Dragons

[Nuju Metru]

Hey all.

I attended Brickfair 2010, and set ahead of me the entirety of my medieval/fantastical MOCs. However, upon receiving them again some weeks after I had returned, I found all of my creations practically destroyed, thanks to my haphazard packing. But the crisis definitely had a silver lining. With my past years' work wrecked, I decided to start anew.

However, I also wanted something new to work with, having decided to take on a refreshed project. So I angled my creations in a more fantastical direction, and made many different species to populate my new creations. Chief among these developments was the creation of my minifigure-scaled dragons. I decided that I wanted dragons in my world, so dragons had to be made. The other day, I was at last satisfied with my work, and photographed the creatures.

A little background to set the scene for these characters: "In a fantasy world of magical conflict and interspecies tension, what few sapient dragons exist are vital assets in war. These dragons act as political entities of their own, and ally with different factions in exchange for valuable treasure." Well, here they are. (Note: Images posted here link to their far-better-looking originally sized versions)

1) Imaust

Gallery

A fire-breather, Imaust is a mercenary who demands high salaries in exchange for his valuable talents and speed. He will do anything for more gold, even taking for his companion the dragon-hated hunter of their kind, Kimvor. He has no pity for others.

2) Radgha

Gallery

In life, Radgha was a legend who dominated battlefields. So powerful was she that, after dying, a necromancer tried to summon her back to life. It worked, but Radgha killed the wizard. Now she is free and still alive, despite her body decaying.

3) Fythold

Gallery

In a war long ago, Fythold once had a companion that he grew attached to. When this companion died, Fythold was miserable and decided to never again take one. Now, in a war of dire importance, he is the only undecided dragon. His allegiance is crucial.

4) Skolek

Gallery

Two-headed and unmatched in brute strength, Skolek is a very old dragon of huge prowess. She has been the companion to the Usranagh family since hatching, and so, like all dragons of the Ustokal Princes, owes loyalty to someone other than herself.

5) Emget

Gallery

A dragon of average size and power but uncanny speed and maneuverability. Emget has many quirks that set him apart, including that he will only take female companions and sometimes fights for free. Most times amiable, but can be introspective and moody.

6) Wyvern

Gallery

A type of feral dragon that lives in the mountainous forests of the north, Wyverns live alone after mating in the autumn to raise their young, of whom they are extremely protective. Wyvern eggs, however, are a favored delicacy by many species...

7) Sea Ferals

Gallery

These small wild dragons live untamed in porous cliffs that jut out of the sea. They operate as a pack. But their weak minds make them easy to coerce - maybe to be used as winged mounts for undead soldiers, with whom they are a devastating air force.

Thank you for viewing! I appreciate any commentary you have about any of the above dragons! :)

Edited December 25, 2010 by Nuju Metru

[The Mugbearer]

Gosh, I'm so amazed! It is brilliant piece of art!

As a big admirer of dragons at all, I must say that you made my heart palpitate. If only LEGO had such a dragon-based line... Ah, vain dreams...

Anyway, I really dig the wing construction.

My favorite dragons is Radgha, Fythold, Emget and Wyvern.

You have my profound respect.

[Lordofdragonss]

What a nice dragonhead design. An even if almost all of drgons have almost the same build they are all unique! Frythold is my favorite!

[Cutty]

Those are well done! Congratulations!

Porportions, articulation, parts-selection, use of cloth, variation between dragons, build-execution and photography are A-grade material!

[XimenaPaulina]

This is a very wonderful collection of brick-build dragons Nuju Metru! Great job on making all of these, each with its own unique design, color scheme and details, and backstory. Among these I really like Imaust the best. Simply impressive work overall!

[Sirens-of-Titan]

Beautiful dragons! I really love the skeletal one I've been trying to figure out how to build one but it never worked out and yet your is simply stunning! Job well done indeed!

[Admiral Croissant]

Wonderfoul! They all look fantastic.

Maybe it's an idea to change the paws a little bit so you don't use the square brick there, but outside of that they look great.

The 'Fythold' dragon is my favourite. Especially on the first picture he looks very powerful.

I also like the fact that they are all so mobile. Well done

[Nuju Metru]

Gosh, I'm so amazed! It is brilliant piece of art!

