Ten new creatures
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 3:52 pm
Well, here we are again. Another year and another batch of creatures to introduce. I wasn’t sure if I’d have anything to show this year, but somehow the urge to build caught up with me in mid September and here we are.
Before I start rambling about the mocs, however, there’s something else I’d like to say. You guys may not have noticed, (probably haven’t noticed) but I tend to be sort of a whiner in certain areas. In this case I’m thinking specifically of an area involving the quantity of mocs created in a certain sub section of castle building. Or to put it another way: I have a history of wishing that more people would build creatures. Go figure, huh?
Well, the reason that I bring this up is that I think it’s time for me to stop complaining. I feel that there have been some seriously cool animals and beasts created in the past months and even further back. And while I haven’t had the time to comment on every new moc individually, I was just as delighted to see them appear.
So before I start getting really gushy here, I guess I’d better role on to the main reason that this thread is here.
Ten new creatures.
(Click the numbers to view the brickshelf folders)
[1] First we have a skeleton. I wanted to post this guy back around Halloween. It would have fit more with the holiday theme then, but unfortunately I didn’t have possession of the correct camera at the time. Better late than never, though. Right?
[2] The next creature is called a dracolion… for obvious reasons. It’s sort of a retread of other old creatures, though the head, which inspired me to make it, is new.
[3] Continuing the theme of lego animals as other creature’s heads, this one’s called the Baby Dragon. I know that it’s been done before, (the frog-as-dragon-head-thing) but I needed one of my own so this is how it turned out.
[4] Here we have a scorpianman. I sorta imagine these guys as some mutated creatures-warriors of Vladek’s shadow army. And though the rainbow knights have rightly been surpassed by the crownies, I still think the scorpions are a force to be reckoned with.
[5] Now this is a black elf, also known as a drow by some. I kept having trouble with this one. It’s difficult to be subtle with plastic bricks and the hardest thing was getting the balance right between a freakish-Jessica-Rabbit-drow and one that didn’t look feminine at all. Anyway, I’m not sure if I found the perfect balance, but I found “good enough” so this is how it turned out.
[6] I have a problem with the lego company. I do. And unlike the usual complaints, my problem has more to do with what they’re doing right, rather then what they’re doing wrong.
It all started when Lego was selling their dino-maker sets. It was at that same time that I’d just about finished the design for my brick built elephant. Then I saw the horns in the Styracosaurus set and I knew that they would make perfect tusks. They were the only thing I needed to finish the job.
But before I could blink, lego had beat me to the punch and released their own elephant in the Orient expedition sets. So while everyone else was saying: “Sweet, a lego elephant!” I was saying: “Aw, man. Why did I even bother?”
Later on, they did it again! I was just ordering pieces for my dwarves, orks, and troll, when pictures of the dwarven mine set appeared on the net. *bangs head against wall*
Finally, the latest grievances were lego’s beautiful molded cows. And not just the Holsteins in the farm sets, but authentic brown peasant cows in the town square set!
Obviously, they’re making the point: “anything you can do, we can do better.” Now don’t’ get me wrong. I love what Lego is doing, but I do sometimes wish that they’d warn me in advance.
Anyway, all this to say that since I knew I wouldn’t be needing the old cow that I made last year, I decided to upgrade him into a new version of my old yakman. Less oriental this time, more Mongolian.
[7] This next creature isn’t from any fantasy books or mythology. Instead, this is an original creature, pieced together by yours truly. Sorta like this other one I made a while back. Only this time, I didn’t come up with a bizarre-combo-name to go with it. It still doesn’t have a name, in fact. I guess I’m just running out of ideas.
Anyway, here it is. Part beaver, part tarantula, part bat, part goat, part scorpion, and part bombardier beetle. And since this guy doesn’t have any authentic mythology, I figure I’d better write up a little something about him.
Every fantasy realm needs a race of evil masterminds who plot the destruction/enslavement/subjugation of the world. Such is the niche that this creature fills. Or, more specifically, the niche of a wall climbing, burning-acid shooting, cave dwelling, overlord of evil! Run away!!!
Oh, one more thing. I find that it helps the building process, to use a concept sketch of the creature. This one’s sketch can be found here.
[8] Here’s another original critter. He’s called an owlfox, for obvious reasons.
The owlfox is undoubtedly the creation of some ancient wizard or mage. Why it was made is uncertain, but the common belief is that the owl and the fox (due to their reputations as wise and cunning creatures) were combined to create the most intelligent familiar possible. Surprisingly, it worked! Owlfoxes have remained a favorite wizards familiar for many years.
I should probably say something about rubber-bands at this point. -Mostly because, this creature relies heavily on their usage. I don’t really like building with rubber-bands. Something about the purist in me thinks they’re too close to cheating. That said, I also happen to think they’re about the most useful lego pieces around. The owlfox, which uses four rubber-bands, couldn’t have been built without them. Anyway, here’s to rubber-bands. Here’s to my last resort backup plan that swoops in for the save when bricks just don’t cut it.
Concept sketch can be found here.
