[MOC] The Muppets - Stage Arches & Rowlf's Piano

[Admonisher]

As a HUGE lifelong fan of the Muppets, the upcoming CMF line will -- assuming the rumors are true -- be the first one I collect in its entirety! Coincidentally, I've just learned to use Studio 2.0 from BrickLink and thought I'd share a few pending creations.

My first design is a "Muppet arches" frame for all 12 figures. I don't have the space nor the disposable income to afford a large-scale stage set, as some other designers are doing -- impressive as some of them are! This design is centered on the arches alone, with a base and top detailing meant to be more evocative of the Muppet Theater than a literal depiction of it. (Because it's so narrow with lots of single-stud connection points, I'm wondering how stable it will be in real life; I plan to see about reinforcing those stacked round bricks with interior rods, and I have a backup plan to extend the sides in the back with some black scaffolding if it seems prone to topple.)

My second design is Rowlf's piano. Because my Girlfriend is particularly fond of Rowlf, I plan to snag a second figure to add to a vignette that she can keep at her own piano. Rowlf plays a few pianos on the show; my design is based on the upright model, because it was simplest in terms of design and most efficient in terms of space. I'd have preferred a slightly different shade of brown -- perhaps dark brown, to better contrast with Rowlf himself -- but reddish brown was the only color that had all the parts I needed. Anyway ... I'm particularly pleased with how the book is integrated into the piano to hold up the sheet music. (And I may swap out the hair on the Beethoven bust, as pictured. We'll see how it looks IRL!)

Feeback welcome! And here's a link to the IO files, if anyone wants them.

P.S. If the leaks are correct, I'm not happy with the choice of outfits for Gonzo. I'd have much preferred his classic maroon tux! I'm thinking I may swap in the dark red Harry Potter goblin torso from set 4714, along with matching legs and perhaps a black bow tie piece (though even if it covers the tiny one, it may not fit the overlarge head).

It's not a perfect match for the original show, but it comes closer than any other part I could identify. (As an alternative, President Business's argyle sweater vest is a reasonable approximation of Gonzo's outfit circa The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan, though it would be more accurate if it were gray rather than sand green.)

Edited March 10, 2022 by Admonisher

[Oky]

Ha! That’s the perfect way to display the Muppets! Although you’re right that it doesn’t look very stable. Your scaffolding idea is not bad, but what would make it even more stable is if you used some Technic beams or SNOT in the back to connect the top and bottom. 

Nice design, especially that brilliant book technique you mentioned!

[Admonisher]

2 hours ago, Oky said:

Ha! That’s the perfect way to display the Muppets! Although you’re right that it doesn’t look very stable. Your scaffolding idea is not bad, but what would make it even more stable is if you used some Technic beams or SNOT in the back to connect the top and bottom. 

Nice design, especially that brilliant book technique you mentioned!

Thanks! I experimented with both Technic and SNOT in Studio, but I wasn't happy with the resulting aesthetics. The challenge is that there are so few potentially useful connection points and nowhere to hide! You could try SNOT along the 1 x 1 bricks to the left and right edges, for example, but there aren't really any good 1 x 1 bricks with SNOT options in lavender, so you'd have to change those to white. You could swap out a headlight brick or two on the top back row for a brick with a Technic hole, and do something similar below, but I don't know any Technic beam that would reach from top to bottom. So you'd need to overlap. And even if you could get one of the above techniques to work, the columns don't really conceal anything!

Tall black girders are very visible but at least look like something you might see backstage at a theater.

EDIT: Actually, now that I think of it, I could replace the 1 x 1 lavender bricks with 1 x 2 bricks, extend the base by a few studs to the sides, and build fairly solid left and right sides onto the frame. Something to consider...

Edited March 10, 2022 by Admonisher

[Borex]

If you could get it into a frame for on your wall stability might not be a big issue. It only has to look good and it does, so 👍