For those who don't venture out from Mocpages to often, I have been recently doing a guide over at Eurobricks.com. I have been building a medieval village and photographing and writting up every step of the progress, basically a instruction to build this village. I have been covering many techniques and covering all the aspects of building medieval scenes from water, landscaping, trees, different buildings and techniques. The do's and don'ts, what to avoid and how to make everything blend. I also cover the infamous 'Derfel Technique' as it has become known, the use of 1x1 round plates. I show how to do it properly, when and where it is best used. Yes I am bored with 1x1 round plate, having used the technique for the last 4 or more years, but it came in handy for a textured look and helped me develop my own style for which I am known. It did make me laugh to hear Lego Designers refer to me as 'that 1x1 round guy'! Unfortunatly, using 1x1 round plates has its problems. If overdone, it can look terrible, which is why I have never built a full castle with them, it just doesn't work. Its all about finding the right balance with them, blending them with tiles, half timbered sections and foliage pieces. I have amassed close to 30,000 1x1 round plates since I started buying 1000 every month for the past 3 years, and so yeah..I am bored as hell with the technique so Im now working on something that looks better! For those interested in the guide, here is the link: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=60907 I Hope people find it helpful and remember I am still adding to it as the village still has quite a bit to go yet. Here are a few pics taken from various stages of the build.