Gabe

Nice tribe Torgar! I really like the tall tree and the Kassava bushes! The only nitpick i have is that the foreground looks a little bare and under-utilised, perhaps contracting the base at the front and sides would make the whole composition look tighter.

Very interesting landscaping Cristoph! The black "tangles" (undergrowth? trees? ruined iron structures?) remind me a bit of Shannon Sproule's "Midnight in the Forest" (after Max Ernst) I'm curious to see how the tangle would look at different densities... from a few scrubby bushes to a huge foreboding structure that almost engulfs the road ahead. Having a gradient on the road too could increase the dramatic appeal - you could either decend into the unknown or toil uphill into an uncertain future. Anyway, i'm keen to see more of Abu Ali on his quest for truth and knowledge. Will you be continuing this storyline? (Btw, the way you narrate this sounds like poetry - very beautiful!) ps. I highly encourage you to check out Shannon's MOC here if you haven't seen it already!

Great build, very enjoyable to look at. The snow on the roof and battlements is very well done. You've intergrated that large stonework-patterned panel beautifully too - it looks perfect on the upper story there.

Beautiful micro build yet again. the doorway and the little wooden outhouse on the side of the stone building are my fav parts.

Oh absoloutly, i'm not unhappy with my posting at all, sorry if i gave that impression! Just a cautionary tale about anticpating the outcome of a coin toss. Anyway i had a high old time butchering minifigs for new characters last night, so i'm already in the Spire frame of mind. Oh and i'd love to be involved in a large Spire PM to discuss ideas and stuff, count me in!

Haha i was hoping to get picked for Nocturnus in challenge I, as i had a pretty cool story all mapped out for that faction... so of course i get picked for Black Spire. Lol, back to the drawing board i guess... starting with a few new characters!

Yeah i thought that too! A robot Betty Slocum. Get the cat lady and you can make her pussycat as well. I'm pleasantly surprised by this wave... lots of useful peices. Not so great for heads though but whatevs, i'll take it!

Yay, good to see you back NM! Glad to hear you survived Disneyland. I like the changes you have made to the wiki although it seems some terms still need clarifying. Things i don't quite understand atm: 1) what is roof rake? I thought it was just the angle of a roof (eg. a steeply raked roof makes snow slide off the eaves more efficiently), but is it an actual physical part of the roof itself? Also, how is that subject distinct from roofing? Also, do we need to suggest roofing styles for ppl in way we do for walls? eg plates, planking tiles, cheese slopes, round tower roofing (wedge plates etc), thatching, slate tiles (flippers etc) turf roof etc etc 2) What is advanced SNOT? studs at angles other than 90 or 180 degrees to upright? Builds with studs in 3 or more directions? Builds where the majority of the studs are not facing up in the build? (eg. upside down building) We certainly need some more guidelines for ppl here. 3) In the millitary catagory, does the fortification build have to be shown under seige? Might it not be kinder to ppl with smaller parts inventories to seperate seige equipment from permenant fortifications? Of course, ppl could still combine the two catagories in the same moc. 4) With "shipping by sea" (under trade and law), could we include things like river barges (and possibly locks and other river technology) in that? Maybe expand to "terrestial goods transport" and "aquatic goods transport?" Nitpicking now i know... sorry! 5) With "brick-built animals" (under ag and zoology), i'd personally love to see that expanded into minifig scale and larger than minifig scale, but it might be hard on ppl with few parts. However what i'd hate for this catagory to become is an "easy credit" where ppl just pop in a tiny 3-part bird of someone else's design and claim for it. Perhaps we should clarify what is expected of builders in this section? 6) For the "Life in..." (the different guilds) section, given that the course is open to all, should the mandatory build be in the builder's home guild, rather than stipulating that it must be Kaliphlin? Mind you, i'm not against the concept of making all students build in Kaliphlin per se , but perhaps it would make the inter-guild students feel more at home. On another note, i can relate to both Gideon and Ska's viewpoints when it comes to the title levels and the peer review system. I agree with Ska that titles are more of a "levelling up" thing and that all mocs should be judged at an equal level... competent or not yet competent! I am with Gideon however in wanting to see ppl being really critical of builds that are claiming for credits - if a build ticks all the boxes for it's subjects but is clearly lacking in other areas, i think that should be grounds for asking the builder to re-submit. In fact, the assessment side of the equation perhaps needs further clarification as well, so that all Kali members with voting powers are on the same page and all students have confidence in the process. Anyway i've got to go now so i'll leave it there for the moment. But i have to say that i'm excited that this project is so close to going live!

Wow, team Black Spire i guess it is then! Time to get my evil on....

Ah yes, I recall that convo now, thanks for the reminder. Would have helped if i'd read through the wiki again before posting! Well that sounds cool. How about one more quick round of subject revision (say 5-7 days to allow ppl to respond) before we open enrollments? (Hopefully NM will pop in and let us know what he thinks!) And then i guess we should make a MoH Registrar's thread for tracking progress. I like that format for adding MoH thread entries - it'd be nice to see that made a standard. Personally i think the most pressing areas for revision are the inclusion of a military discipline and tweaking of landscape design and geography to avoid duplication. Military discipline could include temporary encampments, permenant fortifications and seige equipment. Landscape design should replace "normal" rocks with "studs up" rocks to avoid confusion. Maybe remove cliffs from Geography (merge with mountains?) and add extreme environments. (lava etc) What do others think? Duuuude... that is pretty sweet looking! Can't wait to see more pics! And totes that will count for uni credits i'm sure. Nice small build Kai, i like the roof ends. Man, that sucks... my sister had the same issue with her wedding, the whole thing got hijacked by her partner's mum and ended up way more elaborate than originally planned. Hope you and your wife-to-be can unwind and enjoy the honeymoon at least.

