75 replies to this topic

[Runamuck]

Since I have built a few different things lately I’ll just make a general thread for my latest Avatar MOCs.

Let’s start with some better pictures of the ostrich horse.



And a picture of Zuko and Iroh trying to escape the Rough Rhinos.

It has actually been a few days since I built this one.


Koh the face stealer. I have tried to make him rather bendy, which is accomplished with a few ball-joints and some hinges. The body can be a bit floppy though, and the weight often makes him scrape his belly on the ground.


The turning radius is still relatively large. If he is going to be running circles around Aang, they will be rather large circles.


It’s quite articulated, but balance and the fact that the technic pieces pull the selves of the sockets makes a little difficult to pull off some good poses.


Koh’s head, closed at the moment.


Remember, don’t show any emotions, or he will steal your face.

Oky once wondered if I was going to build something related to Kyoshi Island because of my response to Aang not wearing any pants, now I have.


The Unagi, the giant eel monster that lives in the bay of Kyoshi Island.




Admittedly scale isn’t particularly good, the Unagi is actually a lot larger than this. My figure is though still large enough to eat Aang in one bite.




At least Aang is wearing his speedo this time. I should probably get a new light blue marker, the tip is busted up on the one I used, so it’s a bit hard to be precise with it.

[Oky]

Argh! My face!

Nah, just kidding. Wow, I never expected to see the face stealer represented in Lego! Great job, especially with that mouth play feature! The Unagi could indeed be better, but it's still a neat vig.
Looking forward to further entries to this thread!

[Sam Vimes]

Great, Really Good way you did the Worm thing there, and where did you get the Koh Head...is it from a Assaj Ventress Set or something.

[Catanas]

I think its the Geisha head with painted eyes.

Thanks for the models Runamuck. I've never sat down and watch the cartoon itself, but I am tempted after seeing your excellent collection of bizarre and curious creatures.  

[Oky]

No, the head is obviously 100% custom, just like all of Runamuck's Avatar figs. Although Ventress and a modified Geisha would probably be pretty good alternatives.

And you definitely should watch the show, Catanas! It's the best cartoon ever!

[Runamuck]

Thanks for replying for me Oky, I would have done it myself, but I was a little busy building something.

The Unagi does look a bit dorky if I may say so myself. The teeth don’t look all that threatening, it kind of has Simpsons teeth, but it looks even worse without them. I would have liked for the fin to extend a bit further up, but I didn’t know how to pull that off without it getting complicated. I like the eyes though.

The head for Koh is a sticker I made. I was thinking that Aurra Sing’s ugly mug might be a good fit, but I don’t have the figure. Ventress would be a good choice too though. For once creepy eyes wouldn’t be a problem.  

I would recommend the cartoon, it’s one of very few series where I bought the DVDs of it. Does that mean that I should take spoilers into account when I am building something?

[Oky]

Runamuck, on 24 August 2011 - 10:43 PM, said:

The Unagi does look a bit dorky if I may say so myself. The teeth don’t look all that threatening, it kind of has Simpsons teeth, but it looks even worse without them. I would have liked for the fin to extend a bit further up, but I didn’t know how to pull that off without it getting complicated. I like the eyes though.

Haha, true, I can totally see it saying "DOH!" or "Mmmh... Avatar..." Don't you have some of these? If so, you could attach them using clip plates that face outward from the mouth.
As for the fin... Have you tried using this piece?

Runamuck, on 24 August 2011 - 10:43 PM, said:

Does that mean that I should take spoilers into account when I am building something?

I don't think so. Like I said in the Last Airbender Fan Thread, the show ended over 3 years ago, and if people still haven't seen it, that's their fault. But if it makes you feel better, I suppose there's nothing wrong with putting some of your pictures in spoiler tags.

[Runamuck]

I did consider the viking horns when I originally built it, but I couldn’t think of a way to make them stay in the upper jaw. I hadn’t thought of the clip plates though.


It already looks much better with the new teeth.
I don’t know about the dragon wings at the moment, but it might be worth remembering for a future build. I think there actually were some fish fins among some of the Belville sets; they could maybe be used if I had any.


I have also improved the legs of the komodo-rhinos a bit.

I have also been working on some other figures:



Suki and a few of her fellow Kyoshi warriors.



Basic Fire Nation infantry and an officer. The colors don’t match perfectly with the troops we normally see, but you could say that these guys are army where most we see on the show are navy and marines. I went with the golden samurai “bug horns” for the officer, I tried using red Viking horns, but they wouldn’t stay in place, and since the only other red alternative was a sausage, I went with the gold horns instead. The best solution would probably be a set of red islander horns, but I doubt that they exist.
A few closeups:
http://img221.images...33/img0621h.jpg
http://img31.imagesh...6/img0622tt.jpg


Katara looking at the mysterious monkey statue from “The Waterbending Scroll”.

And since I don’t have to worry about spoilers, I can show you what I was building yesterday.

A Fire Nation war-balloon. Prince Zuko’s to be precise.


I even made a little fire inside the oven to keep this hot air balloon afloat.


The lid on the top opens (yes the balloon is made out of massive bricks), and the rudder can move from side to side.

