mccoyed

Thanks SK!

Thanks! Yeah, I can see how that might seem strange. But there's a reason. My thinking there was that it's autumn and only the first snows have fallen. There's still enough heat and sun to get rid of some of it, but there are a few deeper drifts still hanging on until it REALLY gets into the snowy season. This happens a lot in Canada during the last months of autumn and again in spring. Some snow just stubbornly holds on long after or long before it's the right time. :D

I dig this. Is the border with its varying colors meant to convey banded sediment layers? If not, you may want to put a border around builds this size just to increase the quality of the presentation.

Thanks, fellows!

Great mount. If I can offer one piece of criticism, it would be that some of the extra little bits like the horn pieces attached by clip could be removed or replaced with something smoother and your build wouldn't lose anything.

He means the next big Historica Challenge/Chapter of Book 2 is going to be Mitgardia.

Wonderful idea! I am a bit biased though because I love octopi. Which guild has this underwater technology!? Feels like a Kaliphlin innovation to me. I like your turtles a lot. Where are those male torsos from though?

Definitely looks better now. That lower branch is a bit awkward but a nice touch in theory because it implies that one could climb the tree. Lego trees often don't look very climbable haha.

For sure. Don't consider it a criticism. I just meant it as an excuse to talk shop about building techniques and aesthetics. We don't do that enough around here!

Nice build Lord Vladivus. I like Taun-Li a lot as a character. He's silly looking, naturally, but sounds like a badass. I can reproduce him with my own collection... would you mind if I featured him in a build if I ever have an idea for one? Love the barbarians also. The landscaping is wonderfully blended and varied for a relatively small space. I would maybe add a border of some kind for presentation.

Thanks MKJoshA! About the roof: I'm actually really pleased with its shape as I captured what I had in mind pretty much exactly. I can see in the photos that the central piece is a bit off kilter which is unintentional. It's minor and hard to notice, but it may be what you mean? Can you elaborate, though? This is my first GoH house and I want to learn whatever I can for next time. This time I tried my own technique, and the result is considerably less elaborate than most of the late-medieval houses GoH builders seem to prefer. Yeah! I don't know why I find them so inspiring but I keep having ideas. Thanks. MAB is correct. I got the part from BrickArms. I only have a couple as they're hard to keep from losing. Thanks, Scaevola. I definitely wanted to broaden the chobo out a bit since it's both a rare animal and highly prized. Part of the reason you don't see them kept as much as horses or cattle in Mitgardia is because they grow so large eventually that a modest ranch like Muninn can't keep them. Muninn may be more effectively thought of as a sort of wildlife refuge until the chobos are adults. Chobos go through life phases at roughly the same rate as humans, so it takes over a decade for a hatchling like the one shown here to reach the size of Kensley. Another 5+ years to reach the size of the one in my Mount Up! build. The tension between the warfare uses and the scene here will be the focus of Phase 3. Thanks! I am still experimenting with different tree styles every time. I agree with you about this kind of trunk but am not sure what I would change to keep the same shape. I think so far my favorite way to make trees is with the brown arches that TLG designed for that purpose. Thanks Behemoth! I love those Vikings shield-dishes but have a hard time finding uses for them. They're so large it's sorta hard to use them with minifigs effectively in a MOC. They work really well as decoration, though, especially to add color to a wooden (plainly built) structure like this house.

True. Thanks! Yeah. Not sure I'd do it the same next time! Thanks! Yup. The irony is that if I was using my old lights, it would look much better haha. But really, the colors are too close. I think I would try and build the tree around the statue more next time, like the statue is carved from the tree. Thanks!

