The Dragonification of Smaug the Wyvern

[Wardancer]

Warning: This thread might cause discomfort with your current dragon situation. Viewer discretion is advised.

The Dragonification of Smaug the Wyvern

Ever since the discussion whether Smaug was a wyvern or a dragon came up, I felt the need to give arms to the ultimate LEGO creature. According to some, dragons without arms are merely wyverns and therefore sad creatures. Would I dare to lay hands (pun intended) on such a marvellous creature? Would I dare drilling holes in it?

Modified Smaug side by MWardancer, auf Flickr

Modified Smaug total by MWardancer, auf Flickr

Modified Smaug - The Last Thing You Ever Shall See by MWardancer, auf Flickr

Modified Smaug showing his new claws by MWardancer, auf Flickr

Modified Smaug from above by MWardancer, auf Flickr

Customization notes:

Buying two dark red arms is cheap and easy, so I decided to use techniques which would mess up the arms and not Smaug's body if things go wrong. When customizing a minifigure, you have to throw away parts sometimes because you destroyed them with paint, glue or drills. You cannot do that with an expensive dragon torso.

Unlike the green fantasy dragon or similar molds, Smaug's front is much slimmer and curved. There is no flat straight surface where you could simply attach dragon arms. They would have big gaps and wrong angles. So I needed to carve and sand the arms to fit a threedimensional plain. This was easier than I thought. Also at this point there is no risk damaging the body yet.

Then I drilled the holes to attach the arms. This fortunately worked well. Attaching the arms afterwards took over an hour because the pins I attached would not stick.

The arms cannot move. It is impossible to achieve that because of the uneven shape of the torso.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Wardancer

[Mr Greeble]

Geez, I could never bring myself to do that with Smaug. Nice work here, though.

[MAB]

I think I would have probably Smaugified the red dragon instead!

[Wardancer]

Haha, I never had that idea! But Attaching Smaugs wings to a normal red Dragon would be very difficult I guess.

[Actor Builder]

I'm not really into modifying my LEGO pieces personally, but this is cool.

I'm curious though; How would he look without the claws still on his wings? Right now it looks like he has four arms.

[Wardancer]

Good point. If you leave all of the claws out the Wing looks a bit empty. Maybe one claw does not look like a hand.

Edit.

Just tried. One claw looks odd, because it is too long. Without claws is ok. The best way will be to customize very small claws I think.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Wardancer

[AmperZand]

It looks great! I'm impressed.

I have to confess that I wouldn't have the courage to make holes in a Smaug body. I might try the same thing but if I do, I'll only be working on some spare dragon arms, not on Smaug's torso. I'll attach the arms using Blu Tack so that I can remove them or even pose them to a certain extent.

I'm not sure how I feel about the wings' claws. If I give Smaug proper arms, I may remove them altogether or replace them with minifigure hands.

[Wardancer]

It looks great! I'm impressed.

I have to confess that I wouldn't have the courage to make holes in a Smaug body. I might try the same thing but if I do, I'll only be working on some spare dragon arms, not on Smaug's torso. I'll attach the arms using Blu Tack so that I can remove them or even pose them to a certain extent.

I'm not sure how I feel about the wings' claws. If I give Smaug proper arms, I may remove them altogether or replace them with minifigure hands.

Ah, something like blue tack would have been useful. I don't mind a permanent solution, but I was rather nervous during the process.

The idea with minifig hands is great. I am going to order 6 dark red hands I think.

[Wardancer]

Addendum: Regular minifis hands cannot be attached to Smaugs wings, they are too wide.

[AmperZand]

Addendum: Regular minifis hands cannot be attached to Smaugs wings, they are too wide.

Is it the hands or the wings that are too wide? If it's the hands, is it possible to shave or sand them to make them fit?

My Smaug isn't accessible, so I can't check for myself.

[joshuaj]

This is something that always bothers me when people talk about dragons. Like the new game of thrones versions. I think they try to hard to make it look bat-like with the wings instead of more reptilian. So very nice work,i cant tell it has been modified

[Wardancer]

Thanks!

Minifig hands will work if sanded down half a milimetre or so. I ordered dark red ones. I will post pictures here when I have tried.

[Evolved Turtle]

On 3/13/2016 at 8:27 PM, AmperZand said:

It looks great! I'm impressed.

I have to confess that I wouldn't have the courage to make holes in a Smaug body. I might try the same thing but if I do, I'll only be working on some spare dragon arms, not on Smaug's torso. I'll attach the arms using Blu Tack so that I can remove them or even pose them to a certain extent.

I'm not sure how I feel about the wings' claws. If I give Smaug proper arms, I may remove them altogether or replace them with minifigure hands.

I don't think minifigure hands would work. They're just too wide.