Dragon Size Comparison

[Wardancer]

Oh, I didn't know there was a dark red fantasy Era dragon. So there are indeed dark red arms one could attach to Smaug. This would mean drilling holes at a difficult angle. Could someone who is not me try this with his really expensive Smaug?

If someone could count the lenght of the Nidhodd dragon in studs, I could compare it to Smaug.

[AmperZand]

Oh, I didn't know there was a dark red fantasy Era dragon. So there are indeed dark red arms one could attach to Smaug.

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=Dragon01

Sorry, Wardancer. If I ever get Smaug, I won't be drilling holes in it.

[azog]

What are you guys talking about smaug only has 2 feet and his arms are attached to it's wing?

[Deathleech]

Also one could argue that most environments are more suitable for being brickbuilt than creatures which in cases require difficult angles, an organic shape, many details and poseability.

Lego dragons, and animals in general, look better as large molded creatures imo. It's really hard to make a curved organic creature look natural when using mostly the square and rectangular hard edges of Lego bricks. That's not to say it can't be done, there are some AMAZING dragons people have created, but when people MOC dragons they usually use a TON of pieces too. Like their dragons would easily cost $100 alone which doesn't leave much budget for the rest of the set...

[Str0ngbad]

AmperZand, I do not own the Nidhogg for comparison but I am familiar with the parts and am confident Smaug is the larger creature. I didn't see a comparison picture of the various tails above but Smaug's is much longer and more detailed. Eyeballing him against a sheet of paper, I think his wingspan is roughly 17 inches and he is about 19 inches long.

Wyvern, dragon, I don't care. I get somewhat tired of people correcting others about wyverns when I don't think the definition of what is/isn't a dragon is something the English tradition has the right to decide. Some eastern dragons have no wings so I don't think a little variance in how the front feet are attached is so significant. I am a big Tolkien guy. I left the third movie livid because of how very untrue to the book it was. However, the representation of Smaug is not one of the many things that bothered me but something that I was comfortable allowing license for. Regardless of his Middle Earth accuracy, the Lego creature is incredible. His front appendages are incredibly pose-able, versatile, and actually far better suited for use as legs than Lego's other molded dragons.

Wardancer, I think a forest dragon Smaug would be wonderful. If you ever do get him painted, please be sure to post it. If it were me though, I would not replace his wing-hands with other limbs. I absolutely love them the way they are.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Str0ngbad

[Wardancer]

The problem are the wings. Even if I found some airbrush master who sprayed Smaug for me, the rubbery part of the wings cannot be covered by paint. It would react with the rubber perhaps and peel off when they move. I would have to find some self adhesive foil or cloth or something to put on the rubber areas of the wings. Hmm.

Puting on additional arms is also difficult, because there is no flat surface to drill into. The best way would be to sacrifice poseability and try to carve the joints of the arms in such a way that they can be glued on in the right angle. This also minimizes the risk.

[Deathleech]

The problem are the wings. Even if I found some airbrush master who sprayed Smaug for me, the rubbery part of the wings cannot be covered by paint. It would react with the rubber perhaps and peel off when they move. I would have to find some self adhesive foil or cloth or something to put on the rubber areas of the wings. Hmm.

Dyeing them would probably be the way to go. It might be hard to get the color right though, especially since they are rubber and ABS plastic from my understanding and might take the dye differently.

[lego the hutt]

Am I the only one who vastly prefers this brick-built dragon to all those in the original post?

There's just something about those large <insert that tiresome argument> pieces that strikes me as odd. Other than the 4 studs, there isn't much Lego to them.

Edit: really, "jooniorized" is censored?

Yes, that brick built dragon is horrible.

[lego tripper]

Yes, that brick built dragon is horrible.

That's... not what I said.

[Wardancer]

I just saw that dark red dragon arms are not as expensive as I thought, so I'll buy some and give it a try.

[Umbra-Manis]

Great comparisons! Smaug shames the dragon mountain dragon!

[Wardancer]

Just checked the new Game of Thrones trailer for the number of legs of the dragons. I am sorry to say that they only have two.

Therefore, every cry of "Where are my dragons?" should actually have been "Where are my wyverns?"

Since language is always shaped by cultural conventions, we should consider that the two most influential fantasy franchises of the last years (Hobbit ,GoT) use two legged dragons and call them dragons.

PS: Who cares, they're epic.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Wardancer

[Logwyn]

I guess I'm more a Tolkien purest. But Honestly the Smaug lego is amazing. I'm still sore about Gandalf the gray and a gray hat in lego not BLUE hat! grumble grumble...

[AmperZand]

Since language is always shaped by cultural conventions, we should consider that the two most influential fantasy franchises of the last years (Hobbit ,GoT) use two legged dragons and call them dragons.

