Henjin_Quilones

The build is really nice, especially those trees. The tower is well done, showing a beautifully executed temporary-sort of watchtower without frills. The tapered supports work very well. The irregularly attached 1x4 tiles at the top of the tower look great as a way to show the hasty wooden construction. The landscape is nicely restrained, with enough detail but not too much to look too busy. My one real critique is that the whole build seems to be leaning. The trees are leaning to the right, the tower seems to be angled to the right, and even the guard at the base of the tower seems to be leaning a bit to the right. Perhaps it could be fixed by adjusting the picture slightly in a photo editor, at least the tower, which is presumably not leaning in real life.

It is true, but oh well... I am sure he won't be eating anyone, unless he runs out of sharks and large herdbeasts... Thanks! The base was almost an afterthought cooked up to make it fit in the series. Thanks, Narb! I really like the fig, too. I can hopefully raise the bar on creature building here, as I think it remains a relatively unexplored area of building here in the guilds, despite a few mini contests and such. I would be honored to have you use one of my dragons as inspiration! Feel free to steal or borrow whatever you want, since that is the way the LEGO community works. Keep tinkering with the details until you are satisfied, and I am sure your finished product will put mine to shame... Thanks, SK! I used the banana right at the very end and thought it worked quite well as a down-turned horn. Hewa is indeed powerful, as one should expect from the mount of the king of the Sun Elves (or Fire Elves) of Mwamba. And I was really hoping no one would notice that part, but of course you would... The base is not all black, since I did not have the pieces on hand to make it, so filled it with some tan 6x5 panels, and then made the base for this dragon just a bit too small to cover the whole thing. So it is definitely out of place, I agree. Thanks, Gabe! I rather like the color scheme, too. I considered several different options based on what I have in my collection. I do have some of those Chima wings, but only in a few blues and black, and I wanted to go gold. I might use them in the future, though, if I have enough. I'm not sure how many I have. I actually went so far as to make a set of wings with those hinge plates, but they were too large and clunky, looking appropriate for a Ninjago robot dragon, perhaps, but not for something alive (at the scale I wanted, at least). I recently saw a build in the Joust by Nuju Metru that I really liked with golden wings, but I don't have the largest Ninjago blade pieces that he used in that one, and only a few of the midrange ones I have used on Hewa. Lots and lots of katanas, though. So this is what I came up with. A bit spindly, to be sure, but the best I could do without making a Bricklink order, which I try to avoid. Perhaps in the future I will try again and see if I can make it look a bit thicker without sacrificing somewhere else.

No, because making you use fleshies was a gift from us to you, as it was an overall improvement over yellows... Thanks! Glad you like the roof. Thanks, dG! I am happy that you like the landscape spilling out of the base, as I really like it too.

Thanks, Gabe! Maji is about the same size as Kijani, but smaller than Hewa and the others I posted to the Joust. I wanted to make a distinction based on size between male and female dragons, though one of the three larger ones is female, too (which will play a role in the story when I get there). I agree about the ears, and it was actually deliberate, as I liked the way they made her head look. She looks a bit like a rodent with wings, in my own opinion.

I think this is your best build yet! I like the bold use of red, a color not typically seen in MOCs around here, as it makes it a very conspicuous building, perfect for an inn. The roof is nicely thatched, too, and the landscape is pleasantly filled with foliage and cobblestones. Also, the cart is a great creation for conveying a poor refugee family with its possessions. My only real critiques are that the background shows a wedge-shaped gap on the left side that would look better filled, and the horse appears to have a strange gap in its back as well, that would look better filled with some brown pieces to replicate the harness around the horse (or else white to match the horse). It looks a bit odd to be missing a chunk like that... I also fixed the link for you to make it visible here without needing to go to Flickr, to make for a more pleasant viewing experience on EB.

You do a very nice job of showing the action of a busy construction site here. I like the way part of the wall of the granary is SNOTed, perhaps indicating sections that have been recently repaired, while the bulk of it is typical studs-up building. The scaffolding is quite nice, too. I would not want to be the guy up at the top working on the roof, however, seeing how unstable the base of the building looks; I would want to wait until they had finished the masonry before beginning that part of the job! But maybe that is just me, or maybe Conrad has some guys on his crew that he hopes to lose in an "accident" (especially considering the part of the beam the worker appears to be sawing on vs. the part he is standing on...).

I like that you are including the decorative base now, as that makes the presentation more effective and professional. I really like the gate, but I think my favorite detail is the parsnip (or turnip, or whatever root vegetable you are intending that to be - but it looks most like a parsnip to my untrained eye). It does strike me as a bit strange that the rockwork ends so abruptly and the stone wall begins after an awkward one-stud gap; I think it would be better to have the wall directly abut the rocky outcropping and to perhaps even integrate it into it. A lovely little garden, though!

