I like the use of chains around the pillars, It has a real dynamic look. The angled black brick in the walls look great, how did you do it? And once again I am wishing I had a few of those grey turret pieces, they make great caulrons and firepits. Thanks for sharing Dave,
Will
After a long absence, I have returned. I can't wait to start building again.
For the angled walls, I built a 'frame' for the bricks to rest in. Really that just means there is a 1-brick wide slot through the surrounding bricks. The wall section is at a 45-degree angle and you just have to build the 'frame' in enough so the jagged edge does not show.
Two problems with building this style of wall, I've learned. First is it takes a lot of bricks. Second is the black stripes are not really (a) the same width and (b) the same length, etc. So, the X's in the wall don't look quite as good as I'd hoped. In the Brickshelf gallery there is a pic of the back of the gateway where I hoped you could see the detail a bit better. Here is the pic and the link: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=65317
The cost is between 20 and 30 cents. The other parts I used for the flame cauldron were: a flame, a 1x1 black cylinder (sp?) and a 2x2 disc with the rounded bottom. The disc allows the frame assembly to stand up pretty well iin the turret housing -- although when you move your MOC you will see all the flames tilt over. Pretty funny actually. BUT, you can also simulate wind (to some degree) by tilting the flames and providing additoinal visual conf with flags, etc.