This however, while allowing for classic castle creature creations (CCCC ok I’ll stop) doesn’t encourage them in the way a Beasts category would. Therefor, I have taken it upon myself to encourage beast building at large by posting fifteen new creature creations of my own. My old digital camera broke down a while back you see, so my mocs have been piling up, unposted. I have yet to complete photographing all of them yet and not wanting to clog up the Mocs board with fifteen different threads I’ve decided keep it in here, adding them to this post as I get them into the computer. So, without much more ado here they are. Enjoy… And remember- Build bricks. Build beasts.
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1.0
The Gargoyle.
Image changed to thumbnail link by moderator. Do not post images larger than 400x300 pixels in the forums. Thanks.
This moc was originally inspired by Nathan’s (Lord_Of_The_Lego) gargoyle way back when. Just shows you how long it’s been waiting to be picturized. Now then, first an etymology lesson:
The “gar” part of gargoyle comes from the same word we get gargle from and means to spew stuff outa your mouth. Ok maybe I’m paraphrasing. It’s been a while since I read that article. Anyway, the “gar” is applicable because all gargoyles are really, are fancy (and often scary) waterspouts, made to direct rain water away from the stone work of the building. In the beginning there were both Gar-boys and Gar-girls, but the boys were forgotten over time and well… when you sit on da coyb on toydy toyd street watchin’ da boyds choyp… pretty soon Gar-girls become gargoyles.
Also of note, not all disgusting gothic sculptures were gargoyles. Grotesques were also used in architecture during that time. Stone, ugly, and yet not gargoyles because they lacked the water belching design of true Gar- boys and girls.
Now, about the moc: It has 31 articulation points and 16 dark grey minifig hands. I love minifig hands by the way. The best part of the moc in my opinion would be the hips. For the longest time I was having trouble figuring out how to get them right. When I did finally get them right it felt like a brake through. Of course for all I know someone else has already thought of this, but just in case I took a picture of it in hopes that it might end up helping some other beast builders.
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2.0
The Bird
As much as I love moveable, articulate creatures with lots of detail, sometimes it’s cool to see one that’s a little more simple.
Enter the bird.
This was one of my first lego creatures and you can tell right away it’s made out of bricks. No inventive techniques here, just good old fashioned easily to duplicate fun. Not too cool, but very nostalgic for me.
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3.0
The Minotaur
Yes the minotaur. I know we’ve done this before, but I couldn’t leave my bull boy without hooves so I fiddled around and now we have…The Big Minotaur.
He uses the same hip construction as the gargoyle. A technique I experimented with on a lot of the creatures I made afterward.
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4.0
The Satyr
Well, what can I say? I know you’re thinking he looks just like the minotaur only with a minifig head. And, yeah he pretty much is. And there you have it folks.
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5.0
The Fuzzy-man
When I make creatures I usually try to give them a little bit of personality. Some are easier then others and I don’t always succeed. That said, I think I’m pretty satisfied with the Fuzzy-man. He’s based, in concept, around the indian myth of the yeck, with looks based on a little, grog-like drawing I did once. I think he’s related to the islanders somehow…though I’m not sure how.
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6.0
The Birdman
When you’re making things that don’t exist it’s usually not long before your stockpile of mythical beasts starts to run low. And if you want something new you can either make it up yourself or go looking for inspiration. And who better to go to then the guys who get paid to make up monsters. That’s right, dungeons and dragons. And there it so happens, is where I found inspiration for my Bird-man.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_ ... _PG142.jpg
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7.0
The Myconid
Another creature inspired by DnD with an awesome TWO points of articulation!!!!! Ok maybe four but that’s stretching it. Hey, it’s still more then a real mushroom has.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mm2_g ... 620_90.jpg
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8.0
The Yak-man
Move over Minotaur, there’s a new bovine bruiser in town. Meet the yak man, another DnD inspiration.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mm2_g ... 20_126.jpg
The sword had a different hilt design originally, but I changed it when boses showed us the minifig hand version. Kudos to him. Did I mention that I love minifig hands? I really do.
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9.0
The Zombie
This Moc, the cleaver Zombie, breaks the pattern established in all the mocs I’ve displayed here so far, and in more ways then one. Unlike any you’ve seen here so far and any you will see coming up, it’s simply monstrous in relation to your average minifig. It also brakes standard in style.
