Book II, Challenge V, Cat B: Donderbeest Assault Platform

[Oikonomikos]

As the first of the creatures emerged from the gate of the War Academy of Petraea, we knew that the rumours had been true: the War Academy had not only managed to capture a herd of the legendary Donderbeests from the jungles of the island of Gorr, they had also succeeded in taming them! With this new addition to the proud Kaliphlin army, the tides of war were sure to turn.

 

The Donderbeest has near-indestructible natural armour, and is equipped with an assault platform from where soldiers can fire arrows and throw M'ul-Ataw Cocktails filled with flammable Black Oil at the enemy. 

 

 

Just the creature and its crew:

 

The gate of the War Academy, with its coat of arms:

 

This is my first real MOC as an AFOL, so comments and criticism are welcome, but be gentle.  Apologies for the rubbish photography, but this was the best I could do with the light I had.

 

[TitusV]

Cool build! I like the donderbeest, but the surroundings are nice as well  Though the brown building makes it harder to see the donderbeest, the fact that you put the wall at an angle is really cool and compensates for that!

[Henjin_Quilones]

First off, a good first MOC! Photography is always something to improve (unless you are Gideon, of course!), but you will get better. Some things I really like are that you built the building and the road at an angle and not just straight across; I like that you used some nice pieces on that donderbeest to create a unique and interesting new creature for Historica, complete with some lore; and I love that coat of arms on the door. Two areas that could use improvement, which will come with more parts and more practice, are that there are too many studs showing, especially on the donderbeest's platform (more tiles would help); and that the build (with the exception of the beast's legs) is very studs-up--I would like to see more SNOT-type building to create more visually interesting creations. Both are things that time and experience will bring you, so do not worry! I think this looks very good right now, so I look forward to what you can do in your future builds!

[Garmadon]

Ah, an excellent idea and a very nicely executed one as well!    That beast looks like a fearful creature to be up against, and wall of Petraea is very nicely portrayed too!  My main piece of advice would be to try using some more tiles when working with brown in general - you'll find that the smooth surfaces usually work much better at simulating wood than excessive studs   That coat of arms on the gate of the War Academy is really splendid, though! 

[en_zoo]

cool first build, I love the idea of a new beast as well as the lore behind it and the execution  I second the others about the need for brown tiles. The gate and the facade are both really nice, lovely coat of arms. I may suggest just a little more texture on the wall (as you did with those dark tan masonry bricks) as well as on the floor (but I'm currently obsessed with it, so I am kind of biased  ). overall really cool first build, looking forward for more ^^

[Captain Braunsfeld]

What a fine beast!

 

[The Maestro]

A marvelous beast that would strike fear into the heart of any foe. I love the legs especialy. The buildings in the back are great aswell and I love the blue and white 

[soccerkid6]

Pretty neat gateway set up, that coat of arms is excellent The Donderbeest itself would certainly be an intimidating foe

[Oikonomikos]

Thank you for all your kind words! I completely agree that tiles would have been preferable for the platform, I just didn't have enough brown tiles. The ground could have used some more work as well, but I had to rush it to meet the deadline.

I probably would have been able to work in some more SNOT into the display, but I kinda just needed a big-@$$ gate for the creature to emerge from, so the plain studs-up Classic Castle style seemed like the most efficient solution. I'll definitely try some more SNOT techniques in the future, though.

Edited March 26, 2017 by Oikonomikos

[LittleJohn]

Excellent build! Brick-built beasts are rather difficult, but the Donderbeest looks great. The walls are superb as well, though perhaps a few more dark tan masonry bricks would look nice.
Setting the gate at an angle was a good choice too

[Oikonomikos]

On 2017-04-03 at 2:11 PM, LittleJohn said:

Excellent build! Brick-built beasts are rather difficult, but the Donderbeest looks great. The walls are superb as well, though perhaps a few more dark tan masonry bricks would look nice.
Setting the gate at an angle was a good choice too

Thank you!

[TenorPenny]

Great idea, excellently executed.

[Gunman]

Thats a good start in mocing there :) Have fun