stream. Sometimes travelers take this route, walking over grass, stone, mud and snow between the dwarves of Pikesteel and the men of the Great Elk clan.

Now, a man drags a cart through the mud, bound for Great Elk lands. He hates this place, Mitgardia. He hates the cold and the snow, and when the snow melts he hates the mud. He hates the cold streams that feed the land and the sour green apple trees that grow from it. And he hates traveling through it alone. Mitgardia is a hard, cold land. It's not place for a solitary traveler on a mission.

Unfortunately for him... he is not alone. Two archers watch him pass, and talk quietly to each other from their concealment behind the tree.

"What d'ya reckon's in the cart, mate?" asked the one with the crossbow.

"Well, let's review the facts," said the other. "When he came out of Pikesteel, the cart was a lot heavier than when he went in. And now he's on the way to the clans. So let's say he picked up a whole lot of gold there, shall we?"

"Oh, let's."

"Now, we've seen others of his kind lately, haven't we?"

"Oh, we have."

"And where they go, trouble seems to follow, doesn't it?"

"Oh, it does."

"Well then. Let's see if we can't give him a little trouble in return. Shall we have some target practice, my friend?"

"By all means!" And with that, the one with the crossbow stepped from her place of concealment and put a bolt straight through the man's helmet. He tumbled into the mud at the foot of the bridge. When they searched his belongings, they found quite a nice pile of gold indeed. More interesting, however, they found a letter written in the runes of the clans, addressed to a minor kinsman of the chief of all the Great Elk. They decided to go south to Raven's Eye, to see about improving the strength of Mitgardian forces in this valley.

Notes: First time landscaping! I built it up from a frame underneath like that huge Medieval village tutorial suggested. The water is various trans-blue pieces on top of solid blue plates, except for the part where it drops down which is trans-clear cheese. I'm going to slightly re-work and expand on this to build out the village of Raven's Eye for another MoC, and then the Archery Phase II and III and Stable Phase III pieces. Then it will be on to the thrilling finale of this chapter of Olin's story!

Also I'll probably claim some UoP credits, but I haven't figured out what, or how to do that yet. I'm having trouble getting the perfect photos of this, partly due to the angles and partly because my lighting hasn't been great lately even with the window wide open. There's some rockwork in the back-left that I haven't been able to show at all yet. I'm thinking of taking a higher-angle shot just to show the landscape, but I'll try that tomorrow.

Edited February 26, 2014 by DrColossus

[mrcp6d]

The stream looks good from a structural perspective--especially for your first attempt, but if you've got them, or can acquire them, some wedge plates to round the blocky edges would help make it look more natural in my opinion.

[HammerBro]

That stream does look amazing, particularly for your first attempt. And the wedge plates help a lot with connecting the ground layers. (grass to dirt to water…) Great build!

[MKJoshA]

For a first go at it, this is an incredible build on many accounts! Great use of foliage and I love the river! Do watch out to make sure all your bricks are connected all the way. On your first picture part of the bridge isn't connected

[Gunman]

Great landscaping for 1st time dude. Also nicely thought entry!

[mpoh98]

Great story! Nice landscaping for a first try! I agree with mrcp6d, some slopes or wedge plates would help immensely. Great job!

[de Gothia]

This is such an improvement from you! This is looking very good I think! The vegetation and the landscape are really great!

Some tips

Try to improve your edits. Right now you can see some spots where you have bricks that are edited as well!

Take a photo of the whole moc. Right now you have cut of the edges...

But this is so good! Great work!

[soccerkid6]

Very good landscape neat story too

[DrColossus]

... if you've got them, or can acquire them, some wedge plates to round the blocky edges would help make it look more natural in my opinion.

...And the wedge plates help a lot with connecting the ground layers. (grass to dirt to water…)

I agree! Unfortunately, I am basically lacking all wedges that aren't black or white (from old sets of spaceships [spaceships! SPACESHIPS!]), so I will have to think of something. Maybe if I scatter some round studs around it would "soften" the edges, especially if I lay some of the flat leaf/plant things around... I'll take a crack at it and post something new.

Do watch out to make sure all your bricks are connected all the way. On your first picture part of the bridge isn't connected

Agh! I missed that! That bridge is quite rickety... (I'll fix it )

Try to improve your edits. Right now you can see some spots where you have bricks that are edited as well!

I agree. I've been using the "fuzzy select" tool in Gimp but it tends to go where it shouldn't. I'm trying to learn the "paths" tool. However, now that I'm using whiteboard behind the MOC I might just be able to post it as-is.

Take a photo of the whole moc. Right now you have cut of the edges...

Thanks! I'm trying to find an angle that isn't too high but still captures everything, but I'm having trouble. Maybe I'll just try a few and we'll see how it looks.

Thanks again for all your comments and encouragement! I'll try to get back tomorrow with some new pics.

[DrColossus]

OK, took me a little while, but I've got a new photo. I'm now making mods to it and adding pieces on for the next part of the build, so it'll look somewhat different next time you see it (hopefully in a few hours!). The little step-down water effect with the transparent cheese wedges is hidden by the apple tree here, but it'll show better in the next build. I did a little rock-work to the left of the bridge but I have a long way to go on rocks, I think. Thanks again for the comments!

[Garmadon]

Great pic, nice job on the landscaping, especially near the river

It could probably use a bit more variation on the green part, though

Excellent for your first

[MKJoshA]

I really like the changes you made and seeing a larger view pictures is great. Good job!