Ayrlego

While it is rare to see settlers from southern Halos in Corrish settlements in the new world, it is not unknown. Lately a small community of Lotii people have established themselves in Port Raleigh. As a community they have constructed traditional style buildings in a quarter on the outskirts of the settlement. Their houses are made of laminated wood and paper and are well suited to the warmer climate. The traditional garden was harder to establish, and it has taken some time to find the right plants that mimic the vegetation of their southern homeland while still being able to flourish in the warmer climate of the Sea of Thieves. The centre piece of the garden is a stunning cherry blossom tree, especially selected and carefully looked after. It sits near an ornamental pond, filled with golden koi fish, also imported from their homelands. As soon as he posted it, I was inspired by @Bregir's Cherry Blossom Tea house (linked in the text above) and I wanted to extend that community. While we have never defined the nations of Southern Halos, I initially considered the Lotii to be more Chinese than Japanese; however, Bregir's more Japanese style was definitely what I wanted to attempt! Apart from a rice paddy, I've never really attempted anything Asian before so this was very refreshing! Will be licensed as a residence in Port Raleigh.

A commercial property for the ETTC in PW.

Corlander mercantile news has often focused around a certain, somewhat louder Corlander Trade Company. Indeed to the casual observer, it may seem that the glory days of the original Corrish trade company; the ETTC, are over. This however; is simply not so. Not interfering in politics or foreign policy, the ETTC has been quietly amassing wealth through their trade fleets and extensive property portfolio. Basically their factors have been going about the business of making money for the shareholders like any good trade company should. Recently the ETTC has opened an office in the somewhat sleepy settlement of Port Woodhouse. The modest office overseas the import of goods for the mostly military settlement, and the export of fresh seafood to nearby Jameston. Here Colonial Administrator for Port Woodhouse, Commander Matthew Allcock rides past the new office, while the ETTC factor for Port Woodhouse watches from the balcony. A freebuild for the ETTC - who despite my IC write up above, definitely need some love! I debated for a while about replacing the green SNOT roof with the more traditional dark red 1x1 round bricks of my previous PW builds, but in the end decided to keep the green. Let me know what you think! Anyway, got a few more BoBS builds to come before the end of the month as I get back into things after a short period of rediscovering my love for castle!

I somehow missed this one on Flickr during the SJ. Like the rest of your dragons, he is simply wonderful. Although I think what really takes these builds to the next level is the base (I recently stole the design on a much smaller scale for some figs) The combination of the smooth, rounded SNOT black with the plates just really makes the whole scene pop. My favourite was Daeara the earth dragon, but I don't think I have seen her here on the forums yet?

Thank you all for taking the time to write comments! I wish I had more time to comment on everyone else's builds. I will try and improve in this regard! I'll try not! I am really enjoying the change of building styles plus all the energy here at the moment, so I suspect I'll be back sooner rather than later! Thanks for the detailed feedback Henjin. Regarding the above, I have to admit that although I did notice the matching yellow, it wasn't something I planned! No worries Colin! And no, definitely not an insult at all!!! Thanks Gabe! At the moment I'm technically living in Canberra - but my Lego is on the NSW South Coast where I build during the week... it's complicated! (I think you asked but must have edited the comment?) Thanks Grover! I need to spend more time writing the stories (they'd be better with dialogue I think, but it takes so long to write properly!)

Great idea for the UoT Prof and very nicely executed... no pun intended!

The trans clear wave texture is amazing here Garm. It must have been quite tedious to construct but it looks so good!

Fantastic micro build fort. I love the realistic layout and structure. Great job! Actually this reminds me... I’m pretty sure we too have a micro fort license left from Ch V....

Hey Spud, great to see you over here as well. I’m really liking the idea of the unusual choice of occupation for your character. The minifig combo is fantastic, I especially like the ruffle with the beret and the addition of the Scotty dog! I’m looking forward to following your adventures!