Jawdropping work Maydayartist, this has to be just about the last word in realistic Lego ships, i certainly can't think of one finer! Thanks for posting all the WIP pics too - it looks incredibly complex in there. I'll certainly be coming back to pore over all the beautiful deatils.

Oh i hear you about the labelling situation - i tried that once and it stayed consisant for about... 2 weeks? But one or two tackle box splits later and all of a sudden nothing makes sense anymore. I find it's better just to rummage around based on where i remember seeing something last. Yeah i was wondering if that could work... it might be hard for ppl to keep track of thier units tho (if subjects gets merged or dropped for instance). Although i guess if we have a master post of university/course news like we do for challenges, we can quickly let ppl know of any changes?

Wow what a stunning display! Your castle is beautiful and i really like the town at the other end as well. 'Tis a layout to be proud of for sure.

Nice set-up Gideon, i do like those drawers on the left. I wish i had a few more pull out drawers, rather than the million and one tackle boxes i have atm. Regarding the Uni course structure, it would be good to get NM's input before we open up enrolment, seeing as how he's done such a magnificent job with the wiki. I'm guessing all we really need to do is finalise the number of disciplines and subjects?

I'm planning on getting a couple of the MEA, we'll see i guess. Figs look great, some nice parts in there (Reddish brown gothic half-arches? Yes please!) and i can always use more tan. I ended up with 3 Uruk-hai battle packs and it wouldn't surprise me if that happened again with this new set.

These look great SandMirror! I think the Prof's hat looks ok, but wasn't it grey and had a shorter brim in the books? (Been a long time since i read them, trying to remember!) Mybe you could try to cut the brim on the fedora and paint it, but it might be too much effort and it looks pretty good as is. Going to put them in any mocs?

Very nice build deGothia and lovely that it's a homage as well. The addition of the fence to seperate the foreground and the middle ground is a great compositional device and is well used here. The chicken coop (and behind it - is that a woodshed?) is a very sweet depiction of the ordinary life that goes on behind the facade of the house. Dividing the moc up into three parts like this is a very simple yet effective way to sustain the viewers interest, and also gets around the "back wall syndrome" where one or more sides of the moc look unfinished. I would personally love to see if there is an interior like Mikey's seamstress build, but there is certanly enough going in the moc as it is. Sorry about banging on a bit deGothia but the point i'm trying to make is that the elements and principles of design are vastly more important than size or detail and you have certainly delivered on the former here.

Nice looking building Candia, it certainly is a decent size! I like the balcony the best, although i can't help feeling that the eaves of the roof should extend out to fully cover it at the sides. The milk bottles (or something stronger?) out the front are a nice touch too. I look forward to seeing the continued adventures of Azulf. ps. What is this "perverse book" you speak of?

Stunning build Legonardo, just brilliant. I imagine that timber story would have needed very steady hands to assemble. Although i have to wonder - if the timber story is at such a dramatic angle, how come the roof is still upright? (It must be some of that Dark Isles magic! )

Mmm, yeah i'm in sorting mode at the moment - want to get my building space kinda orginised again. Just picked up the Lion Chima temple thing the other day too - mainly for the bright light orange colour but there are plenty of other nice parts in there too! Speaking of it being quiet in here, should we resume talking about the Petrea university course structure again? It would be cool to see ppl start claiming credits with all the challenges there are to build for.

Thanks again peeps for all your kind words. Ah hi Sandmirror, glad to hear from you again after our chat on the weekend! Thanks mate, i'm really glad you enjoyed seeing it. Now, are you sure we can't recruit you to Kaliphlin?

Wonderful build Kai, you really do have a good feel for microscale. This has to be my favourite of your builds - the winding road, the carriage with those lovely horses, the castle wall texture and the small cascading waterfall - all the different elements mesh with each other so well. It just has a sense of rightness that makes me want to keep coming back to admire it some more! I only have one small suggestion, and that's to brighten your pics a bit - when you have a build this nice you really want to show it off.

Great tower Z, very intimidating! I really like the rockwork base with it's nooks and crannies, it complements the tower well. The bridge between the larger and smaller towers is neat too. Puts Orthanc in the shade for sure. Great work getting the pics to come out so well too btw... sounds like it took a bit of perseverance!

Aw yeah... this is just beautiful! I'll support it for sure... i'd love to see this made into an official set!.

Super microscale Kai! I've just been at another Lego show so i'm a bit tired for catching up with mocs tonight, but i'll definitely check it out properly tomorrow. Sounds really cool Gedren... i look forward to seeing it. Welcome to Kaliphlin Thomas! I'm glad to hear that my lecture theatre build went some way to helping you choose a guild. Sounds like you have some good advice from other guildies already. I look forward to seeing and reading your intro! Yayyyyy! So glad yr staying.. Kaliphlin wouldn't be the same without you Robuko!