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MassEditor

MOC: Crater of Doom

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My latest project (which further evidences my inability to imagine good MOC titles), The Crater of Doom.

Despite the presence of LOTR minifigs, this is meant to be a build outside that universe. Since finding this board I've been intrigued by the stories, MOCs, and characters being developed in the Historica forums. This MOC, as well as a couple others I'm working on, are hopefully going to be my entry into one of the guilds (shooting for Nocturnus, obviously :laugh: )

Had a hard time getting decent photos of this MOC because I found out this morning that I could not lift it by myself so I couldn't get it to my makeshift photo studio. Once I can get it moved I'll post some better pics, especially of the interior of the structure and some of the caves running through the mountains. Any suggestions on taking photos of black MOCs is certainly appreciated!

Anyways, I'm definitely glad to get it done. Hope y'all enjoy, and of course any comments or criticisms are welcome! (I've got a few more pics on my flickr page, https://www.flickr.c...s/94545380@N06/ )

Update: The lava lake was looking a little empty so I've added this skeletal dragon type critter being summoned from the fiery depths:

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Crater9

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crater1 (Main) by MassEditor, on Flickr

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crater2 by MassEditor, on Flickr

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crater3 by MassEditor, on Flickr

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crater5 by MassEditor, on Flickr

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crater7 by MassEditor, on Flickr

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crater4 by MassEditor, on Flickr

Edited by MassEditor

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This is big!!! I really like that walkway and the lava. I think the rocks are way to smooth. There's always a little bit the same pattern.

Can't you lift it up because of the weight or because of the bigness? When it's the second reason you could push it on a board. When the first one: push it on a furniture with wheels.

Edited by krono111

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Woah! Insane MOC! Love the lava, and the walkway is so cool! I also love the wood outcropping on the right side of the MOC!

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Thanks for the comments! Krono111, I agree. I'm not entirely satisfied with the rocks, especially the right hand mountainside. I think my poor lighting and photography makes the rock look much smoother than it might actually be but, (for instance, the rocks are entirely dark blue grey but in my photos it looks like light bley, which doesn't help) but yeah it could use some refining.

I would have loved to snot the whole mountains, but considering the size of this thing my SNOT expertise was way too limited! And it is too heavy AND too big for me to haul alone, but I will take your suggestion and slide a board under it!

Edited by MassEditor

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Oh yes! This is the way to announce your arrival in Nocturnus! Sensational.

:classic:

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Thanks! It is indeed a lot of fire - around 10,000 of those darn trans-neon-orange 1x1 round plates, minus those that bounced off into oblivion or are forever lost in the carpet.

As far as joining the Guild goes, the tough part for me now is getting a story and some characters together! What fascinates me so much about the Guilds are the builder's ability to intertwine wonderful MOCs and stories.

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I think the rockwork looks fine. There is enough variation to look natural, then the symmetry of the black structure in the middle adds some sinister appearance to the MOC. Nocturnus would be very happy to have you I am sure!

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Wow this is awesome, I love it, so many nice details, great rocks and I like the border with the flames, epic job and keep up the work :classic:

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This deserves to be presented in an official Lego LOTR event somewhere.

Great work! Only improvment to this wonderful scene might be a dark background and relative lighting. Just my opinion.. It is great as it is, anyway!

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The lava lake was looking a little empty so I've added this skeletal dragon type critter being summoned from the fiery depths:

13951640111_efe1dab5b4.jpg

Crater9

I think the rockwork looks fine. There is enough variation to look natural, then the symmetry of the black structure in the middle adds some sinister appearance to the MOC. Nocturnus would be very happy to have you I am sure!

Thanks! I've got a few characters and stories about worked up so hopefully I'll be able to enter the fray soon.

Epic MOC! This is way better than anything i could do! I'm guessing you got the tower of orthanc ;)

I appreciate it! The book and the palantir (which many think is a marble) are certainly giveaways to the orthanc set!

Wow this is awesome, I love it, so many nice details, great rocks and I like the border with the flames, epic job and keep up the work :classic:

Thanks kez! I'm glad you like the border! Sometimes, like this time, it can be the hardest part of a MOC!

This deserves to be presented in an official Lego LOTR event somewhere.

Great work! Only improvment to this wonderful scene might be a dark background and relative lighting. Just my opinion.. It is great as it is, anyway!

I certainly appreciate it, though honestly this isn't a LOTR MOC - I just really like the figs! I'm gonna try your idea of a dark background with lighting, I can see that really adding to it. My biggest regret was not incorporating more lights into the build, especially under the lava. The few lights I had wouldn't have done much justice, and I about blew my budget for this project on the neon orange 1x1 round plates alone!

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I certainly appreciate it, though honestly this isn't a LOTR MOC - I just really like the figs! I'm gonna try your idea of a dark background with lighting, I can see that really adding to it. My biggest regret was not incorporating more lights into the build, especially under the lava. The few lights I had wouldn't have done much justice, and I about blew my budget for this project on the neon orange 1x1 round plates alone!

Do not worry about the lights. I am no expert either in photography or lighting, but I take shots with a smartphone, a battery torch, and sometimes candles yet the results are occasionally very satisfactory. Yes, candles! Your creation looks very suitable for using candle lights. Just try to put a few candles behind the high hills, so that they do not show up in the shot, but their lights do. (assuming you already set up the dark background) I am already excited about the possible results! :))

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Great work on this one, you'd better start joining Nocturnus fast. About making photo's of black, I think you succeeded well enough as it's pretty tricky indeed. And about the rockwork, it's actually really good and it's not uncommon to see a certain pattern in it in nature.

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