Grover

The pics of the DC series are a bummer so far. Can't really use the torsos for medieval much, and I don't know half the characters. Maybe I can use the leopard print lady in a fetishist brothel or something, but, especially at $5 per, I am less than enthusiastic.

Most of the minis are ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene). Some parts that are more flexible (but not rubbery), like the trees, are polyethylene or polyproplyene. I'm not entirely sure what they use for the hair that's very rubbery, but it may be SBS (styrene-butadiene-styrene), just a guess. Fixing the face on a mini will likely require pad printing to do properly, which is impractical. Otherwise it's hoping for a very steady hand with enamel and a tiny paintbrush (this usually looks like crap in my experience). For the color change, look up the thread on yellowing in this forum.

I thought it was a pretty cool addition to the fairgrounds. It does dominate the landscape, though, being significantly taller than most modulars. If you look on YouTube at people's cities that have the ferris wheel, it's very obvious and kind of sticks out, but if you look at the eye of London, that's not unrealistic. I usually have non-buyer's remorse (i.e., feel bad I missed out on not buying a set), so I usually wind up with too much Lego like you. You can always keep it torn down unless you want to display it, however. I would also recommend buying the power functions that go with it.

Nice! I like the use of the crown as a bar trophy. The raised tile bar floor looks good, too!

Thank you! I try to incorporate wind and seagulls in my builds to give it the coastal feeling. Thanks! It took two B&P orders to get enough sand blue tiles, but I think it turned out well. I hope to continue the story of building the castle as it moves along. Thank you! I tried to keep the exterior plain so it would fit into the storyline of establishing a new castle and community, so I'm glad it wasn't too much. The interior was a lot of work, but I was pretty happy with it. Thank you for your comments! Thanks! My build is somewhat similar to the DeFiori forge by @Garmadon, but I did my bellows a little differently. I wound up using some of those A frame pieces. Thanks! I used all my birds for this, but only part of my seagulls. C'mon, Lego, release the birds on B&P!!!! lol Thank you! It took some time trying to get the lighting right on the smith. I wish it could be brighter, but then you lose the texture in the brick behind him, so this was it. And you're right, there should have been a large barrel for that huge iron bar!

Thanks! I had fun with the clouds! The pig pen was a little frustrating, since it took most of my dark brown pieces and trying to get them in the right configuration to look natural, but it seemed to turn out OK. Glad you liked the transition from muddy to dry--that's what I was going for!

Here's the latest freebuild, for HSS. Now that I'm done with that, I'll be clearing up my workspace for the challenge!