Edited by Runamuck, 25 August 2011 - 03:51 PM.

[Stardusty]

Wow! War baloon is amazing!
Until I've noticed Zuko, last part of the episode "The Northern Air Temple" was only thing in my head.

I like episodes "The Boiling Rock Part 1&2" much more than  "The Northern Air Temple". I can't believe they didn't popped
in my head.
Monkey from "The Waterbending Scroll" should be much smaller.

Koh looks great. At the moment I saw his face I was laughing so hard because of "Everybody Loves Raymond", and
was scared. That's creepy!

Kyoshi warriors look great, but Suki reminds me on Chancellor Palpatine. Brrrr!

Komodo-rhinos are very nice, like Unagi, although it's to small.

[Runamuck]

Well, “The Northern Air Temple” is where the war balloon debuted.

If there is one thing I have learned, it’s that it is really hard to build tiny thing in LEGO like the monkey statue. I was originally thinking about having the statue just randomly appear in the background of some photo, maybe that would have been funnier.

I don’t quite understand, did I make an accidental reference to “Everybody Loves Raymond”?

Now that you mention it, the proportions of the face I made for Suki are a bit similar to the chancellor’s.

I know that the Unagi is too small, but it is roughly the same size as the LEGO version of the MIdgaard Serpent, which has much worse scale problems. The Unagi may be big, but it is at least not supposed to be long enough to reach around the world.

Anyways, I have a minor problem; I don’t have any ideas how to build regular firebenders. I can probably do the imperial type, probably the homeland version, and easily the Shyamalan version, but I don’t have any red Vladek masks for the regular ones. Does anybody have some good ideas for a possible helmet/sticker combo that isn’t too complicated?

[Runamuck]

I found some new pieces on a flea market yesterday, and the new bit gave me some new opportunities and a bit of inspiration. Sorry about the double post by the way.


A primitive little hut, but it’s the home of a true bending master.


Firebending master Jeong Jeong. Former Admiral and one of few surviving deserters from the Fire Nation.


The new hairpiece was what sparked the idea, even if it is gray. Jeong Jeong’s hair is actually white, but the only white hair I have is a set of pigtails, which would probably be perfect for Yue.

Some of the other bits I got were the bits for Iroh’s Fire Nation outfit.



Zuko has actually has the ponytail sticker all the time, but is has until now been hidden by hairpieces.
But what would these two characters be at this stage of the story without…

http://img851.images...3/img0645am.jpg
Zuko’s ship. I have even some of the functions into this ship.

The spike on the front folds down into a ramp

The smaller boat is stored in the back of the ship. There is actually room in the small boat for two people.

I have even made some interior for the ship. Iroh’s monkey statue and the dining room.

Zuko’s room with bed, dual dao swords for decoration and that odd dragon shrine thing. Also the bridge.

Plenty of room below deck, hiding another thing…

The catapult, complete with flaming shots. It shoot quite far and high, perfect for shooting down a flying bison. Also, note the anchor, which can be lowered or raised.

Edited by Runamuck, 03 September 2011 - 04:01 PM.

[Runamuck]

This is one I have been waiting to do ever since I began posting Avatar MOCs. I have finally gotten the gears that I needed.

The Fire Nation’s tank.

A better view of the details on the top of the tank.

The interior of the tank. There is enough room for a figure, but not quite as much room as in the show, where as far as I remember it has a crew of 3.

And now for a few action shots. Of cause this is based on “The Northern Airtemple.”

Katara thinks that she has defeated the tank…

…but unfortunately for her…

…the tank…

…still has a few tricks up its sleeve.


There are a few variants of the tanks throughout the series. One of those is the ballista version.


And finally the driver. One of the men and women of the homeland forces of the Fire Nation. Originally I wanted to use the Eye patch officer as a driver, but I chose the home forces so I didn't have to make room for a helmet inside the turret.

P.S. Sorry about the double post.

[nexus2019]

OOPS!   wrong 'AVATAR'!

[Stardusty]

Wow, that tank is brilliant! All of your scenes look very good.
The one from 'The Deserter' is   .

nexus2019, on 30 September 2011 - 08:17 PM, said:

OOPS!   wrong 'AVATAR'!

FYI, A:TLA is much better than the movie with tall blue aliens.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Really awesome, I can only agree with the comments above!
Very impressive work!  

[Runamuck]

It has been a while since I have last build something, but now I have something new.



I thought this little scene with Iroh’s DIY hot tub would make a nice little vignette. Zuko is of course not thrilled about his idea.

[Oky]

Yay, finally another update! Small as it may be, it's a nice and humorous vig. That sumo body is perfect for Iroh. That's the benefit of working with yellow figs, I guess, that you have a larger library of pre-existing parts to work with.

Looks like I haven't commented in here in a while, so let me catch up:

• The Unagi does look much better with those teeth.
  
• The Kyoshi warriors look good too. I got two of the Geisha for the very same reason; to make custom Kyoshis.
  
• The war-balloon looks awesome! The only thing that bothers me a bit is that the bottom part (don't know what it's called) is too boxy.
  
