IvanStorm

I have to say that I hated the original DeLorean set - blocky, ugly, awkward, Marty and Doc can't sit inside together, etc. Even before I bought it I knew it will have to be heavily modified. 1 by ivanstorm2, on Flickr I love the movies, but my main priority was to make the model look good. Which explains the curvy hood and licence plates - not very authentic, but they look good. 2 The doors took the longest time, because I really wanted them to be connected on both sides, and the front connection required a rather elaborate construction, since it's angled both horizontally and vertically. 4 I also wanted the doors to be closer to the real-life gull-wing doors, but I had to make some sacrifices to ensure they are sturdy enough (that's why the rear part is so thick). 5 Marty and Doc can sit side by side - that was the easiest part, done using jumper plates. 3 I copied the rear from someone else's MOD, looking so much better than the original. 6 Marty and Doc seem pretty happy with their new car.

I know you're joking, but most likely the actual motivations were: Mouth Of Sauron: - We have this eagle mold for Orthanc, what else can we do with it? - Well, the battle at the Black Gates is a pretty exciting moment in the movies, and it has eagles, how about we do that? - Sounds good, but we need some named evil character to oppose the good guys. - Eh, too bad Sauron doesn't show up - it's just nameless orcs. No, wait, there was that Mouth Of Sauron guy, right? Only appeared in the EE, but he'll have to do. - Alright, let's do it. Pirate Ship - So, we need a big set for the new LotR wave, what's it gonna be? - Minas Tirith for sure! - Nah, we're gonna leave that for the grand finale in wave 3. What else do we have? - Minas Morgul? Edoras? Mount Doom? Osgiliath? I don't know... - Boring / done Rohan already / won't make a good big set / these are just grey ruins / reasons, reasons... Is there anything in LotR that is not just a bunch of rocks? - Well, there were those pirate ships, but they only appeared for like a couple of minutes... - But people love ships and pirates, right? It will look cool and people will buy it for sure. - Oh well, let's go with that.

You might be right about this. But that reasoning only makes the inclusion of The Mouth Of Sauron more baffling - he was one of the most disturbing parts of the trilogy, and dies by decapitation (are children supposed to recreate that scene?). Additionally, he only appears in the Extended Edition, so it's not like it was really important to include him. Baffling indeed.

Wow. I collect pictures of all Middle-earth micro builds, hoping to replicate some of them one day. This one is probably my favorite now, fantastic work. Love the colors and the composition, very compelling.

Amazing thatched roofs! I have been investigating various roof techniques for my Green Dragon MOC - I decided that droid arms look the best (I already used them for fences), but are a big investment and a lot of work. This MOC gives me all the courage and motivation I need!

Wow, fantastic work!

Galadriel fits that profile, but the minifig is not out until October.

It's beautiful. One of the best micros I've ever seen. The monorail and the ship are really the icing on the cake. I feel the urge to drop MOC I'm working on and just copy this brick by brick :)

Graphic designer here as well. I love the new grays - they are pretty close to neutral and the old ones really look tainted and sickly in comparison. I don't like using them even for old walls.

The buildings are absolutely awe-inspiring. There's such a wealth of techniques to be stolen borrowed! Beautiful.

Ooh, I'm a big fan of the Kingkiller Chronicle! Love the wagon and Kvothe and Rothfuss look amazingly spot on. Supported on CUUSOO.

If that's the case, I'm happy we're at least getting Galadriel through The Hobbit line. She is a very important figure in Middle-earth and one of the very few female characters.

Thanks! I understand you just fine. I'm not a native speaker myself, I guess that makes it easier I have quite a few things in mind that can be improved, but at some point you have to let go of your creation and move on to the next one (which is what I'm planning to do!)

Pretty sure the battle won't start until at least the middle of the movie. Aside from Smaug's Lake Town assault and White Council's Dol Guldur venture, there's also a gathering of all the separate factions at Erebor and tense confrontation with the dwarves holed inside. And of course, whatever extra stuff PJ has in store for the 3rd movie - Legolas, Bolg, Tauriel, etc.

I would love to see these as well, especially Lothlorien. Amon Hen, while iconic, wouldn't be able to offer much in terms of minifigs or scenery. Here are my favorite MOCs of these two scenes, to help visualize them in LEGO:

Thanks! Copying would be the highest form of flattery for me. Let me know if you have any questions :)

It does! I'm really disappointed at how small it looks on the full-view picture - only the close-ups do it justice really.

Hey, thanks for your comments. Your Helm's Deep was the biggest inspiration for me - it has so many things I wish I was able to add, like the stairs up the mountain, the Glittering Caves, the inside of the keep, a more accurate layout - and yes, a much better Helm Hammerhand statue :) However, I intentionally set myself strict size parameters, to be able to fit it on a shelf - otherwise, I'd have nowhere to keep it and would have to take it apart. That was the reason why the walls couldn't be higher/longer and I only had 2-3 studs worth of space for the rocks on top of the keep (it does look a bit flat, I know). Still, I think the restriction kept me focused and helped preserve the 'LEGO feel' of the diorama. Thanks! I browsed your blog a lot for LEGO Tolkien inspiration. The sloped plate, while not perfect, was the best solution I found - using the 'stairs' technique or something similar to the rocks proved to be far inferior. After all, in the movie that all it is, just a relatively smooth slope.

Thanks! As I mentioned, last time I touched LEGO was 15 years ago - the only notable 'MOC' I can remember from that period was a big truck (I was into Town) :)

After over 15 years of not touching the bricks I suddenly found myself yearning for a LEGO experience. So I went on a shopping spree, buying most of the existing Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit sets. Very soon I was browsing the internet for building techniques and marveling at the amazing MOCs people were building. I decided to give it a go myself, and 6 weeks later here's my first creation. Flickr gallery (12 photos) It's an expanded version of Helm's Deep, based on the official set and Eurolock's version. A few key decisions separate it from these sets. - I didn't really like the sand green bricks, so I got rid of them and kept to the grayscale palette. - I wanted the ramp to have a gradual incline and a gentle curve, without any stairs. - While most Helm's Deep MOCs display the moment before the battle (or battle in progress), my favorite moment was always Theoden's desperate charge and Gandalf and Eomer's arrival. So I tried to replicate that. - The wall is not anywhere as long as I'd like it to be, but the size limit was set by my shelf space. Theoden leads the charge. Gimli's not supposed to be here, but I didn't want to leave him stranded in the tower after blowing the horn. He's demonstrating to the elf that he doesn't need to be tossed and can make the jump just fine. One of the trilogy's most powerful moments. I did my best to do it justice, but the scale is just not the same. This orc has had enough! He's going back to his family in Lithlad. Unfortunately, some huorns are on the way, he'll never make it... Two Mordor orc engineers with their wicked ballista. I had to radically scale down the ballista included with the Uruk-hai Army set, as it stood almost as tall as the walls. Haldir and the Lothlorien elves are making their last stand. This event occured much earlier in the movie, but I really wanted to include it. And there seems to be only one Uruk-hai attacking them, so Haldir will probably live. Phew... The keep. The door on the right leads to the Glittering Caves (not included in this product), the door on the left to the Hornburg tower. The stairs up are hugging the round wall and were a pain to design, but I'm rather happy with the result. There are a few more pictures on Flickr