[MOC] Deathmist Raptor

[[MOC] Deathmist Raptor]

Nicely don! Better angle than the original art, too lol

Thanks! As much as I adore the art and respect it's artist, I agree about the angle. It made figuring out it's proportions tricky, so to say. I did consider trying to replicate the angle it appears in the art in the render, but decided against it when I saw just how much of the model was hidden in that angle. Didn't want people asking where the 629 bricks went when only half of them could have been seen

[[MOC's] Nexo Knights Bestiary: Magma Monsters]

What I mean is, you've spent all this time designing these great looking lava monsters, and you may even be hoping that designs similar to these are used in later sets.

The joke was that, what if the next wave or season of Nexo Knights has ice monsters instead?

Most of these designs are based on lava monsters in the Merlok 2.0 app which I believe is non-canon - I know they're never going to get set representations (there's no way a Magma Clapper even remotely close to it's game appearance could have been in a set, the legs wouldn't be stable enough over time) but most of these are built as such that you could build them yourself if you wanted to

Also, if the physical Book of Monsters is to be believed, I think next year we're getting plant monsters and sea-themed monsters. Maybe the app will bring us new plant monster designs? Who knows, but if it does they'll likely be added to the Bestiary project too. But ice monsters, those sound very cool (pun intended). If it's a problem, just do a quick palette swap to make my lava monsters into ice monsters! Problem solved

[Flickr - not as popular with MOC'ists/MOC appreciators anymore?]

So, I've been pondering over this a while, I'm not sure if it's just me wondering this or if others have noticed too. But after an MOC I posted to Flickr today didn't get as much appreciation as I thought it would based on my previous history, I thought I'd better ask the wonderful EB community to chime in with their thoughts on Flickr, arguably the most popular "social" MOC sharing place:

So, let me explain why I think that Flickr may not be as popular with FOL's as it used to be: For the past 2 years I've built up a reasonable following of LEGO fans (mostly Constraction builders, as I primarily build in that system) on my Flickr page from scratch, promoting my new builds in as many ways as I could by submitting to lots of appropriate groups and posting them on sites like here. Back at the start of this year, I had something like 265 followers (okay, I know it's not loads but it's reasonable) and whenever I uploaded a new MOC, it would typically get a few comments and 40-50 faves with 80% of those coming within 2 days of posting (again, reasonable). I took a hiatus from building due to lack of motivation a few months ago and returned to building just this week with fresh ideas (well, building with LDD anyway - my physical parts have been somewhat inaccessible for the last few months). But even before I took the hiatus in April, I had 272 Flickr followers. I have 273 now, new followers just don't seem to be coming anymore at the rate they used to, even ignoring the long gap between posting builds in my case. And to add to that, followers I do have don't seem to be terribly active anymore, once where I might have got 30 faves in 8 hours of posting something, now it's more like 10-15, even though the general quality of my builds is always increasing (the last MOC on my Flickr is probably the most complex build I've done to date, I'd argue it's better than anything I did even just 6 months ago ). Nobody seems to comment at all even when I request feedback, but that's true of many places I like to post my MOC's.

Now, I'm curious. Has anyone else noticed this recently? Is this just a natural dip in activity (since it's "summer" in the northern hemisphere and everybody's outside? ) or are many FOL's not as active on or migrating from Flickr? And if it is just me experiencing this, am I doing something wrong? It does feel like that the only way to get more followers on Flickr these days (once you've exhausted the usual promotion methods like posting to groups), you have to have an MOC blogged by The Brothers Brick... out of all my MOC'ing friends I'm the only one who hasn't been blogged at all. Bit sad really, I know!

But anyway... thoughts on the question in the title? I'm curious. And since I shared mine, feel free to share your own Flickr experience too. (also, any advice on how to break through my current "follower stall" and get more followers (without using TBB. Or mainstream social media ) would be appreciated).

