socalbricks

Great work on these! The first thing I noticed in the "group photo" were those multi-colored baseplates - a novel concept, and they look great! I love some of the character concepts as well. A centaur farrier makes a lot of sense - centaurs probably would need horseshoes (centaurshoes?) as much as horses would. I also like the gossipy chambermaid! I also love Ruak's "bone throne" - it looks amazing! I especially like how you used the old version of "skeleton arm" (the loose ones that flail around) for the armrests.

I know what you meant! I meant to write "vial" as well, but for whatever reason I also misspelled it as "vile". 😅

@Eyrezer Thank you so much for the feedback! I'm glad you like the figures. I got Marilla's "tiefling hairpiece" off of a BrickLink seller for $4.95 back in August (the hairpiece appeared on Gold Horn Demon, whose "set debut" was back in summer 2020). That seller was based in the United States, though; it might be harder for someone in NZ to find it. You could try LEGO.com's Bricks & Pieces service, where they sell it for 4.52 NZD. However, it takes several weeks to ship. As for the Nocturnus characters, I completely get where you're coming from, especially with Magda and Ulriq. I like their designs, but its quite apparent that I used Star Wars helmets for them. I could possibly pass off Ulriq as a medieval knight of sorts (mainly with the slit visor) but I could see Magda's helmet looking much more "sci-fi". I only kept the helmet because of how much I felt it complemented the rest of their wardrobe, even if it does look a little anachronistic. I'm glad you like the "vial" on their back though - I'm happy with how it turned out. It (along with the character was a whole) was partially inspired by the character of Moira from Overwatch. By the way, don't worry about coming across as "too harsh" in your criticisms - criticism is very important if I want to improve as a builder (or anything, for that matter). Thank you! I don't know why, but I love using capes, kamas, etc. for my figures - 14 out of 16 characters in this CMF have a cloth piece of some kind! Queen Ylspeth and Jalla Vaswani hold the record, with each of them having four separate clothe pieces. The kama cloth piece is honestly one of my favorite LEGO pieces - it's a shame they can get so expensive on BrickLink!

Great work! My favorites are probably Fiona, Pandemonium, Rebecca, and Lunarius. I'll second what Aurore said; the different parts on these figures truly feel like they belong together. I really like the design of Miyuko's staff as well - that design is ingenious!

Great work! My favorites are probably the dryad (always great to see that Jedi Consular head), the Shield Maiden, the Fright Knight, and the Desert Noble Cavalry (great parts all around; I especially like his shield and fez)!

@jtooker Thank you - I'm glad you like her! @Robert8 Thank you so much! Brielle seems to be popular. Designing a "centaur knight" was a blast! @Kai NRG Thanks! I'm glad people like the backstories!

@zoth33 Thank you - I'm glad you like them! I was worried that people wouldn't read the backstories because they were longwinded "walls of text" - I'm glad I was wrong! @Aurore Thank you - that means a lot coming from someone who makes such great figures! The choice to make Gerti a "cultural anthropologist" was partially inspired by Sigrid's passion for herbalism and her journal on Mitgardian flora. I can imagine Gerti is working on a similar compendium of the various cultures in Historica! I'm also glad you like the vicious, cruel, wrathful abomination "friendly little lobster" known as "Claudette". @Exetrius Glad you like the figures! Brielle was fun to design - if she went to war, I wonder if she would qualify as "infantry" or "cavalry"? 🤔 I've had that piece for a few years now - I either got it off BrickLink or from a Bricks & Minifigs store (probably the latter; they're usually pretty vigilant about verifying parts, but some inevitably slip through the cracks). I was convinced until now that it was this part: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=94158c&idColor=0#T=S&C=0&O={"color":0,"iconly":0}, which came in sets from Kingdoms, Lord of the Rings, and LEGO Games' "Heroica" line. However, upon closer inspection, that part was only produced in "Dark Bluish Gray". The "Flat Silver" one in my collection also lacks the LEGO logo on the blade, meaning it is likely a knockoff. 😕 That being said, I appreciate you pointing it out - I would have never caught that. Aside from the color and the lack of LEGO logo, it looks almost identical to the "official piece". Now I don't know what to do with the part - it's a great looking piece, but as a strict "purist" it feels wrong to hold onto it... We can discuss how this affects my standing in the contest in the Discord - I know the rules were adamant about "only official LEGO parts" being allowed, but I'm not sure what the policy on "accidental cheating" is.

Great work! I know I already commented about these on Flickr (so this might come off as redundant), but I really like the parts combos on all of these. They convey so much personality! My personal favorites are Quickroot (love the "foliage" behind his head), Ayriel Greenbough (love that parts combo), Thom Mayne, Logh Macthror (love that play on words), Dworthi Forkbeard, and Moussi di Tacci. Noim Venqi's expression is also priceless!

