The Blank Blue Sign tavern (now with smaller pics)

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Shadowviking
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The Blank Blue Sign tavern (now with smaller pics)

Post by Shadowviking »

Or at least until I figure out how to put a symbol on the sign in question. :P

Ahem, anyway. This Tavern was partially the reason I joined, or rather, showing it off was. :D

So...

The Mewing Kitten tavern lies just off the path in a small fishing/farming village near the Manor-town of the nobles, Haartach. The Blue Minataur is a largish inn, and well known (in the area) for good food, good drink, and friendly servers.(two links)

The Hopping Frog attracts a great variety of customers, from traveling Monks, to hardy Dwarves, to Sirithem Elves (pronounced See-ra-thim), who usually come to conduct buisness while drinking from hip flasks, keeping their baggage close.

Regulars include: Sir Tial-Teal, keeping his audience entertained as much with his wild tales as with the wild hand gestures that accompany them, which may also account for the spilled wine; Sven, a northman who stowed away on a boat to this town long ago, when he was but a lad, and now comes every day to sit and smoke his pipe; and the fishermen, who come to have some of their catch cooked.

Nobles often come to the Falling Star, and occasionally soldiers, as well.

The owner's son helps around, getting grain for the tavern's food, and the owner himself, though old, often carries wine up from the cellar, which also has an outside entrance.

The fireplace and chandelier are always lit, and there's a hitching post for your horse, should you have one.

To get to the door of the Hissing Cobra, you must walk up a short hill, complete with a scenic garden on the
base of it.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this tour of the Green Leaf tavern, additional pictures are here, at the gallery (already public, but huge pics), or here. (not public yet, but nice 800x600 dimensions)

Comments, Constructive Criticism, and pointing out puns that I "hid" are all welcome!
Last edited by Shadowviking on Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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leaf_of_lire
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Post by leaf_of_lire »

These pictures are huge :shock: ! From what I saw it was good, I could not look at all the links (took forever to load one). Sadly, I saw this on brickshelf long before I came here :lol: .
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Post by Shadowviking »

leaf_of_lire wrote:These pictures are huge :shock: ! From what I saw it was good, I could not look at all the links (took forever to load one). Sadly, I saw this on brickshelf long before I came here :lol: .
Heh, sorry, I'll scale 'em down.
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Post by Legendary_Corsair »

They looked pretty good from what I saw also.Good job,and did the roof brake.
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Post by Shadowviking »

Legendary_Corsair wrote:They looked pretty good from what I saw also.Good job,and did the roof break?
You mean cause of the plates on it? That's just 'cause I couldn't find enough brown bricks. I have since fixed one side, though still not the other. I guess I could write "roof repair" somewhere in the backstory...
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Post by Legendary_Corsair »

:P O ok thats what I thought but besides that it looks really good. :D
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Post by Shadowviking »

There, 800x600 versions of all the pics are up in the first post, they are where the big pictures' links used to be. I also changed the title to reflect this.
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Post by Prince Imdol »

Hmm, I can see you lack pieces. You walls are kind of too much like castle walls. It seems a but skimpy in its design, and it needs some color.

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Post by Shadowviking »

Prince Imdol wrote:Hmm, I can see you lack pieces. You walls are kind of too much like castle walls. It seems a but skimpy in its design, and it needs some color.
The walls are castle walls! But yeah, it is a bit skimpy, but as you noted, I lack pieces. (Or rather, pieces suitable for castle building, I somehow ended up with an abundance of Spaceworthy pieces instead)

I'm not sure how to add color, though.

C,CC?
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Post by DARKspawn »

Interesting choice using the raised baseplate, I would imagine they are very challenging to use effectively. I like the idea of this MOC, but agree that the light grey isn't working great with that brown. Maybe black would work better.

As I have said elsewhere I think it is important to stick to a colour scheme, if the bricks arn't available to you, I have always thought it is a better tactic to scale down your initial idea of an MOC to fit your collection. The results are always 1000 times better :)
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Post by JPinoy »

Nice little tavern you have there. I never really though of using those mount baseplates for any MOC that isn't somehow military related.
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Post by smcginnis »

Although the tavern itself could use a bit of work (namely color blocking); and the landscaping a bit more work, your story and several good bits make it really good. The cellar is great, and the guests quite entertaining. I also really like those lever-made tulips(?). Now, on to the constructive criticism: First of all, the roof. While good, this could be improved by making the white bricks black instead; as well as making the roof overlap all four edges of the tavern, and having it close on the top.

