Gabe

Really nice solid build Soccerkid! The symmetry of the compositon and the way the building fills the bulk of the stage makes it looks quite squat and menancing - i wouldn't want to be trying to storm it! The roofing looks great and i kinda like the fire retardant foliage too. Good to see such a fully fleshed out interior too. I have mixed feelings about the lava though - it looks great but i can't help feeling that the repeating pattern in it is a little too regular? Especially at the base of the fall from the rock face - uneven cooling might produce unstable bits of crust, volatile gases might produce puffs or even spouts of flame, etc. I really like the lighting but it's a shame that you couldn't get the right lava fall to light up. UoPwise, I'm totally happy with giving you +1 for roofing, extreme environs and Life in Nocturnus. I will also say +1 to lighting, mainly because it can be so tricky and i feel like you've had a red hot (haha ) go here, but i'd love to see you revise this to really nail that lava glow. (I know that's a pain and a fair bit of work tho!)

Thanks for your kind words mrcp6d! Yeah i love my dark card backgrounds. Haven't used them in a while but they felt perfect for this. Thanks Kayne! I liked the tower effect too with the liftarms in there. It's a bit of a shame that it's so super fiddly, although i guess a straight wall would be easier to constuct. it'd be interesting to see it on a larger scale. I just wish Lego still made these in black or grey!

Thanks Gunman! I'm thinking about making the raising of the "pet shade" part of my cat A entry.. continuity and all that, even if it is a little out of sequence. Thanks Lord Vladivus! Yeah i hadn't seen anyone combine the technic and system techniques of building round walls either so i was keen to have a go. It's a bit fiddly as the technic liftarms don't seem to quite fit the "5 plates high/2 studs long" formula we are all so familar with, plus there are quite a few half-plate gaps where i had to maintain the brickwork pattern. It adds a bit to the feel of a crumbly old tower i guess! Thanks Soccerkid! I was a bit worried that the top of the tower would look a bit bloated and randomly plonked on there, so i'm glad that you think it works well. ThanksMKJoshA! Curved staircases are quite easy as long as you give them some good support underneath. The trickiest part i find is filling in/covering the sides. Thanks NM! Yeah, as soon as i saw Tiberium Blue's T'Met Monastery , i rushed out and bought up a heap of 1x2 liftarms. They were pretty cheap then - maybe 5-7c/part? No idea how much they are now. I know there isn't a lot of rockwork as it's a pretty small moc - although there are 3 seperate patches of snotted rockwork visible from the front angle. But i'm happy with whatever you decide is fair. Thanks gedren!

Maybe all the back injuries just means that we are a more mature lot than the other guilds? Everytime ppl start talking about pick-a-brick i start sighing with envy.... no Lego brand store anywhere in Australia, possibly the region too. (not sure about Singapore or HK?) Still, at least there is always BL for my loose brick needs. Anyway, i've got another build up - not Kaliphlin though, this time for challenge 1 (catagory B). Click the pic to check out Stranglehold tower! C and C welcome as always. I've also claimed for a few UoP credits for this, so if you can spare the time, i'd really appreciate it if you guys could assess this. Thanks!

For my Stranglehold tower build, i would like to claim credit for the following subjects please: Round walls/towers (architecture), Sideways rocks and Studs-up rocks (both landscape design), and Fortification (Millitary Science). Thanks!

