Velnerius

This is really good! I love the shaping of the arches with those 'tooth' pieces! Honestly, I think you're the king of foliage; every single build I see of yours, the foliage is supreme! I just love how you manage to incorporate it into your build so organically!!

It'll be interesting to see if I'll have more time to participate in this challenge, but I fear the worst; I will be getting the keys to my new house half September, so I'll be busy with that. On the positive side, I'll have a dedicated LEGO space once I'm all settled in!

Thanks, Talus! The Sacra di San Michele was a huge inspiration for a large part of this build! As for the dome, it took quite some tinkering with wedge plates and clips, but I quite like the result. I found a bunch of those black wedge plates and A-frame plates in a lot and started messing around with them until I had the prototype of the dome. That was actually the first part of the entire build, as it inspired me to do the rest. I'm excited to see what Federico is up to as well, but I have a feeling we'll find out soon!

I think the idea of the challenge, as well as the challenge itself, were absolutely perfect, and I would've loved to participate. Unfortunately, I have had too many things going on for myself at the moment, for which reason I wasn't able to participate. I'm sure I will be able to soon!

I don't think it's very likely we'll get two Rohan builds, but either one would be awesome!

Rocca Velneria | Velnerius | Varlyrio

This build is really amazing! The detailing in this scale speaks to the imagination, and the story adds so much to the build! Microscale always intrigues me, and I think I should have a go at it in the future.

Thank you very much! I think the armory is my favorite as well, and it was actually the first room of the whole castle that I built! I think close-ups of the various rooms might feature in future challenges here :) Thank you! The whole thing took me almost 2 years to build. I'm a slow builder, breaking down and rebuilding things often, and have little free time... Thank you so much! I'm sure it will reappear often, as I have plans for Federico! Thank you! Hi Grover, I really appreciate your reply (in fact, I was looking forward to getting it!). It makes me very happy to read your comments, and I will definitely be adding Rocca Velneria to HSS. I'll also add ' ree build' to the title and add it there!

For now, not many other photos yet, but at least I've got a decent one of the interior on the other side! Thank you so much! And you're right, the inhabitants of Rocca Velneria definitely get their workout! As for the 'softer effect' you mentioned, I actually only noticed it now myself! It must simply be the reflection from the trans-blue tiles. The bows of the flying buttresses are indeed inserted at an angle. I'll include a close-up picture once I get around to taking some more close-up pics!

Thank you! I was quite proud of how both the butresses and the tree came out! Thank you so much! It was really amazing to get all the positive reactions; it was my first exhibition of this kind! Thank you! I will upload some more photos soon!

I'm a big fan of those arches! Might need to copy that design in the future :)

Thank you so much! I might put up some more pictures in a few days! Thank you! I'm quite happy with the contrast between the green and the grey! I'll try to upload more pics soon! You have a sharp eye, my friend! The whole thing has an interior, but I'm still in doubt if I'll share it all already, or if I should wait to use it piece by piece whenever I might use it for the story!

From the battlements of Rocca Velneria, Federico and his wife, Elisa, looked out over his ancestral homeland. Thanks to his father, and his father before him, life was good for the citizens of Rocca Velneria. The wealth flowing from the vineyards and agricultural lands of the fertile valley, as well as the ever-growing, bustling river port, had allowed the Velnerio family to construct a towering stronghold, overlooking the surroundings. From here, Federico planned on more. Much more.

Oh no, time's flying! I thought I would have plenty of time, but with work being super busy and my little bit of spare time used to finalize my moc for a convention on May 1st, I'm afraid I'm not gonna have a WIP to post here at all!

I really like the idea of this type of 'learning challenge'! I was familiar with some techniques for round towers, but not with this exact one, and it looks very interesting to play around with! I hope to have the time (and pieces) to come up with something. Am I correct in assuming that it won't be necessary for our sigfigs to appear here (as mine has other business back in Varlyrio to attend to!), and that members from all guilds are welcome to join, as long as the build itself is in Avalonia?

I'm enjoying the pace of the preludes, having something to look forward to every week! I can't wait to get the first challenge of the new book, though!

The gatehouse looks impressive, and it's great to see all the Avalonian characters together! These get-togethers seem to fare a lot friendlier than the ones we organize in Varlyrio...

Federico Velnerio looks forward to the upcoming challenges, and pledges his allegiance to Varlyrio!

I only joined GoH a short while ago, so Federico Velnerio definitely continues to pledge allegiance to his native Varlyrio!

Very nice little scene! I can see the inspiration from the Battle of Lake Peipus in your story :)

This is really, really impressive! I love how organic it looks, with both the colors as well as all the curved pieces. Absolutley adore this moc!

Thank you for all the information, @TalusMoonbreaker, this will definitely help me get going in Varlyrio! Thank you! I don't have any WIP pictures, but I used a floor of 2x2 jumper plates and 1x1 plates underneath, that help create this pattern. If you google 'diagonal floor technique', you'll find some examples on which I based my idea! Thanks! As @T-86(swebrickLUG) already pointed out, it's a Harry Potter piece from a very long time ago. I believe it was in the very first potions class! Thank you, @W Navarre! I might get in touch! :) Thank you all so much for your kind words!!!

Thank you so much @TalusMoonbreaker! The carpet was, in fact, done by not pushing the tiles all the way down. I considered going for an elaborate technique using brackets sideways in the floor, but as this build will fit into the rest of a massive build of Rocca Velneria in its entirety, I had to keep the bottom simple. Thank you very much! I was quite proud of the chandelier, and the wizard hat is something I've seen before as a fountain, and I thought it would work well here! Thanks, @Gideon, for all your great comments, especially coming from a winner of the challenge! I'm really happy with the focus in the pictures, as I wanted to emphasize the characters, but I agree that another photo showing the whole scene a little clearer would've been a good idea. As for the vegetation, you'll eventually get to see the whole outside, as it will fit into a much bigger project! Thank you all so much for your nice words, guys! Thank you, @Kai NRG! It means a lot to me, as I've been lurking at many of your awesome builds for a long time now! I agree, the white helps a lot in the balance, while also saving some precious grey bricks for the rest of my builds! Thank you, @mrcp6d. The higher ring in the chandelier is actually a smaller version of the same type of wheel I used for the bottom ring!

Congratulations to @T-86(swebrickLUG) & @Gideon for winning the challenges! I had a lot of fun building for both categories, as my first builds in the Guilds. I can't wait for what comes next!

Unfortunately, I simply misunderstood how things work on Eurobricks, and to make sure I fit requirements, adjusted the resolution of all my photos to below 1MB when posting them on Flickr, to then link them to EB. Too bad, as I’ve been away from home and haven’t had time to upload the original photos (my wife actually took them with a good camera, so they were much higher resolution 😅)