Next, the building itself. It seems to be built well enough, but in some places, notably the floor, it looks a bit jumbled. Try rearranging the plates for a more planned look; perhaps black for wood (for example, over the cellar), light grey for smoothed stone where many people walk, and dark grey against walls and under tables? Although, that might look bad...

Third, the landscaping. Generally, hills are a bit more rounded, and although that can be a bit challenging with bricks, it can be done. And try taking the black pieces out of the path.

If some or none of my suggestions are possible, I quite understand. I myself suffer from a lack of usable pieces.

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Post by Shadowviking »

DARKspawn wrote:Interesting choice using the raised baseplate, I would imagine they are very challenging to use effectively. I like the idea of this MOC, but agree that the light grey isn't working great with that brown. Maybe black would work better.
JPinoy wrote:Nice little tavern you have there. I never really though of using those mount baseplates for any MOC that isn't somehow military related.
Thanks! I had it sitting around, it had only seen use in my hideous rendition of Helm's Deep, but suddenly I thought: "Hey, I bet I could make a cellar out of that!"
DARKspawn wrote: As I have said elsewhere I think it is important to stick to a colour scheme, if the bricks arn't available to you, I have always thought it is a better tactic to scale down your initial idea of an MOC to fit your collection. The results are always 1000 times better :)
I suppose, but it was built primarily for my BrickQuest campaign, which required it to be somewhat large. It was also originally going to have a tudor-stlye sleeping area above the main Tavern part, and I think that would have helped it a bit. I still plan on adding that, I just need a few more plates... (yes, plates. You'll see.)
smcginnis wrote:Although the tavern itself could use a bit of work (namely color blocking); and the landscaping a bit more work, your story and several good bits make it really good. The cellar is great, and the guests quite entertaining.
Yes, and thanks. Making the guests and backstory was fun but a bit (just a bit) challenging, so I'm glad you like them/it.
smcginnis wrote:I also really like those lever-made tulips(?).

Yup, I'm from Holland, Michigan, a town with a lot of Dutch heritage, so tulips were a must. Figured this design out while fiddling around to make some mushrooms, actually. :?
smcginnis wrote:Now, on to the constructive criticism: First of all, the roof. While good, this could be improved by making the white bricks black instead; as well as making the roof overlap all four edges of the tavern, and having it close on the top.
Hmm... I'll try that.
smcginnis wrote:Next, the building itself. It seems to be built well enough, but in some places, notably the floor, it looks a bit jumbled. Try rearranging the plates for a more planned look; perhaps black for wood (for example, over the cellar), light grey for smoothed stone where many people walk, and dark grey against walls and under tables? Although, that might look bad...
I'll try that, too.
smcginnis wrote:Third, the landscaping. Generally, hills are a bit more rounded, and although that can be a bit challenging with bricks, it can be done. And try taking the black pieces out of the path.
Agh! I'm not messing around any more with that hill. The one shown here is different from the first version, and a lot better. Getting it that way, however, almost destroyed the hill completely... And I'm kinda partial to the black in the path, for no particular reason.
smcginnis wrote:If some or none of my suggestions are possible, I quite understand. I myself suffer from a lack of usable pieces.
Like I said, I'll try.

C and CC, as always, and has anyone found my puns/lame jokes yet, or did I make them too challenging? :wink:

EDIT: Holy cow, the small pics folder is already public! Enjoy!
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Post by kelderic »

Very nice, and I really like the back story you added. However, one question plagues me. Is it "The Blank Blue Sign tavern", or the "Green Leaf tavern"?

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Post by Shadowviking »

kelderic wrote:Very nice, and I really like the back story you added. However, one question plagues me. Is it "The Blank Blue Sign tavern", or the "Green Leaf tavern"?

Kelderic
There are more names than that in the first post! I just haven't decided what one to use, if any of them. Suggestions are welcome. Glad you like it, though!

Progress: I've almost got the entire roof brown, and the floor is currently brown, black, and dark old gray. Trying to get it all brown. The roof is also going to overlap, as suggested, and I'll try to get it closer on the top. I've also started adding a tudor bit, but I need to make a Bricklink run for it, and since i'm saving up for a Wii, not gonna happen soon. But the rest I can do with the pieces I hav, soo....

My. I've dragged this on too long. So, I'd like to say.. goodbye. :vanish!:

Til' the next Update!
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