Rutger Van Stappenbelt looked out on the dreary, narrow mountain pass he had been charged with capturing and defending in the name of the Black Spire. Originally he had been a Valyrian noble with a dubious past - a minor official in the diplomatic corp, it was nevertheless whispered that he held much power to influence the right people. During the Revolward war he had been sent to Petraea, but was found guilty of passing intellegence to Hand of corruption forces during the battle of Queenscross. Thrown into prison to await execution, the charismatic noble managed to engineer a prisioner revolt and in the ensuing chaos, he escaped with a small band of hardened criminals. Managing to make his way to Nocturnus, he once again joined forces with his hand paymasters. His right hand man and bodygaurd, Badrig Headtaker, shifted impatiently by his side. "Sire, the main minotour force will be arriving soon to retake the tower. With your permission, i shall move to block the pass - I am eager to show these Nocturnian dogs to thier graves!" "Nay good Badrig, stay a while yet. No sense in risking our skins yet in open combat. Yuraddek Shadowsinger has not yet returned from scouting and laying her snares. Besides, any Nocturnian scum that do manage to make it this far will have to deal with Master Blight's pet shade... how does one fight the deathless? It should be entertaining to watch!" Small footprint i know - this was originally going to be for Cat 1, but i just kept building up and up and finally thought what the heck, lets just call it a tower. Back side of the tower - not that interesting but i quite liked that window. None shall pass who do not bear allegience to the Black Spire! C and c welcome! ps. UoP stuff: i would like to claim credit for the following subjects please: Round walls/towers (architecture), Sideways rocks and Studs-up rocks (both landscape design), and Fortification (Millitary Science). Thanks!

Oh dear, it sounds like everyone is in the wars! Makes my 2 fillings that i need to have done seem pretty tame. (had to go to the dentist today- yuck) I hope things pick up for you all soon. Eryn, that sucks about yr back, i can sympathise cause i have to be careful with my lower back as well (an old injury), it's part of the reason i build standing up. With regards UP voting, if we have 3 regulars (Gideon, Gedren and me) and say 3-4 more casual ppl then things should get moving quicker. Thanks Kayne for chipping in with your votes and thanks everyone else for saying you'll help as well. How about we give it a week or so and then reassess how the certification system is going, if it's still slow then maybe we ought to look at roping someone else from another guild. (The "guest lecturer" idea. ) Stay safe everyone!!

That's certainly something to look at if we can't raise enough members to help us vote on things quickly. I wouldn't be adverse to going that way, but i'd prefer it if we could find enough Kali ppl in the first instance. What do others think?

Excellent build Z! I do like how your build has a more expansive feel than the original, which the addition of extra ground gradient, landscaping and that lovely winding path. The shutters are super attractive too. I think i still prefer the roofline of the original better, but this is a wonderful homage!

Sweet entry! The close reds and oranges work so well together and that tree makes a great backdrop.

Some really great shaping in this - the crazy planking looks amazing. I like the angry-looking dude with the barrel on his back too. A little more vegetation or sparse greenery on the ground would really make this pop, but i know how it feels to be restricted for parts.

Ok, sorry guys i meant to do a UP update last week but i forgot. Oops! Anyway, we are still short on voting for a number of mocs; mrcp6d - Retreving blue stinger wings - needs 2 votes (for big tree only) mrcp6d - Mage's barracks - needs 1 vote (1 against 1x1 walls) Soccerkid - Nordhiem village - needs 2 votes Tomsche - AoM storehouse - needs 3 votes (1 against) Gabe - Dragon Card - needs 2 votes Gideon - Barqua City Gaurd Barracks - needs 2 votes Gideon - Kaligem Card - needs 1 vote Wedge - Tower Card - needs 2 votes (1 against) Penkid - Stalkhead beach - needs 1 vote on waves, minifig posing and oceanside; needs 3 votes on sideways rocks (2 against) Please let me know if i've missed anything! It seems that Gideon, gedren and myself are doing the bulk of the voting/assesing, which sadly isn't enough to get people's builds to the 4 votes they need for certification... it would be really cool if another 3 or 4 more Kaliphlin members could chip in and help us out. It doesn't take much time to do and it helps you to look at mocs more critically, which is a skill that helps you to become a better judge of your own creations as well! Note: New members, if you haven't checked out the Petraea uni Wiki, all the info you need is here, oh and the registration and tracking threads are on the first page of this thread as well. NM, i am really sorry to hear about your Dad, btw - i hope he has a speedy recovery with you looking after him. Sad to be away from your bricks as well - no opportunities for a shopping trip where your dad lives? (Being away from my stash always makes me want to hit the toy stores!) Ow! That's not a fun ligament to tear. Will you need a reconstruction? Get well soon, and enjoy the extra building time in the meanwhile!