My entry for Category 1: Populating Historica

Ayra | socalbricks | Avalonia Centaur w/ Tailgunner | socalbricks | Avalonia CDC2 CMF | socalbricks | Avalonia Cobold's Crusaders | socalbricks | Avalonia Citizens of Historica | socalbricks | Avalonia Cobold's Crusaders (REVAMP) | socalbricks | Avalonia The Kelp Harvest | socalbricks | Avalonia Tree Decorating in Historica | socalbricks | Avalonia The Abyss | socalbricks | Avalonia A History of Akmaddian Centaurs and Chariots | socalbricks | Avalonia The Hunt | socalbricks | Avalonia The Farriers | socalbricks | Avalonia

Here is my entry for CDC2 Category 1: Populating Historica. Enjoy! Cedrica and Valyrio from left to right: Queen Ylspeth: The Queen of Historica in her “ceremonial armor”, which she wears at certain military functions/ceremonies. Though she rules securely from Cedrica, she worries that she might one day need to use it... Marilla Danza: a tiefling and former slave who freed herself after leading a revolt. She and her crew of freedom fighters have been disrupting the underground slave trade between Valyrio and Kaliphlin, raiding slave ships and freeing their captives. Gerard Renwick Sinclare III: Second son (and the only bachelor) within a powerful family of Valyrian aristocrats. He is the only one in his family without any heroic tales to tell. Having lived an uneventful life, he seeks adventure in an effort to prove himself. Mitgardia Ivar Lonswain: an “eccentric” sea captain who ferries “unscrupulous people” between Mitgardia, Avalonia, and Valyrio. His pet lobster, Claudette, is blood thirsty and capable of surviving out of water indefinitely. She has a body count large enough to fill a multi-volume book. Ivar is the only one who can pet her without being dismembered. The Ivory Priestess: a mysterious priestess who collects bones. Her methods of acquiring these bones vary from rummaging around in the waste piles of butcher shops to brazen grave robbery. Her intentions for said bones are currently unknown. Zapato: a Minotaur butcher of few words. How a member of a usually herbivorous race became an expert on meat is anyone’s guess. People ask him if it "ever feels weird for him to be serving beef" - they receive a death glare in response. Avalonia Gertrude "Gerti" Eilinger: a prominent cultural anthropologist from the University of Albion. She travels all around Historica with her team of researchers. Having just finished a thesis on Cyclops cultures of the southwest Mitgardian lowlands, she has now set her sights on a group of “camel centaurs” (cameltaurs?) that some allege to exist in the Siccus Badlands. This has elicited controversy among her fellow academics, who claim that her theories are “absolutely preposterous”. This has done little to deter the enthusiastic anthropologist, though. Brielle Valken: adopted older sister of Ayra Valken, and captain of the Knights of Duranya. Described as a “natural born leader” who leads from the front, she has earned the respect of her fellow knights time and time again. The same cannot be said for her relationship with the bureaucracy. In a field where nepotism and “favors” leads to promotion, Brielle’s polite refusal to “brownnose” has left her without many allies in the upper brass, and without many means to progress her career. Though this sometimes frustrates her, she would ultimately rather be "on the ground" then cooped up in some office. Shriana: an elven sorceress who betrayed her kind before being banished to another plane of existence. Bargaining with dark powers, she has returned in a cursed, spectral state (neither alive nor dead) to exact revenge on her fellow elves. Kaliphlin Jalla Vaswani: a naga bounty hunter and assassin engaged in a fierce rivalry with Kars. A top earner among Kaliphlani mercenaries, she has become a minor celebrity in parts of Kaliphlin, flaunting her success with expensive silks and the best weaponry. Keeper Radina Roshti: the dedicated (if not slightly aloof) keeper of the Queenscross archives. Located deep beneath the sand, she oversees and guards thousands of years worth of knowledge. Ranging from "schematics of buildings that don't (officially) exist" to "forbidden spells", the texts would prove dangerous if they fell into the wrong hands. Armando Sabatheel: bar tender at the Tipsy Tree. Applying excessive amounts of pomade to his hair (down to his “trademark curl”), he can be smelled from meters away. He claims to be popular with the ladies (proof needed). Nocturnus Magda: a mysterious chemist with an entirely unknown past. There are no records of them or their work in any of the five guilds - their age, gender, race are all a mystery. Ulriq has deduced that, if those records ever did exist, they were likely wiped from existence by those in power. Magda is too experienced in their field to have not had a history. The only things that are unquestionable is their expertise in their field and their complete sociopathy. Recently, they have joined the Crimson Knives after being offered "career opportunities" by Ulriq. Bastio: an orc soldier who fashions himself as a “survivor”, allying himself with whoever he thinks is the most powerful. He has allied himself with Ulriq, but will betray him at the first sign of weakness. Unbeknownst to Bastio, Ulriq is well aware of this fact; he only tolerates Bastio because he “drives him to be better”. Ulriq: the mysterious and charismatic leader of the Crimson Knives. Hailing from an influential Nocturnan family, he was sent to Avalonia before Raavage considered the family a threat to his power. With his family subsequently purged, Ulriq was the lone survivor. A year later, he would join a Cedrican commando unit, fighting alongside Kars and Cobold. Parting ways after the war, Ulriq returned home to his native Nocturnus and claimed his family’s hidden wealth. With Raavage’s purported death creating a power vacuum, the whole kingdom is now in chaos, and Ulriq has sought to make a name for himself by any means necessary. Countess Irina Vachau: living in her isolated castle in northern Nocturnus, she has a prized collection of "vintage bloods" in her cellar. Visitors to her castle also have a nasty habit of disappearing. She insists that she definitely isn't a vampire, though. ___________________________________________________________________________________ When I heard that CDC2: Category 1 would involve a CMF, I knew that I just had to take part! Given my small workspace and limited parts collection, I've never been able to build larger MOC's - instead, I've focused almost entirely on minifigures these past few years. Something like a CMF challenge was one of the few Guilds of Historica challenges I could feasibly participate in. Some behind the scenes info on this series: I had a lot of fun working on this series and watching what the other contestants have/will come up with - I wish you all the best of luck!

