The Feasting Hall of Benoic

[de Gothia]

She was finally home!

A great feast in Gothia Castle was held the same evening to celebrate the home coming of Quinn. Many people were there to welcome her home, aswell as Fahkr and Yussuf. The summer sun was filling the Hall with light and the people was ready for a great feast! White lillies had been brought in, as they where Quinns favourite flowers. Before the food was brought in, Quinn held a short speach, gratefull over the overwhelming support.

After the food, when grapes, wine and more beer was served, de Gothia and Quinn was involved in a deep discussion. de Gothia had recieved a message from Artorious Rex, the great leader of Avalonia. He told Quinn all about the the Elemental Crystals, the four adventurers and that the Element of Earth was in Avalonia. Quinn was excited and begged de Gothia to send her in the search for the Earth element. He was not happy with the fact that Quinn was ready to go on new adventures so soon after they met after so many years apart. But the love for his niece was to strong and he said yes...

C&C much welcome as always!

Credits to SoT, my interior guru!

[ZCerberus]

Nice work. Even though this is only the second interior I have seen from you, the feel is still very you. Good lighting on this one as well. Seems like you have figured that part out.

One thing I would consider is how to make a floor that is as "studless" as possible. Maybe tile everything or use a SNOT technique or something to liven it up.

[mephistopheles]

Nice work. Even though this is only the second interior I have seen from you, the feel is still very you. Good lighting on this one as well. Seems like you have figured that part out.

One thing I would consider is how to make a floor that is as "studless" as possible. Maybe tile everything or use a SNOT technique or something to liven it up.

Same critique from my side, too. It is a lovely little scene, but all those floor studs are disturbing. Maybe it is just my personal taste, but I always try to avoid showing studs, except when they have a special function. In this MOC it feels a little undemanding.

Edited March 14, 2012 by mephistopheles

[MikeyB]

love the brown arches and they make such a statement when used in pairs! and the stone wall looks fabulous as well.

But I agree, the floor just seems to the begging for a tile pattern of some sort.

Great scene overall though!

[Niku]

Great Hall indeed, I have to agree with all, some tiles representing carpets or floor pattern would be a great addition to this already great moc.

[Ecclesiastes]

Great scene! Love the details like the wooden arches with the flags, and the base plate with the hinges!

And about the floor, the studs don't bother me that much. It would be less notable when there was a minifig or something like a dog.

[Captain BeerBeard]

This is very nice and clean. The studded floor is fine. The fireplace is awesome! I think a few of the PotC rum bottles placed around the table would look good. Just an idea. Great photo's

[Derfel Cadarn]

Looking good de Gothia! Nice to see you continue to try out interiors It has a great look and feel to it, the busy scene round the tables is nice as well as the arches and fireplace. The floor does work, but I think it's become a standard of interior scenes to have tiled patterned floors. If you do not have enough tiles you can also use a snot technique. The table takes up most of the floor, so you could do a nice pattern around the outside with just some gray tiles in te middle where the table goes. That's a small nit pick though and this is a great all round moc!

[brickchick25]

This is really pretty. I'm new to eurobricks. I didn't realize there were so many different types of girl hair for lego characters - it's been a long time since I played with the typical red and black pigtailed girl figures in the old lego idea book. The things you guys are building are beyond anything I thought was possible with lego.

[MikeyB]

This is really pretty. I'm new to eurobricks. I didn't realize there were so many different types of girl hair for lego characters - it's been a long time since I played with the typical red and black pigtailed girl figures in the old lego idea book. The things you guys are building are beyond anything I thought was possible with lego.

if you want to learn check out Derfel Cadarn's guide to building a medieval village. He was the main inspiration for me to start building and as he was the guild leader for Avalonia, made my choice to join Avalonia an easy one.

[de Gothia]

Thanks for the kind words and the critique as well

The floor thing has became a family thing now. My girlfriend thinks that tiled/snotted floor looks like a tiled bathroom. My last moc with the brown tiles as floor was not accepted by her so this time I tried something else. I´m not really sure where I´m standing in this point.

The new light bluish tiles are really shiny so they do look like real tiles. I can´t really see that so shiny floors existed in feasting halls in murky old castles Perhaps in churches or arabian mocs as they use mosaics. If TLG somehow would fix this it would be great!

On the other hand, I agree that the studs are disturbing to the eye and that a tiled floor is more clean and more pleasant to look at. May have to try some snot techniques for my next moc when Quinn goes to find the earth element!

Thanks again for the feedback!

