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kyphur

My 2011 FBTB Pod Racer Entry

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Hagrid's Dragon Pod Racer:

Using the Weasley flying car, Hagrid removed everything that was useless like wheels, engine, roof & seats. He placed a power source for the plasma binder chains designed to tether the engines (err Dragons) to his pod & each other under the hood.

After watching a few pod races he realized that attacks from behind are common so he attached a couple of wands (on loan from friends with protection spells) as rear-facing defensive weapons. He also loaded an 8ft board just in case he finds himself needing to toss it into someone's intake or cockpit.

For his engines Hagrid travelled to the forever frozen high mountains of China and acquired at pair of twin brother Chinese Ice Dragons. The desert heat won't bother them too much and the ice they breathe can be used as offensive weapons against the other pods. Of course their claws might come in handy also. The dominant of the tow dragons has an orange marking on his right wing.

A scale from each of his dragons was added to his "umbrella" wand allowing him to use it as a contoller to drive the team. The whip & driving fedora are Hagrid's nod to the old days when vehicles were all drawn by beasts.

Here's my 3/4 view, no editing of the image has been done.

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Here's a close-up of Hagrid in the cockpit, you can see his (dark) pink umbrella wand and the other details of the Flying car formerly owned by Ron Weasley.

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Now just in case someone wants to say I violated the rule about the pilot being the only sentient being in the pictures I submit this argument:

Sentience requires more than just being "self aware" a dog is not sentient for example. In some fantasy worlds dragons are sentient, they speak, organize and have a society all their own. In Harry Potter's world they are not sentient as they are treated like other wild & domesticated animals.

About the build:

The dragons are obviously Ninjago Ice Dragons modified to remove all of the trans blue pieces and extra claws from the tops of the wings. I also replaced the wing "arm" attachment to the body and added scales for texture to the back & wings.

The Pod is a MOC meant to show a stripped-down and partially rebuild vehicle made from the Weasley flying car after it's encounter with the Whomping Willow.

See more pics here: http://www.flickr.co...ith/5574555626/

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Now that has to be the most clever pod racer I've ever seen. I don't know what category you were going for, but I hope you win.

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Now that has to be the most clever pod racer I've ever seen. I don't know what category you were going for, but I hope you win.

Thanks, honestly I'll just be happy to qualify for the race. There are a lot of good entries, the competition is going to be tought this year.

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Hmm, a lot of this is kind of a set mod of the Ice Dragon set, but it's still very original and it's got the 'cool factor'.

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I'm going to agree with Brickdoctor here. (Don't I always? :laugh: ) I do like the idea of the dragons pulling his pod though. :thumbup:

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Hmm, a lot of this is kind of a set mod of the Ice Dragon set, but it's still very original and it's got the 'cool factor'.
I'm going to agree with Brickdoctor here. (Don't I always? :laugh: ) I do like the idea of the dragons pulling his pod though. :thumbup:

Thanks for the Kudos on the 'concept'...

Regarding the Dragons, I spent a bit of time trying to develop an original Dragon in the proper scale and just wasn't happy with what I did. I also tried for Dragon-looking Mechanical Pods but it just didn't feel like something Hagrid would do. Then I remembered. the Ice Dragon set and thought maybe that could help me a bit with inspiration. I just love the heads and wish they were available in less cartoon-ish colors. I also like the wing design but wish they were more substantial when opened. In that scale I think using plates to build-up the wings would get too bulky too fast and the Pod Race rules specified only official LEGO parts so I couldn't make my own fabric wings. I do want to revisit the Dragons and build slightly larger bodies and custom wings for them.

Dragons Version 2 ideas:

  • Body, 2 or 3 studs longer.
  • Tail, bigger (longer & thicker).
  • Wings, Use Technic Axles as the 'Spines' and create custom fabric pieces to span them.

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