I misread the rules for the CMF challenge - I got a group shot of all 16, and then got five smaller "group photos" (one for each guild). Normally I would just go back and take the 16 individual photos, but I'm currently studying abroad in Germany. I took the CMF photos in mid-August (right before I left) and won't be back home until March of next year. Would this failure to meet one of the criteria disqualify me? UPDATE: Never mind - the issue was resolved in the Discord shortly after this comment was originally posted.

Great work as always! There's very little I can say that hasn't already been said - the parts combos continue to impress. Raina the Archimage and Ozco the Embalmer are my personal favorites! I also love the "soul face" in the Soul Collector's hand! That piece is perfect. I'm putting the finishing touches on the photos for my CDC2: CMF entry. Looks like I'll have some stiff competition! Keep up the great work!

Thank you for the clarification!

I have two questions: Does this mean that the CDC2 entry can count as a free build? Or does it have to be "3 Guild Mocs" excluding the CDC2 entry Second question: I plan on having one of my CMF characters be from Cedrica. Is this allowed? I know it isn't one of the five guilds.

Great work on both of these MOCs! The builds and positioning of the figures make the scenes "come alive"! The details in each build are lovely as well - I'm sure other people have already mentioned the upside-down crocodile! I also love how you portrayed the tent "fabric" in both MOC's - one with purple/magenta bricks and the other with tan "garage roller door segments". Both techniques are simple yet incredibly effective! I can't wait to see what you come up with for CDC2! Good luck!

It is great to hear from Druidham again! The scale of this MOC is truly mind-boggling - so many cool things to process! I love how you built those large "blocks/slabs" in the wall! I also love the sliding door, the dragon, and those trees in the background. I noticed that the floor tiles have some gaps and are diagonal - what technique did you use for this?

So much to love here! I really like the rockwork/masonry (both inside and out), tapestries (I might have to steal borrow that technique), floor tiles (love how you elevated the back half of the hall), wood furniture, and the ingots you used on those books! The parts combos on your figures also continue to impress! Great job on the "atmospheric shot" as well - it looks gorgeous!

Sounds great! I'll definitely try to make something for Category 1. Quick question: do the figures have to be generic "civilians", or can they be named characters? I've been working on six named characters for a while now. Would any of these characters be disqualified from the 16 figures? I assume that Kars would (seeing as how I posted about him months ago) but the other characters have never been posted.

Any word on when the second round of challenges will begin?

Just checked it out - thanks for the tip!

Amazing! So many lovely technique here, such as the floor tiling and that coral tower in the back! My favorite part might be those (very realistic) palm trees - how did you build their tops?

Great story! It's always neat to read these sorts of accounts in the "first-person" - you feel like you're reading a journal from an actual battle. The accompanying photos are also great!

Impressive work! It reminds me of a medieval version of LEGO's "Ninjago City" set. So much to love about this, but my favorite parts (just to mention a few) would be the "bird coop" on the roof, the battlements, and the "covered bridge" running along the side of the building.

Great work! I especially like how you did the trees and the 2x1 tile "bricks" around the tower's base.