#lotus tower

[pastelcheckereddreams]

Sooo, I bought the Lotus Tower model kit and, of course, I went overboard making it as accurate as possible to the show. To no one's surprise, I'm guessing? 😅

For reference, this is what the completed model (sans horses) looks like without most* of my alterations:

*The awning material and decoration is my only alteration at this point, as I didn't like the fabric they included with the kit.

I had so much fun with this model! It is well-made, has moving parts, and is actually fairly easy to put together, with most parts just clicking into place. It even has furniture details inside!

Let me know what you think! Have you got the kit? How are you finding the building process to be? If you want to hear a more detailed review of it and see my progress shots and details of my own creative additions, click below:

First, unboxing!

This is how the box arrives. I ordered it from CPOP Universe and it arrived well-packaged and undamaged within a matter of weeks.

Along with the kit itself - which as you can see consists of a stack of laser-cut sheets coded from A-Q, and numbers detailing the specific parts - you receive a coaster (ceramic, backed with cork, and very pretty), little standees of difanghua, a letter styled after the ones difang recieve from Li Lianhua, and a replica of the booklet of yangzhouman techniques.

The process:

The first floor came together pretty quickly:

Glue is provided, but isn't necessary for a lot of the pieces, as I found the measurements for a lot of the joints to be pretty snug and able to hold together themselves. Glue is necessary for some parts, though, particularly for areas such as the step up to the rear sleeping area. Strong glue. Here is what the fist floor looks like:

Fitting on the ceiling turned out to be the hardest part of most of the build. All of the holes on the second floor had to line up with every joint on top of the walls and doors.

The next big step I encountered was a curiosity. How to make the rear wall work? There was a curious piece clearly meant to anchor the rope, and a round hole that - much like the doors - meant that this piece was supposed to rotate - and even lock. But I received no instructions on how to achieve that. I found this puzzle (which I like to think was an intentional challenge, given the gadget-orientated FDB) to be a fun challenge. So I won't show you the inner workings and spoil it, but I'll show you the working product:

Next was the rather fiddly job of creating the sail awning. I imagine this will be quite difficult for some as there's no clear indication of how to fix the material in place.

My instinct was to sew it as that is also a craft I have practice in, though granted not everyone who buys this kit will be as comfortable with a sewing needle. The two swatches of fabric provided is also quite prone to fraying, and is quite thick and canvas-like. So, knowing that the awning is a big feature of Lotus Tower, I decided I could do better:

On the left is the provided fabric, and on the right is my own material (an old blouse that I never wore, with patches dyed with my promarker pens).

After that, things should've been an easy home run, as all I had to do was affix the wheels to their axis points and put the horses together. However, quite unfortunately, one of the wheels hadn't been cut out in my kit. I had to cut it out myself with a coping saw, a Stanley knife and much patience😅

It came out looking rough, but nothing a little sanding and a touch up with my promarkers couldn't fix. I also eventually glued the wheel caps to the axis to prevent the wheels popping off every time I touched it, and they all still spin fine (minus the one I had to cut myself, that one's a little sticky😅). Then came the horses, and I was done!

Or so I thought. "Don't you think it looks a little too brown?" said my detail-obsessed brain. "We could do... more...."

And so I did.

My additions:

I used scraps coloured by my blue marker to create the beams of the house, and later coloured the fence posts red.

I made a second sail to hand under the stairs.

I created a second planter box (again, from the scraps and coloured with promarkers - two sets of flowers were included in the kit, so I could put one in each planter.)

And I even created a rain chain using old earring backs, jewellery findings and a chain, spray painted matte black and then painted blue-grey.

To colour the roofs, I likewise painted them a light blue-grey (/brown for Hulijing's kennel), then used a darker blue promarker to roughly add in texture.

I painted the weather vane, and used scraps to add in its missing two cardinal points.

And then finally, I made a winch for the rear wall! It's also easy to turn with the roof on, so I'm very pleased even though it's a little rough looking 😅

Had to gif my video clip because tumblr said boo no to more than one :(

And that's it, that's my latest build! I found this kit very fun, loved the process and seeing Lotus Tower come to life. I also loved adding in all the details to make it just that bit more accurate to the show. My only true criticisms are 1) small design oversights with the base wood colour being a tad too dark imo; the missing arms on the weather vane; and no second flowerbed (although I may be being a tad too pedantic about it 😅). 2) The fact that one of the wheels in my kit didn't get cut out properly (a quality check issue).