[[MOC] Deathmist Raptor]

Will we be seeing a MOC of its best friend Den Protector?

Who knows? I am considering doing a model of one of the Dragonlords in LDD though (I nearly did Silumgar instead of Deathmist Raptor actually!), the only thing that puts me off doing any of them is the wings. Wings are hard in digital models where you can't use cloth and sometimes the moulded wings just aren't big enough!

[[Software] Bluerender, a rendering engine for LDD]

So, I've run into a frustrating problem with Bluerender. I recently upgraded to a new system with Windows 10, installed the latest revision of Java on it, and went to render a model using a Bluerender directory copied from my old laptop which was running Windows 8.1. The first render went pretty much as expected, it rendered a 4,000 pixel wide image of a complex 630 piece model with no problems. But then I tried to render again, this time at 800x600 with 30 step rotation (for purposes of making a GIF spinnie). And Bluerender just completely freezes a split second after I hit "Render" and won't do anything. It doesn't even start rendering, nothing is generated in the command window either. I tried force closing and reopening Bluerender several times, I even rebooted my system but now it just completely freezes whenever I try to render with it, no matter what the settings are. No error message, the app just freezes. What's more puzzling is that it did it's first render on my new system just fine?

I'd really appreciate if somebody could help me to get Bluerender to behave on my new system as it does render models a lot quicker than my old machine (when it doesn't freeze ), but for now it seems that I have to render on my slower Windows 8.1 laptop because it still runs Bluerender without it freezing. Just as I thought I could ditch that awful OS altogether

Never mind, the problem looks like it was down to Bluerender 0.0.0.5beta and Windows 10 not getting along, I tried downloading the 0.0.0.6 preview version and it's not seizing up when I hit "render" anymore. So 0.0.0.6 I'll have to use then!

[[MOC] Deathmist Raptor]

Beware what's lurking in the forests of Tarkir... not all is as it seems.

GIF Spinnie

Not much to this really. I recently got into Magic The Gathering and fell in love with the design of the Deathmist Raptor. So I wanted to try and translate that design into a LEGO model, and I guess I succeeded somewhat. It's quite a mix of Constraction and System, it contains 629 bricks and it took about 9-10 hours to construct. Due to the lack of much-needed reddish brown and dark orange, so-called "earthy" colours, this is an LDD sculpture. Not much else to say really, so I'll let the model speak for itself.

Comments, constructive criticism and the like are always welcome.

[[Software] Bluerender, a rendering engine for LDD]

So, I've run into a frustrating problem with Bluerender. I recently upgraded to a new system with Windows 10, installed the latest revision of Java on it, and went to render a model using a Bluerender directory copied from my old laptop which was running Windows 8.1. The first render went pretty much as expected, it rendered a 4,000 pixel wide image of a complex 630 piece model with no problems. But then I tried to render again, this time at 800x600 with 30 step rotation (for purposes of making a GIF spinnie). And Bluerender just completely freezes a split second after I hit "Render" and won't do anything. It doesn't even start rendering, nothing is generated in the command window either. I tried force closing and reopening Bluerender several times, I even rebooted my system but now it just completely freezes whenever I try to render with it, no matter what the settings are. No error message, the app just freezes. What's more puzzling is that it did it's first render on my new system just fine?

I'd really appreciate if somebody could help me to get Bluerender to behave on my new system as it does render models a lot quicker than my old machine (when it doesn't freeze ), but for now it seems that I have to render on my slower Windows 8.1 laptop because it still runs Bluerender without it freezing. Just as I thought I could ditch that awful OS altogether

[[MOC's] Nexo Knights Bestiary: Magma Monsters]

I really like how you made the boomerangs on the arms. Nice work. I really love all these designs.

I think (?) you would be referring to me? (If so, thanks ) As it happens, I'm in the process of modifying my original design. We'll see where that goes.