Stables Phase 2: Muninn Ranch

The Pale God / McCoyed / Mitgardia AoM Phase 2: Muninn Ranch / McCoyed / Mitgardia

It's autumn at the Muninn Ranch, where Bergir is master. He and his wife live in this house, while Eindrin and his family's home is a few miles away. He has come with his children to visit the ranch and check on the eggs he has brought. One day, he will replace Bergir as master of the ranch since all Bergir's sons died long ago and only Eindrin remains to carry on the trade. Eindrin is quite excited by the hatchling, too excited to clean up the egg shells while Bergir attempts to feed it. Because it is an orphan, it falls to Bergir to give it its first meal. Eindrin thinks the hatchling is one of the legendary white chobos that Mitgardians occasionally claim to see in the mountains. Bergir knows better. "All chobo are born white of feather, boy." "Oh." Away from the grown-ups, Eindrin's children play in the snow that will soon cover the ranch and surrounding countryside as winter sets in. Eindrin's firstborn, Helva, is a mischievous and spirited girl whose constant companion is her dog Hurin. She prepares a bucket of snowballs to ambush her brother, Eindal, who is a gentle boy and fast friend of the youngest of the Muninn Ranch chobo. Meanwhile, Kensley takes a break from wagoneering to snack on the last few Gysha greens clinging to life amidst the snow. Inside the house, Bergir's wife Maiken, prepares a stew. Bergir and Maiken's sons were all warriors. They are proud of them and keep their war-gear displayed prominently in their humble home. Some, perhaps the southron guildfolk, might be embittered at the loss of their children in warfare. Bergir and Maiken, however, keep to the old ways and believe their sons feast in the Hall of the Gods. Thanks for having a look. I'm really proud of how the house came out and included some pictures of how it opens up on my flickr. I'm becoming very fond of this group of characters and the concept of chobo-rearing but all good things must come to an end. In Phase 3, which takes place a decade later, we'll see how everyone is doing over at Muninn Ranch. Especially with all these rumors of war brewing and troubles in the south... C&C is welcome as always!

Kind of a trifle I put together a long time ago and forgot to post/photograph. The concept is an alabaster statue of a nature god (origins unknown!) standing before a white-barked, red-leafed tree kind of like a Weirwood from Game of Thrones.

I don't think it looks good. Probably a personal preference thing, though. I tend to not like the techniques using unlikely or oddball pieces to simulate mundane stuff like architecture or paths or whatever. I always think it looks too busy and distracting. I'm not surprised a builder as skilled as you can make sure it all holds together though!

I would get rid of the crossed beams, like most have said, but otherwise this is a very clean and beautiful design. I can never decide whether I like the cleaner, less busy designs or the ones with tons of random weird pieces that make interesting details! This is definitely a solid entry into the former category.

Awesome build. I love the outside the box idea for a mill also! I wanted to say, about the naming conventions, that it's pretty easy to google "Norse" or "Scandinavian" names and just use those. It's too simple and easy to get tired of, but perhaps you were trying to find mythological names or something. It's unnecessary. Plus, you can always massage the names you find in any database the way Tolkien did. Tyr becomes Tyrn, Bjorn becomes Bjern, etc.

But it's sooo big. In designing and building the smaller, adolescent version I realized there actually were ways to make detailed chocobos that weren't the size of a castle. :P

Love everything about this except the armor. I just can't buy it as a technique.

Very cool idea for a dwarf mount. I thought a lot about dwarves myself before doing a Final Fantasy tribute instead.

Great details, great idea for the armor on the knees and the way the head is tilted makes the creature feel more alive. I also think the eyes are neat idea but the main strength of this build is the detail of shields, gear, and stuff the riders need. My one criticism is that the bow legs look bad. Short, stubby legs would be better.

Amazing. One of the best built and shot scifi scenes on EB! Are you the same Missing Brick on Bricklink? I buy from you!

Thanks! Thanks Gabe! I'm pleased with it too. Thanks. I can't take full credit as I owe everybody on GoH for showing the way. When I first started building my own stuff again, after 10 years of dark age, it wouldn't have occured to me to use color effectively or to monitor a balance between detail and business in terrain. I'm glad you like the eggs. I really wish there was a better way to do them because I'm not 100% on them but honestly think I couldn't have made better large eggs with the pieces I have on hand. I'd be curious to see what others would have done with that since there are some really inventive builders. More inventive than me!