Gabe

Excellent microscale Legonardo! It's triangular shape really helps the forced perspective to work by funnelling the eye, and the large house in the foreground has just the right amount of detail too. The photoshopped background also adds a lot to scene - even the rough outline works well. Top stuff!

Heh, nice to know that somwhere is relaxed and peaceful in midst of all the recent turmoil in Historica! Resemblences to a certain author's work aside, i really like the leaning tree and hobbit reclining on the hilltop with his pipe. You probably could have compressed the moc in size a bit though - i have noticed that sometimes you tend to use a bit more ground space than you actually need. The arch area around the door looks like it needs a bit of attention too - perhaps an overhanging lip of sod or grass etc to follow the contour of the hill. Anyway, lovely moc for a quick build!

Great to see you posting so soon after joining the guild, Kai NRG! I'm sorry i haven't had the chance to comment on this earlier, but i've been super-busy with work etc. The choice to go all-microscale for this challenge was a courageous one, as getting microscale right is a lot harder than it first appears - so bravo to you for that! You have created several elements within your build that work very well independently - the background mountains, clifftop castle and the wonderful dragon - but all together they seem a little too spread out to work well together. I would move the waterfall and castle two studs towards the mountain range and lose the righthand side with the sand dunes entirely - this would compress your stage and give the viewer a better idea of the relationship bewteen the different parts of your moc. Anyway, this is a brave entry and a great way to kick off your contribution to our guild - best of luck with the judging of the challenge !

Nice entry, hellboy! The microscale city on the top of the cliff looks perfectly scaled in your first shot, and very effective. The action scene of the soldiers fighting the water elemental is well handled too. I would have liked to see some more pics though - the top down shot shows off the microscale nicely, but i would have preferred some more close in shots of the fighting action. Best of luck in the challenge!

Nice tower, i really like the snow piled up on the roof and the woodwork on the upper section. The snow scattered on the grounds is an effective way to break up the ground too. I can't help thinking that it needs something in the front right hand corner though - there is a lot of open space there!

Great entry! I love the winepress, it's a really nice design. I also really like the way you have framed the scene, from the base with the arches (hinting at a hidden cellar?) to the double doors and tall walls. You didn't have to add the end section of high pitched roof, but i'm really glad you did cause it looks great! The only suggestion i'd have is to make a white backdrop to photograph you moc against, as the background in the first shot is a little distracting.

Great commerce entry Ecclesiastes! I really like the slanted road and the interior details. I don't mind the studs showing so much, but in certain instances the uniformity of the exposed studs is somewhat at odds with the surrounding detail - a good example is the floor of the butcher's shop. It's a easy fix though with a few tiles for raised flagstones. I also agree with the previous comments about the balcony - some supporting beams just below the roofline seem in order. Still, it feels churlish to nitpick considering the rate at which you produce great builds, and this one certainly has a lot of life in it! I really hope it joins up with some more mocs to create a city block, that would be something to see.

Agreed, i can't believe i missed this too! Very nice scene Captn BB, i like the way you have both a peaceful scene and then a later one under attack. The house is a lovely build and the paths and vegetation look very natural. I am a little confused by who the undead warriors are in the "under attack" pics tho... are they with the drow or some of Zakon's minions? Btw, i haven't always been a fan of your backgrounds and special effects, but you have really nailed it here! The top pic especially, the shadows around the build look really menancing and mirror the arc of the flames coming out of the dragon's mouth perfectly. Great work!

Great work jareth, very inventive. I love that fallen loghouse, especially with the tower for the archers! The way it comes apart is really neat too. Your faireground is nicely populated as well, and as usual your story is top notch. One thing i might suggest is to break up the flat area of ground that the faire is on with some platework, also those breaks between the baseplates are rather distracting.

Looks like your gatehouse is really coming along. I do like the way you got those shields to sit flush against the wall on the upper level... how did you manage that? I look forward to seeing the finished gatehouse!

Lol! You certainly ought to win something for "funniest entry"... the face of that guy on the battements is perfect!

I always look forward to your stories and this doesn't disappoint! You really have a very natural way of writing engaging dialouge. I do like the idea of the drow "warning" the rest of Historica by declaring thier intent to invade. The rock work in your moc is well done and i love the drow figs too.

Just astounding work, and very inspiring! I love the winding staircases and the profusion of so many different types of plants and vegetation. The overall layout and way the different hights are composed to draw your eye through to all the different details is outstanding as well. You guys are just the best!

