Lego Elves Crystal University

[BenA]

Hi all, my daughter and I have been building a new Elves Moc - it's taken some time but it's finally ready to share.  Sorry about the cropping on some of the pictures - couldn't for the life of me figure out how else to get them to show the right way up 

Here's 'The Crystal University'

A mini version of Naidas Ship - would have liked to have used the clamshell pieces instead of the discs, but they don't come in gold 

 

Crystal Cave - this was my daughters idea - she wanted the cave to be a classroom for the students.

 

The Observatory was also my daughter's idea.

 

View from the back. As with our previous MOC, I wanted this to be a playset as well as something pretty to look at.  It's fairly sturdy, and the main structure can stand up to little fingers without much problem (not so sure about all the leaves  )

Statue of the Goddess of Knowledge (although don't blink, just to be on the safe side )

 

Edited October 10, 2016 by BenA
Fixed image sizes

[Littleworlds]

This looks utterly lovely! You captured the spirit of the elven theme perfectly with its magical cuteness and warm colours. The trees blend in very wonderfully and underline the otherwordly feel of it.  

[Andy D]

Very,very nice! I love the colors and the fantasy of the build. I am particularly interested I the tree elements, they look very realistic.

Andy D

[BenA]

1 hour ago, Littleworlds said:

This looks utterly lovely! You captured the spirit of the elven theme perfectly with its magical cuteness and warm colours. The trees blend in very wonderfully and underline the otherwordly feel of it.  

Thanks, I'm glad you think so :) We tried to keep it within the theme but I wasn't sure if we'd gone a bit too 'Lord of the Rings' with it!

[Umbra-Manis]

This is a very beautiful MOC!

[BenA]

1 hour ago, Andy D said:

Very,very nice! I love the colors and the fantasy of the build. I am particularly interested I the tree elements, they look very realistic.

Andy D

Cheers! There's some really nice tree tutorials in this thread (scroll about halfway down)

 

My basic branch technique is the same. Derfel Cadarn uses levers to attach the leaves to, but I used the standard 3 stem plant stalk with the 'new' flowers on instead. It's not as versatile, but it's stronger when a 6 year old starts playing with it! 

[Vorkosigan]

Awesome build, the interiors are really whimsical. Reminds me a bit of Rivendale from the outside. 

[BenA]

32 minutes ago, Umbra-Manis said:

This is a very beautiful MOC!

Thanks 

3 minutes ago, Vorkosigan said:

Reminds me a bit of Rivendale from the outside. 

Haha, I agree! Actually if you zoom in close on the first pic, you might see a familiar face...

[Iria]

Beautiful MOC!  Very inspiring build. I love the observatory, very creative. It's also perfect timing with the autumn tree colours.

[Mr Greeble]

Very nice! I love the way you made the knotholes, and the telescope is top-notch! 

[BenA]

On Sunday, October 09, 2016 at 1:10 AM, Iria said:

I love the observatory, very creative.

 

On Sunday, October 09, 2016 at 1:38 AM, Mr Greeble said:

Very nice! I love the way you made the knotholes, and the telescope is top-notch! 

The telescope was all my daughter's idea - I can't take credit. She made this:

Which I love , and from that we made this:

It was also her idea to put the planets on because she's been learning about them at school. There's Saturn, Mars and the Earth and Moon. The Moon is actually Darth Vaders head 

On Sunday, October 09, 2016 at 1:10 AM, Iria said:

It's also perfect timing with the autumn tree colours.

Haha, I'm pleased with the colours, but it was nearly very different...

I quite like the green... maybe we'll have to do a Spring version!

Edited October 10, 2016 by BenA
Fixed image sizes

[Aanchir]

This is fantastic! Great work! I love all the details like the orrery above the telescope. You also did a great job integrating key LEGO Elves design motifs like the arches, peaked roofs, and the whole thing being integrated seamlessly with its environment. The "crystal cave" is especially beautiful.

