Moruth Swamp Outpost

[MassEditor]

Dotted throughout the Moruth Swamp are numerous outposts, initially built to serve as platforms for the spread of commerce to some of Nocturnus' most inhospitable domains. However, during the war against the Black Spire, these isolated outposts proved essential for resupplying and staging the Nocturnian resistance. Now that the Black Spire's forces are again on the move, the small bases are once more demonstrating their utility. Located deep in the treacherous swamps, the outposts are extremely difficult to reach and only shallow-draft vessels can attempt to near one. A network of informants in the surrounding fishing villages also provide a diligent watch against Black Spire troops. An invading force would be spotted far before reaching an outpost, allowing its tenants to escape or set up an ambush.

As one could imagine, life aboard these outposts is not particularly enjoyable, but residents do what they can do pass the long periods of boredom. Fishing, not surprisingly, is a common pastime. That, and counting mosquitos.

A couple of "cinematic shots" of the build:

A shot of the whole build, and then some close

ups:

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This foggy, swampy outpost is another freebuild for Nocturnus - it's good to be building in the darklands again! I feel like this is my best MOC up-to-date, or at least I hope so because getting those three roofs to sit flush with one another was frustrating as hell. Also, if you're wondering what that odd base is all about, well, it's the best I could do with the dark green I had on hand. It's hard to find a BL seller in the US who wants to charge less than a quarter apiece for dark green bricks!

The design is based on some artwork I saw online, from a computer game I believe. The fog effect was done with a fog machine.

Anyways, I had a lot of fun building this one, and I hope you enjoy! Feedback always welcomed!

And to you gator fans out there, I apologize for the brutality witnessed above (unless you're a UofF fan, then no apology), but that's some darn good eating!

Edited September 25, 2014 by MassEditor

[-Carson Haupt-]

The exposed rafters are amazing, like the rest of the build! Really top notch.

[Yzalirk]

Stunning build, as usual! I love everything about it, especially the photography. The picture with the smoke was a great idea to do and it came out awesome! Great job. :thumbup:

Also, where are the legs and torso from on the minifig in the 5th picture holding the feathers and scroll? Those look really cool and I don't recall seeing those parts before.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Behemoth

[SarahJoy]

Mmmmm, fried gator! It's funny, I was just thinking the other day that southern Louisiana would fit well in Nocturnus, and you've so perfectly captured that.

Really gorgeous, beautifully detailed build, and I love the cinematic shots.

[Lord Vladivus]

Damn. That's Awesome with a capital 'A'! Beautiful details, I can really see these all over the place in the Moruth Swamps- certainly Vladivus' Moruth Rangers would be frequent visitors! And I'm glad to see the Nocturnian resistance is producing these great builds!

[cablefoxley]

Absolutely brilliant,

Same as the others, i love the exposed rafters. Theres also tons of little details which i keep spotting, like the brick built boat, The dark green base is spot on as well, gives me the impression of stagnant water full of plants and algae. I think ill borrow the rafters for my moc if thats ok.

[mccoyed]

Wow. Hat is soaring off, ME. My brains are gone too. I think you've got the definitive GoH swamp build right here and I love the nods to bayou imagery. That bit with the gator is perfect, as is the beaten-up look of the building and grounds. Plus all the other tiny details just rule.

My favorite part is probably the structure of the platform. It's maybe one of the more simple techniques you used but the proportions are great and it really pops.

[Tomsche]

wow... just wow

[Dzoni90]

I saw this on your Flickr and it looks very realistic. Great build and shooting.

@Behemoth

Head and torso are from evil dwarf minifig series. I am not sure about legs, but probably they are from some castle warrior.

[gedren_y]

If I was an American football fan, I might object to having Albert trussed up. Good thing I'm not, or I'd be looking to put a razorback in a similar situation.

I always love your builds, but this one truly captures a swamp-home cracker architecture. As someone who at one time lived in a near 100-yr-old cracker house, I should know.

[Jorrith]

Wow. This is definatly something i did not expect from you ME, (where are the rocks!!) but you did a terrific job!

