[MOC] Darmanian Castle

[Cpt Rahmer]

Hi!

I want to share with you my latest moc: Daramian Castle.

Hope you enjoy it!

Darmanian Castle by Gustavo Rahmeier, no Flickr

General Vision by Gustavo Rahmeier, no Flickr

Courtyard by Gustavo Rahmeier, no Flickr

Travelers arrinving by Gustavo Rahmeier, no Flickr

Forest by Gustavo Rahmeier, no Flickr

Interior schemes by Gustavo Rahmeier, no Flickr

Hall by Gustavo Rahmeier, no Flickr

Hall by Gustavo Rahmeier, no Flickr

Second floor by Gustavo Rahmeier, no Flickr

More pictures in the Flickr

Comments are wellcome!

[bricklover]

I love all of the details! The one change I would make would be to make the forest floor more dense and random.

[Vorkosigan]

Nice build. The interior and the forest are nicely detailed. I like the use of the huge axe piece as decoration.

[durazno33]

This has a lot of great elements. I particularly like the inside of the buildings.

In parts on the outside the coloring looks a little motley.

[Valak]

Nice details. I really like the tower and the entire settings. Good job.

[BrickCurve]

Nice job, the river is one of my favourite parts. You need to work on the landscaping though, some 1 x 2 plates under the grass would really help add more texture and improve the feel of the whole model.

You also need to work on your photography, in most image editing programs you can easily add a mask that brightens the background of the model until it is perfectly white, although you may have to manually select the background.

[Staslegomaster]

I really enjoy your diarama. Before the first LEGO Pirates sets were issued, LEGO Castle was the most impressive series of all. And your marvelous, classic looking creations proves - why. The combination of stone and wood looks great. I like some of your ideas. Try to add a story.

[Fantu]

Beautiful and well built!

The best part is the adventurer in the forest fighting a goblin for loot and glory!

[Nagol of Fortfield]

Very good! My favorite thing is the axe in the great hall. Swoosh!

[durazno33]

You also need to work on your photography, in most image editing programs you can easily add a mask that brightens the background of the model until it is perfectly white, although you may have to manually select the background.

Do you have a program recommendation for this? I have this problem with brightening just the background and not the main image.

[Cpt Rahmer]

Thank you guys for the feedback.

About the landscaping and the outside coloring the main limitation that i had was the quantity of pieces i have, but also i'm still learning the techniques. Next MOC i'm gonna do even better :)

I really enjoy your diarama. Before the first LEGO Pirates sets were issued, LEGO Castle was the most impressive series of all. And your marvelous, classic looking creations proves - why. The combination of stone and wood looks great. I like some of your ideas. Try to add a story.

Thanks. Good idead, next time i'll try to add a story around the MOC. :)

Do you have a program recommendation for this? I have this problem with brightening just the background and not the main image.

I was going to question this. I have the same problem and i'm noob with image editing programs.

[BrickCurve]

Thank you guys for the feedback.

About the landscaping and the outside coloring the main limitation that i had was the quantity of pieces i have, but also i'm still learning the techniques. Next MOC i'm gonna do even better :)

Thanks. Good idead, next time i'll try to add a story around the MOC. :)

I was going to question this. I have the same problem and i'm noob with image editing programs.

I wrote three paragraphs of advice, as I pressed post my internet connection stopped working and I lost everything I had just typed. I will type it again later when I have more time. PM me if I forget.

[BrickCurve]

Right, here it is.

With photo editors the main differences are price, performance and ease of use. For basic use there are various options, Adobe Photoshop Elements is an excellent entry level photo editor which is not particularly expensive and apparently quite easy to use. For more advanced use, Adobe Photoshop/ Photoshop Lightroom are a more powerful alternatives to elements, They are best suited to anyone who needs more advanced capabilities from an editor. Best suited to people who have photography as a hobby since the price is almost double that of Elements. Photoshop and Lightroom can also require quite a powerful computer. Also consider Capture 9 Pro from Phase One. Capture 9 Pro is more aimed at professionals so that is reflected in the price. There is also the free option GIMP. GIMP is harder to use than Photoshop and Lightroom but it is free and works with older computer hardware than the Adobe alternatives. For Sony camera users only I believe there is also Capture 9 Express, a free (for Sony users) option similar to photoshop elements. If you have a Sony camera, try that first.

I personally use Adobe Lightroom although photography is one of my hobbies so I haven't tried some of the cheaper alternatives such as Elements.

When editing the photo, to get the background perfect, I use a selective mask tool with which I can select the background of the model, I then brighten it until it appears white. You should also try to get the brightness of the model right in camera because intensive brightening of a photo can distort it, (except if used to brighten just a selective part such as the background).

A tripod is also a worthwhile investment since it helps to keep the camera steady and it allows you to use slower shutter speeds to allow more light into the camera rather than adjusting the ISO which would add noise to the image.

Good luck!

[Balbo]

Great work! I love the interior and the vegetation. Moreover the Castle itself looks very nice, too

[PaddyBricksplitter]

Like it, very detailed work.

[Cpt Rahmer]

Thanks for the comments, guys!

And BrickCurve, i really appreciated all your comment about the photo editor stuff, it gonna help me a lot. I've a Sony camera, so i gonna look that Capture 9 Express. Thank you very much!