Athos

Hardly a brick in those sets. That's especially disappointing for the purple one. Some purple bricks would have been nice. But all they gave us were a punch of panels and plates... Steve

This is a lovely MOC. The colors are spectacular. There is just so much good about it that I'm not even sure what to say... I especially like how you used those curved pieces on the base. It makes for a very classy display effect. Steve

I think taller would be better. And maybe just a bit more color in the walls (light grey or tan). And use a different color for the window and door frame. The red just sticks out too much. Other than that, nice work. I like the sign on top and the red and white awning. Steve

I like the use of the small barrell for the cannon. I wonder though how those notches on the inside would affect its ability to fire... Steve

I think if you stick some poles on the flags it would look better. Maybe move the shield down to the middle, rather than up so high. It looks a bit top heavy. Other than that, nice work. Steve

Help the four brave Gungan warriors repel the attack of the Trade Federation. Capt. Tarpals commands the force; one warrior loads the working catapult while two warriors hurl boomas at the advancing army. Will they be able to delay the onslaught long enough to retake Theed Palace? Use the Gungan Battle Pack to decide for yourself. Steve

No. I think it is an excellent example of my point. Though your situation is much more severe than mine... Steve

As I recall, it was these type of focus groups that got us new brown and bleys... So, if leaks will stop focus groups, then I say: "leak away." Steve

Very interesting. But I wonder why they need a name change. How about "Knights Kingdon 3: the return of stupidity"? Steve

I think the first thing you need to do is: build more on that baseplate or use a smaller one. On the ruins, I would make more variation in height on the walls (ruins will rarely break along such a straight line). Some 1x1 bricks on top in strategic places would help. Maybe even a half an arch? I think the corners would also be higher than the centers, since they'd have more support. More vines and plants and overgrowth would help a lot too. How about the remains of a road, with plants breaking through? Use various tiles and plates for this. Vary the colors in the ruin walls a bit too. Its unlikely that it would be that uniformly white after so long. Also, what happened to the roof? If there was one, it would be collapsed inside and there would be debries in there. And how did the skeleton wind up in the air. He'd have fallen apart in that position, not just floating there. Stick him on the ground. Some variation of the ground level with green plates would also help. I hope I didn't criticize too much. But if you use those techniques a little bit, your MOC will improve greatly. Steve

It really needs some landscaping. A bunch of 1x1 and 1x2 plates in brown, tan, dark and light grey, would make some nice cobblestones for the streets. I also don't like the bars on the window being exposed on the side. I think if you moved it over one stud and put wall there it would look a lot better. Maybe some variation of color and texture on the wall would help too. Maybe more barricades for the rioters, too? The architecture is good and I like the snotwork on the collonade. Though, I think with a few little additions, like I mentioned, you could take the MOC from 'fair' to ' very good.' Steve

You're right, I did. I think what doesn't work for me here, is the blue right next to the sandgreen. It makes the blue seem much more bright, when paired with the cooler sandgreen. Its actually why I think its so hard to build a modular building (its hard to get colors that don't stand out next to the colors of the modular sets). It could be the flash too and I think its a bit the combination of blue and black that makes it seem bright. The more I look, however, the more I like it. I think what would really help would be to separate the black and blue with some grey on the roof. Steve

The Jedi speeder is slick. Though I doubt we'd get Greedo or Ackbar's heads in such a cheap set... Steve

The rubberbands makes it look like he has the mumps... Steve

Nice use of the torsos on the left hobbits... I'm not sure about the other two though. Or Boromir wearing an old lady's dress... Steve

It says mid-2010, which suggests to me that we'll see some new sets for early 2010... Steve

I think you've got too much color in there... And the buildings seem too close together. I don't like the blue. Its just too bright when compared to the other buildings. It jumps out at you way to much and, is so bright, it almost, hurts your eyes to look at. And the grey around the edges doesn't work for me. Though, I think that part could be easily fixed, if you put grey plates between the blue and the roof. And some blue between the grey and the Harry Potter window. I really like the middle building. The sand-green and white is a nice combination. The dark brown is a nice highlight. I'm not sure about the tan and white one. I know what you were going for, but its not working for me. I think you need to break up the tan with some white, especially on the clock tower. Also I think if you made the roof overlap the walls on the tower, it would look better. An arch behind the gate might be a nice addition too. A missing, discolored or uneven plank on the sidewalk might look nice too. Though, with all that criticism, I still think you've got a pretty nice MOC there... Steve

That is some great posing of the jester. I think you could improve on the walls a rest of the scene though. Maybe some texturing on the walls. And the floor is kind of bland. Steve

Very well done. My only real criticism/complaint is that he went to all that trouble to build a large ship and then didn't make it the Enterprise... Steve

Sure, I'll sign. Another mermaid might be nice. Though I wish there were more unique figures like there were in the Castle calendar. Steve

Very cool. As to any risk of damaging a figure: if you have a viking chess set, you've got viking figures to burn... literally... Steve

Do I see new doors on the saloon? Or are they just window shutters? Steve

I'm really diggin' (pun intended) the slanted rocks. How did you manage that? How are those round supports on the right held up? I think I can tell, but I'm not sure. I also really like the hitching on the wagon and the surprised guys hat. I'm not sure I like the curved hoses for the mine cart tracks, but it is an interesting idea. And I'm not sure what the guy at the far right with the chain is supposed to be doing. Great work... Steve

I used them for Jericho soldiers: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Vi...ho/jericho1.jpg Steve

Went over to Utah this weekend and found myself in Promontory, where they were reenacting the completion of the Transcontinental RR. Got some nice pictures of the trains that I thought you trainheads might enjoy: Train Pictures Steve