The Tales of Lady Gwenllian 9. Prenmôr Forge One of the most important buildings in Prenmôr was the smithy. It was to be the first permanent structure in the castle, as a blacksmith was needed to prepare (and repair) nails, tools, weapons, and other miscellaneous steel and iron items. The need for a forge was immediate, so it was built with the first load of stone from the quarries and had little decoration. The initial stone from the quarries was irregular and contained smaller pieces than would eventually be used for the castle walls, so the blacksmith shop had a distinct appearance. It was intentionally located in what would become the inner ward for security and to ensure a steady supply of weapons and armor should the castle come under attack. Fire was always a concern in the confined space of a castle, so the smithy was made from stone, located near the well for a supply of water, and placed apart from the residential structures. To further mitigate fire risk, Lady Gwenllian purchased expensive slate from a nearby dwarven mine for the roof. The smithy's distinct appearance was not just due to its stone: the roof sloped one direction and only two small windows appeared in the side walls. Since the back of the smithy would eventually become part of the inner curtain a vaulted roof was unnecessary, and since the windows would eventually face the gatehouse and the inner curtain walls, their use as light sources was limited. Thus, two lanterns were hung inside the smithy to supplement the lighting. Lady Gwenllian and Lady Seren planned for the future by designing a forge large enough for a master smith that they hoped to eventually attract to the site. Despite being large, the forge had enough conveniences (such as a bellows with a pull chain) so that a single blacksmith could work alone if need be. A large horizontal window at the front doubled as a work counter, let in most of the light and fresh air, and provided an exit for the heat of the forge during warm months. This window was closed by a large wooden shutter that could be kept closed at night and in the winter. A stone shelf near the forge contained charcoal fuel, and several log rounds would hold work, tools, and the all-important anvil. A huge bellows would blow air into the forge to keep the coals hot enough for steel. Iron bloom, wrought iron rods, and steel stock were kept in crates and barrels around the room. Outside, barrels collected rain water runoff from the roof to supplement the water supply in the forge. A small bucket of water was located in the forge for immediate use. Lady Gwenllian’s blacksmith was none other than Sven, one of her family's blacksmiths from back in Albers. Sven had been raised in Mitgardia, where he fought and sailed, but had also apprenticed for a few years to a dwarven blacksmith. Sven was not a master of the forge, but his nails, horseshoes, and various tools were functional. His apprenticeship had taught him to let form follow function, and though his work was not always pretty, it could withstand quite a bit of abuse. At the beginning of the summer, the forge fired up for the first time. Raw iron bloom was smelted in a makeshift clay brick furnace in the yard, then stored in piles in the smithy. Sven wrought this sponge iron and stored it as bars and plates for tools, weapons, and armor. The initial pieces consisted mostly of nails and a few repairs on plows, picks, and shovels, none of which taxed the capacity of the huge smithy. Sven set up a cot in the back of the forge that became his temporary home until the permanent apartments were built, which was just fine with him, as he was the oldest of the household and was pleased to sleep in warm, a water-tight building. After watching Sven at work, Lady Seren’s daughter, Alis, became interested in smithing, and with Lady Seren's permission, Sven took her on as his apprentice. She worked the bellows, fed the fire, collected charcoal, fetched water, and practiced working on scraps of iron and steel as Sven handled the main load of work. By mid-summer, Alis had made great progress and was helping make nails, while Sven was starting to make more tools and even a few spearheads for rudimentary defense. Being more sociable, Alis also routinely dealt with customers, which greatly improved the relations between the workers and the somewhat curmudgeonly Sven. Particularly with the more unruly customers.

I really like the build! One of my favorite parts is the top of the tower where you used the wedge plates to 'push' the tower walls to lean out over. It really looks great! The lean-to type shelter looks awesome, and the rock outcropping on which it stands is very realistic. I assume from the green and the apparently warmer climate (the gnoll has his feet in the water) that Fort Cander is on the coast somewhere? The flatness of the ground at water level and the eroded look of the rocks makes me think this is an oceanfront and not a riverfront. As for the story, there's some fun parts, but I have some questions. I really like the band of misfits at this fort where Eoin has been stationed (or sent as punishment for not patrolling enough, depending on how he views it). It makes it seem like the end of the earth as far as out posts, like stationing poorly producing officers in Siberia. Questions, though: The last Eoin and Erdan were together was at the duel in the ruins build you did, correct? During that time Eoin defeated Erdan and Erdan swore revenge on Eoin. While Eoin may not have any particularly hard feelings toward Erdan, Erdan seemed like he wanted Eoin dead. Now it seems that they are good friends again, almost like a lightswitch being turned on. Am I missing something here? It could be that some exposition may help this question. I am also having trouble seeing Queen Ylspeth performing necromancy, but maybe you are setting the stage for your challenge builds? Could be interesting! Overall, very nice work as usual, and I am really enjoying the progression for Eoin and Erdan.

