Castle in the Desert—Mini Castle Contest entry.

[smcginnis]

Here is my entry for Robin Hood's Mini Castle Contest—Desert/Oasis Castle.

In the deserts of North Africa lies a ruined, abandoned castle. Only one tower remains mostly intact, watching over a pool in which stand the ruins of the keep. Two of the walls still keep out the harshest of the desert winds, allowing grass and two trees to flourish. There is a cave in the hill upon which the castle was built, long ago...




http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=209270

^Gallery, when public. Click the thumbs for a few deeplinks.

Please tell me what you think of it.

~smcginnis

[DARKspawn]

I was just looking at this on Brickshelf! Nice work, I havnt tried my hand at mini scale myself. I like the oasis

[Remyth]

Great job! I think that this MOC will go far in the contest. I don't think anyone else would think to build something like that.

In Christ,

[Norro]

Very nice! Pathetic surveyor though, I mean to let a building be flooded in the middle of a desert ; ) !

God Bless,

Nathan

[wunztwice]

Nice job! The oasis was a truly inspired idea. I can see how hard ruins would be in mini-scale, and I think you pulled it off. Thanks for showing us!

[smcginnis]

Thanks for the replies.

Very nice! Pathetic surveyor though, I mean to let a building be flooded in the middle of a desert ; )

Well, the castle was built on the oasis, with the keep next to a pond that grew. And I know you're kidding.

~smcginnis

[Lonan]

I really like this one. It's nice to see some variety in setting, and your landscaping adds to the look of the piece. I like the whole idea of guarding a water source. The cave is a nice touch too. Good work.

[Mike Viper]

Wow, a very nice entry my friend. Praise to you is much deserved, how you where able to accumulate such detail is amazing. Great work! Even the minifig scale tree leaves fit somehow. where does that cave lead?

[kelderic]

This looks really good! It should do very well in the contest.

Kelderic

[smcginnis]

Again, thanks for the replies everyone.

Mike Viper: I didn't intend for the cave to go anywhere, but I suppose it could lead to a hidden treasure chamber, which might be flooded.

~smcginnis

[Lord Felix]

Wow! Nice Job. I like it. Any pointers on how to build a mini castle? I love the sand- and the idea of the water slowly flooding out of the oasis... Overall- Good Job!

I just looked again, and I realized that there probably be water coming out of the tunnel? The tunnel is going right under that oasis... so the water would be going through the tunnel... correct?

[smcginnis]

Wow! Nice Job. I like it. Any pointers on how to build a mini castle? I love the sand- and the idea of the water slowly flooding out of the oasis... Overall- Good Job!

I just looked again, and I realized that there probably be water coming out of the tunnel? The tunnel is going right under that oasis... so the water would be going through the tunnel... correct?

Well, the cave only extends four or so studs from the edge. The water is six or seven studs. I was originally going to have some water in the cave, but it didn't look right. As for pointers, the main reason I built a ruin is because I don't have enough of the right pieces for a whole castle. I don't have any tips, except build small (obviously), and try to make it look like a real castle. In other words, a lot of fig-scale creations I see have walls that are to short and thin, with too many windows. If you're doing a non-ruined castle, I suggest building high walls on it. One more thing: I don't like using micro-figs, partly because they define it's scale, and partly because I personally don't like the looks of them.

~smcginnis

[Prince Imdol]

mini things are cool too