Bruce's contest thoughts CCC-IV

[Bruce N H]

Hi all,

Every year it kills me that I cannot comment on contest entries as they come in. So once again I will continue my personal tradition of going through the categories and giving my thoughts on some of my personal favorites. Note, these do not in any way reflect the thoughts or grading of any of the other admins. They're not even necessarily all of my favorites as there are some good entries where I didn't have any particular comments.

Battle scene -

Brendan's Last Stand of the Twilight Knights - This winning entry really shows how to make a good battle scene. Even though there are many figures, if you go through and look closely they are not randomly place. Each one seems to have a purpose and a story in the larger battle. There are even recognizable characters. I also like how Brendan used a number of different torsos but made the color schemes work together to make two cohesive armies. The brick-built-beastie also helped put this one above the rest. Excellent look and very poseable. Some nice brick-built weapons in there as well (war hammer, battle axe, that thing with two scimitars).

Neonbug and Lorax's Viking raid - Great landscaping in this, and again there is a real movement of figs. I love the makeshift weapons the civilians are using, like the guy using a wheel as a shield, the woman using a hairbrush, and the guy pushing a barrel down the hill. The longboat is really cool, especially that furled sail design.

Jens' ambush and battle at blackwood castle - Two more great battle entries come from Jens (is it any surprise after his amazing winning entry to the Battles Contest a couple of years ago?). The fun part of the ambush one is the forestmen's falling boulder weapon. Battle at Blackwood Castle has a number of great elements, including the siege ladders, that ballista, that warhammer using tooth elements, and the defender falling over the edge. One particularly nice bit of realism is this series of attackers with interlocking shields to protect against falling objects.

Tom Snellin's Siege My favorite build detail here is the curved ramp leading up to the entry (inspired by Helms Deep?). I also really like the wall detail using tall slopes and inverted tall slopes (seen here) and the fact that the wall mottling fits well with the printed panel. Great action elements too, like the guy throwing a spear down on the attackers below. The guy taking a pickaxe to the wall doesn't seem too accurate, but it's very well done.

Maciej Koszyka's Winter Games What stands out here to me is the use of snow - on the trees, the cleared walk to the well (nice realism), the use of tiles and studs on the roofs. The broken fence, cow and chickens, and smoke are all nice details.

Tim Gould's Taste of Things to Come - Great camel design and implementation of the brick-built horses. I also really like the hats made using plates, and the color scheme of the landscape is nice as well. I'm surprised that those 1x1 rounds hold together for the palm tree - is there flex tubing inside?

Greystone's Graveyard Battle The skeletons that are in the midst of emerging from the graves is a very nice detail here.

Mike Petrucelli's Mongolian Victory The use of levers as arrows is really nice here. What's with the drunk peasant, btw?

Stefan Ditmar's Robbed Monastery That cracking ice solution is great. Also cool to see a triangular tower.

Josh Wedin's Village Pillage Great sea of figs. Those burning buildings are really impressive as well.

Bruce

[Norro]

I always appreciate this tradition Bruce! Though I' sure there is more to come... ; )

Thanks a million and God Bless,

Nathan

[MrTS]

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for you mentioning my Battle Scene entry. I'm glad you like it! Also i wanted to thank you for helping me out with some questions i had during the contest.




i won i won i won i won i won!!! whoeheeoe!!

[wunztwice]

Wow! There really are some super scenes here! The winner is very deserving, but that is not to say I could have chosen it out of all the great entries.

The figure posing and "strategy" gets better every year (hopefully I can get a battle whipped up next year...)

[jens]

Hi Bruce,

it is a pleasure to read your thoughts about the entries, thank you by the way for highlighting my "work".

I think the winning entry in this category is rightly [img]
Brendan's Last Stand of the Twilight Knights. When I saw the pictures I thought, this will be the number one!

The last month wasn't very easy for us to wait for the judgement. Of course everyone is waiting in suspense, especially if he has joined the contest.

I want to thank you and the other admins for hosting the contest, extrem patiently answering all of our questions and the quick judging.

regrads,
jens

[Sir Brithead]

I am blind or is there no Master builders awarded?

[Bruce N H]

Next up, Medival Life

Tom Snellin's Broom Shop I knew right away when I saw this that it would probably win this category. The color scheme is very beautiful as are all of the living details. I particularly like the clothesline on the roof and the beggar on the street. Dumping water out the window is a good effect. The use of the Quality Quidditch Supplies flag for a broom shop is inspired.

Chad's Hobbit Hole This was my second favorite entry in this category. Of course I love all things Tolkien, so that helps. The landscaping of the hill, the tree, the round door and windows are all very well done. From the extended pictures, I love the mushroom gathering and the pic of meeting a wizard (Radagast?) at the door. Of course a well-stocked kitchen is key to a snug smial. The inclusion of Tom is a nice bit of humor.

Saskia's Brickerlo Inn rounds out my personal favorites. Every year Saskia has a beautiful entry, and this is no exception. The trees, the all-plate stone walls, the doorframe, the stairs, the arches over the windows, the decorative ends to the beams, the hexagonal well, the mushrooms - all of these are perfectly balanced. BTW, it looks as if there is a line of tiles in the stone walls - does the second level lift off to reveal an interior?

Other entries, in no particular order.

Tim Gould's Mosque Great to see other cultures represented. The crescent moon solution is very clever, and the wash basin in the front room is great attention to detail. I'd love to see this one built in ABS.

Marcin Kitala's Trunkhouse This is a very clever idea, though I half expected it to be occupied by gnomes or other diminuitive creatures. The wheel by the fence and the mushrooms are nice touches, and the clutter inside is very realistic.