As a big admirer of dragons at all, I must say that you made my heart palpitate. If only LEGO had such a dragon-based line... Ah, vain dreams...

Anyway, I really dig the wing construction.

My favorite dragons is Radgha, Fythold, Emget and Wyvern.

You have my profound respect.

Why thank you! Yes, luckily, these dragons were built by me to populate a fan-made Dragon-based theme. It's hopefully gonna be awesome. The wings are one of my favorite parts, too.

What a nice dragonhead design. An even if almost all of drgons have almost the same build they are all unique! Frythold is my favorite!

That was what took the longest to design - just the base design. Imaust and Fythold came first, and after them, I built the other dragons next. And good choice - Fythold's wings really win him as my favorite too. :)

Those are well done! Congratulations!

Porportions, articulation, parts-selection, use of cloth, variation between dragons, build-execution and photography are A-grade material!

Articulation and proportions are some of the most important parts of the design of a creature MOC, after stability. I was very happy to have found a design that fulfilled all of those, and also looked distinctive; it makes me happy to know you like it too. As for the photography, I beg to differ, but that's not so important. :P

This is a very wonderful collection of brick-build dragons Nuju Metru! Great job on making all of these, each with its own unique design, color scheme and details, and backstory. Among these I really like Imaust the best. Simply impressive work overall!

Good to know you actually read that stuff. I spent time on the backstories, too, so I'm happy they're appreciated. Thank you!

Beautiful dragons! I really love the skeletal one I've been trying to figure out how to build one but it never worked out and yet your is simply stunning! Job well done indeed!

Radgha took a long time to figure out, so I'm happy that she fulfills the skeletal role here to your satisfaction; she was hard because I had to stay with the other dragons' proportions, and yet make an entirely new body structure that was both stable and looked fragile. In the end, I feel like it was a success. :) Thank you for your support!

Wonderfoul! They all look fantastic.

Maybe it's an idea to change the paws a little bit so you don't use the square brick there, but outside of that they look great.

The 'Fythold' dragon is my favourite. Especially on the first picture he looks very powerful.

I also like the fact that they are all so mobile. Well done

On the paws, I don't know what else I could've used to have a balanced surface to offset the viking horn parts. Plus, they came in a lot of colors... :P But I'll try to think of something better to replace them, if it's possible to do so.

Thank you all so much for your commentary! :D

-Nuju Metru

[Ceroknight]

those look fantastic, very eragonic if you mind me saying

[-obelix-]

I am truly amazed, with this fantastic job! Congratulations a really, really great job especially on the wings! Black one and Wyvern are favorites.

[sok117]

These are really quite good, and should probably be front-paged! I love how you managed to do the wings! and they all look so nimble and posseible! My favourite is Skolek! Someone should add a poll!! Great work and I'm a conformist!!

[Yoshi648]

Man these are just to awesome! The design, the colors, everything!. Imaust and Fythold are my favorites.

[iamded]

These are awesome, Nuju Metru! I'm really digging Radgha, the skeletal frame is so cool. The little swarms of Sea Ferals are also really neat. You're whole collection of dragons is just really cool, good design and variety. I hope we get to see more in future.

[Baylego]

Awesome wings! Are those customs?

[Nuju Metru]

Whoa, frontpaged! I'm honored. :)

those look fantastic, very eragonic if you mind me saying

Well, the dragons of Eragon are very cool - so it's good to know that I'm emulating that with mine.

I am truly amazed, with this fantastic job! Congratulations a really, really great job especially on the wings! Black one and Wyvern are favorites.

Thank you!

These are really quite good, and should probably be front-paged! I love how you managed to do the wings! and they all look so nimble and posseible! My favourite is Skolek! Someone should add a poll!! Great work and I'm a conformist!!

Haha yeah, I'd be interested to see which dragon is the favorite statistically. That'd be cool to know.

Man these are just to awesome! The design, the colors, everything!. Imaust and Fythold are my favorites.

Personally, I love those two as well - they're so balanced and look great, in my opinion.

These are awesome, Nuju Metru! I'm really digging Radgha, the skeletal frame is so cool. The little swarms of Sea Ferals are also really neat. You're whole collection of dragons is just really cool, good design and variety. I hope we get to see more in future.