Sure, dragons can be bipedal, but I'm not convinced that just because two media representations (The Hobbit film and GoT telly series) portray them that way - however popular they are now - that that will have a lasting effect. Minecraft's Ender Dragon has four legs but I don't see that having much lasting influence either just because it's popular at the moment. What will last is the literature and games that have come to dominate the fantasy genre over the last generation or two, namely Tolkien's written works and games like Dungeons & Dragons. And in both of those, dragons are quadrupeds. It's actually quite hard to displace cultural representations which is why the way super heroes are portrayed tends not to deviate much longer term, e.g. Spider-Man who doesn't look very different now from how we was drawn in the 1960s.

I'm still sore about Gandalf the gray and a gray hat in lego not BLUE hat! grumble grumble...

LEGO is your friend: http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=1456&colorID=7 and http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=1456&colorID=55

[Vorkosigan]

I just built my Smaug and he truly is magnificent! Definitely the best LEGO dragon, although I like other recent molded dragons quite a bit as well. Smaug casts a quite impressive shadow.

I do wonder how well the soft rubber wings will age however. One I think they will attract dust, but more importantly I'm concerned they could get brittle over time. I'll just have to hope for the best.

[kouz-one]

Stop with the playmobil

Here is some real dragon

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=116593

[Dr.Cogg]

Have you guys ever seen the Viking Armored Ofnir

Edited October 30, 2015 by Dr.Cogg

[kouz-one]

If not an "UCS-style", brick-built dragons will never looks awesome,

I had both the fiery legend 6751

and the new 3in1 red creatures creator set 31032

I personally think that they are the best brick buit dragons in an official set for their scales

But I assume that i'll prefer the future mine here :p

Edited October 30, 2015 by kouz-one

[Wardancer]

This one is mx favourite brickbuilt one: http://rebrick.lego.com/en-US/bookmark/stormbringer-2-0--002/3gteor

[kouz-one]

He's great but doesn't seem playable or articulated?

[x105Black]

Brick-built dragons or creatures cannot compare to molded. That Bahamut dragon above is nice, though.

I really like Smaug. I was considering getting the black dragon from King's Castle Siege in 2007, as I prefer black to dark red, and I prefer dragons to wyverns. The comparisons here may have changed my mind towards having Smaug, though. I've already got the set, unopened. I was planning on selling Smaug from it, but I don't think I will anymore. I may end up trying to mod it with a couple of dark red arms, however. If anyone has done this, please point me in that direction.

[Wardancer]

I am still planning to give arms to Smaug, but it will surely be around Christmas time until I find the time. As the dark red arms are relatively cheap, I suggest carving them exaxtly to fit Smaugs body. If they don't fit, get new arms and try again. This way there is little risk of damaging the expensive dragon body, because you just apply the glue when you have already tried that the arms fit exactly. I suggest filling the hollow Joint with something and then applying the glue there on the inside instead of glueing the edges of the joint which will leave visible glue marks. IMHO there is no way to get the arm moveable because there is no straight surface on Smaugs body where they could rotate. So you have to decide which angle you want and then carve the joint accordingly. You cannot just attach the arms without modifying them because there is no flat straight surface for that, at least not where the arms belong. This may sound complicated, but there is little risk of damaging the dragon and failing. Worst case is maiming a few dragon arms for a few euros each. If you cannot cut them to fit, you can still leave it as it is and enjoy your dragon unharmed.

[Wardancer]

This is another semi brickbuilt one I could accept:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/108346

[Captain Nemo]

Interesting thread.

I love Lego Dragons (and extended molded/brick monsters), so this is great to see--surprisingly it's hard to find comparison sizes. Although...if Wardancer could get around to posting that wide shot of all three dragons together, that would be great too! *hint* *hint*

I'm looking into getting some old dragons to go with my Smaug (aside from the Classic ones I have: a black one and the golden Adventurers one). The Fantasy and HorntaiI are spectacular ones, and largely unique compared to the common red/black dragons. Most of all, I love the armor on the Fantasy one. I was recently thinking about buying a Horntail at a Lego convention last week, but it was rather expensive ($100)--so I settled with a Basilisk. Although I don't think it could take down my Smaug or Indominus!

I'm iffy on the offical brick built ones, most often they're just bad. I do somewhat like the serpent style of the Viking ones (specially the head molds), but I'm iffy on all the Technic. On custom ones however, the ones by Reeardoo are simply amazing--honestly some of the coolest ones I've seen! I'll have to see how build-able that is with current parts available.

[Wardancer]

Ok, I'll see to take that comparison picture soon as long as I still have all three dragons. I am on Holiday at the moment.

Captain Nemo, next week I am going to make you an offer for a horntail which will be far below 100 bucks. And for a green one as well. Maybe we can work something out. I am trying to downsize my airforce a bit to invest into bears.

By the way, the buckbeak griffins look good with the new pegasus wings...

Edited October 31, 2015 by Wardancer