The treaty of Sudheim Keep

[TitusV]

In the south of Mitgardia lays a small castle called Sudheim Keep. It's design is based on Nordheim Keep, but altough it's brother is build for, Sudheim Keep is build for peace. It is there, that Drondil signs a pact with three of the mightiest powers of Mitgardia, and even Historica. Tonight, Daydelon, Thorshaven and Drondil sign a pact to change Historica's history!

Again, inspired by Soccerkid6 (I know, it's kinda becoming a habit. I should probably put it in my signature ). It's based on one of his older castles, while the name refers to the best castle ever build.

These angled roofs were a real pain in the megablocks, but I hope you like it! CC very appreciated!

[soccerkid6]

Man, you are improving so quickly! The covered bridge looks fabulous, I like how you added some extra decoration to the peak You're getting better and better at mixing some sections of border with irregular edges. And the castle itself looks great with the angled wall, and gorgeous covered battlements The door, and cook's oven inside are nice touches too.

I think one of the biggest things for you to work on now, is getting better pictures to show off you excellent builds. Are you doing any post editing with a program like GIMP, or Photoshop? That can help a lot, and also a smoother backdrop, perhaps cloth, or a larger sheet of paper so there's no seam.

Keep up the good work

[TitusV]

Man, you are improving so quickly! The covered bridge looks fabulous, I like how you added some extra decoration to the peak You're getting better and better at mixing some sections of border with irregular edges. And the castle itself looks great with the angled wall, and gorgeous covered battlements The door, and cook's oven inside are nice touches too.

I think one of the biggest things for you to work on now, is getting better pictures to show off you excellent builds. Are you doing any post editing with a program like GIMP, or Photoshop? That can help a lot, and also a smoother backdrop, perhaps cloth, or a larger sheet of paper so there's no seam.

Keep up the good work

Waw man, thanks! Well, I use photoshop to cut some of them, and to put text on IT. Atm, I'm trying to add a photoshopped background, but I can't find how to do that. Any tips?

The background you can see there are no papers, but my working place!

[The Maestro]

It all looks amazing, the bridge is wonderful and i love the vines

[LittleJohn]

You're definitely improving quite rapidly, Titus! Wonderful work here, the stone texture is fabulous, and I love that large vine climbing up the walls

You did an excellent job incorporating the angled wall section and bridge as well! Keep up the great work!

[Garmadon]

Very nice keep, Titus, and very reminiscent of SK's - which is definitely a good thing! Excellent wall texture and rock-work, the bridge is quite good as well!, and for doing that interior! The interior could be spiced up with a few more details though (maybe a table with some papers on it for them to be signing, and some other furniture and stuff), and the tan just clashes a bit with the dark gray path, which also, together with the rock-work, seems to overdo the dark colors on the landscape a bit. Maybe light gray, dark tan, dark flesh, burnt orange, or perhaps even brown would look better on the path here.

That said, you've certainly been improving by leaps and bounds here!

Regarding photography - what you really seem to need is more brightness (besides the smoother background SK suggested). The best way to get this is to take pictures outside on a cloudy day, but taking them in the shade on a sunny day, especially if there are a few clouds in the sky, works quite well too - and getting good pictures in the first place really cuts down on the post-photography work! Anyhow, if taking pictures outside is completely out of the question (or even if it isn't), and bit of increased brightness just in Photo Gallery or GIMP would help out a good deal!

[BrickCurve]

This looks great! The covered walkway works really well and lead the eye into the castle.

Regarding photography, Gideon and I posted some good photography tips in someone's MOC a month or so back, I will see if I can find it.

[soccerkid6]

As Garmadon said, more light would benefit your pictures and should help cut down on the graininess. Shooting in natural light is likely the easiest way, whether outside, or in a well lit interior room. Another way to make your pictures brighter, is to slow the exposure time, though you'll need a tripod to hold the camera steady. I shoot all my pictures in our solar porch with a fabric background and then do some post editing to brightness/contrast and sometimes the colors in GIMP. I still consider myself very much an amateur photographer as there is a ton to photography, and always more to learn. I'm sure there are several people willing to go into even more detail about it if you're interested, I'd be glad to help with what little I know

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Great - you have definitely mastered that building technique!

[Tezclatipoca]

Wow ! You are really improving in castle building !

I think, like others already said, you mastered the technique.

Great job !

[Umbra-Manis]

Well done titus! The roof of the bridge and the climbing vines are brilliantly done!

[TitusV]

It all looks amazing, the bridge is wonderful and i love the vines

You're definitely improving quite rapidly, Titus! Wonderful work here, the stone texture is fabulous, and I love that large vine climbing up the walls

You did an excellent job incorporating the angled wall section and bridge as well! Keep up the great work!

Great - you have definitely mastered that building technique!

Wow ! You are really improving in castle building !

I think, like others already said, you mastered the technique.

Great job !

Well done titus! The roof of the bridge and the climbing vines are brilliantly done!

Thank you guys!