Yeah, I found the idea of a swarm of dragons to be really appealing, to shake up the larger, otherwise-solo creatures. As for more in future, I have another dragon in the works right now. Plus, there are going to be sets/MOCs to accompany the Dragons, also being made... So keep your eyes peeled later for more works of this sort.

Awesome wings! Are those customs?

Well, aside from the membranes (which are pieces of fabric I cut to fit the wings), the wings are entirely made from regular LEGO parts. So I guess that's custom.

-Nuju Metru

[gus]

really cool, poses on the dragons are great, interesting usage on minifig riders as well, nice job.

[I Scream Clone]

Well done on some really nice designs Nuju Some really inspired builds with great angles if people want to figure out parts used. Looking forward to the accompanying scenery.

[Cutty]

Once more something from me, after I had to hurry my initial reaction a bit.

What struck me at a second glance were the names you chose for the individual dragons. While they have a fantastical flow and tune to them, you managed to avoid stereotypical and dull fantasyesque names even professional writers will fall back to regularly. And THAT, at least to my ear, is a major relief and great accomplishment in name-giving that just adds so much more to these awesome dragon-designs.

I do not know, whether it's coincidence or not that Ragdha is my favourite of the lot, given it carries your sig-fig But names like "Imaust", "Skolek" (sounds a bit Slavic) and "Emget" (sounds Turkish :-D ) strike my fancy just as well. "Fythold" however is, name-wise, the fanciest of them all. If I ever found a book telling a story of "Fythold the dragon", and your backstory for him has potential (!), I'd pick it up in a heartbeat. He has some resemblance to that "How to train...-movie's "Night Fury" species, hasn't he?

So I'll leave it at that, yet hope to see more of your designs in the future!

Be well all!

Cutty

[cryoshell]

These look great (:

could you - or anyone here - try to do a

LDD - version of them so we could try on

our own dragons?

[indyman09]

Wow, that's amazing. I really like the fact that they're minifig scaled. Beautifull

[Dragonator]

It's great to see some dragon MOCs around here again, thanks very much for sharing these Nuju Metru. You've made a lovely collection here, each dragon has a unique flavour and personality which has been very nicely reflected in their construction. I really like the number of joints you managed to pack into these lithe little bodies, it allows for a wide variety of poses which is always useful in minifig scale creations. My favourite bit has to be the jointed wings, those work fantastically with the custom fabric and look very realistic, although I must wonder how these dragons can fly with so many holes in their wings! The contrast in colour on Radgha is also very well done, nicely selected there. I really enjoyed reading the back stories, you've put a lot of effort into these and it is greatly appreciated. Definitely deserving of the front page.

I can't quite place the pieces you've used on the sides of the front legs, I know they have pins on them to attach them to the leg but I can't think what set they're from. They make for a nice touch of detail though. Emget is technically a wyvern with only one pair of legs, correct? Also I think the sea ferals are very cute, I'd hate to imagine how they land though! I also have to mention that your posing of Imaust is fantastic, a very moving picture.

I look forward to seeing these in some of your future MOCs, I appreciate you posting them.

[Nuju Metru]

Once more something from me, after I had to hurry my initial reaction a bit.

What struck me at a second glance were the names you chose for the individual dragons. While they have a fantastical flow and tune to them, you managed to avoid stereotypical and dull fantasyesque names even professional writers will fall back to regularly. And THAT, at least to my ear, is a major relief and great accomplishment in name-giving that just adds so much more to these awesome dragon-designs.

I do not know, whether it's coincidence or not that Ragdha is my favourite of the lot, given it carries your sig-fig But names like "Imaust", "Skolek" (sounds a bit Slavic) and "Emget" (sounds Turkish :-D ) strike my fancy just as well. "Fythold" however is, name-wise, the fanciest of them all. If I ever found a book telling a story of "Fythold the dragon", and your backstory for him has potential (!), I'd pick it up in a heartbeat. He has some resemblance to that "How to train...-movie's "Night Fury" species, hasn't he?

So I'll leave it at that, yet hope to see more of your designs in the future!

Be well all!

Cutty

Cutty, I appreciate your second thoughts greatly.

