DungeonsAndFlagons Posted June 3, 2014 Posted June 3, 2014 https://www.flickr.c...57644420582520/ When Illarix was 10 years old his family castle was destroyed in an attack by a band of unknown marauders. The Watchtower's guards also mysteriously vanished that same night without a trace leaving the Watchtower at the mouth of the pass empty and abandoned. His father Adamere Valoren died defending the walls of the castle along with his men. Illarix and his mother Viola survived the attack as they were visiting her family in Nocturnus. Illarix was then left in the Watchtower under the psychotic care of Udo who is an old and trusted family servant from Nocturnus while went on a quest to find the people that destroyed the castle and killed her husband. Udo has managed to salvage some furniture from the castle and move it down to the Watchtower (also miraculously getting it up the ladder to the second floor) to make it more comfortable for the young lord to live in. Occasionally his mother comes by when she comes through the area to visit him and he also receives visits from this blood thirsty uncle Scalarus who is attempting to get Illarix to get some more men-at-arms and reclaim the family castle. Illarix has been up to the castle with Udo on salvage missions but is not sure whether he wants to get the castle back. There is a darkness there now that he can feel. Udo has mentioned feeling watched when they are there (which is correct). So at this stage they are stuck in the WatchTower until either his mother stops her quest or Valoren feels the reclaiming of the castle is worth it and possible. ----------------------------------------- Note: Apologies for the photo editing. It was a bit rushed and my backdrop selection and initial photography was done with a very small window of opportunity (sunlight and small children permitting). Quote
Gunman Posted June 3, 2014 Posted June 3, 2014 I like the clean lines of this tower and its traditional look. Your photography also is sweet. Nice one man...! Quote
DungeonsAndFlagons Posted June 3, 2014 Author Posted June 3, 2014 I like the clean lines of this tower and its traditional look. Your photography also is sweet. Nice one man...! Thanks. I have been try to build a tower like this for some time. Fully minifig navigable, opening back panels for playability, furnished with kitchen, dining area, bunks, food stores, secret exit, main bed upstairs, fireplaces, desk and chair and balcony. The particular design has been used to provide the optimal combination of playability (needs to be high enough to get the hands in and out, wide enough to fit all the interior with room for minifigs to move about), sturdy enough so that it doesn't fall apart with play (my 2.5 year old tests that) and designed so that I can use some different techniques (colour, arches, irregular base, jumper based windows etc) that I wanted to try. Also Illarix and Udo will need a secret exit as the things that destroyed the castle and caused the Watchtower guards to disappear are not finished yet. Quote
MassEditor Posted June 3, 2014 Posted June 3, 2014 Nice job with the tower and photography. I like those battlements and that little balcony area. Sounds like Illarix will have a good adventure coming his way! Quote
DungeonsAndFlagons Posted June 3, 2014 Author Posted June 3, 2014 Nice job with the tower and photography. I like those battlements and that little balcony area. Sounds like Illarix will have a good adventure coming his way! Cheers. The battlements were a alternative design on the more traditional 4 wide smaller arch style I have seen around. The balcony allows for better interaction between defender and attacker in photography. The tower is quite high and to get it all in the photo with detail would get a bit tricky. The shot would be 'tighter' and the scene more intense with the closer proximity of the balcony. As for adventures, there is great potential in the dark pine covered fjords of the eastern Rakath mountains. The things that destroyed the castle have not fled the scene as Illarix's mother Viola thinks. The are a lot closer than anyone suspects. :) Quote
mechamike Posted June 3, 2014 Posted June 3, 2014 Nice tower.. feels sturdy and secure, I like that You can open up to have a look at the inside ! Quote
mccoyed Posted June 3, 2014 Posted June 3, 2014 I really like this style of tower. Very cool. I find photography, especially at your level, is hard for me to do. Is there a guide you followed or something you could point me to so that I can improve a bit? Quote
Gideon Posted June 3, 2014 Posted June 3, 2014 Very nice tower! It almost looks like a small keep My favorite parts are the battlements and how the tower continues the nice rockwork on the right side. The photography is also well done! One suggestion for improvement is that the entrance stair would have looked better with a tiled surface in my opinion. Quote