Great to see all the entries that have come in for challenge 4 - now that i have a couple of free days i'm looking forward to having a good at everything. Robuko i particularly love your entry - really unique and inventive, and i love the Bosch reference! I've posted my microscale build now - sorry again for not making the deadline, but what can you do sometimes... I'm still working on it though and i should be able to post it as a free build soon. Btw, a pirate-off sounds like a great idea! Better get back onto my ship once i've finished the elemental build...

So sadly, i just couldn't make the challenge 4 deadline... life just completely swamped me in July. Not that this is by any means a bad thing (rl, that is), but i am a bit regretful that i couldn't post an entry in time. Still, i'll continue to work on my elemental scene and hopefully post it as a free build soon! In the meantime, i'm posting a small microscale free build to help my guild in the standings. This is the causeway garrison at the mainland side of the landbridge to Peregrinus. The gatehouse has a broad arch to allow the entry of large caravans, and is protected on both it's flanks by sharp outcrops of the tailing Rakath ranges. On the seaward side of the gatehouse, larger than life statues of Peregrinan ancestors watch over those who depart by land. The causeway surface has been graded and paved, and a stone railing erected to prevent any unfortunate accidents! It certainly is a long way to fall should you happen to go over the edge, and the stong waves and currents would ensure that any survivors would be mercilessly battered against the sharp rocks along the coastline. The earth below the garrison has deposits of both quartz and silver hiding in it's seams. Not only that, but somthing is stirring within a underground cavern... Thanks for looking peeps! C and c welcome as always, and best of luck to all that have entries in the challenge!

Another new member for Kaliphlin, hooray! Welcome Sebeus I! I can't wait to see what ships you cook up for the guild. Some bad news though fellow guild members - due to some recent heavy work schedules and other unforseen hiccups, i'm going to have to concede defeat in getting my guild challenge in on time. Up until a few days ago i still thought i might be in with a chance, but family obligations have reduced my building time over the coming weekend to nothing. I guess i could scale my WIP down and post it as is, but i don't really want to do that - i'd much rather post something that i'm happy with. I'll keep working on it anyways and post it up as a free build in the coming weeks. Anyway, i hope everyone's builds are going better than mine! Best of luck to everyone who has an entry in the challenge, i look forward to seeing them all. Go Kaliphlin!

Welcome Ageven Deraim to Kaliphlin! You have chosen a well-populated area of the guild to build in - you certainly will have plenty of neighbours. (and allies!) That's a great start on your challenge entry too - and btw, a nice idea to make it all microscale. I agree with Mikel that the foreground might need a bit of contouring so that it doesn't appear so flat. I do think the mountains in the background work well though. Really great entry Kayne, and well done you for being orginised enough not to leave it to the last minute! (Unlike me...) Thanks for the invite to your fair province - Starbowl looks to be a well-built city, and i'm sure it will recover from this latest attack. Btw, i love your ship Mikel! Your entry looks like it's going to be massive... Ok, so it's not Monday anymore (where i live anyway), but i still want to post this for *drumroll* Microscale Monday! Which should totally be a thing. I haven't made a topic for this yet as i am now off to the land of nod, although i may do so later.. Anyway, it's the causeway garrison at the head of the landbridge into Peregrinus. It might just give you a clue as to where my challenge 4 entry will be based. Happy building everyone!

Great entry Kayne! The lighthouse and the crane are really nice, and i like the jets of water radiating out from the elemental. The microscale is nicely handled too. Bah, this is obviously just a tiny elemental! Look i've even got my sword tucked in it's sheath backwards, that's how little i mind the ruckus. (Actually, i am a bit worried, but you have to keep up appearences around hard men like Saladus!)

Thanks mate! The winged centaur was originally one of Angeli's amazing minifig creations, he has graciously let me adopt that character. Expect to see more of Arinna Thunderbow in future mocs! Thanks so much for your kind words robuko! I am very happy that you have enjoyed so many aspects of my build.