Very nice keep, Titus, and very reminiscent of SK's - which is definitely a good thing! Excellent wall texture and rock-work, the bridge is quite good as well!, and for doing that interior! The interior could be spiced up with a few more details though (maybe a table with some papers on it for them to be signing, and some other furniture and stuff), and the tan just clashes a bit with the dark gray path, which also, together with the rock-work, seems to overdo the dark colors on the landscape a bit. Maybe light gray, dark tan, dark flesh, burnt orange, or perhaps even brown would look better on the path here.

That said, you've certainly been improving by leaps and bounds here!

Regarding photography - what you really seem to need is more brightness (besides the smoother background SK suggested). The best way to get this is to take pictures outside on a cloudy day, but taking them in the shade on a sunny day, especially if there are a few clouds in the sky, works quite well too - and getting good pictures in the first place really cuts down on the post-photography work! Anyhow, if taking pictures outside is completely out of the question (or even if it isn't), and bit of increased brightness just in Photo Gallery or GIMP would help out a good deal!

This looks great! The covered walkway works really well and lead the eye into the castle.

Regarding photography, Gideon and I posted some good photography tips in someone's MOC a month or so back, I will see if I can find it.

As Garmadon said, more light would benefit your pictures and should help cut down on the graininess. Shooting in natural light is likely the easiest way, whether outside, or in a well lit interior room. Another way to make your pictures brighter, is to slow the exposure time, though you'll need a tripod to hold the camera steady. I shoot all my pictures in our solar porch with a fabric background and then do some post editing to brightness/contrast and sometimes the colors in GIMP. I still consider myself very much an amateur photographer as there is a ton to photography, and always more to learn. I'm sure there are several people willing to go into even more detail about it if you're interested, I'd be glad to help with what little I know

Thanx guys! I know that photography is my worst point at the moment, and I'll defenitely try to get it up (tough the MOC itself will always get more attention, hope you get that )

There is indeed so much to photography, as SK said, but I'll figure it out one by one!

[Full Plate]

Wow, excellent job Titus! Castle, rockwork, bridge and path all look great. Really well done!

[Staslegomaster]

Before the first LEGO Pirates sets were issued, LEGO Castle was the most impressive series of all. And your marvelous, classic looking creation proves - why. The combination of stone and wood looks great. I like the playability of your creation and that you combined a few different ideas in one set. Perhaps we can exchange building techniques because I like some of your ideas.. And I like the story, too. Well, awesome again.

[TitusV]

Wow, excellent job Titus! Castle, rockwork, bridge and path all look great. Really well done!

Thanks man!

Before the first LEGO Pirates sets were issued, LEGO Castle was the most impressive series of all. And your marvelous, classic looking creation proves - why. The combination of stone and wood looks great. I like the playability of your creation and that you combined a few different ideas in one set. Perhaps we can exchange building techniques because I like some of your ideas.. And I like the story, too. Well, awesome again.

Thank you! Sure, send me (or SK, that is. Almost all techniques here are his ) a PM with what you'd like to know!

Edited May 12, 2016 by TitusV

[Staslegomaster]

Please remind me how to send a PM. I actually like the tequnich of the ivy in the form of the letter V.

[kinggregus]

That entrance is beautiful. You did a particular good job on the roof of that bit...

[Pvt13]

Love it! I sure hope to be able to build something like this in the future :)

[TitusV]

Please remind me how to send a PM. I actually like the tequnich of the ivy in the form of the letter V.

Since I tought this may be handy for other people too, I put it here. I'm sorry for the bad image-quality!

Tutorial for wall-climbing ivy

First, I lay out a base and decide where my wall will be.

Then, I decide where the ivy should start. Obviously, that's at the bottom of the wall. It is important to attach it using a brick with stud, and not a headlight. The reason I did not put it totally at the bottom, is so I can add a few brushes and leave-pieces there. It gives a nice, overgrown look (I'm Avalonian, you know ), as can be seen on the third image. There, I have also build up the wall.

After that I attach the second leave piece. This one is the most important, since it will determine the direction in wich the ivy will grow. I always try to put the leave-pieces as close to each other as possible, for the overgrown feeling. Sometimes, the brick with stud will leave a gap. You can solve this by using a headlight on it's side. Together with a 1x1 plate, this will be as high as a normal brick, but the stud sticking out will be lower.

Here you can see it from the front, and I have also build up the wall. But the most important thing here, and in the whole technique, is that I have used another leave-piece, overlappping the two others. This really gives the overgrown, naturally-looking feeling.

You can also use the technique of overlapping leaves to cover a step out, e.g. at your walkway. Note that I ended with an overlapping leave attached to a brick with stud and 1x1 plate.

Then build up your walkway again, and clip on another leave-piece. Do this on a brick with stud in the wall, not on the lower leaves!

During the build, I tend to use a bit more of relief in the walls (here, I tried the log-effect bricks, but I don't know wether I like them). This adds another lot of atmosphere.

When completed, you should have something looking like this:

So, I hope that helps. If there are any questions or remarks, let me know!

[Blufiji]

Outstanding work! The walkway, the texturing all of it!

Edited May 22, 2016 by Blufiji

[Staslegomaster]

Many thanks for your detailed description and advice. Lots of LEGO fans will be glad to use them.