UCS Treebeard

[BenA]

Hi all, here are some pics of my latest LOTR moc, Treebeard. This one has been a slow burn even by my standards - I started his head back in 2022!  There are some great mocs out there already but I wanted to see if I could use some of the newer curved bricks to get a really twisted, organic look.

He's around 70cm tall, and roughly 4500 bricks. He's sturdy, and has a fully articulated frame - the details are hinged so they move out of the way as needed, but they do tend to break off if I'm not careful.

Finally, please forgive my lack of photography skills. I found it hard to get the lighting right so you can see all the details without lots of reflections   I'll try to get some more pics in brighter daylight - I'll add them here if I do.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

 

Edited November 25, 2025 by BenA
Added even more photos

[BladeStraight]

Looks amazing!

[1963maniac]

WOW!!! AWESOME!!!!

[-DoNe-]

Magnificent work. You really did manage a organic look and feel. The colors are perfect as well! 

[BenA]

16 hours ago, 1963maniac said:

WOW!!! AWESOME!!!!

Thanks, much appreciated!

12 hours ago, -DoNe- said:

Magnificent work. You really did manage a organic look and feel. The colors are perfect as well! 

Thanks! I'm pleased with how the colours came out. In future I might do a Spring version with lots of flowers and brighter green leaves, and an Autumn version, with lots of red, orange and gold colours. But for now, he's staying as he is 

[miniman]

WOW!

[Velnerius]

This is really, really impressive! I love how organic it looks, with both the colors as well as all the curved pieces. Absolutley adore this moc!

[GeoBrick]

Kuddo's for hiding the core of the figure so well. I could only spot it on the inside of the arm.

[Lordhelmet]

Looks great

[kevin8]

Astonishing! Terrific! 

[BenA]

On 11/23/2025 at 7:47 AM, miniman said:

WOW!

8 hours ago, Lordhelmet said:

Looks great

26 minutes ago, kevin8 said:

Astonishing! Terrific! 

Thanks all.

23 hours ago, Velnerius said:

This is really, really impressive! I love how organic it looks, with both the colors as well as all the curved pieces. Absolutley adore this moc!

Thanks. I'm pleased with the organic, gnarled look - it was the main aim, and I hoped it would stand out from other Treebeard mocs out there (many of which are amazing). I found it a pain at times - it was way more parts-intensive than I expected, lots of hinges, brackets, cones, 2x2 round plates and tiles with hole, and an absolute ton of 'animal tail' parts... many bricklink orders were made! But worth it in the end!

15 hours ago, GeoBrick said:

Kuddo's for hiding the core of the figure so well. I could only spot it on the inside of the arm.

Haha, there's plenty on show if you know where to look. On his legs and arms, the roots and branches are attached to his skeleton, but for his torso, some of the curved bricks form part of the core structure itself - that way I could have a hollow area inside. I'll try and get better pics of it at some point.

[LL1982]

This look amazing and huge. Really love how you covered him completely and make him look so organic. No frame to be seen to me at least. Also nice to see some bird hidden left and right.

[GarmadonFan]

Incredible. You may have been working on it for years but that was time well spent. 

[BenA]

On 11/24/2025 at 10:02 AM, LL1982 said:

This look amazing and huge. Really love how you covered him completely and make him look so organic. No frame to be seen to me at least. Also nice to see some bird hidden left and right.

Thanks, yeah he's pretty big - over 70cm tall. I'll upload a couple more pics to give a better sense of scale. There are a few animals hidden around him including a frog, rat and snake!

18 hours ago, GarmadonFan said:

Incredible. You may have been working on it for years but that was time well spent. 

Thanks! You know what they say - don't be hasty! 

[Yoggington]

Stunning stuff!

[Wardancer]

This is the best treeish build I have ever seen.

[KimT]

Holy cowfefe! This is pretty awesome.
Absolutely stunning design and build.
I wish I could see this IRL - so much to look at and so much detail..

#mindblowing

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

I didn't think it was possible to create such a beauty! 

Building Lego plants is unnatural to me... even more difficult (impossible?) is building an animated plant like Treebeard with this level of detail and in perfect scale according to the proportions of the movie.  

Is the construction sturdy?

At first glance you might not notice it but this MOC is huge! 

[BenA]

On 12/1/2025 at 6:40 PM, KimT said:

Holy cowfefe! This is pretty awesome.
Absolutely stunning design and build.
I wish I could see this IRL - so much to look at and so much detail..

#mindblowing

Thanks! I'm planning to make instructions at some point in the new year, so hopefully you'll have the option to build your own! In the meantime, let me know if there are any parts of him you're particularly interested in and I'll be happy to take some more photos 

58 minutes ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

I didn't think it was possible to create such a beauty! 

Building Lego plants is unnatural to me... even more difficult (impossible?) is building an animated plant like Treebeard with this level of detail and in perfect scale according to the proportions of the movie.  

Is the construction sturdy?

At first glance you might not notice it but this MOC is huge! 

Thanks!  The construction is "mostly" sturdy   His skeleton is very sturdy, and I think I can make it even stronger with some of the new joints that are available in the T-Rex skeleton and the Fortight Team Leader Mech.  But some of the detail is quite delicate, mostly because a lot of it is hinged to allow for poseability at the hips, ankles and knees. It's not too bad - you can pick him up and move him without too much trouble, but again I think I can improve it. I could either remove some of the poseability or use different hinges (e.g. ball and socket joints instead of actual hinges). Or I could do both. The feedback I've had from people who want instructions is they would keep it as a display piece, so lots of poseability and strength are not top priorities. What do you think?

[BenA]

On 11/25/2025 at 10:20 PM, Yoggington said:

Stunning stuff!

On 11/30/2025 at 12:51 PM, Wardancer said:

This is the best treeish build I have ever seen.

Thanks, much appreciated! 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

19 hours ago, BenA said:

The feedback I've had from people who want instructions is they would keep it as a display piece, so lots of poseability and strength are not top priorities. What do you think?

I think exactly like other users: that the resemblance is important and this set is for display!

So I wouldn't modify anything to reduce the excellent level of detail achieved.

[BenA]

On 12/3/2025 at 5:39 PM, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

I think exactly like other users: that the resemblance is important and this set is for display!

So I wouldn't modify anything to reduce the excellent level of detail achieved.

Thanks! I've decided I'm not going to worry too much about parts of it being a bit delicate. I'll keep it as close to this version as possible. I've also decided I'm going to build a second one to help me get the instructions right. The internal structure will be the same, but on the outside I'm going to try a different colour scheme, just for fun. Thinking maybe a birch tree, with pale bark and autumn coloured leaves.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

In reverse engineering it's always wise to use a second model to create the instructions before irreparably disassembling the only one model.