Elysiumfountain

@Digger of Bricks Thanks for the mention! I'm glad to say it's at 100 supporters already and climbing! :)

@Unfinished_Projects Thank you so much for your support, and I'm glad you like it! :)

Hello there! I present to you my new and improved Orient Express Thriller! Oh dear, there's a mummy on the Orient Express! But don't worry, he's locked in the sarcophagus! Or is he? ;) The original model for this MOC was created back in 2016, but it was a different engine design, only one coach, and a tender that I could not for the life of me figure out how to make compatible with power functions. This new and improved model has a sleeker engine design. I'm no train expert, so if it doesn't have a little doodle bop or something that real trains have, don't get too upset ;) Minifigures: Dr. Arthur Rutledge, the Mummy, Cad Goldwater, the train's jazz singer, Princess Dragomiroff, the Chef, the Engineer, and Hercule Poirot! According to my official MOC bio: Join dashing, adventurous Arthur Rutledge as he travels across Europe with several priceless artifacts to be delivered to the Louvre Museum in Paris. But be careful, his evil nemesis Cad Goldwater is also aboard, and will stop at nothing to acquire the relics. Will Rutledge be successful, or will the Orient Express be stopped by the nefarious plans of Cad? It's up to you! Two coaches: A passenger coach with three compartments. Can be converted into a sleeper car too! A dining coach with a small kitchen for the world-famous chef to serve the passengers. Each coach has fully opening doors! This model is now gathering support on LEGO Ideas! If you like it and would like something like it on your shelf at home, please share the link and consider support the project! It would be awesome to get to 10,000 supporters! Thank you :) https://ideas.lego.com/projects/92865fe4-df96-4ccd-a5a9-2a1042138963 I've also created a short commercial for this MOC, with pictures, a jingle I wrote, and test footage of the train with power functions moving at two different speeds and with one and two coaches attached! Check it out! :)

Update on this MOC: - LEGO sent to me a physical prototype for me to help promote it! It's currently at 28% crowdfunded on the Bricklink site, third to last :( But it still has 44 days left to go, so I'm hopeful! :)

This is my latest Castle MOC: The Clovershire Castle! Built entirely within the Stud.io program, I began the model with a completely different model in mind. Below is a picture of the Temple of the Moon Maiden, a MOC I had submitted to the LEGO Ideas platform. I wanted to take the bridge you see in the background, as well as the water, and the staircase on the right, and create something totally different with it as a baseline. This was the result: My inspiration came from pictures of old misty castles in Scotland and Ireland. I wanted a ruined castle feel, but one that was also partially restored. The bridge was framed by a ruined window, and the mountainside to the right became a rocky buttress to the crumbling castle wall. And of course I left the lanterns in because I thought they were cool. This model got submitted as a contest entry to the AFOL Designer Program with Bricklink, and became a finalist! Below is the MOC after a couple changes were made by the Bricklink and LEGO teams. It's currently in the crowdfunding stage and accepting pre-orders. If it makes it to the funding goal, it'll become an actual set! At the rate it's going, it seems a little doubtful that it will make it, but there's still hope! If you like it, you can head over to the site and check it out! :) https://www.bricklink.com/v3/crowdfunding/designer-sets-for-adult-fans-of-lego/57599/Clovershire-Castle Stay tuned for my next MOC post! :)

Thank you for the mention, @Digger of Bricks! It was a AFOL Designer Program entry that didn't make it to finalist, so I modified it, added about 500 more pieces or so, and submitted to LEGO Ideas! :)

Mine is definitely in the bottom four of the sluggish ones. Most likely going to write it off as a total failure, but at least I made it to finalist!

So true! It's the ones who have less expensive sets I think that will be harder to get. It's much more difficult to attract 200 people with a less expensive set that, to put it delicately, doesn't attract much interest.

Someone on Brickset's forum said that they thought none of the projects would make it. Three hours after they post all the crowdfunding, and two or three will be there before the end of the day lol

Pre-ordering has begun! Already it seems some of the designs are well on their way to making their funding goal! Best of luck to all of them! *shameless plug for my design, if you like it we'd love your support :) https://www.bricklink.com/v3/crowdproject/view_design.page?id=57599

@Digger of Bricks Thank you for the mentions! :)

@Lord Insanity I know right! I was a bit surprised when they chose the other one, because it was one that I had not put quite as much effort into as this one. But once the cow's been milked, there's no squirting the cream back up her udder, so here we are to see things through! :)

@anothergol True that, same for me! And whoops, sorry! I hope my last comment wasn't construed to be too rude! Personally, I think a lot of the finalists that were announced are interesting builds, but not something I necessarily would vote for. I wonder if there are some really detailed ones that didn't make it, though. Maybe we'll see them on Flickr like you said? This one (that didn't make it) was my biggest entry with 1980 pieces and even I'm not satisfied with how some of it turned out. That weird baseplate on the right sticking out, and the tiling on the ground that didn't fit. Edit: Added photo and removed a stupid question I asked :)

But I agree, a lot of the entries are not going to be the MOCs you see on Flickr or Eurobricks. Unless they're saving the most complex for the last four! Speaking of entries that were not selected, I was a little surprised that they chose the Clovershire Castle of my entries, as it was one of the less detailed and complex that I submitted. The biggest was 1980 pieces and was a pretty solid Greek temple style moc on a mountain with a giant staircase and cherry trees. Ah well. The judges work in mysterious ways apparently.

@anothergol Looking at the pictures, maybe the bulk of that 2000 is in the interior and the rocky base and plant life? At least that's where it looked like it came from.

@Digger of Bricks Yes, that I did! My friend pressured me into it :) Updated the interior, since that was the most commented upon with the first submission. So, we'll see how this run goes!

@Roebuck, @x105Black Thank you! :) I've been so busy with work and all that I haven't even opened the Great Hall, which is the one I really want to build. But I'll get around to it some time!

@anothergol Lol no, I was contacted beforehand. I was just told not to tell until they presented it! ;) And for sure, some of the pieces I think weren't put on securely for the photos, which is why some of it looks wonky! It's definitely not for everyone, you're right! Of course that's part of the awesome challenge of trying to make it to the finish! ?

@Digger of Bricks Thank you! :)

Yeah why are they so fragile?! Had a shard chip off of a tile being used on a balcony last week while moving it around!

I'm a finalist! My entry, the Clovershire Castle, just got posted on the landing page :) https://studio.bricklink.com/v2/build/afoldesigner_winner_model.page?id=57599 It's not the best out there, but I hope it makes it! :)

Wow! Such a loss, though, with the destruction of most of the collection at the museum. Apparently the estimates, as with most fires, will take about ten years to rebuild. If it doesn't get slowed down by any number of factors. Still, best of luck to the designer as the idea moves on to the next phase!

Wow! This one really flew past me, I saw it when it was at 500 or so supporters, congratulations to the builder! A little basic on the architectural elements, perhaps, but I suppose that could be remedied if it passes review :)

@Blondie-Wan Thank you! :)

I am happy to say that I finally had a success on LEGO Ideas! None of my projects made it, but the prizes from the Harry Potter contest for my basilisk entry just arrived in the mail today! I've never seen so many sets together in all my life! Outside of stores that is ;)