Obviously, I made the choice to use a different material than the fabric included so I can't speak to how satisfactory it is. However, if I were ever in the position to give IQiYi direct feedback, I'd suggest they include thinner fabric, and paint (or paint suggestions, as I know model paints aren't usually allowed through customs in these kinds of kits) for the roofs, because (by way of how they're constructed) they're just raw edges of the reinforced card parts - completely uncoloured, despite being a very visual element of the piece.

Thank you for reading this far lol Keep an eye out for more art and craft posts! (I have a Siji Manor set update coming shortly 👀)

#mysterious lotus casebook #lotus tower #莲花楼 #lian hua lou #model kit #model building #my builds #nikkidraws #iqiyi merch #mlc merch #mysterious lotus casebook merch #arts and crafts #li lianhua #li xiangyi #lian hua lou merch #lhl merch #now where do i keep this thing

[bbcphile]

My Lotus Tower model kit arrived, and I am ridiculously excited! I haven’t started assembling it yet, but I wanted to share some of the other goodies that came with it!

First, adorable mini figures of the lotus trio!

It also includes a booklet that has the Yangzhouman instructions Li Lianhua left for Fang Duobing!

I’m also very intrigued by this letter that was included (in an envelope with Li Lianhua written on it), that seems to be about what happened to Li Lianhua and to maybe say something about his future? (My knowledge of Chinese characters is not nearly advanced enough for me to read this, and I have my doubts about how well Google Translate worked on the image.)

Here it is, in case anyone wants to translate it!

I’ll post images of the model itself once I start assembling it, but it needs to wait for another night when I have the energy to try to translate the instructions (at least there are images and not nearly as much text)!

(Tagging @dramaloverrants who wanted to see some images.)

#mysterious lotus casebook #mlc merch #lianhua lou #lhl #translation #li lianhua #di feisheng #fang duobing #model kit #lotus tower #I am so curious about this letter #google translate says the end of the letter mentions him returning to Lotus tower in 10 years

[ghost33th]

Hopeless Wanderer

#art #artists on tumblr #my art #li lianhua #li xiangyi #mysterious lotus casebook #mysterious lotus casebook fanart #fanart #lotus tower #auspicious pattern lotus house #if you look really closely you can see how I tried to include pockmarks on the face #since this is kind of an attempt to mash the book description with the show depiction of Li Lianhua #it doesn't show well on this scale since I never meant to render it this much in the first place #I've been staring at this for days and hours on end I need to call it done #there will always be more art to make of him in the future #ghost33th art

[tiny-breadcrumbs]

Holy shit this is probably the most detailed full colour background I've ever done for this year

#the slow descent into madness over fifty shade of brown in lotus tower #why the fuck it looks like llh build his home with a lot of mismatched wood #at this moment I wish traditional art can have color picker because I'm suck at eyeballing ratio for paint #lotus tower #wip

[lahiru-042-animationstudies]

.

.

(Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time)

Inclass assesment 05

Human walk cycle

#lotus tower #walking cycle #krita animation #simple animation #2d animation #made with krita #krita

[lotus-pear]

i think skk should totally take a brief vacation in paris post-meursault since they're already in france before going home to yokohama

#this made a lot more sense in my head tbh. anyway they deserve a month long paid leave for the shit they went through #mori getting a postcard that says “bonjour de paris!” w skk posing infront of the eiffel tower or the notre dame or smth and being like #“i'm glad they're enjoying their honeymoon :)” #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd #dazai osamu #osamu dazai #chuuya nakahara #nakahara chuuya #soukoku #skk #lotus draws

[mutantfactor]

Mysterious Lotus Casebook | pov: there are only 2 beds

#sharing is caring Happy Valentine's Day! 💕🪷🛕💕 #(btw i have the lotus tower model and this is what it feels lke building it) #mysterious lotus casebook #lian hua lou #莲花楼 #li lianhua #li xiangyi #di feisheng #fang duobing #cheng yi #zeng shunxi #xiao shunyao #my:gif #mf mlc #cdrama

[zishuge]

Maybe Li Xiangyi never expected so much from you. You know what! You're so great in so many ways – except you always like to rain on my parade! Mysterious Lotus Casebook (2023) | Ep. 5

#mysterious lotus casebook #莲花楼 #li lianhua #fang duobing #cheng yi #zeng shunxi #cdrama #cdramasource #mlcedit #*gifs:mine #looking softly and wistfully at the man you just drugged into unconsciousness – just li lianhua things #his little furtive sidelong glances when fang duobing is about to pass out really just ... are so so perfect thank you cheng yi #in which my struggle to color any and all scenes that take place inside lotus tower continues

[fortune-maiden]

For the potential AU ask: If LXC had failed his attempt to get NMJ and JGY to agree to be sworn brothers, but figuring the great sects still needed some unity, he managed to convince LWJ, NHS, and JZXuan to do it instead :D (you can decide whether or not JC would be added in)

Spoiled Brats Trio :D

(I'll leave JC out though since JZXuan is still trying to marry JYL ^^")

I tend to headcanon NHS as being 1 year older than the rest depending on my mood - in this case that would make him Da-ge and he will lord it over the other two forever.