[9] and [10] These last two are repeats or reinventions of animals that I made a while ago. Not much to say about them, so here they are. A donkey and a wolf.
Before I start rambling about the mocs, however, there’s something else I’d like to say. You guys may not have noticed, (probably haven’t noticed) but I tend to be sort of a whiner in certain areas. In this case I’m thinking specifically of an area involving the quantity of mocs created in a certain sub section of castle building. Or to put it another way: I have a history of wishing that more people would build creatures. Go figure, huh?
Well, the reason that I bring this up is that I think it’s time for me to stop complaining. I feel that there have been some seriously cool animals and beasts created in the past months and even further back. And while I haven’t had the time to comment on every new moc individually, I was just as delighted to see them appear.
So before I start getting really gushy here, I guess I’d better role on to the main reason that this thread is here.
Ten new creatures.
(Click the numbers to view the brickshelf folders)
[1] First we have a skeleton. I wanted to post this guy back around Halloween. It would have fit more with the holiday theme then, but unfortunately I didn’t have possession of the correct camera at the time. Better late than never, though. Right?
[2] The next creature is called a dracolion… for obvious reasons. It’s sort of a retread of other old creatures, though the head, which inspired me to make it, is new.
[3] Continuing the theme of lego animals as other creature’s heads, this one’s called the Baby Dragon. I know that it’s been done before, (the frog-as-dragon-head-thing) but I needed one of my own so this is how it turned out.
[4] Here we have a scorpianman. I sorta imagine these guys as some mutated creatures-warriors of Vladek’s shadow army. And though the rainbow knights have rightly been surpassed by the crownies, I still think the scorpions are a force to be reckoned with.
[5] Now this is a black elf, also known as a drow by some. I kept having trouble with this one. It’s difficult to be subtle with plastic bricks and the hardest thing was getting the balance right between a freakish-Jessica-Rabbit-drow and one that didn’t look feminine at all. Anyway, I’m not sure if I found the perfect balance, but I found “good enough” so this is how it turned out.
[6] I have a problem with the lego company. I do. And unlike the usual complaints, my problem has more to do with what they’re doing right, rather then what they’re doing wrong.
It all started when Lego was selling their dino-maker sets. It was at that same time that I’d just about finished the design for my brick built elephant. Then I saw the horns in the Styracosaurus set and I knew that they would make perfect tusks. They were the only thing I needed to finish the job.
But before I could blink, lego had beat me to the punch and released their own elephant in the Orient expedition sets. So while everyone else was saying: “Sweet, a lego elephant!” I was saying: “Aw, man. Why did I even bother?”
Later on, they did it again! I was just ordering pieces for my dwarves, orks, and troll, when pictures of the dwarven mine set appeared on the net. *bangs head against wall*
Finally, the latest grievances were lego’s beautiful molded cows. And not just the Holsteins in the farm sets, but authentic brown peasant cows in the town square set!
Obviously, they’re making the point: “anything you can do, we can do better.” Now don’t’ get me wrong. I love what Lego is doing, but I do sometimes wish that they’d warn me in advance.
Anyway, all this to say that since I knew I wouldn’t be needing the old cow that I made last year, I decided to upgrade him into a new version of my old yakman. Less oriental this time, more Mongolian.
[7] This next creature isn’t from any fantasy books or mythology. Instead, this is an original creature, pieced together by yours truly. Sorta like this other one I made a while back. Only this time, I didn’t come up with a bizarre-combo-name to go with it. It still doesn’t have a name, in fact. I guess I’m just running out of ideas.
Anyway, here it is. Part beaver, part tarantula, part bat, part goat, part scorpion, and part bombardier beetle. And since this guy doesn’t have any authentic mythology, I figure I’d better write up a little something about him.
Every fantasy realm needs a race of evil masterminds who plot the destruction/enslavement/subjugation of the world. Such is the niche that this creature fills. Or, more specifically, the niche of a wall climbing, burning-acid shooting, cave dwelling, overlord of evil! Run away!!!
Oh, one more thing. I find that it helps the building process, to use a concept sketch of the creature. This one’s sketch can be found here.
[8] Here’s another original critter. He’s called an owlfox, for obvious reasons.
The owlfox is undoubtedly the creation of some ancient wizard or mage. Why it was made is uncertain, but the common belief is that the owl and the fox (due to their reputations as wise and cunning creatures) were combined to create the most intelligent familiar possible. Surprisingly, it worked! Owlfoxes have remained a favorite wizards familiar for many years.
I should probably say something about rubber-bands at this point. -Mostly because, this creature relies heavily on their usage. I don’t really like building with rubber-bands. Something about the purist in me thinks they’re too close to cheating. That said, I also happen to think they’re about the most useful lego pieces around. The owlfox, which uses four rubber-bands, couldn’t have been built without them. Anyway, here’s to rubber-bands. Here’s to my last resort backup plan that swoops in for the save when bricks just don’t cut it.
Concept sketch can be found here.
[9] and [10] These last two are repeats or reinventions of animals that I made a while ago. Not much to say about them, so here they are. A donkey and a wolf.