Patrolling the border forests

[Gideon]

Most of Kaliphlin has a Mediterranean or North African climate, but the northern parts are more temperate and along the border to Avalonia there are lush forests.

Deep inside the forest north of Eastgate, Kaliphlin soldiers are patrolling underneath the pine trees on a fine spring morning. What used to be a quiet borderland to the friends in the lands of Avalonia, nowadays is a dangerous area since there are both orcs and worse things hiding inside the forests...

[Infernum]

Wow! Great job! I love the foilage and trees! I also love the dark green and snad green on the rock! I also like the irregular base!

[Mike S]

Simple but very nice combination of pieces and colors!

[Nightstalker]

I just noticed the use of barrels for the tree designs! Cool use

I also really like the irregular base as well

[Alfadas]

Nice! Lots of details, and I love the Minifigs!

[Maxim I]

I always loved your soldiers! They are great!

Also amazing barreltree and underground !!

[Bighappysmiles]

I like how you used the barrels in the trees, I've never seen that done before. I also like the leaves on the ground

[soccerkid6]

You really captured the feel of a forest here, the dark green plates work very well and I like your tree designs, especially the saplings

[TheLegoDr]

Nice little build.

I've considered doing the barrel trunk for a tree before, but didn't think it would look right. I think how you did it with the 2x2 round bricks helps break up the texturing so it doesn't look like a bunch of barrels stacked up.

My qualm is that there is one really tall tree and then another short tree in this "forest." Yes, it gives the idea there is more, but I'd love to see more haha.

Good foliage otherwise.

Keep up the good work.

[Gideon]

Thanks for the feedback!

As I said in the Kaliphlin thread, this was something to keep my hands busy while watching the ice hockey finals yesterday trying out some new techniques. So: sorry for the sparse "forest", you have to imagine the rest

I'm probably most satisfied with the ground foilage and the large tree trunk, the crown of the large tree became too small and compact to be a pine tree...looking at some real pines while driving in the forest today I think it should have been more like the crown of the smaller tree (but larger of course).

[Kai NRG]

Nice job with the irregular base and the minifigures! Good idea with the use of barrels for the tree trunk!

[kabel]

nice vegetaion gideon, I may have to borrow from you

as for lush forests in the south, consider the California sequoia forests, huge trees despite mediterranean climate!

[Gideon]

nice vegetaion gideon, I may have to borrow from you

as for lush forests in the south, consider the California sequoia forests, huge trees despite mediterranean climate!

Thanks! I don't know if I'm wrong, but I regard the climate in north-western Kaliphlin (north of Eastgate) maybe as something like the French atlantic coast. I know for a fact that there are pine forests there

I suppose California is a good analogy as well, I'm just not as good at American natural geography...I just know that spending a winter too close to the great lakes was bone-chilling cold and that it can get too hot in Florida for someone used to mild summers

[Jason Cicchini]

Loving the "non-box" base shape. Great use of barrels!

I can see the Avalonia in the shape of the trees and style of vegetation.

The solider in front also looks a little familiar!

[Gideon]

I can see the Avalonia in the shape of the trees and style of vegetation.

Yes, this is very close to Avalonia. But Kaliphlin soldiers are of course not trespassing on Avalonian territory!

[Captain BeerBeard]

Hmmm... It's a decent scene but I would not use barrels. Scenes like this are used for setting up stories in mocs. I personally would not make an individual moc like this. A scene like this fits best in a story moc accompanied by another couple mocs in the same post.

[ZCerberus]

Good job with the photos. In focus, well lit, very nice.

I do disagree a bit with Beery on the barrels. I don't mind the barrels as a way to add texture. With the flex tube in the smaller trees, giving them a little bend would also make the MOC feel more organic. Maybe even use flex tube on the bigger trees and give them a little tilt!.

Others have made "scenery" MOCs so I think it is okay as a stand alone MOC, but I see where Beery is coming from. It seems like the perfect MOC to be one part of a fun story, or even a good candidate to have some hand soldiers hiding in the bush or something so the scene makes you image what might happen next!

Anyway, Good work again Gideon, you are quickly becoming one of the best builders in Kaliphlin.

[Gideon]

Thanks very much for the feedback, both positive and suggested improvements!

I'm quite satisfied with my photo setup now (mostly shooting in the living room where I get tons of natural light this season in the afternoons, or using the white roof with a flash), even though I really could use a better camera. The small and outdated sensor of my old Olympus E-510 from -07 has its limits (read: is crap). However, somehow my brick budget always seems to make me keep this camera for just a bit longer all the time...

I tried to make a slight bend on the smaller trees, but I probably need to use more force next time. The larger trees are supposed to be pines, and at least around here they grow very straight so the thought to bend them never really crossed my mind

I can agree with your point that it feels like something that this build should fit in more in a story, and not as a standalone MOC. This was not really intended for GoH originally (it was a general "spring feeling build", inspired by running in the woods now in springtime), but I shot a couple of extra pictures with Kaliphlin guys added and figured it was decent enough to dampen the post-ch VI downturn in the number of MOCs posted I promise that my next build will be bigger and not a "3 hour build"!