Henjin_Quilones

@de Gothia, you should make an HSS entry for Mesozoic, and other people could add builds here or there if they have the hankering for some dino action! You have already built what, three? four? large builds that would probably get it close to Hamlet status right off the bat.

Thanks! I have been enjoying making all-LEGO interior shots and experimenting with different lighting approaches, trying to get it right. Thanks! I noticed the dust during my first set of pictures, which were discarded, but ultimately decided it added something to the library vibe and chose not to dust! It is not deliberate, per se, as I did not add dust that did not already land on the surface, though. I have been trying for a more "artsy" feel to my build photography, trying to move from just a build to an experience. I am glad it seems to be working. Thanks, Grover! There are eight busts on the shelves, mostly on the topmost shelf under the arches, but I think it is something that classy libraries have, busts of famous people and whatnot. The rafters are meant to connect the walls, rather than the roof, though it does play some role in that, too. At one point there were supposed to be small upright columns connecting the horizontal beams with the roof above, but I scrapped those for the aesthetics, as it got too cluttered. The wands on sprues are wonderful, and I used a black one here for fire pokers and two brown ones for chair backs. Thanks! The fireplace is two light bricks shining horizontally through some trans-orange and trans-yellow plates, which shines up through the fire pieces, too. It is a nice effect, I think. I love both Tolkien and Marvel (as well as many other nerd things) so I let it shine through in my story, too. I am glad it looks natural, as I did not supplement the light with anything but the windows and the fireplace, trying to make it look as much like a real room as possible. Thanks! Glad you like the fig combos, too, as they took a while to decide on on their own. The lighting was fun to play with, as well. Thanks! I was going for "peaceful library" atmosphere, so I am glad it worked. I agree that I did nothing especially innovative in the building, but I think that striving for the "next big thing" in parts usage is oftentimes a vain pursuit. The building itself is intended to be brand new, so there should not be any visible decay yet, and it was built with the help of expert dwarven stonecutters, so it should not be sloppy. Clean lines and smooth walls will dominate my builds of Druidham for that very reason. Hypertextured surfaces are not typically my thing, with a few exceptions here and there. It is the human details that I want to master, to create the atmosphere, the feel, the homeyness - and light is a big part of that. Thanks for your words! Thanks, I definitely want to keep a sense of continuity throughout my interiors. Glad you like the ambiance, too! Thanks, Kai! The chairs were an addition I made to try and make the space comfortable, but as you said, still elegant. I see your point about the light, and I think what my build is missing that a real room would have is the other walls to bounce some light back onto the scene. A back wall and side wall would give the reflected light that would make the fronts of the people more visible. I did no photo editing besides cropping for the pictures; this is how they came from the camera, and I liked it, so I did not lighten anything up. Next time I'll experiment with a sheet of cardboard or a LEGO wall out of shot to reflect some light back into the scene to see if it fixes the problem a bit. Thanks, Garm! As I said above, smooth surfaces and clean lines are the defining aesthetic of Druidham; nothing hypertextured for me here! I've gotten to the point where super-textured castle builds are almost a dime a dozen on Flickr and too boring now, unless perfectly executed. And it would take away from the scene!

I love me some wargs, and they are put to great use here! The ballistas are excellent too, as is the base. The colors are absolutely lovely, olive with dark brown. Dark brown really looks good with lots of colors (I love it with sand green and tan, personally) and it makes for some great dirt. Even the warg posing is done well, keeping them looking alive and not all at the same angle. Good work!

So much gold! The temple must be rich to have so much golden ornamentation. I love the way it all comes apart for ease of photography, even if it decreased the ease of building it; sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the camera, since it is the primary way we share our creations - if it doesn't look good in a camera, it doesn't look good! This does look good, though. I love the story aspect of it, too. Just the other day I was wondering what had happened to you, and then, boom, this build appears like magic! The only thing I don't really like is the way that you have figs posed off of the build; I would rather see the build extend out a bit further for some people to stand in front of the temple, rather than standing on the backdrop. From a practical standpoint I also wonder how that giant gold dome and stone structure is supported on those itty-bitty golden columns, but visually it does not bother me. This looks great, and I look forward to seeing more builds and especially reading more stories from you!