[ZCerberus]

May have to try some snot techniques for my next moc when Quinn goes to find the earth element

Yes! I haven't tried it myself, but I have a feeling you can do some great things with that technique!

[Legonardo]

Awesome moc!

I agree that the floor is in need of tiles, which isn't normally an issue, but it stands out here because the rest is done so well!

=Legonardo=

[Jason Cicchini]

Classic! Great lighting, it really brings the scene to life.

Keep up with the interiors, I'm loving them!

[robuko]

I do like the consistency of your Quinn story, and the detailing of your finishing touches or "frame" gets better with each build. Beautiful posing and lighting. Are you using a lamp here?

[Sirens-of-Titan]

Well done de Gothia! Your photography has really become incredible! There is a lot to like here; your spacing is spot-on for the people at the table. It's hard to get the right amount of crowding,but you've done a masterful job at it and it's just right! The atmosphere is festive and the color distribution is perfect!

Is this a series of story MOC's leading up to your entry for challenge 3?

[NiceMarmot]

The floor thing has became a family thing now. My girlfriend thinks that tiled/snotted floor looks like a tiled bathroom. My last moc with the brown tiles as floor was not accepted by her so this time I tried something else. I´m not really sure where I´m standing in this point.

The new light bluish tiles are really shiny so they do look like real tiles. I can´t really see that so shiny floors existed in feasting halls in murky old castles Perhaps in churches or arabian mocs as they use mosaics. If TLG somehow would fix this it would be great!

On the other hand, I agree that the studs are disturbing to the eye and that a tiled floor is more clean and more pleasant to look at. May have to try some snot techniques for my next moc when Quinn goes to find the earth element!

Tiles do look a bit clean and shiny, and perhaps not worn and rough enough for an everyday medieval look, although they'd be fine for a banquet hall in a decent sized castle. Remember that labor was very cheap back then, so having a crew of people to maintain the formal, public rooms of a castle would not have been extraordinary. And larger castles certainly would have had tile floors in fancier rooms instead of wooden planks (I think). In my embassy, I did some alternating reddish-brown and dark tan tiled floors and I think they looked pretty good, and not too shiny.

Or you could try the SNOT log brick look that Sirens-of-Titan recently used in his Elven Shrine story. I thought that looked really nice, and a bit rougher than tiles.

Another technique that would probably look good is using a lot 1-wide brown tiles set on their edge (and therefore not actually fastened to anything, just resting on their long narrow edge within an overall frame). That would probably look like plank flooring instead of tiles. At three tiles to a brick, each edge of a tile would be somewhere around 4 inches or 10 cm wide, which is about right for some floorboards. (I hope my description of this technique makes sense...)

[de Gothia]

Thanks again!!

robuko: No, no lights, just the swedish sun!

SOT: Well, before the third challenge was out I started building this moc and when I read about the challenge I just incorporated the story. But my moc for the third challange will just be one moc.

NiceMarmot: Great advices! And I got the description of the technique!

Right now is the perfect time when mocing for me. To just think out the plan of the moc and try to build with different techniques! The idea for the challenge is done in my head, now it just has to came out to my bricks!

[Rogue Angel]

Very nice hall. I really like the detail work over the fireplace, and the bordering of the MOC. I still can't figure out what curved piece you used...

[de Gothia]

Very nice hall. I really like the detail work over the fireplace, and the bordering of the MOC. I still can't figure out what curved piece you used...

Thanks Roguegang! The curved pieces on the borders are just a hinges, 3831 and 3830 on bricklink.

[Gabe]

Nice work deGothia! I like the repeating arches with the banners and the fireplace. I'm guessing that this is at the start of the feast, before the food has been brought out and before ppl start getting too "merry" with the ale? It seems a little odd to me how everyone is sitting bolt upright, with just their heads turned in Quinn's direction - perhaps you could break up the pattern a bit with some people standing, some sitting facing her, some sitting facing the table etc? (Don't know if this is feasible, just a suggestion) Maybe also some servants scurrying around with flagons or plates of food would be nice also.

I think you could have got away with bare studs if there had been less of an expanse of them, but as it is, it does look a little unfinished. I do understand your reservations with tiled floors, but you could go for a carpet pattern with cheese slopes - that's been done a few times already and looks a treat. Alternatively, you could go for a cobblestone look, with 2x2 round tiles and 1x1 round plates - just something else to break up the regularity of that area of bare plate.

Anyway, it's a lovely moc with a lot of life, and i can't wait to hear the next installment of your story!