Grover

But you have the issue of "an historic event", where the H is pronounced. Go figure. I before E except after C? What a weird society. :-D Please understand that ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I shall not put.

This is awesome! I like everything about it, a few parts particularly: the various colors of the trees for one, the waterfalls, and the walls. I really like the walls. I have never been that fond of the multi-colored walls that incorporate sand green, light tan, light bley, dark bley, all in one. The combination of light bley and dark tan is excellent, however, and the random texture of the rectangular tiles I think looks fantastic. I had not seen this technique before. Congrats on a MOC well done!

I would respectfully disagree as well--the colors are great. The old castles were built with whatever stone was common to the region, so maybe that region had darker stone--or it weathered more. In any case, I like the way that the lighter grey pops out from the dark grey--I have thought about trying to do this with a castle of my own at some point, but I don't have enough of the dark grey to do so. Again, though, awesome job!

Is there a way to get the picture bigger or zoom in? I want to see more detail but it is difficult to see. I like the small vignette. I wish I had more skills with LDD, but there is a steep learning curve and I only have so much time for learning new software. The lighting looks really good on the render, and I had to look twice to see if it was an actual model or not. As for suggestions, the devil is in the details. I could suggest that you add a few things, such as gold pearl 1x1 round plates or the gold rings (from LotR) to the dresser drawers to serve as handles. It seems from the tapestries that you're aiming for more of a lordly estate, and in the previous posts, you have mentioned that Lord Stark did not want for money. If you were going for a more spartan appearance, I wouldn't change anything, but a more noble domicile should have more fancy and detailed furniture and items. A canopied bed might help with this as well. Of course, if the spartan approach of Lord Stark denying himself luxuries to keep himself lean and ready for battle fits what you have perfectly. I like to consider all the things that one could take away from a model, either obviously or subconsciously, which can color the character of your sigfig. You mention Lord Stark writing, so I could suggest a white feather in one of those new ink well type clear pieces (the 1x1 tile with the jumper in it that's in a few of the new Elves sets) to add a bit of detail. Perhaps toss a dog with a bone and dish in as well? A lot of medieval houses had dogs and cats to keep down on rodents and other pests. It's easy to nitpick others' work, however. It is a good design with a lot of possibilities to read into or not, as you want it to be!

Thanks! The dark orange is kind of a weird and interesting color and I am glad it worked out here. I was wondering what I was going to do with those oddly colored blue parts and thought they looked like sails. Glad you did, too! (Although there is a logic fault here... why is the ship cruising forward creating a wake if the sails are furled and no one is rowing...? I joke that the ship is going downhill! lol) I have been reading up on taking pictures on the forums here. It seems there are some tricks that can be done relatively inexpensively, so I will probably play with that. I notice with some of the contests that it's usually the models that have the best pics that win. Definitely something that needs work. And yes, this is kind of a prequel. I had introduced Gwenllian with a sigfig pic and claimed some territory earlier, but wanted to throw this out there to start the storyline of her arriving in Avalonia and then establishing her lands later. I haven't figured out exactly where the story is going to go from here, but I want to show some progression of her starting off and building up if I can. Thanks a bunch! I'lll try and keep it interesting for everyone. I'm looking forward to getting organized as well, although the holidays are going to knock me back a bit as I'm visiting family until after the new year, but look for more after that!

I would like to be able to see a closer up picture and at least one flank of the first task picture. It's a little hard to make out in the LDD drawing. Other than that, I like the idea of having various troops for various tasks in the military. I think it works well. I especially like the green hoods.

The interior is awesome! I am a huge fan of building models that aren't just for display but also have real playability, and those that are facades without interiors may look nice, but are not as awesome as what you just built. I really like the way it opens up. The plaster and lathe looks awesome on the cheese wedges too. I hadn't considered doing it that way before, but it looks great. I really like your color scheme and the way you did the brickwork as well. Keep up the great work!

As the others said, I'd try not to sweat it; I've been trying to catch up on my phone, which is kind of a poor substitute for a computer for typing long messages. I am driving home for the holidays now and probably won't have much time between now and after the new year to get back to folks. I have been trying to drop in to a few threads here and there where I can and leave comments, but I have a page of stuff that I'd still like to comment on. As for the pictures, I find that it's harder to see things on LDD, so it might be useful to include 1-2 more angles of the same builds so you can see more. For the smaller minifig shot, it looks fine, but for the one with all the troops, they're packed together and it's a little hard to see the figures in any detail without seeing them from the sides.

Do you have a link to the album or something? I'd love to see larger versions of these pics. I really love the stone work--it's not too overdone but has enough detail to really pop. Awesome!

You really captured the elven feel in this build. The sweeping, elegant staircases and the slightly rounded nature to everything is not easy to do in Lego, and I think you really hit it. Awesome!

I think the footprints are my favorite. Kind of hilarious to think about what a Lego mini footprint is like. Well done!

This is one of my favorite builds I've seen in a long time. It is a real masterpiece in my opinion. The color palette, the placement of everything, the awesome brickwork (I really, really like this) and the birds are all first class. Awesome job!

The whole build is great! I really like the uneven roof on the second and third pics. The rickety fence in the last pic is really cool, too. Great job!