My shipping time was the fastest I've ever had from B&P. I ordered a set and B&P on the same order. B&P showed up today, order placed September 16th. The set still hasn't shown up, and it wasn't backordered! I love B&P like the rest of folks on here. For me, it's one of the only ways to get pieces for MOCing since I typically get to a Lego store about once a year (this year being a weird exception with all my travel). I love that I can buy a certain piece in greater quantity than buying a set would allow. Sure, I could buy 10 copies of a set, sell off the excess pieces, but that's not worth my time. I'd have to deal with selling, shipping, customers, taxes... what a waste. I don't really care that B&P doesn't allow licensed themes, as it's not my main mode of MOCing. It's interesting to get some new prints here and there, but other than that, I'm quite happy with B&P. I only wish that their system would run better. The up and down of the system and mismarking of pieces is frustrating. All in all, though, I'll deal with that over not having B&P.

I missed most of the Fantasy Era in my dark ages, too, and was sorely disappointed that I did! The fantasy era of castle is my favorite, even though I grew up in the classic era. I hope that we get another iteration of the Fantasy Era again!

Nice work, and thank you for sharing! The more data we have in this arena, the better versed we will be in figuring out out to solve the yellowing issue. FYI, the active ingredient in OxyClean is sodium percarbonate, 2Na2CO3•3H2O2. When you throw it in water, it releases hydrogen peroxide, which is where it gets its oxidizing power. You essentially made OxyClean (minus any extraneous surfactants that the manufacturer may add) by adding hydrogen peroxide to a carbonate solution. I'd be curious to know if your method with the base (sodium carbonate) was any more or less effective than the pure 3% hydrogen peroxide solution alone. I'd be reluctant to start adding bases to the bricks if I could help it. I would be even more reluctant to use pure OxyClean, as it may contain surfactants that could have interactions with the polymer or plasticizer (or even the flame retardants) in the ABS. Great job, and let us know if you try any more experiments!

How did I miss commenting on this? This is a great little scene. Very nice representation of the scene without being outlandishly large. I love how the tower is set at a slight angle to the water. It really breaks up the 'grid' effect of a standard baseplate. You did a great job letting the purple arm poke out from under the cloak to help identify the figure and provide continuity to the previous stories you've posted--well done! The use of the wedge plates for the corner crenelations is very nice, and I really like how you incorporated the lion's heads. Those things are kind of goofy with the way they stick out on top and can be hard to incorporate into a structure without making them look funky, but you did a great job. I think the water looks good if it's supposed to be a river; I'd be a little more skeptical if it's an ocean, as the waves usually destroy more of the shoreline near it, but it's not clear to me which it is by the description, so I'm assuming it's a river by the way it's built. In any case, very nice work, and I'm looking forward to more of the saga!

Apologies to @Kai NRG! I forgot to mention above that it was your Rice as Usual build that inspired my clouds! Thanks a bunch!

Just called. I got an erroneous e-mail. They didn't cancel my part because it was licensed, but rather because they were very low on stock and the part quit being made in 2016, so they're holding onto the stock for replacement parts. I'm OK with that. I'd rather have kids get replacement parts. As for making money, a tiny order wouldn't, but if you spend a few hundred dollars on just a couple elements, they definitely make money. Even if you assume USD $10/hr for their operators (which is probably high), they still make money on most of it. If they are worried about making money, they just need to introduce a monetary minimum and/or a maximum number of different elements per dollar amount. Problem solved.

Just got an e-mail that one of the parts I ordered (a limb in dark red) was canceled from my order. Really? None of the stuff that I ordered was licensed at all. I'm going to call and complain tomorrow. They need to get it together. Canceling all these pieces is really frustrating.