Great snowy landscape, especially the cheese slope fur trees! I agree with Henjin's recommendations for the cottage, although using the log bricks SNOT for such a small cabin could prove difficult. Perhaps using a mixture of plates, bricks and log pieces might work for a ramshackle look, including some dark brown for some variation in colour? Maybe something like this?

Yngvi and Erik's journey continues with these two builds as they make their way down the mountains. Roadside Outpost Widow's Cottage

And another from me; House Phase 2: Small House.

Previously. Yngvi and Erick continued down the mountain tracks until they reached the village they had heard about at the watchtower. The village consisted of a dozen or so sturdy cottages of stone and wood, with steeply pitched roofs to prevent the build up of snow during the long winter months. When the snows start, the livestock not slaughtered for food will be moved inside to live on the ground floor with the human occupants sleeping on the first level. Outside, the leaves are starting to fall and the villagers are busy preparing for winter, stockpiling supplies such as food and firewood. Yngvi and Erik are taken in by an old widow, who employs Yngvi to chop fire wood which Erik neatly stacks in a simple shelter next to the cottage. The pair stay for a few nights are are rewarded with some coin. It is hinted that they would be welcome to stay the winter, the village is short on younger men. Although tempted, Yngvi decides to continue his journey back down to his home village of Ambarvale, nestled deep in the valleys below. Perhaps there may even be news of his wife and daughter, both of whom went missing during the hard times while Yngvi was away with the fyrd during the most recent troubles. _______________ The house here was pretty simple. It was originally inspired by one of the pictures in the first post of the Mitgardia thread, but it evolved slightly during the build. Another really simple design (a rectangle with a roof!); I do promise they will get more complicated, but I wanted to try and build some more realistic style buildings of the rural mountain dwellers. I have been wanting to try birch trees for a while. These are a combination of a number of designs on the internet, including the use of the stud shooters which I thought was inspired (but can't re-find the original photo to post credit for.) Also I've wanted to build all yellow trees for some time, so out came the Alt Bricks. I was really hesitant at first using yellow plates in the landscaping, but as I started to place them I decided I loved the bright contrast, so I found myself adding more and more. Anyway, the single photo probably doesn't do the scene justice, (I'm pretty happy with it!) however additional photos probably won't so too much extra (although I do wonder now why I bothered to do fully textured walls around the whole house....!) Yngvi and Erik will probably take a break for a short time now while I work on some BoBS stuff and of course Challenge I.

Thanks! The technique isn't hard at all, although I did wince a few times bending the leaf pieces to weave them. The hardest part was the three weave at the top. The trees themselves look better IRL, where they don't look like they are leaning as much! Thank you! Thanks, I actually intended to use 1x1 plates in the corners... not sure how they got missed out ... Good idea with the 1x1 stacks... I need to get some more flexi-tube for internal structures as at the moment I am several lacking. Thank you, I'll try! Thanks. Regarding the lean you are right. For what was supposed to be quite a simple build I really struggled to get a good photo for some reason. The whole thing definitely doesn't look so angled IRL, so I suspect you are correct and it is the rotation of the photo. Thank you! Thanks, I was nice to have some nice tall trees for a change. I'm quite happy with the design, I just need to perfect squashing the stacks of leaves a bit more aggressively to get a better shape (I think I was probably too timid this time...) Thanks Faladrin, They were indeed a bit fragile, although not as bad as some of my previous trees! Both trees have a dark brown internal structure. Mostly 3 high slopes with some bricks and round plates. Originally I didn't use any internal structure, but I found building a tapering trunk right to the top seemed to stabilise them much better than the leaves just balancing on each other. Thanks! Thanks Titus, I was tempted not to include a ladder, however some annoying part of me kept saying, how do they get up then.... so glad you liked it!

I never commented on the latest scene which was remiss of me. I like the mottled colour scheme and texture of the stone work. It really conveys that crumbling ruins sort of feel. The fragile looking rope bridge is also a great addition. Hopefully we see Montoya emerge from the jungle soon!