Timbutnice's windmill is a very striking entry. I particularly like the angled black stripes and the angles of the walls.

Stefan Dittmar's Black Death Okay, I'm morbid. I couldn't look at this one without Monty Python's "Bring out your dead!" playing in my mind. That said, the plague is a great subject as it had a huge impact on medieval life. Boarding up the window of the quarantined, the Jack-o-lantern to scare away evil spirits, and the use of fence pieces as scaffolding are all good details.

RichardAM's walled town looks really nice. I wish there were more pictures to see the details, especially that shop in front with Majisto. I do think this could do with more traffic in the street.

Dillon's Black Owl Tavern Of course that sloped roof is the most striking architechtural detail. One complaint, though, is that there doesn't seem to be any reason for it based on the rest of the building aside from cool looks from the outside. I also really like the SNOTty well and the flex tubing for the corral fence. The fig placement is nice - particularly the somewhat hunched over fig walking in the lower right.

Lomero's Pharmacy is another well balanced creation. I particularly like the tile doors, that railing on the balcony, and the tiled stairs. What is that intriguing trans yellow tubing element. It works perfectly for distilling something. The shelves also work very well and show that you don't really need sides to a shelving unit as long as everything stacks up neatly.

Kenn's Chinese Water Clock is perhaps the most creative idea in this category. I love it when MOCs are educational about some aspect of history that I was unfamiliar with. I hadn't seen the .mov file until just now - how cool that it works! I particularly like the astronimical instruments on top - particularly the armillary sphere (so that's what those are called.).

Jens' mill - The shape of this and the way it's built into a hill side are particularly striking. The tulips are great and very appropriate and again it is very cool that this appears to actually work.

Neonbug and Lorax's curling Okay, when was curling actually invented? Anyway, this is a fun MOC. My favorite detail is the snow in the trees, leading up from green to white at the top.

Bruce

[Bruce N H]

I am blind or is there no Master builders awarded?

As Ben noted, the Master Builder award will come soon.

Bruce

[Spongey]

Wow, seeing all of these creations rated and presented simultaneously really shows me the level of quality that our members build at.

[BreadMan]

Hi Bruce,

it is a pleasure to read your thoughts about the entries, thank you by the way for highlighting my "work".

I think the winning entry in this category is rightly [img]
Brendan's Last Stand of the Twilight Knights. When I saw the pictures I thought, this will be the number one!

...

I want to thank you and the other admins for hosting the contest, extrem patiently answering all of our questions and the quick judging.

regrads,
jens

And I want to thank you, Jens, because I can't deny that I was partly inspired by that huge battle of yours from a few years back (the one Bruce linked to) . Congratz on the honorables, I liked both your battles (as I liked all your entries) and figured you for a top contender.

[wunztwice]

Bruce, I always love reading your comments about all of the entries, thanks and keep it up!

THe medieval life category is always chalk full of awsome entries, and this year is no exception. I really like Stefan Dittmar's black death MOC, and it's always neat to see the different ways of making a wind-mill. There were some amazingly creative MOCs again this year, and these are no exception.

Great work all around!

[Lord Felix]

Thanks for doing this Bruce! I always love to see all the entries, and I love your comments.

[Bruce N H]

Hey all,

Just to make clear, my commenting or not on any particular entry is not a reflection of liking or disliking that entry. It's mainly about whether or not I have anything original to say about that entry. I generally note which my favorite two or three were, but otherwise please don't make any assumptions about how I ranked the entries.

Bruce

[stuifzand]

wow, nice comments on my entry
Thanks!

I like this tradition, keep up the good work!

btw, the floor can be lifted off, but there's no interior yet

[Bruce N H]

Next up: Vehicles

Kenn's Pagaent Wagon This was actually my personal favorite. As I noted previously, I particularly enjoy MOCs that educate us about different aspects of medieval life, and I'm sure many did not know about the traveling pagaent wagons. This is really fun and playable (pun intended). I particularly like the props such as the giraffes and the water. One question - one of the blue stripes in the awning is missing a rounded end. Is this intentional?

Lomero's Sampan What really sets this one apart, and probably what led to the win in this category, are the beautiful curves, both of the hull and the sail. In addition to creative building techniques, this is also a very creative idea, coming from a different culture than we normally see in the CCC. To me the fragility, and therefore diminished playability, is what set this one just a hair below the Pagaent Wagon.

Plucky's Carrocio This was my other personal favorite. Again, this is a MOC that teaches us about an aspect of medieval life that I didn't know about previously. The brick-built oxen are very nice, as is the clever cross construction. I also like the use of plastic capes along the sides.

Some others, in no particular order:

Tim Gould's sedan chair This is a nice little MOC and I like the way he did the curtain on the outside - having the studs inward gives a nice texture. I should note here that Tim did a great job overall of having a consistant theme throughout his entries, with them all hailing from mid-Eastern cultures (sedan chair, mosque, camel, battle scene).

DARKspawn's cog and BohuslavIII's cog These are both great examples of the basic cog shape. I always love it when people forgo the premade hull pieces to build boats out of bricks and plates. DARKspawn's has really nice custom sails and I like the 2x2 radar dishes on Bohuslav's. Both have flags flying the right way - nice attention to detail.

Hay carts by Josh, Hob Took, Chris Wunz and Jens Four variations on a theme here, using several different techniques for hay.

Marian's troll supplies cart Here I actually wanted to point out the landscaping around the vehicle. The SNOT construction to make the cobblestones is nice, and the usage of skeleton arms as snow in the tree is surprisingly effective.

g2's knight's transport This one made me laugh. It's kind of like the horses in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Bruce