This build does a great job of capturing the aesthetic of Mitgardia, especially as displayed in SK's builds. I love the steeply sloped roof to shed the heavy snows, and the subtle detail with the repeated 1x1 round plates in the eaves is excellent. I think I agree with @W Navarre about reversing the stud orientation of the waterwheel to clean up the look a bit (using 1x1 round plates with hollow studs would let you attach the 1x1 round bricks to the ship's wheel, and then you would basically have to flip the build order on the rest). Perhaps you tried that and did not like it, but it is a suggestion. Brilliant photography as usual, and I am sure that sooner or later winter will indeed come. But for now, your autumn builds have been lovely!

Very cool, thanks!

A new build from me is up: And @TitusV, what, are you at university to study or to build LEGO? Get your priorities straight!

Of Dragons and Druids, Ch. 2: The Library of Druidham A freebuild for Avalonia Also a build showing part of the army of Druidham, fulfilling Task 1 for Avalonia "I know it is here somewhere," muttered Henjin Quilones as he reached towards the shelf from the narrow wrought-iron ladder. "We have The Book of the Invisible Sun, and it should be somewhere over here." "Try a bit to the right, Henjin," offered Gree helpfully. "Keep it down, Daddy," shushed Emmalie from where she stood near Thorra's chair. "Fangort is telling a story of the Enchanted Forest." "What happened next?" asked Thorra, listening intently to the Grent's story. "How did you escape?" "Well, you would not believe it, but a family of Werecoons came out of the hollow log and began to attack the lumberjacks!" said Fangort excitedly. "And then we came to live here, all of us." "Oooh! How exciting!" clapped Emmalie in delight. Meanwhile, Reyska was talking to Korra, the Kolgari elf who had joined the Druids when she and her twin sister had arrived at Druidham. Keryyna was now a dragonrider, but Korra was explaining to Reyska how the two of them planned to return to the Sunken City someday. "There are very few ways into the Sunken City, all of them guarded closely by the Kolgari. But it is worth the visit, let me tell you. You think the flora around here is vibrant? It is nothing compared to the hidden realm of the Kolgari." "So why did you leave?" asked Reyska. "It sounds lovely!" "Well, it's complicated, but to start..." Kaigar was talking to M'chungaji, the traveling human from Mwamba who had joined them on their journey, by the window. Afternoon light was shining brightly upon the texts upon the table in front of them. "Henjin thinks the lost shrine of the Druids has to be somewhere in this part of the Isles, but Galaria and the other riders say that they have seen no sign of it from the air," Kaigar was saying. "I think we need to go on foot." "Druids are probably better suited to finding the shrine than dragonriders, even if they are all elves," said M'chungaji. He was mistrustful of most elves, having had a bad experience in his youth on the streets of Bandari with a proud elf lord. "Then I suppose we had better arrange for some journeys to be made," responded Kaigar, pushing back his chair. "Let's get going." ________________________________ ................................................................ More pics: I know this is a bit unconventional for a Task 1 entry, but I first took pictures of some figs on a stand and then decided that it was not exciting enough. So I built the "army" of the Druids in a more natural setting. Part 2 of Task 1 will be to show the dragonriders in a room of their own, probably sans-dragons for space reasons. The original picture is here: From left to right we have Reyska, Thorra, Emmalie Quilones, M'chungaji, Henjin Quilones, Kaigar, Gree, Fangort, and Korra. They are the Druids of Druidham, Guardians of the Druidi Temple of Avalonia. C&C welcome. @Kai NRG, I tried to cover up the back, but in a few places light still shone through. Oh well! Maybe next time I'll get it perfect.

This is excellent! A lovely interior build to be sure. The first picture, with the all-LEGO shot, is particularly nice, but it all looks good. My favorite bit is the part on the right wall, just beneath the arches over the shields, where you cleverly layered some different tiles and plates to create an excellent stairstep. The tapestries are quite nice, especially the 1x1 plate with clip for a tassel, and the floor mosaic, even if not original, is beautiful. With all due respect to @Basiliscus, I think it looks better in opaque colors than in stained glass. Kaliphlin continuity is nice either way, though! I haven't found anything to critique yet, so I'll give up. The only thing I wonder is where is the band? Or are all of the dancers just dancing to their own music in their heads? They are excellently posed either way. Great entry!

