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CM4Sci

[MOC] Flinx's Flaming CHI Fortress

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Hello! This is my entry to LEGO's Legends of Chima Big Box Competition!

Before I start talking about the actual fortress, I just wanted to say that I don't build many things with physical bricks. Only things I do are my Winter Village entries (I will definitely be entering again, this year!) and an occasional thing for another contest I might see. I usually use LDD, which I'm pretty decent at, but they haven't updated it at all during 2015. So, with my limited selection of bricks, I made this. Hope you guys will like it!

The theme of the contest was to build a fortress to protect the CHI. I had a friend help me with photography, and I asked him to keep the images looking a little amateur-ish so it didn't look too "official" like an actual LEGO Shop@Home image, or too 'professional' for the CLUB magazine if they ended up choosing me as a winner (of 2) and putting it in the next issue. Also, a lot of the pieces are a bit dusty, so excuse that, sorry! I only had 2 of the Fire vs. Ice Chima sets (and some polybags) and resisted ordering any extra pieces from LEGO.

So, without further ado, this is Flinx's Flaming CHI Fortress!

The figures I included were Flinx, Frax, Laval, Cragger, Worriz, Eris, Mungus, and Voom Voom.

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In the front, a gate with a phoenix head, two big torches on the sides in front of tan, brick guard towers. One has a moveable turret, and the other just has a balcony. I watched some episodes of the show to get some reference photos. The entire temple was on fire, so I tried adding some flames, torches, and other things around the outside. I tried integrating the Chima "theme" with the giant animal heads into this, hence the giant phoenix head above the gate. I usually try making my MOCs look like official LEGO sets, so I added a lot of play features to this. The phoenix head can turn from side to side, and has spring shooter eyes.

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Turning the fortress around, the interior features a large tower, stairs, a Fire CHI pit, and more.

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Starting with the right tower, the lower half features a small blacksmith/weapon creation/armory room. There's a rack with multiple golden weapons and tools to create flaming swords and such to attack the Ice Tribes with. An anvil is off to the left with a golden fire chainsaw. Above is a balcony.

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The middle tower features a prison, a room with The Artifact, which in the show is a giant map showing all of Chima. Mount Cavora lays in the middle with a hovering fire CHI crystal above. Above is a small bedroom for any of the characters to sleep in, with a lamp. The top of the tower has Flinx's throne (in my "world of Chima," Flinx is the ruler because I don't own Fluminox.) Giant flames burst from the sides, to show the flaming effect.

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In front of the Artifact is path with torches and a trap door leading to the prison below, activated by turning the entire Artifact. (Fun fact, my original version of this fortress was a lot smaller. The Artifact was still in the middle and I wanted it to turn and do something. At first it knocked down the stairs in front of the gate. Then I decided to switch to this Indiana Jones baseplate I found. After heavily revising this middle section over and over again, I was finally satisfied with how I made it.)

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Onto the last part of the fortress! The bottom half has a small elevated area with a pit where the CHI is protected and can be lifted by the nearby crane.

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Above that is a staircase that leads to the turret. It took me a while to figure out an acceptable design but I'm glad with how it turned out. I really wanted to use those trans-orange claw pieces. The turret can be raised and lowered past the golden fence piece. It can also spin around, and all four flick-fires can be shot at once.

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And that's it for the fortress! Now onto the Croc tribe vehicle I included. I made this a long time ago, when the contest was first announced. I actually based it off of some really old concept art for the Chima line that was posted on the site. I tried reverse engineering the build, but I couldn't exactly figure out the treads on the side, so I just built them so they don't actually roll.

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And that's everything! I really had a lot of fun building this, and I hope I win the contest. Even if I stopped being interested in Chima after 2013, that's a LOT of LEGO! :grin:

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If you wanna see the 2-3 extra photos I didn't post in here, check out this album on my Flickr! If you've got any questions, please feel free to ask below.

Thanks again for looking! :grin:

Edited by CM4Sci

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Lovely! This looks like it could be a real set. I love the use of the baseplate! I know some people don't like it, but I miss its appearance in playsets as I think they make a playset look a lot more complete. Here's to its return someday!