You see, usually when I make monsters I try to keep it real. Like something that could actually be taken for a real creature if you met it in some remote forest. A zombie isn’t anything like that. In the context of fantasy it would likely be the product of some evil wizard’s dark magic. Undead. A group of monsters I don’t really find that compelling compared to the beasts that can actually sustain their own existence.
So like I say, I usually don’t do much in this area, but…after being inspired by something from warcraft (not sure what it was called) I decided to build this zombie. I think his the story is that he was sewn together from many different dead guys and then animated to go be evil and harass the living.
Still, whatever may be said about this lack of animal-ness, it must be noted that building him was a BLAST. It was unbelievably refreshing to be able to make something and not have to worry about making it look good. Indeed, the whole object was to make it look totally disgusting. What I also enjoyed was not being forced to make uniform limbs. I mean, if he’s been sewn together from who knows what, then his right hand probably wouldn’t have anything in common with his left one. Ya, it was a lot of fun.
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10.0
The Parrot
This is Crow the Parrot. He’s supposed to be part of anthromorphic (<— I think that’s the right word) pirate crew I’m developing. I haven’t commandeered a ship for them yet, so I guess they’re treading water right now. But soon… Anyway, you’ll be seeing the rest of the crew (apart from the surgeon, who is yet to be finished) over the next few updates.
Crow is the look out on the ship, stationed in the- you guessed it- crow’s nest. He’s supposed to have a saber, but I seem to have misplaced it at the moment. Best remedy that soon.
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11.0
The Turtle
Meet Mr. Hashwater the helmsman. Slow and steady, he directs the ship through fair and foul with a firm flipper on the wheel. Being a sea turtle, he’s quite good at swimming and very at home in the ocean. He’s an old salt too, though in very good shape for a ninety-five year old.
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12.0
The Sea Rat
Allow me to introduce Wormtailer the water rat. He’s a slippery one, that Wormtailer. Sneaky and sly, this sea rat is the perfect creature for spying and thieving undetected. The snitch that every ship needs.
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13.0
The Crocodile
This is Brutus. A salt water croc. Great for doing any heavy lifting or any heavy brawling for that matter. Best not to mess with him. A terror above and beneath the waves.
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14.0
The Chimp
Every ship needs a cook and this chimp completes our animal crew nicely. A good sort of amiable chap, but heaven help the creature who tries to snitch a taste before he’s finished the dish.
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15.0
The Juvenile Dragon
Fun fact of the day: The design of the bull head, used for the minotuar earlier in this post was not originally intended for such. Originally, it was a dragon head. This dragon’s head. The juvenile dragon (no offence Anthony) was designed before any of the others in the post except for, of course, the bird.
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Bonus Round:
When I said that I had fifteen new creatures for you at the beginning of this thread, I meant that I only had fifteen ready for presentation. In the time between then and now I acquired a few more pieces that were needed to complete another one of my creatures. You can find him below, along with instructions for the Gargoyle and another, slightly related moc.
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The Dracotaur
This is, I think A really neat idea for a creature. Once again created by DnD. I probably had the worst time finding parts for this guy then any other one on this thread. Especially the tail pieces.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mmiii ... /82984.jpg
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The Red Diamond Knights vs. The Creatures
A while back, Classic-Castle hosted a chess building contest in honor of that new chess set TLC produced. Well, I went about making my own board and pieces, but as providence would have it, my camera broke down right after I finished construction. Now at last, it has been photographed and uploaded to brickshelf.
What does this have to do with creatures you ask? Well in my world –Boaristad as it happens to be called- the good guys, known as the Red Diamond Knights, happen to live in the middle of a creature infested forest. Anyway, to make a long story short, the knights are always in conflict with the creatures and that’s what I decided to base the chess set on.
As for function, I played a game with my younger brother and it worked quite well. Aside from the fact that I nearly lost the game due to a piece mix up. He was playing for the whites and I thought his bishop was a pawn.
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Well folks, that’s all I’ve got. I hope you’ve enjoyed this post made to promote a little beast building. After all, who knows what creatures are crawling around in your head, just waiting to be shown to the world. Until next time, this is Micah Berger: Monster Builder- signing out
I'd love to build one - did you make a record of instructions on how to build him? 