Great snow, and a great burden of cloth and sticks on the horse's back! I like that quite a bit. I might suggest trying to clean up the background a bit (removing some of the lines, for example) but beyond that, this is a nice little vignette!

There are some pretty terrific things to like here, such as the exposed brick under the bridge, the use of a SNOTed 2x4 slope on the yellow house, the detailed interiors, and of course the story. The size of the build is also impressive. There are also areas in which you can improve. As this is the Guilds of Historica, I will make sure that all criticism is constructive! The uneven floors inside the buildings, and correspondingly uneven ceilings, seem rough and almost sloppy; it would be better to make sure that all of the plates are on the same level, and if there are layers of plates, that they remain constant for the whole layer. There seem to be a bunch of bricks placed in odd places, especially in the yellow house; these are probably meant for support for the upper levels, but they are visually out of place. I would try to find a way to support the upper stories without having out-of-place bricks. I also would prefer to see the floors and surfaces tiled, but that takes a bunch of pieces and your collection might not support it. The final thing I will mention is that Captain Mesabi should fire his interior decorator - a yellow couch in a yellow room? How tacky! (If it was his wife, well, he should find a polite way to say that, so he doesn't end up on the street, but you know...) Welcome to the Guilds! I hope to see more of you around here.

The color combinations are just perfect here. The corner columns use the same technique that I did not really like as the columns of the stable, but here it works for me quite well. The more decorated top of the tower is also great. I like that you have done more with the path here, as it helps differentiate it from the rest of the ground, even if it still does not look "finished" for an established city. Congratulations on making village status in the HSS!

Beautiful terrain, Kai! The cart is nice too, but the light yellow in the terrain is just lovely. I hope to see more Kaliphlinians (and others) follow suit, once they get enough in their collections. It looks perfect here.

The trees are much straighter here! They look lovely again, and I continue to love the combo of olive and sand greens in the ground. That is an interesting choice to only show 1/3 of the circle, but it does work. The pieces you used for the mill are quite nice, as well, with the holes on the top to pour the grain in and the grooves at the base (between the studs) for the ground flour to come out. Another excellent entry!

Very nice, dG! You know I love the Dinotopia references, and the roof is nicely done. The awnings are excellent, too. The two things I think could use some work are the ground, which seems a bit spare by your standards, and the top of the left building, above the awnings, where the studs are left exposed. The figs are a real treat, though, and the vegetation is quite nice. @Grover: de Gothia is 100% Avalonian, not Kaliphlinian! And Mesozoic is far off across the sea, a safe haven, not in Kaliphlin. It just looks a bit like Kaliphlin. @Muakhah: you should read Dinotopia; it was the highlight of my childhood, and still one of my personal favorites!

This is much better as regards the ground! The texture is sharp, and the different patterns all play together nicely. The tiny hint of olive suggests that perhaps with some rain real plants might come back, along with the dried river. Nicely done! As I mentioned in the Kaliphlin thread, make sure you register Mophet as a settlement in the HSS. You already meet many of the categories (I can recall at least hospitality, agriculture x2, craftsman-merchant, laborers, and administrative), meaning all you need for hamlet recognition is a military build of some sort. And then you can level up from there!

Greetings Kaliphlinians! As you continue to stir up some sand in the Guilds, don't forget to register the lovely builds you are doing to flesh out your settlements in the HSS! I have seen some lovely builds of different aspects of life, and some (like @adde51's Mophet) have been fleshed out pretty well. Perhaps a few more builds and then you are on the map! And everyone else who reads this, register your settlements, too!

We'd be glad to have you in the Guilds! Varlyrio is newly playable, so I encourage you to choose that one (though of course I would prefer you to choose Avalonia, my own guild), but Varlyrio could use some more active builders right now, being so new.

Thanks, SK! The trees are an important part, but they are not meant to draw anything away from the structures, so am glad they did their job well! The waterfalls were not as hard as I expected, actually; the hardest part of them was getting the surrounding rocks to match the angles. Thanks, I was inspired by some of DC's Dark Isle builds with their oddly colored terrain, and thought I'd keep the tradition of the Mystic Isles being oddly colored and magical.