[robuko]

Great idea, amazing technique, fantastic presentation! The smoke machine shot is superb! It really feels like the introduction to The Rescuers!

[Legonardo]

Perfect!

[Gunman]

Great moc ME. I like the shots you make with that fog machine :) Maybe I will have to buy one too sometime. :) I really like the activities going on there, the croco really adds to it :)

[ZCerberus]

Great build ME. I would frontpage this thing if Gideon didn't steal your thunder... still a few days left in the week I suppose...

[cesbrick]

ME, like I said on flickr this is an awesome moc! Full of details and great techniques. Love the feeling of the build. Congrats. :):)

[IenjoyLego89]

Really cool build :) love the smoke effect on the second picture :) going to have another look through again once I've typed this :)

[Aland1916]

Great build, a lot of fantastic details!

[Kai NRG]

Fantastic job again ME, especially love the foggy picture! All the details, lanterns & net and such, are also great! One tiny nitpick would be the very flat surface of the swamp - I'd like to see some reeds or something growing. It would also be nice to see a complete picture of the build, without the edges cropped off. If paper size is a problem, it's pretty easy to extend the background white (I use MS paint for that), as long as you have a small border of white (say two inches, once picture is blown up full size) around the whole build.

[Scaevola]

Such a great build! I love the platform design and the boat especially :thumbup:

[Pyf]

Looks fantastic, I particularly love your lamps.

[MassEditor]

Thanks everyone, glad you enjoyed it!

Also, where are the legs and torso from on the minifig in the 5th picture holding the feathers and scroll? Those look really cool and I don't recall seeing those parts before.

The torso is indeed from the evil dwarf CMF. The legs are from a "bad" knight in one of the recent castle series (the one with the yellow and green dragon pattern).

It's funny, I was just thinking the other day that southern Louisiana would fit well in Nocturnus, and you've so perfectly captured that.

Arkansas has great swamps too! I'm lucky enough to get to live in the middle of one!

I think ill borrow the rafters for my moc if thats ok.

Please, go ahead.

If I was an American football fan, I might object to having Albert trussed up. Good thing I'm not, or I'd be looking to put a razorback in a similar situation.

I always love your builds, but this one truly captures a swamp-home cracker architecture. As someone who at one time lived in a near 100-yr-old cracker house, I should know.

Oh boy, this comment made me about fall out of my chair laughing! The Hogs don't need any help, they're usually pretty good at hanging themselves!

Fantastic job again ME, especially love the foggy picture! All the details, lanterns & net and such, are also great! One tiny nitpick would be the very flat surface of the swamp - I'd like to see some reeds or something growing. It would also be nice to see a complete picture of the build, without the edges cropped off. If paper size is a problem, it's pretty easy to extend the background white (I use MS paint for that), as long as you have a small border of white (say two inches, once picture is blown up full size) around the whole build.

Thanks Kai! The problem here was when several of the trees plummeted off the table and exploded into their individual pieces. I was in a bit of a hurry to shoot this (work's taking me out of town and away from my bricks for a while, and I wanted to get this up before I left) so when the trees vaporized, I decided it was time to stop shooting. Only when I got to post-processing did I realize a couple of the dark green slopes had removed themselves from the MOC while I was photographing it. So, I just cropped those parts off (very little is actually left out of the photo above, just a few bits of dark green) but I totally understand your point. Sorry, I know that's a long explanation for a pretty dumb mistake (but I learned my lesson, take a lot of time shooting your MOCs!!).

Edited September 25, 2014 by MassEditor

[kabel]

This is really great and I think it's one of the best Nocturnus mocs that has been posted so far! Great building techniques and awesome photo effects!

[de Gothia]

You really have an unique touch to mocs and this one is spectacular! Many great details!

[Garmadon]

Another great build, MassEditor, excellent roof, woodwork, and brick-built boat

The net, lanterns, and barrels are great details, and I really like the pic with the boat coming out of the fog

I do agree with Kai that it would have been nice to have a shot of the entire build, but I understand your problem