Thanks Kabel! It's actually built on a pretty basic spine of plates modified with bars and clips, with the triple bar modified 1x2 plates on the back to get those exo-force arms to come out at a nice angle and hide the sides. It's a bit gappy still, but the magic of photography fixes all! Thanks Torgar, glad you like it!

+1 for minifig posing, very nicely done and illustrates the story well! Also happy to approve +1 for ocean/sea side geography, good to see a nice natural curve to the coastline there. I initially wasn't sure about the waves claim as i didn't feel that there was enough motion conveyed in the water part of the build, but i'll give it as the scumbling of the surface with the loose elements could indicate small shore waves. Just a note on that - sandy shores do have a gradient, so it helps to show this by building up the sand from the water's edge. (As it is, it looks like yr figs are in danger of getting thier feet wet! ) Sadly i can't approve the sideways rocks credit as i agree with Gideon that i'd like to see more than just a single slab with a flat surface. you could improve it by adding more sideways layers to the rock formation to make it look more natural, but to be honest it looks a little out of place and i think you'd be better off claiming for it in a different moc.

Thanks for the great review Cpt. Nemo! Liking the look of this set much more than it's bigger cousin - pity it's retailing for $40 AUD over here. I'll certainly be looking for it come the post xmas sales!

Thanks for the great review Masked builder! The set looks reather uninspiring, sadly, i keep unfavourably comparing it in my mind to the Mines of Moria set - it being of a similar size and colour palette. The parts list is pretty boring for the most part and i find the bald minifigs annoying too. On the plus side, i do love that radagast fig and the 2x2 round tiles with hole look very interesting!

Thanks Niku! It doesn't have much articulation actually as the elements in the body are quite tighty packed together. But it's good to hear that it gives that impression. Thanks Gunman! Thanks Emma! I confess i went back to look at your entry a few times while building this - the lines you were able to achieve in your dragon were certainly an inspiration. Thanks Masa! Thanks fellas!

Great sense of humour in this! I really like the landscaping too - the angled aquaduct with it's frozen waterfall and the mountain peak behind make a wonderful backdrop to the action. And that jester sure does have a sweet ride!

Creepy! The landscaping is great, i really like the mix of attached and semi attached elements for the ground- it's effective without looking too cluttered and adds a lot of realism to the scene. I am guessing that the recruiters got themselves recruited to an even darker cause... i look forward to seeing how your story plays out!

What a cool idea! I'll be following this thread with interest!

Yeah, maybe with a hatch or stairs and some fancy crenellation work or something, that sounds reasonable to me!

Nice entry Wedge! The gold base is my fav part, with the direction tiles - a really cool touch. I can't help but feel though that the tower could use a bit more hight. It looks a bit too squat to me, and being centred in the middle of the base doesn't help that impression. If you raised one of the corners by about 3 bricks that might help the composition a bit? Also, one of the things that makes microscale work is the relationship between various recognisable elements in the build - adding microscale trees, scattered masonery on the ground, a tiny caravan passing etc would really help you to set the scale in this - as it is it could be almost any scale. For this reason i'm not 100% comfortable yet with giving you a credit for microscale, but if you revised it i'd be happy to look at it again.

The windswept lines in the sand look great and that's a clever design for the sun.

Nice barracks Gideon! It looks very well stocked and manned, if the parade ground is anything to go by. The covered walkway and the windows on the first floor look great, and the little touches like the shrubs under the windows and the covered tables add a lot of appeal. I'd say best of luck in the comp, but you seem to be the only entrant in cat 1... UoP wise, definitely +1 for Millitary Science (millitary camp), Life in Kaliphlin and advanced windows. Sorry but i can't approve the roof credit - there just isn't enough of it to indicate mastery and what there is is pretty basic (although it works well in the moc!).

I'm happy if you want to extend the deadline for the comp. Hope you have a great time on your honeymoon!