Thankyou, I must admit that it turned out that the boomerangs were the easiest parts to design once I hit on the idea of using an arch piece for the cutaway shown in the game model. You wouldn't believe the number of different builds I came up with for the body before settling on the version in the render. Building the Flame Wraith turned out to be more difficult than defeating one in the game (an all Level 5 Lance with nearly maxed out weapon makes short work of Flame Wraiths ).

And yes, I was referring to your design for the show-exclusive monster, which I saw a few months ago. It's the only recreation of that monster I've come across and I like it very much

[[MOC's] Nexo Knights Bestiary: Magma Monsters]

Can you do the magma monsters from episode 9 and 10?

http://vignette4.wik...=20151012012638

The only reason I haven't attempted that one yet is because somebody else (here) has already done a pretty good job in recreating it in brick form. But I could have a go at it once I've finished something else I'm working on, for sake of completing the "official" Bestiary

Honestly I can't believe nobody else has attempted to recreate any of the app monsters, the only MOC results of them that I get from Googling "Nexo Knights monsters" is mine

[[MOC's] Nexo Knights Bestiary: Magma Monsters]

A bit of a necropost so apologies for that, but the Merlok 2.0 app was updated with new levels recently and I finally had a crack at them - and discovered a new monster to add to the bestiary. Behold, the lavarang-slinging Flame Wraith:

(Spinnie - LXF)

This guy was extremely tricky just to turn into bricks, let alone a buildable in real life model, so I did kind of forego my "legit PCC's only" rule here in favour of better accuracy. That said, I suppose it's a semi-WIP as I might go back to it later, so I'd appreciate some thoughts and ideas about what pieces or techniques I could apply to make the Flame Wraith both recognisable and buildable in real life

[LDD.LEGO.com is finally gone?!]

Right now I can't access ANY area of LEGO.com full stop (I just get their "oops, something's gone wrong" page), and when I try to launch LDD it tells me it can't connect to the Internet even though my Internet connection is perfect... is this related? Looks like some serious server issues are going on on their end. Shame, I was just about to resume work on my Deathmist Raptor LDD sculpture

I must admit the topic title got me a bit worried though - I'm currently looking at upgrading my computer to something with a bit more oomph, and if LDD was gone that would have been a slight disaster when I go and try installing it on a new computer... luckily it just seems to be horrendous server issues and seems all is not lost.

[Nexo Knights 2016]

Also,why does Axl`s Armor Piece have a Number printed on the Side?I think mine says 11x6.

What does That mean?

I could be wrong, but I think it's a batch number. Similar numbers appear on set tape seals and I know that when such a number appears on tape seals, it's a batch number for the set. Also, I think I've seen other "complex" parts (like glued parts for example), or at least polybags housing individual complex parts, printed with such a number, and Axl's torso definitely qualifies as a complex part. My Ultimate Axl has a different number from your Axl, mine says 04X6 so I think that adds weight to my batch number argument. I do wish it wasn't printed so visibly though, it could have been printed in the neck area instead but never mind.

[MODS: 2016 Bionicle Summer Wave "Canister" Sets]

I've got to say, your modified Beasts are gorgeous, an improvement over the official sets in every way. Turns out I've got something to say about them all, so here goes with the feedback:

About Ekimu, to be absolutely honest (and given I managed to write 2,200 words about the pros and cons of the official set for Brickset so I am probably overanalysing this!), I don't really see the point of giving Ekimu a completely new shoulder gearbox. That combined with moving the shoulder pauldrons has sort of created a gap between chest and arm which wasn't present in the original set, which I feel could be more filled out. You could have also replaced the dark bluish gray bone in Ekimu's hammer-wielding arm with a trans-light blue one as the dark bluish gray bone is very noticeable. But I do like how you've sorted out Ekimu's leg proportions, and adding a port to attach his falcon to is simply genius!