Glad it worked out! That was the intent, so I'm happy to hear that others are able to see that too. Thanks a bunch! It's been a lot of fun working with you, and an honor for me as well. Looking forward to your part next! Thank you! @Basiliscus and I had fun trying to really nail down Gisela's perspective through the narrative. I'm enjoying revealing Lady Gwenllian's backstory piece by piece. Glad you noticed the mortar, too! I had fun with that little detail. I should do a writeup of the orange flowering ground cover seen in the last picture like you do with yours! Thank you! I would think the Nocturnus bands would like Death-metal. I am trying to expand Lady Gwenllian's household and city through builds. I may someday try to do an HSS on another established settlement and build older buildings, but I an entertained by the idea of building a settlement up from nothing and then watching it grow and change as the city expands. The thatched roof was time consuming, but ironically, the most effort was put into the smallest thing--the pig pen. Finding all my dark brown parts and making them look convincing without any jagged lines was kind of touch and I spent the most time on this! Thank you! The concert (a previous challenge) was actually titled Highway from Hell, a reference to AC/DC. The bands mentioned were The Rolling Bones, a reference to The Rolling Stones (and a particular jest about their age), and the other was The Grateful Undead, a reference to The Grateful Dead. So lots of rock and roll references, but none from Rush (I don't really know their stuff well enough to reference them).

Thinking about this I have a few questions: 1. Who exactly is opposing the queen right now? I've read the preludes and it seems that some of the Mitgardians, particularly some of the dwarves there, are discontent with bandits and what they see as price gouging by Avalonians, but there seems to be little else specific. Are we to make up the threat to the crown (or choose our favorite Category A from Challenge 3) as well as the outcome, or is there a specifically named group of individuals that we need to depict? 2. Does this have to be one build, or can it be several that are linked together (a la the last build of Book 2)? I assume that repositioning minis/horses/characters within the build for multiple pictures is allowed in either case?

I placed an order today, but had to do it by phone. The new VIP system is a mess, and without B&P up, you can't tell how much the pieces are. I had to call to get the prices, then go to my VIP account to cash in the points I needed, then get the certificates back to the B&P on the phone... it was cumbersome and a real hassle. This would be a lot easier if they just made the VIP points worth cash and let you buy what you wanted through the VIP system. Why do you need two separate codes for online or in a store? That makes no sense. As for the bricks, all the bricks except one were in stock and so I ordered everything, but the order will wait on the one backordered brick until it appears again and then will ship. So you can order on B&P, but doing an order with a lot of elements is difficult to say the least.

Awesome! Looking forward to it, and long live the queen!

You did a great job here with closeups and forced perspectives. It reminds me of a comic book or movie, with some close up scenes that cut between one another. It really drew me into the story. I love that style of storytelling. Huge, intricate MOCs are great showpieces, but these sets of clips really tend to drive whatever narrative you're going for, and I think you did a great job. I also love the crow! Great job, and I can't wait to see where the story goes next!

This is a really beautiful build! Those cheese slopes must have been painstaking! I really like how you layered the dark orange in there to signify higher water content in the soil. It looks natural, especially with the transition to green after it. Very cool, and I like how the story makes sense based on the location of the oasis. I also see some opportunity for you to write up those neat blue/pink flowers like @Aurore does, depicting their genus. We should start collecting a list for the Wiki page or something. Great job!

Very slick! I like the dead vines growing up, and all the detail you put into the crumbling stone. The story is perfect for this setting, too, and I can't wait to see how it plays out. Are you going to post this in the Intrigue thread? Use of the closeup border to focus attention farther away really draws attention to small details and brings people in. My only potential suggestion would be to build an all Lego background and keep it far enough away that it's out of focus so colors blur. You could even show the change in time as the dawn creeps up by changing shades of color, but your lighting here looks great, too, so I don't know that it would really be an improvement.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to being able to unfold more of these stories. The last build is all Lego (as are the others). The sky is dark blue, medium azure, and one of those other medium blues or something, along with white and trans clear. When out of focus, trans clear makes an excellent cloud edging if it's got a brick of the blue color behind it to show through.

Battle for the Pigpen | Grover | Avalonia Conversations at the Fence | Grover | Avalonia Lady Gwenllian's Residence (Pics 1 and 2) | Grover | Avalonia Foundations of the Forge | Grover | Avalonia Ambassador Gisela | Grover | Avalonia technically, this is a recolor of an old build: Temporary Housing in Prenmôr (Summer) | Grover | Avalonia Prenmôr Forge | Grover | Avalonia