Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone MOC

The latest completed MOC I made, this one was actually build about 2 months ago, but it just took this long before I've gotten around making pictures.

The build, a display based around the three sets of the first movie, was made for the 2017 geeky con season, but well, then "that" happened so it`ll be on display in the living room instead for the rest of it's days.

Because the GF would kill me if I took down anything Potterverse, let alone part with the sets... so that is one of the few things that will be surviving the big clear-out of my bricks and pieces.

I went for a sort of towery build, to follow a bit the trail the heroes took in the movies.  Now, in hindsight I should have made the side walls 2 thick instead of 1, but as it won`t be transported around I can get away with that...

The pieces where engraved by Mijn Blokje, while the tiles are from the Hogwart's Castle, I got about two dozen of those tiles through Brick Link the past years.

The top level is the one where they discover the secret entryway and be tested to reach the stone.  It`s guarded by the huge three headed dog Fluffy, and by playing the flute they can get past him.

Another test the heroes have to pass is to get through some flesh eating plants.  I included an interpretation of the Quidditch at the front of the build to break up the gray colour scheme and fill up the "border" between top and bottom level.

Ron is ready to face the chess game challenge!

Harry needs to get past the Chamber of the Winged Keys in order to proceed.

The final confrontation, as poor professor Quirrel has been possessed by Voldemort himself, who is also trying to get his hands on the Philosopher's Stone, and a duel ensues.

I also tried to incorporate the Harry Potter logo in the floor, again to break up the gray, and because well, I thought it was fun :-)

I hope you like it!

Charge of the Irish Brigade: WiP 2

In what will become known as `the last MOC I ever build`, I did some progress on the Fredericksburg build the past month.

The wall was completed last time, but here is a view from the Confederate position...

I worked and finished the whole grassy hill running up to the wall, including detailing and levelling it with the waterside of the creek. 

Now the next part I am working on will be the treeline from where the Union, crossing the creek by the walking planks, will be starting the assault.  To this end, I'll be mixing thincker and smaller trees, the thick ones based on 2x2 round elements with a Technic axle for central support, the smaller ones based around "wizard stave's".

The complete Confederate force, that will protect the wall, are completed already, so Cobbs regiment of... irishmen is ready to defend the position against the 69th New York.

Next time, I hope to have finished the whole forest side of the build, I still have time until the 4th of november when it has to be completed...

LEGO easter egg MOC

Well, this was supposed to be joining the easter layout at Brick Mania Wetteren two weeks ago, but well, things took a different turn.

Never the less, this has, as such, become the final Tolkien build I will be doing...

The egg was build with instructions that where send to all participants of BM-W, and I covered mine in a Tolkien-y style, finding use of that (not so) One Ring for it.  A Tolkien tile at the top rounded it all off.

But I did it with a little twist, using a hinge brick and some tiles to make it actually "click" open and reveal that cute little Smeagol inside.

Hope you like it!

The Green Shark

A small figure build this time, which I created for an LAKC contest on Facebook in which you could take home a Spiderman Super Jumper polybag.

Unfortunatly, he didn`t take home the win, but never the less I thought I'd share him here.

His pilum is a custom part from Brick Forge, while the face is from the old Exo Force range.  The idea was that he was kind of a protector of the Seas (like when, neither Namor nor Aquaman would be available and you needed to draft in the C-listers), hence the splashing water base.

It was a fun little build for a fun little competition.

Marching to Quinnsville

A build that originated from two very different origin points, my first complete Company for BoBS has been recruited and stationed in Quinnsville for the defence of the town.

While I "bought" the troops for the game a week or two ago, I finally came round to make this small build for them.

Add to that the fact that I`ll be running a Lego wargaming demostration at a wargame convention in november, where they will probably face off against Star Wars droids and other very different forces... and I had two motivating factors of putting the troops together.

Dear Lord Smaugton,

I have well received your letter concerning the growing tensions in the Cocovia region.  I understand your concerns that the neighbouring military harbour might not be swift enough to response in case someone decided to place a raid on the setttlement, and how you look towards solidifying your defences.

I have conversed with our uncle on the matter, and he agreed that our house should look at it's own defence and intrests as well apart from those for the crown, or for our trading partners.
To that end, I am underway with a full company of soldiers, who will be called the 1st Quinnsville Fusiliers from now on, under my command.  I hope to have a good glass of wine, and one of those "coffee's" you tell so much about, swiftly.

Your cousin,

Lord Emmerick Woosterbatton

Charge of the Irish Brigade WiP 1

It`s Saint Patty's today... and for the first time in like forever, I`ll survive it as I`m on kid-sitter duty tonight.

But that doesn`t mean I won`t fly the green flag of Erin, albeit virtually.

You see, I finally got decently started on my Fredericksburg 1862 build, which I will take along for display to the Crisis wargame show this year.  I`m going to demo Brick Wars there with my team, and as I know a lot of ACW fanatics over there (heck, I was one of those wargamers, and yes, I miss it at times) so what better way then to unify my passions with a build.  Of course, that will be one based around Maeger's 69th New York, more famously known as The Fighting 69s. 

