Book II - Avalonia: Guild sign-up and Discussion

[The Maestro]

Welcome Brynden, to the best guild in Historica (despite what others may say). LDD is fine and that back story is great. You do not have to claim land and it not unseen for someone to build on anothers land, just be sure to ask the person first. Can't wait to see your builds.

[TitusV]

Welcome to the only right guild, Brynden!

[Henjin_Quilones]

Welcome, Brynden! LDD is a perfectly acceptable means of building if that is what you have at your disposal. Don't let a lack of bricks hold you back!

[Henjin_Quilones]

For those of you who have not seen, I have three builds entered into the Nocturnus Minichallenges, and hopefully two more entries on the way to complete the quinfecta:

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/140457-nocturnus-minichallenge-i-crossing-the-sayn-gwinos-river/

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/140196-nocturnus-minichallenge-ii-at-the-shrine-of-kanohau/

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/140818-nocturnus-minichallenge-iiib-the-pies-of-the-spiderwitch/

[The Maestro]

my two builds for the mini challenges with another ready to post. Unfortunately I haven't been the nicest to my fellow country men...

Druids sacrifice

Kelra's treachery

[Brandon Stark]

So I just got the Council of Elrond and Witch-king Battle for its original price, and I am planning to buy the Barrel Escape later this week. Even better, I have a one week break in school, meaning I can finally start some builds.  However, I don't really know where to start; Historica is just so interesting, with so many stories. 

I also happened to find this, made by our very own guild leader, Rogue. I think this is quite useful for any looking to learn about the lore of Avalonia.

[TitusV]

On 2-10-2016 at 3:14 AM, Brandon Stark said:

So I just got the Council of Elrond and Witch-king Battle for its original price, and I am planning to buy the Barrel Escape later this week. Even better, I have a one week break in school, meaning I can finally start some builds.  However, I don't really know where to start; Historica is just so interesting, with so many stories. 

I also happened to find this, made by our very own guild leader, Rogue. I think this is quite useful for any looking to learn about the lore of Avalonia.

Some great buys!

[The Maestro]

Another saga chapter is up with another ready for photos. Then its back to more minichallanges 

Construction of a army

[The Maestro]

As I promised here it is, sorry for the double post 

A heroes farewell

Also here is my task one

Edited October 8, 2016 by The Maestro

[narbilu]

Nice work on all projects Maestro! Esprecially the Treachery!

Edited October 10, 2016 by narbilu

[The Maestro]

Built for Nocturnus minichallange III category B this time set in Mitgardia:

Brofendur's Kitchen

I unfortunately ran out of time for category a and b due to working on a very, very awesome build...

[Brandon Stark]

I'm going to start a build this weekend but I don't know what to build. Any ideas?

[Henjin_Quilones]

6 hours ago, Brandon Stark said:

I'm going to start a build this weekend but I don't know what to build. Any ideas?

What is your story doing? Building the next chapter in that would be my suggestion. Or else some sort of building; an inn, perhaps, as a place to get your story going. 

[TitusV]

Just scroll through the old builds here on the forum, or on Flickr. I can alwyas get inspiration from that!

[Brandon Stark]

11 hours ago, Henjin_Quilones said:

What is your story doing? Building the next chapter in that would be my suggestion. Or else some sort of building; an inn, perhaps, as a place to get your story going. 

I was trying to find a way to introduce my character. Originally, I planned to build a port, but unfortunately, I don't have enough pieces (or I just can't find them). So I've decided to start small and expand from there. 

[TitusV]

12 hours ago, Brandon Stark said:

I was trying to find a way to introduce my character. Originally, I planned to build a port, but unfortunately, I don't have enough pieces (or I just can't find them). So I've decided to start small and expand from there. 

That works always!

[Brandon Stark]

On 10/22/2016 at 4:08 AM, TitusV said:

That works always!

I'm trying to fit a harbor on an 16x32 baseplate since I couldn't find enough flat pieces to fit a 32x32 baseplate. 

[TitusV]

30 minutes ago, Brandon Stark said:

I'm trying to fit a harbor on an 16x32 baseplate since I couldn't find enough flat pieces to fit a 32x32 baseplate. 