DungeonsAndFlagons Posted June 3, 2014 Author Posted June 3, 2014 Nice tower.. feels sturdy and secure, I like that You can open up to have a look at the inside ! Thanks. Solid with opening panels and a fully working interior is kind of an obsession for me. I really like this style of tower. Very cool. I find photography, especially at your level, is hard for me to do. Is there a guide you followed or something you could point me to so that I can improve a bit? No guide that I use. My good friend Scandinavian summer light helps me out usually. However i just try and make sure i don't have the sun behind the model. Choose an angle that shows off the features you want to show and don't forget to go high or low with a camera to have a different view point. Make sure shadow is not your enemy, if possible use shadow to help hide things. ;) i am mostly using my iPhone and iPad to take snaps when I get time. For minifigs I used curved A3 paper as a back drop. That is about it. This photo is had to hack the tower out the photo where I threw an old green sheet on the spare couch as a back drop. :) Very nice tower! It almost looks like a small keep My favorite parts are the battlements and how the tower continues the nice rockwork on the right side. The photography is also well done! One suggestion for improvement is that the entrance stair would have looked better with a tiled surface in my opinion. Thanks Gideon! The tile thing I will look at. It does look a bit bare I agree. I like it! Thanks Carson. Quote
Scaevola Posted June 3, 2014 Posted June 3, 2014 Nice- Some great details here like the staircase and rockwork Quote
DungeonsAndFlagons Posted June 3, 2014 Author Posted June 3, 2014 Nice- Some great details here like the staircase and rockwork Cheers Scaevola Lovely build! Thanks, much appreciated. Quote
Gabe Posted June 4, 2014 Posted June 4, 2014 Nice, solid-looking tower DaF! It's cool to see the opening panels at the back - you might want to include them in your EB post so ppl don't have to go over to Flickr to look at them. The rockwork up the right side of the building looks great too. I don't mind the studded stairs myself - makes a good visual contrast to the smooth walls. You could break up the regularity of the studs there with a few 1x1 or 1x2 tiles i guess. Looking forward to hear of Illarix and Udo's coming adventures! Quote
DungeonsAndFlagons Posted June 4, 2014 Author Posted June 4, 2014 Nice, solid-looking tower DaF! It's cool to see the opening panels at the back - you might want to include them in your EB post so ppl don't have to go over to Flickr to look at them. The rockwork up the right side of the building looks great too. I don't mind the studded stairs myself - makes a good visual contrast to the smooth walls. You could break up the regularity of the studs there with a few 1x1 or 1x2 tiles i guess. Looking forward to hear of Illarix and Udo's coming adventures! Thanks Gabe. Here are some pictures of the interior: Back Panels Secret Door 1st Floor Left Side 1st Floor right side 2nd Floor Left Side 2nd Floor Right Side Still need some final touches with interior furnishings perhaps and some food for the food storage. Maybe even a bowl for the cat... As for the staircase I will be looking into that when I add the final pieces for the interior. Quote
Gideon Posted June 4, 2014 Posted June 4, 2014 Here are some pictures of the interior: [...] Still need some final touches with interior furnishings perhaps and some food for the food storage. Maybe even a bowl for the cat... Wow! I had missed that there was an interior (should have followed the flickr link ), I especially like the beds in the alcoves. Nice secret entrance as well, although it seems a bit heavy for a minifig to move? Quote
DungeonsAndFlagons Posted June 4, 2014 Author Posted June 4, 2014 Wow! I had missed that there was an interior (should have followed the flickr link ), I especially like the beds in the alcoves. Nice secret entrance as well, although it seems a bit heavy for a minifig to move? The sceret entrance was a journey. I wanted to have butressing around the base but needed the secret entrance to come on that corner. Best solution I could think of. Yes it is big but the household cat is strong. Great tower! That interior is great! Thanks a lot. Quote
soccerkid6 Posted June 6, 2014 Posted June 6, 2014 Excellent watchtower, it looks very sturdy Great to see that you did an interior too, opening walls are always cool Quote
DungeonsAndFlagons Posted June 6, 2014 Author Posted June 6, 2014 Excellent watchtower, it looks very sturdy Great to see that you did an interior too, opening walls are always cool Thanks. I think I have a problem with not doing interiors.... Everything I build has to have a functioning interior.... It makes things a bit tricky I suppose. My daughter also loves opening the panels and playing with the minifies (sleeping, cooking, going through secret doors etc). So it is fun. Quote
Maxim I Posted June 7, 2014 Posted June 7, 2014 Cool watchtower!! I love how big it looks without being boring Also a very nice interior Quote
DungeonsAndFlagons Posted June 7, 2014 Author Posted June 7, 2014 Cool watchtower!! I love how big it looks without being boring Also a very nice interior Thanks. It is big but to get my meaty fists inside to use the interior it had to be a 16X16 stud minimum. Glad you like it. Quote
Ecclesiastes Posted June 8, 2014 Posted June 8, 2014 Very, nice! I always like it a lot when someone puts effort in making interiors! Quote
HammerBro Posted June 8, 2014 Posted June 8, 2014 Great job on the polished look and the interiors are awesome! Maybe a few more colors in the vegetation at the bottom would help give it a boost. Quote
DungeonsAndFlagons Posted June 8, 2014 Author Posted June 8, 2014 (edited) Great job on the polished look and the interiors are awesome! Maybe a few more colors in the vegetation at the bottom would help give it a boost. Thanks. My vegetation supply is woefully low but I will look into it. Thanks for the tip. Edited June 8, 2014 by DungeonsAndFlagons Quote
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