Hearing that my names escaped the cliche'd fantasy vibe is an immense compliment. You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. And I'm glad that the names add something for you to the creations and their characters. It makes me glad you made the "professional writer" analogy... psst, that's something I dream to do!

• Radgha is one of my favorite names too. It sounds sinister, wrathful, and ancient. Plus, yes, it carries my awesome sigfig.
  
• Skolek, ironically, is the dragon of a desert tribe. Her full name is Skolek'enth, but as apostrophes aren't allowed in Brickshelf file names, I shortened it to her nickname, Skolek.
  
• Emget took me a while to figure out in the way of a name. I like the way it came out.
  
• On Fythold, again, it's very ironic that you bring up his backstory in that manner. Turns out that, in fact, I am in the process of writing a novel with these characters, this universe. The best thing about LEGO to me is that it stokes my creativity; the MOCs and the writing develop symbiotically with one another. The two together are an astonishing tool to be wielded by the imagination. And I didn't draw from the Night Fury intentionally, if he looks like it; maybe they only seem similar because both are jet-black with green eyes.
  

Thank you again for your insights!

These look great (:

could you - or anyone here - try to do a

LDD - version of them so we could try on

our own dragons?

I could possibly make pictorial instructions, if you'd like. LDD doesn't have the wings, nor am I skilled at it.

It's great to see some dragon MOCs around here again, thanks very much for sharing these Nuju Metru. You've made a lovely collection here, each dragon has a unique flavour and personality which has been very nicely reflected in their construction. I really like the number of joints you managed to pack into these lithe little bodies, it allows for a wide variety of poses which is always useful in minifig scale creations. My favourite bit has to be the jointed wings, those work fantastically with the custom fabric and look very realistic, although I must wonder how these dragons can fly with so many holes in their wings! The contrast in colour on Radgha is also very well done, nicely selected there. I really enjoyed reading the back stories, you've put a lot of effort into these and it is greatly appreciated. Definitely deserving of the front page.

I can't quite place the pieces you've used on the sides of the front legs, I know they have pins on them to attach them to the leg but I can't think what set they're from. They make for a nice touch of detail though. Emget is technically a wyvern with only one pair of legs, correct? Also I think the sea ferals are very cute, I'd hate to imagine how they land though! I also have to mention that your posing of Imaust is fantastic, a very moving picture.

I look forward to seeing these in some of your future MOCs, I appreciate you posting them.

Thank you Dragonator! Yes, as I've said, making the dragons flexible was one of my major priorities when it came to designing the dragons, because it made them feel and appear more organic. The wings were hardest to figure of these - initially, i was striving for a wholly brick-built wing, but they were all too heavy and large and non-draconic. So I wished for a membrane that was lighter. Turns out that what I needed had been there the whole time in the form of an old costume cape, red one side, black the other, and flexible, thin, and even correctly colored with LEGO hues. It was perfect, so I used it. The holes, yes... As you can see on Fythold and Imaust, the original pair, their wings have around 3-4 holes apiece. However, I'm afraid I got somewhat carried away with later ones.

At least on Radgha this over-cutting works. Her body is decaying anyway. The part you're looking for is from the Knight's Kingdom first series figures, and was attached to their legs in order to add some bulk. As for Emget, yes, in some dragonologists' classifications, he is. However, in my universe, the Wyvern is a specific species of two-winged-two-legged dragons, of which Emget is not a member - he's larger and smarter by far. The Sea Ferals, as they draw closer to their cliff homes, will slow their flights by spreading their wings and beating backwards. Soon the force of their wings beating in this manner isn't enought to keep them in flight, and the Sea Feral falls-

-only a few feet. The claws on its wing-fronts will snap out reflexively and snag onto the lip of the cave they wished to enter. It is a developed trait. For this reason, Sea Ferals always aim a few feet higher than the cave they wish to enter. They are mostly airborne/aquatic creatures, however. Their caves are only used for feeding, breeding, and sleeping. Otherwise they are in constant motion. Explain your question?

Thank you for your in-depth critique!

-Nuju Metru

[vagrant]

I adore dragons. Red and black dragons very much were pleasant.

[Niku]

Those are great dragons, also like the story behind each of them

Edited December 29, 2010 by Niku

[buddy]

You have a great collection of dragons there. They are all excellent and highly detailed.

Very well done.

~buddy~