Quake Beast, I do like what you've done here, and the magenta Ben 10 spikes complement the chest print really nicely as an accent colour. The clawed hand build is just pure genius, I can't believe I've never thought of it! I feel that the black shell on the clubbing arm should be a trans-purple shell or even a crystal shell, more in keeping with the original set. And I agree with DraikNova, a little more regular purple wouldn't go amiss. I do miss the sideways gearbox here, but I think the aesthetics more than make up for the lack of it here.

Kudos on keeping Storm Beast's function largely as is whilst dramatically improving the look of the set! Storm Beast's arms look miles better now the crystal add-ons are mounted on the shoulders and he has proper wrists. The solid lime claws look a little out of place, I personally would have used trans-neon green Skull Spider legs instead though that may be a little OTT.

Lava Beast is almost perfect. I would have personally changed his horns as well though. Dunno, not really a big fan of them on the set anyway.

Overall, some great mods here. Oh, and did you get the Beasts to close their mouths by pulling their faces down to attach slightly lower on the head? I might just have to try that myself, it looks surprisingly good. Guess I've been going about the whole jaw-closing mod all wrong by trying to get the bottom half to move without popping the "mask" off

[Bionicle 2016 Sets Discussion]

What shop did you find it in, I'm also in the UK and wondering where you can get it.

I found my copy in ASDA yesterday (strangely not in the same place as the other LEGO magazines in the magazine rack?), so I think it's safe to assume it's in all the supermarkets given it was supposed to be released for sale yesterday.

Sadly, we have to wait until 26th October to get our hands on the second issue with Ekimu's Falcon. Gosh that feels like such a long wait given it's only July at the moment

[Bionicle 2016 Sets Discussion]

Seriously, how can people be still butthurt about BIONICLE's existence in the year 2016 (twenty-sixteen)? How can't they be tired of saying the same things over and over again ("BIONICLE is not LEGO/is ugly" etc.)?

I'm astonished.

I know what you mean, while I don't mind people disliking BIONICLE (it's their opinion, I can't force them to change their stance, though having said that I think I've made a few people convert their thinking about Constraction), it's those who shout that it's ugly or not LEGO like it's a fact that gets on my nerves. Believe me, my tongue is very sore from having to bite it all the time to avoid conflict with these types of people, since I am known to get quite "passionate" when making points for defending the Constraction system I must admit to having neglected to read the comments on my UtD review as I didn't fancy reading the inevitable "BIONICLE isn't LEGO" comments that otherwise had nothing to do with the actual review. Weird is that my Ekimu review that was posted a few days later didn't get any such comments, just a comment on how it looked MORE like a BIONICLE than the others...

But even since the 3 years I've been active in the LEGO community, particularly Brickset, I've seen people's opinions on Constraction change, and I'd like to think that the Star Wars figures have contributed greatly to this change in thinking. Heck, when I posted Draphim the Dragonborn to the MOC thread on the Brickset Forums, I was expecting it to be largely "glossed over" for the fact that it was purely just Smaug bigfig and CCBS. It didn't, it became my most liked post there ever and it got comments from people, some who otherwise wouldn't have been interested in Constraction, saying they really liked it.

I do still dream of the day when LEGO fans young and old will look at Constraction without prejudice and accept it for what it is... because even if BIONICLE is going out, Constraction will stay.

But anyway, that's all I have to say on this topic. Not that there's much to talk about otherwise until 2017 info emerges. I was asked to review BIONICLE for Brickset, I'll continue to review BIONICLE for Brickset regardless of the naysayers who have to let their opinions be heard.

[Bionicle 2016 Sets Discussion]

While I do like the aesthetics of the jaw piece (I could see myself using the piece as armouring in some sort of rock/metal golem, the texturing is gorgeous and perfect for a golem type build imo), I just don't like how it's used in the set. Worst of all, when it's used with masks as in the sets, you cannot close the jaw without popping the mask off. And you can't simply mod the head to remove the eyestalk if you want a closing jaw, because then the way the jaw is mounted clashes with the mask, preventing the jaw from closing... or pops the mask off anyway. There's no easy mod that provides an opening and closing jaw that isn't extremely ugly, clunky or fragile, and that really gets on my nerves.