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Damn, that's nice. I didn't realize that moulded baseplates were still around. That looks really well put together

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Amazing MOC! It feels very much like an actual set, and I'm always a sucker for amenities like beds that help a castle or fortress feel like more than a mere battle station. There are lots of great play features too, like the dungeon, the croc vehicle, the crane, and the turret! Great use of stickered elements as well. Even though they're not from the Legends of Chima theme, they feel like a natural fit and really help to add some nice texture.

Good luck in the contest!

Edited by Aanchir

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Love the build. I have great admiration for MOCs that look like sets While art pieces and monster creations are visually impressive, there is nothing like creating something that looks official. Well done. :thumbup:

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Neat! Really looks nice. BUT

it could use some touches. For instance, the rising walls coming out of the baseplate are one piece. You could have built a hill out of more pieces instead. That way, it would be more detailed and a hidden cave or defense feature could be implemented as well. The walls on the fortress could also be more unique, like one is chunked, one has a hole in it, another is taller, one is shorter.

I don't think I will be building anything as good as this anytime soon, but you deserve to win. If you haven't given your creation yet, please consider my suggestions.

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Neat! Really looks nice. BUT

it could use some touches. For instance, the rising walls coming out of the baseplate are one piece. You could have built a hill out of more pieces instead. That way, it would be more detailed and a hidden cave or defense feature could be implemented as well. The walls on the fortress could also be more unique, like one is chunked, one has a hole in it, another is taller, one is shorter.

I don't think I will be building anything as good as this anytime soon, but you deserve to win. If you haven't given your creation yet, please consider my suggestions.

Eh, I really wanted to use the big baseplate because I didn't like the version of the fortress I had before (I'll have to post that sometime) and I am not good at building rocky walls, especially with the limited amount of tan slopes I have. The right tower has some dark nougat curved pieces, I only have two of those, and that's why I didn't use them on the other half, otherwise I would've. Again, I tried resisting purchasing pieces from LEGO. I believe both of the towers are the same height in terms of the bottom half.

I submitted the set the night I had the photos taken, so too late to change anything. I will not be updating it.

Thanks for your suggestions, though!

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Astounding! Great work! It was a ton of fun to see this evolve from a gate and some ideas that were thrown around into this! Good luck man! :laugh:

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Wow, this is really good Sci!

The model does a good job of keeping the same designs and colors throughout, and the logical placement of certain things such as the throne and map room are nice touches.

Best of luck in the contest! :classic:

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Eh, I really wanted to use the big baseplate because I didn't like the version of the fortress I had before (I'll have to post that sometime) and I am not good at building rocky walls, especially with the limited amount of tan slopes I have. The right tower has some dark nougat curved pieces, I only have two of those, and that's why I didn't use them on the other half, otherwise I would've. Again, I tried resisting purchasing pieces from LEGO. I believe both of the towers are the same height in terms of the bottom half.

I submitted the set the night I had the photos taken, so too late to change anything. I will not be updating it.

Thanks for your suggestions, though!

Right, the creation looks really good already, I wouldn't be surprised if you won. Good luck with the contest!

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Thanks everyone for your comments! :sweet:

Took a gander at the new LEGO CLUB magazine, no winners yet, though I suppose it is a bit early. I'm guessing we'll see in January.

Here's hoping I win!

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Wow I didn't see this before

As others said, this looks like an official set (maybe 7 minifigs is too much, though)

And the vehicle looks amazing was well

Congratulations and good luck! :thumbup: :thumbup:

Edited by Robert8

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This is amazing! I'd seen it in your signature around the forum and thought it was great, but now seeing the full sized images; I think it's spectacular. Well done and good luck!

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How did I miss this the first time around?!? Awesome use of the Crystal Skull temple base.... your MOC brings back a lot of memories. Nice integration of play features, it looks like an official TLG set, but upgraded. Terrific!

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Thanks for all the comments, guys!

Does anyone know if they've announced the winners yet? I checked a few sites and nada. I'm probably gonna send them an email.. I'm gettin' impatient. :tongue:

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Thanks for all the comments, guys!

Does anyone know if they've announced the winners yet? I checked a few sites and nada. I'm probably gonna send them an email.. I'm gettin' impatient. :tongue:

I don't think it's ever happening at this point. They probably didn't get enough submissions.

Maybe you can take having the best entry on EB as a consolation prize? :tongue:

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