The shot is well-composed and the concept is quite powerful. Greyscale works well here to emphasize the grief. I wish the picture did not have the words on it, as I think that detracts from the overall presentation, though. The words could be in the post as text, rather than as part of the image, and I think it would be better.

So are these real horses or not? I get that it is supposed to be comical, but this stable seems to indicate that the horses are in fact real: there are pens, as well as food and a fence for them, but when people ride them, it seems like that they are just a prop (as you say, Monty Python-esque; all you need are some coconuts...). If they are not real horses, though, would this really count as an HSS build for agriculture? I think the idea of micro horses is quite fun, and would love to see you play around with it in Varlyrio, but for my own personal sanity I need to know whether they are alive or just pretend (in-world, since either way they are pieces of plastic...). As for the build itself, I like the wooden overhang of the building, and I also like the roof. The way you have joined the two buildings together is also nice, and the 1x1 round bricks make for a pleasant architectural detail in the upper walls.

The water is the highlight of this build for me, with the different variations on blue going on there. I love the technique used on the roof, as it is one of my personal favorites to use as well, but I especially like the way you capped it with the brown Nexo shields. The whole scene is packed with great details and even better fig posing, giving a clear sense of the action taking place. The static build almost has motion, and I can practically hear the workers yelling instructions to each other as they lift and saw. Excellent work.

I like it quite a bit, but it is just so smooth and it bothers me a bit. Of course dwarves are excellent stonemasons and one would expect nothing less, but I guess I have just come to expect more texture on builds. That is not criticism, by the way, just a statement about how I feel about it, an expression of my taste. (@TitusV probably loves the lack of texture...) I love how you have used the tiles on the sides to make it so smooth, rather than just bricks, and those columns in the corners are excellent indeed. I might have to have a go at copying the internal framework of those. I echo Basilicus about the roof, though. The stepped edge of the cheese slopes looks a bit off. It can work to an extent with the dwarven style, but I think there must be some other way to solve that issue more cleanly, that neither you nor I have yet thought of. Maybe Rolli has a solution, as the cheese master.

While the landscape looks properly desolate and orcish, I do think that the part where it spills out of the base could be improved. Right now it is very square and un-organic in appearance. A few more plates on the sides to taper it a bit and make it look more like it is "spilling" would be better. Also, for the mini-horse illusion to work, I think something needs to be done with the minifigs' legs - either they need to swapped for brown, and we imagine that they are the horses' legs, or you find a way to give the horse four legs while keeping legs on the figs. As it is, it looks like they are walking with mini-horse heads on their fronts, like some strange costume. The landscape colors are great, and the part contained by the border is very nice. I look forward to seeing where they end up!

The white columns look nice for a rich house, and the layered arches above the door are also quite nice. I like the inclusion of the potted plant outside, as it gives a nice splash of color there. I do wonder if there is more to the house, though, because from the looks of it the house has an entry hall (with two doors) and one room above for everything else...

The floor is very nice, but for me the highlight is actually the relatively simple but effective inset in the columns. I really like that feature, as well as the use of the slopes and inverted slopes around the dark red. It all combines to a great, though static, scene.

Thanks, zoth! I should have a build soon showing all of the elemental dragons and riders together in the Elemental Council of Mwamba. Thanks, Titus, though this dragon is actually a "he"... The base on this one was more of a last-minute thrown together sort of thing, so it does not bother me that much that it has some rough patches. In person the borders don't look so straight, at least to the point that I did not notice them, aside from the one right in the front. Thanks, mccoyed! Glad you like the bases, and glad you get the air vibe from it. The trans-purple, along with white and gold, seems very airy to me, and form the basis of what I consider the color palette of the element to be. For me, reds, oranges, and yellows are Fire, greens and browns are Earth, blues (and some greens) are Water, and white and purple (with gold) are Air; and of course, the different greys and black are all present in all of the dragons for the simple reason that some essential parts only come in those colors, but I do associate them more with Earth than the other elements.

Hip, hip, hooray! Excellent work, Titus! Wow, that is quite the document. I am glad you did it, though, because I have been wondering for years what exactly happened during the Kaliphlin Civil War, in particular. The other stuff is great, too. It also serves to illustrate just how impressive and creative the builders and storytellers are here in the Guilds, and have been for the past six years or so.