Thanks, Gideon. I'll try to put some of that into practice! Thanks, dG! I do prefer to work in "true" minifig scale when I can (there is a considerable amount of debate of what exactly constitutes minifig scale, of course, because they are definitely not human-proportioned) since I like the way it looks. I don't like my figs living in cramped quarters! Thanks, it's something I have been playing around with more, especially since seeing some of the winning entries in the Summer Joust. I'm starting to build for the camera more than for an in-person viewer now, taking into consideration views and lighting more than ever.

Good job with an all-LEGO scene (as seems to be a trend in the KaW collab)! I think the ground texture could be improved to match what you did in the street outside the stable, but the scene is well composed. The thing that sticks out to me is the tan plate that attaches the canopy to the wall - for some reason it bothers me a bunch. Another good build, though, and it is a delight to see these snapshots of Kaliphlin life. The only other thing I want to add is that I would not trust that dwarf so close to a bunch of fragile pots carrying a giant hammer... or is it "if you break it, you buy it"?

So let me start off by saying that I like this a lot, and I will probably steal details from it when I start actually building the kitchen that I currently only have a partial base for right now. In typical Snyder form, everything is crisp and concise, placed excellently and with nothing superfluous. However, I don't like it, too; and before you accuse me of contradicting myself, let me explain. It is too low for me, and the columns are too close together, making it hard to see anything inside. Now, it is probably realistic in its scaling, and the arches are pretty top notch, but it does not photograph well due to the obstructing nature of the roof supports. It would undoubtedly be a delight to see in person or to view up close, but on the computer it is too obscured. What would I recommend to fix the issue? Taller columns could help, preventing the arches from hiding as much; fewer columns could also help, there then being less material to block the view. Of course, both solutions cause more problems, like suspending stuff from the ceiling is harder when it is higher, or the arch design would have to be modified to span a larger distance. I don't know the answer. It's a beautiful build but hard to see.

This is a lovely microscale landscape, nothing too fancy but still really nice looking and effective at representing what you want to show. Some great details are the sandy banks of the river in a few places and all of the buildings in the village; the meeting hall is my personal favorite. I have three small critiques: 1. I think representing a path of some kind from the village to the river dock, and probably the north-south road you mentioned, as well as changing the color of the plates under the village itself to dark tan, would make it more realistic; as it is, it seems un-lived-in with its lush green everywhere. I want mud and dirt! 2. The falling water of the waterfall should probably be all trans-clear rather than mixed with trans-light blue due to the nature of falling water; opaque white would even be an option for parts of it to show really oxygenated water. And 3., the stakes of the palisade wall around the village seem too thick to me, unless they chopped down giant redwoods or sequoias; I would recommend trying something with 3L bars in reddish brown, sunk into the ground somewhat, to give a more scale representation. It might have been more effort than it is worth in LDD, but it would be a cool effect. All that said, I am pleased to have you in Avalonia, and this build does a great job of illustrating the home of the Equicii. Keep it up!

Nice garden, LJ! As Gideon said, it is a style that is undoubtedly popular throughout Kaliphlin due to the limited supply of water, so it is no surprise that every town and village seems to sport one. I think the blurry background is really the highlight of the build for me, giving the depth that sells the scene. It is hard to do that, in my opinion, building something that you know no one will see the details of, but it is totally worth it for the effect. For myself, I know my temptation is always to keep everything in focus and try to show off all the little details that I put into it, but I am starting to learn to let go! You are already there, and it is great.

There are some great things going on in this build, especially the continuity you are building between the different areas of Mophet with the stripes, the street, the different doorways (sand green was a good choice), and the golden dome. I don't really like, however, what you are doing with the log bricks. First, I find that the different profiles of the end of the bricks with the side of them creates an unattractive pattern in the columns. Second, I think your walls would look better if you smoothed the transition from the log bricks to the smooth tan section, using plates (like you did in the upper section) to break up the shapes so it is not so obviously 1x2 bricks; an example of this is here (Gideon did it to break up masonry bricks rather than log bricks, but the concept is the same). Otherwise the walls (especially the outer wall of the courtyard) end up looking sloppy. The rest of the build looks good, though, and you have some pretty good photography skills to complement your building. I look forward to seeing the city of Mophet continue to rise from the oasis!