Thanks fellas. Yeah, i agree, the head looks a little odd and doesn't really add anything to the model, so it's back to the drawing board i guess. I'll see what else i can come up with. "Better than expected", heh! Thanks Kayne. The idea of the foliage is a neat idea, but the terrain i'm imagining the elemental in doesn't have much in the way of vegetation, so it might not work so well. Ah dude, that sucks about your house! I can sympathise, i am renting too and it seems like the landlord here does nothing but jack up the rent every six months or so. I do hope you find a permenant solution soon! Btw, i reckon an all-microscale entry would be great - i think all you need is an element of FP to fit the rules. Also, i like the way you think about the well, that's a great idea! Thanks ZCerb. It actually does look a little like an armadillo from the back, as it has a sort of "rock plating" down it's spine and even a little tail. Nicely spotted! Cheers Cara! The large earth orange wedge peices actually for the creatures olecranon process, or bone behind the elbow joint (although it's attached to the creature's upper arm, rather than the forarm as it is in humans) I was going for a mix of earthy colours, but perhaps dark bley would work better... hmm. Heh, that's a neat part for the water elemental face! I look forward to seeing your elementals. Thanks for your feedback rogueang. I reckon i'll be going back and revisiting the head, although one thing i want to keep is the rough head/body proportions - i kind of see the elementals as being more brawn than brain, not to mention a larger head would tip the model too far forward!

That sounds really cool - i look forward to your next update! I have finally made a start on challenge 4 - starting out as many have by building an elemental. This is my first go at a rock/earth elemental - i thought that the Shelob face would look more menancing, but possibly it just makes it look a bit cutesy? Idk, what do you guys reckon?

Just stunning work. The way the fortress sits nestled into the rockwork is outstanding. The action with the exploding wall is very neat too. Way to set the bar for future Helm's Deep mocs!

Wow, that's looking really nice Kayne! The lighthouse and the rockwork look great and i love the little crane. The broiling of the water around the (invisible! ) elemental is nicely handled too. So will this be the direction of the main shot once you have finished? I only ask cause perspective can be an issue when you come to build your microscale component. The other thing to keep in mind is that the scene should show "elemental devestation", so you might want to include some of your buildings in the process of being swamped or crushed, as opposed to the first moment of attack when all the buildings are still standing. Anyway, it's great to see your WIP, it looks so promising! Can't wait to see more. I've made a start on my challenge 4 build as well - am in the process of making some elementals which i'll post here as a WIP soon.

Thanks Mikel! I rather partial to the tree too... i've torn down the building now in preperation for my challenge build, but i've kept the cypress for a later project. Aw shucks, thanks for the kind words DaMaximus! I'm really glad you enjoyed my build. No worries. The first image shows Angeli's brilliant original fig on the left, and my version of the character on the right. The second image shows a little bit of how the wings are connected.

It is quite fascinating to read about how other ppl have ranked the series so far, as it's something that i have had a bit of trouble deciding for myself! I liked rogueang's method a lot, so i sat down and did some ranking for myself, with some modifications to his method: ~Every fig was scored 1 to 5, no zeros. ~I didn't limit myself to one score of 5 or 1 per series, but just went on my overall gut feeling for each fig. ~In addition to this raw score, i also calculated the the awesome/dross ratio (scores of 4 and 5 over scores of 1 and 2) ~I also created an extra statistic to represent the "M" factor, or how many multiples i bought of those figs that scored either a 4 or a 5. So, how did each series stack up for me? Series 1: score of 48, awesome/dross (hereafter known as a/d)= 1.333, M factor 2 (artificially low as i scored no zombies or nurses, just having come out of my dark ages at the time! Probably should have been about 12) Series 2: score of 42, a/d = 0.375, M factor 5 (Also low - should have got more Spartans! Should be about 10) Series 3: score of 46, a/d = 0.75, M factor 26 (Mainly due to the elf! ) Series 4: score of 48, a/d = 1.667, M factor 16 Series 5: score of 48, a/d = 1.333, M factor 11 Series 6: score of 50, a/d = 1.5, M factor 24 Series 7: score of 53, a/d = 2.0, M factor 19 Series 8: score of 51, a/d = 1.667, M factor ?? (anticipate about 15-16) If you had asked me to list the series from best to worst before doing the ranking, i probably would have scored series 3 and 4 higher and 1 and 8 lower than the stats suggest, however i still would have ranked 7 first and 2 last. The score of series 8 really surprised me, as on first inspection i wasn't that impressed. But perhaps it has suffered the curse of trying to follow the amazing series 6, which was a multiples bonanza, and 7, which was just an outstanding series. This effect of the previous series on my subjective evaluation might also explain my high opinion of series 3, coming as it did after the series 2 shocker. (that, and the elf didn't hurt either... ) Well. This has been an enjoyable way to spend a Monday evening.