Another dragon build is up:

Hewa the Air Dragon A freebuild for Avalonia < Previous Elemental Dragon ... Next Elemental Dragon > Hewa and his rider, the Elvish King Mfalme, are the Air Guardians of Mwamba, soaring about the lofty peaks and through the clouds safeguarding the land from hostile threats. King Mfalme rules the land from the City of Bandari, where he is assisted by other elves, centaurs, gnomes, and humans. He graciously allowed Galaria to bond with a dragon of her own, which she and Henjin Quilones rode back from Mwamba to Avalonia, to start their settlement of Druidham in the Mystic Isles, a haven for druids and dragonriders alike. Other companions of the two exiles also were given dragons to raise as lifelong soul-joined dragonriders, the start of a new weyr of dragons in the West. More pictures: _______________________________________________ .............................................................................................. I tried something different with Hewa, as I have always loved the idea of feathered dragons. The wings were a bit of a struggle, but I am fairly happy with how they turned out. C&C welcome.

@Wineyard, great to have you in Avalonia! The build you have for the intro deserves its own thread, and looks spectacular! I look forward to seeing your future builds and reading about Lord Wineyard. I can only imagine that his old life will catch up to him eventually...

@Faladrin Great to see you back with us, and love that fig!

Ahh, thanks, dG! Don't be jealous though - start making some creatures yourself. Copy what others have done to start, if you are unsure, and then make the designs your own. That's what I did, at least. Thanks, SK! It is a good color, but there is a limit to what it has, for sure. It is actually less limited than many colors, though, since it has some fun pieces in it, largely from Ninjago and Bionicle sets. Thanks! If I had enough of the technic parts in one color, like all black, the wings would look better. I would not want to hide them entirely, since they represent the "finger" bones of the wings, and are thus quite important to the overall design of the dragon. But I agree that I was a bit sloppy with the colors here, with dark grey, light grey, and black all together there. Thanks, Narb! The water and foam division is actually not straight, but it is hard to tell exactly what it is doing in the picture, so I can understand your critique. There is about three or four studs of play between the two boundaries, curving and cutting between trans-light blue and trans-clear.

Thanks, Exetrius. I do try to make sure I tie things in to what is happening in other parts of Historica. And the build and story came together, and would not have worked without each other. Thanks! Glad you like it. The chairs probably need another plate or so under them, but I like how they look, too.

Thanks, Titus! The rounded roof was a pain, but the rounded foundation was not bad. Glad you like the tudor, you know it is not really my thing, but sometimes I make sacrifices for the team... The stone foundation was inspired by a cottage that you made, so glad you like it. I think I changed the technique a bunch, but the inspiration is there. I am glad I went with the round roof, as I think it does make it unique and interesting, more so than a more traditional angled roof would. And the countryside of Avalonia is always friendly!

While the build is nice, I think the highlight here is definitely the figs. The barkeep and the waitress are excellent, displaying lots of character without having to do anything. And the web blast as a towel is a nice piece use, which I shall have to remember for a future build. Glad to see the story continuing on, and I look forward to the next installment!

Oh, Maji just looks angry, but she is really quite nice when you get to know her. The dragon is my own design, though some elements of the basic sub-structure have been taken from Nuju Metru's dragons. Beyond the core of the friction joints, though, and some other bits of inspiration, everything else is unique to me. My first dragons (like the black one on the City of Bandari) were pretty much copies of his work, but I found the look too stripped down and have added quite a bit of bulk and shaping around a similar skeleton. It is on a shelf, not a mantle, but she is currently on display at my house, until I take her apart to make other things... I only have enough blue in dark blue, so that limited my choices for color. I thought it turned out pretty good. Thanks! I ran out of printed eyes, but thought the pastry looked decent as a substitute, especially with part of the Bionicle mask covering the corner. I totally agree about the green, and the first and second version of the dragon had a lot more green, especially lime green, but I had trouble making it look good. It just never seemed organic enough for my liking. Kijani is actually probably my fourth favorite dragon currently, and Maji is the fifth. I have three more complete and ready to post (you have probably seen them on Flickr already, since I entered them in the Joust) that I like better. Once I take a group picture of the four Mwamban Elemental dragons with their riders, I will take them apart and build up Galaria's dragon crew. Henjin might be the Master of the Druidi Order, but Galaria is Mistress of Dragons. The base turned out wider than I would have liked, and the I agree that the sand is not as good as the dirt of Kijani's. I rather liked the water as I made it, though. I think it gives a feel of dynamism, with the waves crashing and foaming against the shore. I needed to give the appearance of a beach without making a full beach, so this was the best I could do with the parts I had available at that time. Thanks! Glad you like the water. Thanks, mccoyed! I am not as partial to the round stud technique myself (though it often looks great) so I usually use tiles, but I used plates here for the dynamic look that studs and layers can provide.