Histo-Sci: Entry #1: Viking Fortress Diorama
Hello guys,
Here is my entry:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=173728
I hope you guys like it! I spent over an hour last night uploading the pictures onto Brickshelf (It actually worked! A computer working for me? What now, is it going to blow up?). Many thanks to all the help from Josh Wedin--sorry for all the annoying questions! (You know Josh, this is the strangest thing, you posted that link a while ago with your MOC pages, and I saw your Viking faction, and you had a beserker, and guess what? You see my guy with the black cape and Fright Knight bat helmet (picture 10)? He's battling a beserker! I wanted a beserker before I even had the sets, I think! That's twice we have independently come up with the same thing! What's next?)
There are 52 pictures, and please note that there are two pages. The premise of the battle is that the good guys are attacking the Viking fortress. The Vikings and the barbarians (who are mostly in SW shirts) are allied, as well as two Bulls (Cedric among them). The two Bulls are all that is left of a once-grand horde of evil pillaging raiders. The wooden obstructions in front of the position of the good knights were constructed in the night, and dawn is just breaking. The good Knights (under King Leo, with his second-in-command, the Bat Lord, along with William Wallace and Robert the Bruce) are prepared to batter at the castle with their two catapults (there are holes in the fort in places) and one piece of stationary (as they were in medieval days) artillery. Hey, I know the cannon is not accurate in style even for the 15th century, and in the period of the Vikings it was simply non-existent, but Lego mixes hundreds of years of medieval styles, with the weapons and armor and all, so why can't I? Of course, an attack by storm perpetrated by the good knights might also be a good idea, since the Fortress is armed with some nasty catapults itself, and also some mobile weapons. On the extreme right of the diorama, you can see the Viking boat and water with white waves.
The noble lady has been captured and is chained to the baby Fafnir's cage (she can be a princess if you want, or just some nobleman's daughter, although I think that she seems to be more like King Leo's daughter here), and you can see the head of a dead comrade placed on a horn on the front of the fort by the Vikings (under Jarl Siegbert, who is also in overall command--please excuse me using one of G.A. Henty's character names, from
The Dragon and the Raven, I like the name too much!). It is interesting that Sir Dillion also has a captured princess. Funny, I built this right after Christmas, and Sir Dillion just posted his! Great minds think alike!
Anyway, just after the battle begun, the Vikings started to sally out with their mobile ballista (the ballista driver has a custom shield, as do many other guys, its shape was inspired by those nice Roman shields, and why oh why does Lego call this a catapult?) to do battle with them, but out of the blue the dragons attack! The Mama Fafnir is quite angry for having her baby captured, and the Nidhogg, Wyvern, and X-Pod dragons, and the two old-style dragons (the black one and the green one) and the small custom horned one (I made that one myself, see pictures 24-26) are accompanying her. "Why?" you ask? I don't know! They definitely aren't "allied" so-to-speak (Who ever saw dragons working together?), but I just wanted to use all my dragons, because it makes a fun diorama in my opinion. You will notice in a few scenes that the dragons are having a few snacks, and also see if you can find the dead barbarian (in white). Also you might look for the custom hut inside the fortress, it has a catapult on top and it is a dining hall, with a table inside and food all around. If you look, you will find barrels of weapons, treasure, gold blocks (those 50th anniversary bulk box bonus pieces), and even a dog! Because I do not have enough baseboards, the extra green stuff under all the fort walls and things was achieved by green scrapbooking paper.
Well, I think that that is all, if I missed something I might post again. Sorry this is so long though!
I will most likely be entering a few more times, that is why I have numbered this and given it a distinct name. Hope you all like it! (Of course, it only matters if the Admins like it, doesn't it? LOL!)
Enjoy!
Histo-Sci