Though, if you've read my Umarak the Destroyer review on Brickset, you probably already know some of my thoughts on the jaw piece

[What are you listening to?]

I've been on a bit of a rock and soft metal kick lately - Muse, Evanescence, Linkin Park, Foo Fighters, Royal Blood, Foals etc.

I must admit, Foals are a recently found love. Their last album What Went Down is just a superb piece of alternative rock music (love all the tracks on it, maybe except London Thunder which is okay, just not something I'd listen to as often as Mountain At My Gates or Snake Oil), and it's my second favourite album of 2015 just behind Drones by Muse (I love Muse. I even have a T-shirt that lists the tracks on "The Resistance" and that's my favourite T-shirt. Enough said ). So yeah, Foals are well worth a listen if you like alt-rock.

[Nexo Knights 2016]

Huh, somewhat unexpected but looks like us Europeans are getting the boxed King's Guard promo after all. Free with Nexo Knights purchases from 1st to 9th July at LEGO Stores and S@H. It's listed after the Retro Knights set.

[Future Constraction Lines]

That sound pretty neat, though elemental humanoid robot dragons sounds like an idea I've been working on for quite a while now. Also, what clone brand and bootleg did that? I kinda want to look it up.

I was more talking about non-humanoid organic dragons but I'll take anything that even remotely resembles a dragon

As for the clone brand, it was LEGO's number one thorn in the side (Mega Bloks), they did a long-running theme called - rather unimaginatively - Dragons (and a sort of spinoff impulse buy line Plasma Dragons, which in itself spawned many series and variants). I admit to having been the recipient of quite a few as a kid, they were okay... when they stayed together and well. Which they often didn't. Fair warning: the medium and large dragons will remind you of Galidor...

I say they sold well because apparently certain variants became very hard to find in shops, so I think if a clone brand can sell Constraction-type dragons well, then LEGO can too. Plus, dragons are popular and they sell.

[Future Constraction Lines]

I'm pretty sure Lego has deemed Chima constraction as a failure, meaning it's unlikely they would do something like that again.

Ignore my suggestion of non-human anthros actually - somehow in the 20 minutes I spent writing that post, I completely forgot that Chima ultrabuilds even existed... despite having them all on display next to me. I'd been thinking a lot about MTG* werewolves prior to that post as well so...

*no, this is not a theme suggestion. Some of the imagery used in that kinda pushes LEGO's policies a little so it'd never happen...

If LEGO really wanted me to buy a ton of each set, a Constraction theme dedicated to dragons would send me into an uncontrollable buying frenzy. And with the amount of different types of dragon you can have (classic/European, Oriental/Chinese, wyvern, wurm, drake, I can go on) and can be associated with Elemental types, it's not a complete impossibility either. In fact, a certain clone brand used to do just this sort of theme in the mid-Noughties... and they sold pretty well, at least in my country anyway, despite the fact that in hindsight, the sets were about as bad as worse than Galidor They even sold well enough for Chinese bootleggers to copy them and have their stock sold in discount chain stores here. Sure, LEGO already do dragons in System themes and have done things like Kardas or Dragon Bolt, but this would be new. Just a whole wave of various Constraction dragons, maybe with minifigure accompaniments. That's my dream Constraction theme

[Future Constraction Lines]

Organic? Sure, but making them human characters results in awkward uncanny valley issues. Aliens or creatures can be made with CCBS level abstraction while avoiding this problem.

If LEGO were ever to do a Nexo Knights CCBS theme, I'd imagine they'd do the knights with their helmets on, probably permanently. I could bear the Star Wars CCBS faces as they are ultimately based on "real" faces, but having moulded faces for Nexo Knights buildable figures would seem a bit... weird. Not just in the uncanny valley aspect either. It's since the only official visuals we have of the Nexo Knights characters are stylised minifigure visuals, so suddenly for their faces to become "realistic" looking...