I love the use of the sand green zombie pirate torso on the Saleeki warrior - great combo. Also it was cool to see the progression of the minifigs over time. Good luck with the nobility!

Summer Mountain Hut | Ayrlego | Mitgardia Roadside Outpost | Ayrlego | Mitgardia AoM: House Phase 2: Widow's Cottage | Ayrlego | Mitgardia

A submission for Tower Phase 1 for consideration:

Previously. With summer coming to an end, herdsmen arrived in the summer pastures to take over care of the livestock from Yngvi and Erik. The herdsmen would soon begin to round up the livestock and drive them back down into the valleys for winter. As payment for their work, Yngvi and Erik are given one of the goats, whom Erik has named Clover. Originally Yngvi had intended return to his village and settle Erik in with family; however, after spending the summer with his son, he is loath to leave him again. As the pair head back down the mountains, Yngvi reflects on his options. Just before the first permanent settlements appear, the pair come across a freshly constructed outpost at a somewhat strategic point on the side of the road. One of the militia men manning the post was a familiar face from Yngvi's time in the militia, a good warrior by the name of Leif. The two greeted each other. Leif explained that the local authorities, concerned with increasing levels of banditry in the mountain passes; had raised some troops to establish a series of temporary outposts. These outposts would be manned until the herds from the valley towns and villages had all returned from summer pasture. Yngvi was tempted by an offer of work from Leif's, but he needed to return with Erik to their village to prepare for the coming winter. Clover the goat would help by providing milk and cheese; and Yngvi had a small amount of coin in a bag around his neck to buy grain, but he doubted it was enough to support the two of them throughout a long and cold winter. Leif explained that a nearby village was very short of labour, and if Yngvi and Erik were looking for a couple of days or weeks work on their way back down; they could probably find it there. So with thanks, Yngvi, Erik and Clover set out for the village in search of work. __________ A relatively simple scene to progress Ygnvi's story. I have decided to change my character a little bit and make Erik his son. When I showed my own son my first build, he saw a small blonde boy with a bearded man and assumed it was a Lego representation of himself and me (not my original intention!). He then wanted to know what adventures Lego us would have next, so I have decided to share my stories with him if that makes any sense! A couple of new techniques for me with this one, my first attempt at realistic looking pine trees using the weaving technique as demonstrated by Full Plate in a tutorial here. I wanted to get a really temporary looking tower with tapered legs leading to a flimsy wooden base. Although I'm sure it has been done by someone before, I was able to use some flexibility in the 1x1 round brick stacks and a system of square plates that decrease in size by one stud for each level to create the elongated sides. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out as my previous attempts at wooden towers have always been very square. I did originally try to increase the taper by using squares that decreased by 2 studs; however, it was way too unstable. By using only a one stud decrease, the build is actually pretty stable and I was able to detach it and move it around a few times. Anyway thanks for looking, C&C always welcome. I have something a bit bigger almost ready, but needed to advance Yngvi's story a bit first!

A very nice scene. Like Henjin my favourite detail is the parsnip - a technique I feel I will most likely borrow sometime in the future! Great work!

A heart wrenchingly emotional scene which in terms of originality will be very hard to top. The minifig expressions are really well chosen to convey the sadness of the scene. Great work!

As everyone has already said, this is a simply fantastic MOC. The colour scheme and details are all perfect, and I really like the use of the sand green tiles together with the brown shield pieces in the roof. Really great work!

Nice job! I especially like the windows on the first level and the mosaic floor. I love the way your builds all interlock to make a larger scene.

ALL: Scoring of challenge entries has begun. Please ensure your entry is linked in the first post of this thread. I think I have them all; however, it is important to check as entries not linked will not be rated. Thank you!

Thanks guys! x2 1x4 modified bricks with studs on the side (you don't have to use 1x4s, any combo will work) like this: I've experimented with the technique before, then discovered that there is a tutorial on it here.