It was one of the 4 units that made up the famous Irish Brigade, and their valour was perhaps the most prominent at Fredericksburg.  Against all sane thoughts, they charged up the open sloped grassland at Marye`s Heights where they faced off against... a Confederate Irish regiment under Cobbs.  It was a slaughter, but they never wavered.

It`s this slope that I`m building, and for which I had those Confederate torso`s printed last year.  I already completed their command, with two officers and the standard bearer.

The build will start with the small bridged stream in the treeline.  Here, the starting point of the Union troops was located as they started their run uphill.  On the other side, the stone wall (nothing to do with Jackson mind you!) is located where the Georgians where in a perfect defensive position.

Most of the grassy hill has been build, and I totally ran out of green plates.  As I`m typing this, I`m awaiting an order from BrickLink to continue work on the hillside.

I also put the sunken road at the top, as well as the stone wall, here seen with a Confederate trooper to give an indication of the height of the wall and test if the rifles would fit behind it without it becoming to high in it`s totality.  I opted for a 7 plate height in the end.

So as it stands now, the grassland is nearly done, the treeline will slowly be started, the stream and planches to cross it are in place and the wall has been made.  I hope within the next two months to complete the whole baseplate and decide where the detailing on the slope will come.  Furthermore, I`ll be starting to plant trees soon, and complete the Georgians (about 25 troops) while keep on collecting Union forces (who will number around a 100 to give an idea of the defensive position's benefit).

Until the next time!

Faugh a Ballach!

Margert 2T Cog

Another of the trading vessels I reeled in in the recent Eslandola auction, the Margert was the target of a true bid wars.  

Seems no less then 21 bids where brought out for this small vessel's license, but in the end she is joining the Junkyard Fleet of Quinnsville.

The small and sturdy cog will be pushed into service almost immediately, as she is recrewed right on time to sail out when the trade convoys leave in little under a week. 

May she serve the mighty Empire of Corrington well!

Nino Grande 4T2 vessel

This is a bit of a special build, as it is the very first thing I ever seriously build in the LDD program.

I won the Nino Grande in an auction organised by Eslandola, and she is being put into service right on time to participate in the next MCRA and as such hopefully can rake in the doubloons to pay back her cheap auction price...

... which will be compensated by her high licensing price though as I`m pyaing double hehehe.

The vessel measures about 60 "virtual studs" and it was a real puzzle for me to get her smoothly build, like finding out for the figures and chests a plate needed to go underneath, as you can`t "place" things decently on top of a tile in the virtual build program it seems.

I hope you like the vessel, I`m actually rather okay with how she turned out, considering she was made with someone who had "no clue" at all when starting to build it :-)

Symphony of Destruction

It's been a while (well, from BM-Antwerp) that I got my "engines fired up" to immerse myself into BoBS fully again, but to restart the building I went to grab one of the MCRA captures I still had drydocked and build.

The Symphony of Destruction was captured almost a year ago, and with such a lovely name, I just wanted to do something special with her... build an Organ gun onto her deck as a sort of experimental coastal defender vessel.

"Sir, we are ready for the field test"

"Good, good... let me check the coordinates, in case we don`t bombard a peasants field or something..." captain Babcull answered.  "It seems that we are indeed at the right location, prepare the Symphony!"

The Symphony.  A nickname lovingly given to an organ gun that has been build onto the deck of the captured pirate vessel Symphony of Destruction.  The idea the engineers came up with, was to use the small Armed Sloop as a mobile platform to increase the coastal defences around Quinnsville. 
With privateers and pirates growing bolder the past months, mayor Smaugton had decreed that the whole side of Cocovia that fell under his governance needed to be shored up and become an iron wall.

To captain Babcull, the whole device looked hideous, and tilted the vessel to the fore.  She wouldn`t be very swift or manoeuvrable, and setting out in high tides would be asking for disaster.  But if she would be anchored in the calmer waters of the bay, she might prove to be a hefty deterrent to anyone trying to enter the harbour unauthorised.

"Guncrew... at the ready!  Aiiiim, aaaaand UNLEASH HELL!!!!"

 

Building Middle Earth episode 3

Hello all, first saturday of the month, and so it's time to have a look at what I`ve been doing in my project to build Middle Earth.

Now, I didn`t finish anything but I did manage to get some work done on two projects in particular, namely my Frodo maxifig and the Durin's Causeway build.

I started the maxifig this month with a decision, in that I won't be building up the torso in Sand Green (bloody expensive) but will go for a more "regular" green when I get to it.
The first step I did was build the feet themselves, in Tan as that reflects best a natural skin colour that leans close the the "fleshies" of the Tolkien ranges.

Next I already did some layers of brown for the legs, whom will of course be shorter then a regular maxifig, and used brown cheeseslopes to represent the tufts of hair on the feet.

The other build I worked on a bit was the Durin's Causeway, which just eats light blueish gray masonry bricks.  I scraped together another 130 this month, and this allowed me to do some work on the pillar basically.

As well as doing a bit of the "edge" to get an idea where the rockworks will start when I get to them.

All in all, this has been some nice progress in the short month that february was.  I *hope* to do some more on the maxifig during march, ideally complete the whole leg section, and perhaps start working a bit already on the Durin rockworks.  I know april will be busy for me with not that much time to build anyways, so better to get some stuff done in the coming weeks.

Until next time!