Unless they go down the Knights Kingdom II route of course which keeps the stylised faces and havs the advantage of optional helmets... but I think they look equally ugly. At least a realistic Nexo Knights moulded face would have more re-use potential as I'd imagine all the knight's faces, weird as they would seem, to be generic enough to be used on a lot of human characters, especially if they don't mould the faces into the helmets.

But yeah, while I would like to see more organic characters, I'd prefer to see aliens and non-humanoid animals, maybe even non-human anthros (think werewolves and stuff like that), something that hasn't been covered in the Star Wars buildable figures range yet (that's already covered humans and robots pretty well imo).

[Future Constraction Lines]

Honestly, I will admit I am slightly worried about the future of Constraction once Bionicle is shelved, whenever that might be. Sure, Star Wars Battle Figures and their sheer popularity even with the people who typically shun CCBS as being somewhat "alien" will probably mean Constraction has a secure future for years to come... but in the future, I want CHEAP Constraction sets, and Star Wars with it's basic entry level figures costing £15 each just cannot provide that whichever way you look at it. Those cheap sets, for example Ikir (because I found 5 for £3 each a while ago and I bought them all for pieces ), are the ones I'll buy more of for MOC parts. So, basically, I'd like future Constraction to be handled the way it's being handled now - 2 Constraction lines, one importantly being an in-house theme, with both lines getting 2 waves a year.

As for what I'd like to see the in-house Constraction line be: I could get on board with an all-CCBS Exo-Force reboot for mostly nostalgic reasons (Exo-Force was one of my favourite themes as a kid), and I could get on board with CCBS Nexo Knights figures too as long as they lavish as much attention on the bad guys as they do for the good guys. Some fractured rock or tree bark textured shells could be very interesting, as unlikely as that sounds. As far as system-based Constraction (for example Knights Kingdom II) goes, I'm not sure, while I wouldn't mind seeing such a thing again, I don't think I'd want to see it instead of a full CCBS line. A System-based Constraction figure today would also likely cost a lot more than a similar-sized CCBS version as it'd have a much higher part count. Also, while I did own a lot of the Knights Kingdom II buildable figures as a kid, I never really got as much enjoyment out of them as I did out of Bionicle, and the faces... well they freaked me out so I always had their visors down

[Bionicle 2016 Sets Discussion]

Anyone seen Umarak the Destroyer or Quake Beast in the UK yet? Only Lava, Storm and Ekimu have shown up on S@H.

See my post above yours! I saw Quake Beast and UtD in a LEGO Brand store in the UK today

[Bionicle 2016 Sets Discussion]

IIRC UtD is getting a later release in July. Not sure about QB though, but I'm not too upset about lacking him.

No, this is actually incorrect... I've just visited the LEGO Store in Watford and they had all the Bionicle summer sets! Including Quake Beast and Umarak the Destroyer. UtD is £17.99. So, if you want either of those now, you might just have to visit a brand store.

As usual, S@H fails again and again reminds me why I ditched it in favour of shopping in a brand store

[Bionicle 2016 Sets Discussion]

Wondering if the UK is even getting the sets this month...

They only list Ekimu, Lava Beast and Storm Beast on the website under 'coming soon' with no date attached.

All the June 1st sets now read "coming soon" on the UK S@H, not just the Bionicle sets (yeah, typical S@H, lists sets for release on 1st June, 12:01 1st June comes around and they immediately move them to "coming soon"). I think that's a clear enough indication that we're getting these sets this month. I'm probably going to try the LEGO Store tomorrow and see if they're there (even though I had review copies of all the sets delivered today, seeing that UtD's box is the same size as Kopaka+Melum's box gives me a bad feeling that it'll be £20 here...)