B/A: Nrel Bug

[DraikNova]

Here's my entry for the "Before and After" contest. The story is given in the form of a report by a hero.

As the hero permanently stationed on their home planet, I witnessed the infection of a Nrel swarm. Nrel bugs live in caves, as massive swarms. Up to three hundred individuals make up a swarm. Unlike popular culture will have you believe, however, there is no one "Hive Queen". Each individual responds independently, which makes it even more unsettling to see an entire swarm approach a problem the same way, perfectly synchronised.

Nrel Bugs are normally docile...but after being infected by a Brain Slug, not so much.

However, even so, the uninfected ones managed to stave off assimilation for quite a long time, considering. Every infected creature or individual Brain Slug was hunted down by groups of several Nrel, attacking on sight. The remaining Slugs, their numbers thinned down considerably, decided to use a different tactic; attacking all of the swarm simultaneously. Without backup, it would have been impossible to hold off the combined forces much longer.

[Zachattacx]

Great Moc!

I love the abdomen in each version,it's bulky and it works.

I also love how it looks the same in both versions,but they are different in their own right.

Also I think you have 1st or 2nd place and the bag because if my memory serves me right,there is only two mocs in this genre.

Good luck in the contest!

[DraikNova]

I was kind of afraid the two versions wouldn't look similar enough, what with it losing one pair of wings from one form to another. I'm glad that isn't too much of a problem. Anyway, thanks for the comment!

Edited June 25, 2013 by DraikNova

[Dorek]

Both of the individual MoC's are very nice, but there's not too much visual consistency between the two, so it's hard to classify it as a "before" and "after". However, the builds themselves are fairly similar, so at least there's that.

I like the first one a bit better; much more colorful, and with a cooler head design. There might actually be too many colors, really; I like the teal, but it definitely sticks out more than it should. Also, I feel like it should have an actual stinger somewhere =P.

The after MoC isn't bad either, but black and white aren't ultimately an interesting color combination at the best of times, and the lime green seems thrown in there pretty arbitrarily. It'd be nice to see more of the build (the Rocka shields make nice wings, but I think more of them might not go amiss to sell the "bug" theme) from different angles. The Brain, unfortunately, just kinda sits on top and doesn't incorporate into the design very well. I know that's a challenge, considering nothing is molded to the brains besides the beast faces, but I hope to see more integration of that, myself.

[DraikNova]

Both of the individual MoC's are very nice, but there's not too much visual consistency between the two, so it's hard to classify it as a "before" and "after". However, the builds themselves are fairly similar, so at least there's that.

I like the first one a bit better; much more colorful, and with a cooler head design. There might actually be too many colors, really; I like the teal, but it definitely sticks out more than it should. Also, I feel like it should have an actual stinger somewhere =P.

The after MoC isn't bad either, but black and white aren't ultimately an interesting color combination at the best of times, and the lime green seems thrown in there pretty arbitrarily. It'd be nice to see more of the build (the Rocka shields make nice wings, but I think more of them might not go amiss to sell the "bug" theme) from different angles. The Brain, unfortunately, just kinda sits on top and doesn't incorporate into the design very well. I know that's a challenge, considering nothing is molded to the brains besides the beast faces, but I hope to see more integration of that, myself.

I decided to keep the teal once I realized what I had built looked kind of like a dragonfly (as they are a kind of metallic green-blue). That's also the reason I decided to pose the tail as a normal tail rather than a stinger. And I know the colorscheme of the after MOC isn't too impressive, but I did not have enough green to make the entire MOC such, but I wanted to keep some color details from the before version. I'll be uploading a few more pictures to MOCpages or brickshelf soon, though.