• The Fire Nation ship is pretty good too. It's still underscaled, but unlike the set, it seems spacious and has some nice details on the interior.
  
• The tank is also good. I like all the play features you've included, and the scene with Katara is very recognizable. However, this, too, feels like should be bigger.

Keep up the good work! These Avatar MOCs always make my day!

[Runamuck]

Thanks for the comment Oky.

Yes, the ”basket” for the war balloon is a bit boxy, but that is what happens when I run out of the necessary brown slopes to make it less boxy.
As with pretty much every ship LEGO ever has made, the Fire Nation ship is in more of a functional scale than any realistic scale.
I was originally planning on making the tank bigger, 6 studs wide to be precise, but that would make the wheels look tiny, and if I remember correctly the spinning feature also worked a bit better on the 4 stud version.

By the way, I wouldn’t mind some advice on a few things. Are there any other parts that would work well as tank wheels? Also, what parts would be good for the ordinary firebender helmet besides a red Vladek mask?

[Oky]

Hm, I think the Power Miners wheels might work, although they are a bit thick. If you want to use a thin wheel, the large Technic wheels might work, although they are quite spikeless. The best solution, as usual, would be to brick-build them, but that would require a lot of parts which I assume you don't have.
As for the Firebender, well, that's a tough one. The Vladek visor was the closest thing among existing parts, and that one was already horribly inaccurate, so I would suggest to just make your own out of paper or something.

[Runamuck]

I think I have some of those power miner wheels, but only in black. I have large technic wheels, but I think only in white. I wanted to keep the tank gray. Well, I’ll have to see what parts I can run across. I’m not sure if I have the right spare parts for brick build wheels at the moment.
Fire bender will probably end up as some sort of sticker helmet combo, or simpler black clad ones with standard Vladek visors based on The Last Airbender.

I have occasionally seen other people center a vig around a wall of rock, so I thought this scene from ”The Runaway” might work as that type of vig.


Toph is complaining about how Katara is acting as if she was her mother. Sokka explains to Toph why Katara can be so “annoying” at times. What neither of them knows is that Katara is listening in on their conversation about her while she is taking a bath.


Everyone looks way too happy about this actually. Well, I can just blame myself for imitating LEGO’s usually happy faces.


Katara’s hair is darker….because it’s wet….and because I don’t have the piece in normal brown. I guess if that kind of hair can keep the mermaids in Pirates of the Caribbean decent enough for a PG-13 rating it will also keep Katara fairly decent.

I have already got another vig in the works; I just need to get the figures made for it.

Edit: Darn I accidentally got the scene mirrored.

Edited by Runamuck, 16 November 2011 - 06:08 PM.

[Oky]

Not bad! But yeah, the faces are indeed too happy. The use of the mermaid hair on Katara is brilliant!

[Runamuck]

I mentioned I had something in the works, and here it is:

Zuko: “Where is my mother?”

This was originally what I wanted to make, but that prison cell could be used for a few more things.

Sadly the picture didn’t turn out so well, but it is supposed to show Iroh’s workout while he was imprisoned. Gone is the day of the sumo belly, say hello to the surfer abs. he is even holding a dumpling while working out like he did in the show.


The aftermath of Iroh’s escape during the day of the black sun.


Fire lord Ozai. Kind of sloppy work with the yellow marker sadly, I’ll correct that.

Since this thread is close to 2000 views I have something special in the works.

[Runamuck]

2000 views celebration! Let’s celebrate it with a little beach party!


Azula: Yes, we defeated you for all time! You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation! … Well, that was fun.

Yes, I thought that it would be fun to build the kuai ball scene from “The Beach”.


The opponents side of field. Azula must have one hell of a smash, she left a crater in the ground and set the net on fire. The soccer ball will have to do in this case, because I don’t think that I have any other types of spare balls.


The royal side of the field. Azula is delivering her gloriously hammy victory speech.


Overhead view of the whole kuai ball field. How do you make a round field in square LEGO? You find a plate of the right size, and try to trace the shape with the bricks.




Ty Lee, Azula, Mai and Zuko.




The opponents.

[Stardusty]

These MOCs are really nice!

The scene with the Iroh's bath is simple, but brilliant. If i recall correctly, he added his own bubles.

Man, you have that mermaid hair! From the moment I've seen the piece, I've wanted it for Katara, but never got the
piece.

Iroh's escape scene is my favorite. 'Day of the Black Sun Part 2' is one of the best episodes in series.

Volleyball scene is nice, too. 'The Beach' was an awesome episode. Azula kissing the guy and going crazy. ROFL!
IMHO, the best fig of the batch is Ty Lee.

[Oky]

Very nice, although I was expecting something bigger when you said you were working on something special, but I guess a MOC based on an unusual episode such as "The Beach" can be considered special. You recreated the scene quite well. The only thing that I would change is the color of the base, which should be tan.
As for the prison cell, it too is simple yet effective. Iroh's training and subsequent escape were some of my favorite Avatar moments as well. Unfortunately the lighting in your pictures is so bright that it looses the gloomy prison atmosphere. And yes, that Ozai does look rather sloppy. The beach minifigs are great though.
Keep it up!