LWJ is not calling him Da-ge. In fact he goes out of his way to avoid ever having to address NHS in any context.

LWJ & JZXuan are both pining at the end of sunshot so DA-GE!NHS WILL SAVE THE DAY!

By which I mean we will be having Twelfth Night and Midsummer's Night Dream levels of love triangles and misunderstandings

NMJ & JGY end up patching things up because between all of the messes to clean up and all of the alcohol consumed, they just understand each other now.

#meanwhile Jiang Cheng finishes rebuilding Lotus Pier and comes to Koi Tower with pizza only to find it on fire #or something like that #this is the darkest timeline #mdzs #nie huaisang #I'm sorry this turned into crack xD

[pastelcheckereddreams]

It's complete! I am very proud of this piece. It is many firsts - drawing Lotus Tower, drawing a seascape, drawing a funky little bird.

I am also disappointed that it doesn't quite match the feelings present in the original concept I had. But I do like how the sea and the clouds evoke something restless or chaotic, in contrast with the straight, sure lines of Lianhua Lou.

Not quite sure what to name this one yet, but once it has a title it might go up on my inprnt. It will also be posted to my IG shortly.

You can also support me on kofi here!

Edit 27/10/23: I realised I uploaded an earlier version of the file, before I adjusted the brightness in CSP 😅This is the final version.

#nikkidraws #lotus tower #莲花楼 #mysterious lotus casebook #mlc fanart #mysterious lotus casebook fanart #auspicious pattern lotus house #吉祥纹莲花楼 #my art

[korpikorppi]

THE SEATS OF THE FIVE GREAT SECTS - and one small non-sect

不夜天 Búyè Tiān - Nightless City - of the Qishan Wen

金麟台 Jīn Lín Tái - Golden Carp Tower - of the Lanling Jin

不净世 Bùjìng Shì - Unclean Realm - of the Qinghe Nie

云深不知处 Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù - Cloud Recesses - of the Gusu Lan

莲花坞 Liánhuā Wù - Lotus Pier - of the Junmeng Jiang

乱葬岗 Luànzàng Gǎng - Burial Mounds - of the very unofficial Yiling Wei

#the untamed locations #qishan wen #nightless city #lanling jin #golden carp tower #qinghe nie #unclean realm #gusu lan #cloud recesses #yunmeng jiang #lotus pier #yiling wei #burial mounds #theuntameddaily #the untamed #cql #random late night screencap edits #mine #korpikorppi

[seventh-fantasy]

cousin returned from china with goodies for me <3

#i said i don't care as much for the merch but this is minor compensation for not being able to fly to the nye hangzhou event!!!! #@ the fan who took over lotus tower - apparently for free: i'm in your walls. i'm living in your backyard. pls know i'm 4ever jealous #莲花楼 #mysterious lotus casebook #lhl #my posts

[potahun]

jiao liqiao really looked at the gayest man in all of the jianghu, pointed at him and said 'that one. that's the one i want. that's the man im going to obsess over'

m'lady. please

#jiao liqiao #lhl #mysterious lotus casebook #every day that i write the full tag i wonder why the showrunners didnt just pick 'Lotus Tower' as the english title? #that would have been neater and shorter and a direct translation?

[byk23]

Hello my lotus tower friends, is anyone still alive after Episode 30 or are we just posting from the netherworld mansion.

#mysterious lotus casebook #li lianhua #fan duobing #i dont know what this ship is called i been calling them binghua #mysterios lotus tower spoilers

[omgpurplefattie]

Part of my modern City AU.

Fang Duobing's mum has paid Li Lianhua a sneaky retainer to keep the three vanlife guys and their Lotus bus around in the City for a bit.

This is their chance to tackle some long procrastinated projects.

Chapter 31: A Lot of Future

As the Lotus guys make ready to leave the City for some warm beaches, everybody who likes them says good-bye in their own way. Then, they drive away.

That's it -- we're done! Thanks everybody for reading and commenting, with a special nod to @busarewski for cheerleading, and @lyselkatz for the lovely picture I commissioned from her.

This is now complete and no longer a WIP. People who don't like to read WIPs are now safe to read this!

#mysterious lotus casebook #city au #fang duobing #li lianhua #di feisheng #modern au #the trio are vanlifers and the Lotus tower is a converted bus #complete fic #WIP finished #WIP no more!