Ports are always nice, curious to yours!

[en_zoo]

Hey guys, talking about baseplates, I have a question: I noticed that they're thinner than normal plates, which makes it hard to use them as I can't 'expand' and have an irregular base around them. Am I missing something or is it actually so?

[Slegengr]

@en_zoo Baseplates are somewhat like plates with the tubes and edges removed.  If you stack a baseplate on top of a regular plate, the height is the same as 2 plates.  This means that you could attach irregularities to the edges of baseplates, but you would need an under-layer of plates, the layer of irregular plates even with the baseplate, and (probably) a layer of connecting irregular plates overlapping the baseplate and the other irregular plates.  The baseplate would also need plate-height supports throughout the middle to prevent warping, which could require an additional layer of plates to connect to the support plates in the middle of the baseplate.

I generally would not use baseplates unless you are short on plates.  They are somewhat restricting with the predetermined shape and no coupling on the underside (as you noted).

[gedren_y]

I have used that very technique that Slegenr describes. Baseplates can also be used in this manner to create ceilings over a large area. Of course they will need structural support, but they can save you from having to use more difficult to remove parts.

[Henjin_Quilones]

@en_zoo I use baseplates all the time, but only on builds that have borders; as Slegengr said, the baseplate on top of other plates is the same height as a regular plate, so a build on a baseplate put into a border can be built to the same height as the border. Without borders, however, I would stick to using regular plates. 

[en_zoo]

@Slegengr

@gedren_y

@Henjin_Quilones

Thanks everyone for chiming in. I haven't got any baseplates here with me, but will check out once I get my hands on my other bricks. So they do sound relatively useless after all, as I suspected (I don't like borders..). Yet I guess if I support them with bricks instead of plates I could cover quite a wide area without using too many plates - especially the blue ones for rivers, I guess, as the normal green still leaves me perplexed..

Speaking of which, what do you guys think about normal green used for terrain? I mean, I was talking to a guy about this in a small Lego convention here in Berlin and we concluded that it's just too bright to look realistic. Yet take, for example, Durnovaria: I think he uses it fantastically with those small variations of other greens and brown paths. After all, if you walk in a forest, countryside or villages, especially in old times, the case is that you have grass all around a well-trod soil path, right? [depending which forest and how far from the Equator, indeed, but still.. say the average forest]

[Henjin_Quilones]

6 minutes ago, en_zoo said:

Speaking of which, what do you guys think about normal green used for terrain? I mean, I was talking to a guy about this in a small Lego convention here in Berlin and we concluded that it's just too bright to look realistic. Yet take, for example, Durnovaria: I think he uses it fantastically with those small variations of other greens and brown paths. After all, if you walk in a forest, countryside or villages, especially in old times, the case is that you have grass all around a well-trod soil path, right? [depending which forest and how far from the Equator, indeed, but still.. say the average forest]

Normal green, and just normal green, looks bad for terrain. The same can be said for any other color you might use, however, since terrain and natural vegetation is always varied. Even amidst a forest of one type of tree there is variation in the green, and that is certainly true of a grassy field (unless it is a perfectly-weeded lawn or a field for sports, like a baseball outfield or an American football or association football field; but those are exceptions). Multiple colors, in somewhat random shapes, textures, and quantities, are really what make a landscape come alive. Multiple greens, multiple browns, and even multiple greys are useful for that. 

[Slegengr]

@en_zoo Normal green works for foliage, but, as Henjin said, it should be mixed with other shades.  I usually use only 2-3 shades for different components of a MOC, such as ground foliage or trees or rocks or dirt.  If too many colors are used for the same components, such as 5-6 shades of green for grass, it can be very distracting, since the LEGO base pixel is 1 knob (much larger than 'pixels' in reality).  Using only 2 shades for different components helps to unify each component and differentiate other components (example: trees vs ground foliage, though 1 common shade might be fine).

BTW, baseplates can be very useful for water, as you mentioned, since water self-levels.  Most of the water would be on a common plane (aside from waves), so the baseplate works well for this plane.  Baseplates are less useful (though not useless) for terrain with elevation changes due to the limitations I listed above.