Thanks! I liked the whitecaps on the waves, but the 1 1/3 brick tall dark blue waves underneath got washed out in the picture I think. It's more obvious in person. I really need to learn how to photograph better.

The Cedar Serpent | Grover | Avalonia Early Spring in Prenmôr | Grover | Avalonia

Lady Gwenllian of Albers did not know what to expect from Avalonia, other than from stories she had heard of a land filled with chivalrous knights. Her homeland Albers was a matriarchal society, where only the women could hold property and pass down lands, but very diverse, with elves, dwarves, hobbits, and humans all living peacefully. Lady Gwenllian was trained as a knight, even dabbling in the art of magic, but she cherished her time in the forests of her homeland, where she learned the ways of the woods and the stealth inherent to them. Lady Gwenllian served as a knight in the military of Albers for her conscripted time. It was during this time that the evil emperor Lantz staged a coup d’état and claimed rule of the nation to himself, shredding the laws of matriarchal succession and throwing much of the country into chaos. Without a clear plan in mind, Albers had plunged into chaos and civil war. Lady Gwenllian returned home as quickly as she could, only to find her parents assassinated by the cronies of the new emperor. The emperor had spies everywhere, and some of those in her own had household betrayed Lady Gwenllian's parents, who fought against the usurper. Her household fought amongst themselves, distrustful of one another. Her family gone, and knowing not who to trust, Lady Gwenllian vowed to escape and rebuild her family legacy and power with the hope to one day return to her homeland and right the wrongs there. She quietly gathered her most trusted servants and boarded her ship, the Cedar Serpent, to sail to a new life in Avalonia. Her companions on her voyage included: Myellan, the elven archer originally from Avalonia; Seren, her lady at arms and master of the household; Chwyd, one of her men at arms (although he is not particularly sea-worthy); Alis, daughter of Seren and the lookout for the ship; Castwyr, the wily and somewhat vulgar bard; Sven, the oldest member of Lady Gwenllian's servants, who captains the ship; and Floro, the faun, an adventurous and free-spirited companion. The Cedar Serpent Myellan and Seren near the prow. Seren, Chwyd, Floro, and Castwyr on the deck. The seasick Castwyr blowing chunks. (I think this is probably my favorite Lego face). Alis peering for land through her spyglass from the mast and rigging. Lady Gwenllian watching over her crew with Sven in the background steering the ship. ****** Now for the caveat: I know this build is kind of crappy. I have recently moved, haven't unpacked all my bricks, and can't find all of them right now. I did find a large supply of dark orange, which had a lot of pieces but only a few types: 1x2, 2x2, and 2x4 plates, and some 33 and 45° slopes, so I wanted to try and build a ship with it. I had only two of the bricks with the side studs that I used for the serpent's eyes, akin to the old 90s Battle Dragon, which I always liked. The dark blue waves didn't show as well on the pictures as I planned. I wanted to do some gold studs as accents, but couldn't find them, so went with the silver stud tiles instead. I mostly wanted to get something posted for Gwenllian to start to move the story along for her. I've also never really been good at building ships, so was actually kind of happy with how this attempt at a cog, although I know it's sub-par for around here. Kind of funny, I've actually been building since the 80s, but only recently gotten back into it, so the bulk of my bricks are from the old color palette that is much more basic. I have been trying to buy up some of the more interesting shades of colors (the dark shades, new foliage, etc.), although it's going slowly. Some of the new building techniques are awesome and I am here to have fun and learn from everyone else, so I welcome the criticism and comments, although bear in mind I have a long way to go and probably don't have the same colors available as everyone else yet.

That sounds cool. I'll PM you to discuss possible details. Is there a pic of your sigfig somewhere on the forums?

What do you have in mind for a collaboration? I am not sure how these work. We each build a part of something or we try to make copies of each other's sig figs and use them in a scene? It sounds intriguing.

I really like this all the way around! I think the dragon's camouflage is awesome, and I love the foliage. I strive to make half-way decent foliage and tend to be disappointed myself. I think what you have is great. I love the way the trees bend, too. Is that the flex tubing for the trunk?

I, too, really like the base. I struggle a lot with making vegetation and paths that look realistic, and this one looks great. Nice to have some of that dark tan!

Finally had some time this weekend to unpack some my my collection and also bought some bulk Legos at a retailer near me. The real steal was I found Daniel Siskinds Blacksmith Shop for $35! They didn't know what it was and so priced it inappropriately, but I was not complaining! Hopefully be able to get some stuff built and pics this weekend.

Thanks for the welcome! I am trying to get my bricks together and somewhat organized after my move. I still have yet to find everything. I have some ideas for the introduction of Gwenllian, so will post once I have some things built.

That's good to know. This place seems pretty laid back with regard to building and seems to be an encouraging place to display MOCs. Look forward to it!

Thanks! I'm excited to be here. Looking forward to getting to build!

For consideration, Lady Gwenllain would like to claim Prenmôr, the coastal land on the northern coast of the western continent-island thing, next to Ambalar. Does this look OK? I tried to encompass the river not to try and claim it (as I think it would make a realistic border) but rather to try and keep it on the map so as not to get run over by the border line.