DrThresh Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Smaug the Terrible by Chris Yee, on Flickr Smaug the Terrible, Chiefest of Calamities and the one of the main antagonists in "The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug". With the many references available, I had chosen to focus heavily on the facial features to capture the menacing personality of the fire drake. The creation had taken about 6 months of planning, purchasing and research followed by 200+ hours of production building with over 10,000 parts (excluding the gold pile), ready for the Christchurch Brick Show 2016, held over the 16-17 July weekend. This was my first foray into organic building using bricks as I've been working with Bionicle and Technic based systems for many years, so this end result I am quite pleased with. Initially Smaug was to stand about 70cm in height, 60cm in length and about 40cm wide. Due to a structural deficiency in the neck construction (the night before the show setup, I might add), the majority of the neck was cast aside to have the head and first few neck segments laying atop of my entire collection of gold elements, which took up 2x 2 litre containers. Many thanks to Legonardo for helping replenish my gold stores, WIP feedback, and for the great photo of the creation. Smaug is currently on its way to Wellington where it will be displayed in other various exhibits and events in the months to come. Enjoy Chris Edited July 18, 2016 by DrThresh Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrickCurve Posted July 18, 2016 Wow! It looks amazing! Great photography as well. Is there a overall photo of it as well as just this closeup? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Magma Posted July 18, 2016 Looks terrible! Jokes aside, this looks great. Fantastic work here. Really curious to see how you'll do the wings, as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Legonardo Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Wow! It looks amazing! Great photography as well. Is there a overall photo of it as well as just this closeup? Guess who took the photo when you consider how dark the venue was I think it came out pretty good haha... I only got the one shot thoughHaving seen this thing first hand, I can tell testify that it's absolutely fantastic. Can't wait for the future developments on it mate! Edited July 18, 2016 by Legonardo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrThresh Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Wow! It looks amazing! Great photography as well. Is there a overall photo of it as well as just this closeup? The weekend was pretty busy so this is currently the best shot available. The remaining part of the neck isn't particularly interesting in my opinion, since I focused heavily on the head portion. Looks terrible! Jokes aside, this looks great. Fantastic work here. Really curious to see how you'll do the wings, as well. Reminds me of something Legonardo said some days before the show in PM: hows smaug the terrible looking I laughed a good few minutes on that. I may eventually make a full version of Smaug, though the scale will be a great deal smaller, else I might be looking at something around 10ft/3m long, with a wingspan just as wide lol Edited July 18, 2016 by DrThresh Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrickCurve Posted July 18, 2016 Guess who took the photo when you consider how dark the venue was I think it came out pretty good haha... I only got the one shot though Having seen this thing first hand, I can tell testify that it's absolutely fantastic. Can't wait for the future developments on it mate! I was going to mention that, since when I was zooming on on Flickr, I noticed that the photo was taken with an EM5 and the astronaut photo was taken with an EM1. I wasn't entirely sure as the EXIF wasn't showing so I couldn't tell if it was taken with your favourite prime or not! And to go completely off topic: Re the Flickr PM, the 12-50 is also useful as a 43mm macro, though it does limit it to a fastest aperture of f/8.0. The weekend was pretty busy so this is currently the best shot available. The remaining part of the neck isn't particularly interesting in my opinion, since I focused heavily on the head portion. Reminds me of something Legonardo said some days before the show in PM: I laughed a good few minutes on that. I may eventually make a full version of Smaug, though the scale will be a great deal smaller, else I might be looking at something around 10ft/3m long, with a wingspan just as wide ​ Amazing how much difference adding or removing a comma makes! Sounds great, I look forward to it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DrThresh Posted July 18, 2016 I was going to mention that, since when I was zooming on on Flickr, I noticed that the photo was taken with an EM5 and the astronaut photo was taken with an EM1. I wasn't entirely sure as the EXIF wasn't showing so I couldn't tell if it was taken with your favourite prime or not! And to go completely off topic: Re the Flickr PM, the 12-50 is also useful as a 43mm macro, though it does limit it to a fastest aperture of f/8.0. The funny thing is is that neither the Astronaut or Smaug photos were taken by me. Besides, I always credit the photographer in my descriptions. :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soccerkid6 Posted July 18, 2016 Stunning model of Smaug The sculpting is superb, and looks very much like scales Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bricklover Posted July 18, 2016 Wow that is awesome and huge! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProvenceTristram Posted July 19, 2016 Would love to see a larger shot, too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fletcher Floyd Posted July 20, 2016 Fantastic!! This is what I'd call an Eyecatcher! One of the BEST Hobbit/LotR-Mocs I've EVER seen! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Graham Gidman Posted July 22, 2016 That is pretty incredible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