On the outside, I somewhat feel like the model could benefit from more cool colors instead of quite so many warm "earth tones". The autumn leaves are the biggest thing giving me pause in this case. Green might look nicer, but using that as the main leaf color might look a bit too "real life" for Elvendale. It would be great if the leaves came in some shade of blue… maybe next year!

[Lordofdragonss]

I also agree the leaves would look better in 2 colors max! It's still a breathtaking MOC, that would look great in the rest of the Elvendale! You kid has some great ideas - Crystal Classroom (How awesome it sounds!) looks amazing!

Edited October 9, 2016 by Lordofdragonss

[BenA]

On Sunday, October 09, 2016 at 3:00 AM, Aanchir said:

It would be great if the leaves came in some shade of blue… maybe next year!

Thanks Aanchir . Re the Autumn colours, I know what you mean. They've grown on me but I did wonder if we'd strayed too far into LOTR territory. Blues would look great though. My original plan was to use purple and red. I actually got quite far...

But I thought it was just all getting too dark. I briefly considered Altbricks but decided to stick to official parts for now (although I haven't ruled them out in future). I'm now wondering what using light lilac leaves as the main colour would look like - although think they only come in the 3x4 size so it'd take quite a few! 

Edited October 10, 2016 by BenA
Fixed image size

[BenA]

On Sunday, October 09, 2016 at 7:55 AM, Lordofdragonss said:

You kid has some great ideas - Crystal Classroom (How awesome it sounds!) looks amazing!

Haha, it does sound awesome! I dont know where she gets the ideas from but I can't keep up  Here's her original

And a couple of WIP shots

Edited October 10, 2016 by BenA
Fixed image sizes

[Jim]

Hi. No doubt it's a great MOC.

However, your images are way too big. The maximum width of an image is 1024 pixels. So please resize your images or use Flickr/Bricksafe to embed smaller ones. 

So please correct them. Thanks.

[Marishka]

Wow, it's so huge and so many interesting details there! I like interiors, espesially hall beyond main gates - there's nice atmosphere. And it's cool how Skyra's castle meets Rivendale :)

[BenA]

17 minutes ago, Jim said:

Hi. No doubt it's a great MOC.

However, your images are way too big. The maximum width of an image is 1024 pixels. So please resize your images or use Flickr/Bricksafe to embed smaller ones. 

So please correct them. Thanks.

Apologies, I'd uploaded from my phone so hadn't realised they were too large. I'll take a look when I'm home from work this evening.

[Jim]

Just now, BenA said:

Apologies, I'd uploaded from my phone so hadn't realised they were too large. I'll take a look when I'm home from work this evening.

Cool. Thanks.

I can recommend Bricksafe (or Flickr) where you can upload the Hires versions and link to smaller ones. I do that all the time for reviews. 

[rodiziorobs]

Like others, I really like the orrery, but I think the library is my favorite part. The whole thing is wonderful, though

[BenA]

On Monday, October 10, 2016 at 7:32 AM, Marishka said:

Wow, it's so huge and so many interesting details there! I like interiors, espesially hall beyond main gates - there's nice atmosphere. And it's cool how Skyra's castle meets Rivendale :)

Thanks, glad you like it. You can't see it too well from the pics but there's a fairy mushroom ring down behind the left hand tree that I... um... 'borrowed' from your Azaris cottage moc! 

 

14 minutes ago, rodiziorobs said:

Like others, I really like the orrery, but I think the library is my favorite part. The whole thing is wonderful, though

Thank you :)

[BrickJagger]

Outstanding! I love the library.

[SWNELoveAngel]

Amazing work!  I think it would make a wonderful addition to the line!

[kjm161]

This is stunning. What an amazing project to complete with your daughter. Very whimsical and love all the different rooms and the colours works perfectly.

[Darth Wayne]

Amazing..

One question though: The ice BURP pieces you used for the Crystal Cave/Classroom, the standard one i know, but then there is one which has sparkles on it, did you somehow apply those later or is that actually an official piece i haver never seen?