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My Bio-Cup 2017 Run 'Post Mortem'


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My four entries to the 2017 Bio-Cup on Flickr.

Check it out if you haven't already, there's such a brilliant collection of stuff, and the winner is still to be decided!
 
I thought I'd group all of these together for the sake of convenience.

With the benefit of hindsight, I've got a few things to say about each of these, if you don't mind me doing so.
 
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Eliminatory Round: Bitil Revamp
 

 


The theme for the eliminatories was 'Set Revamp', where entrants could choose any Lego Set then revamp it with a Constraction twist.
 
Here, I strove to deliver both on what Bitil was, and what he could have been.
I tried to preserve features such as the wings, spikes, the original leg/arm pieces and his inhuman proportions (screw that goofy arsed neck though), yet add some extra flair with the forelimbs, head and some Sand Green to spice up an otherwise bland colour scheme,
 
While I'm happy with how this turned out, I feel like I played things quite safely and comfortably. 
What was to stop me from adding more Sand Green? A custom brick-built head? Another pair of limbs perhaps?
And then, I was allowed to choose any Lego Set. Amongst the other stuff were revamps of Hero Factory, Exo-Force, Galidor, Atlantis, even a Technic Snowmobile.
While this was just another Bonkle, nothing new, seen it before, ResidentSleeper.

 

Here I was beginning to realize that in order to have any show against these big names, I'd need to pick up my game, get a bit creative with my choices, and make things that others haven't made before.
 


 

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Round 1: Mompka
 

 

The theme for this round was 'Rahi', where each matchup got a subtheme to work off (e.g. Ice, Horror, Bug, Alien, Cute), and Monarth the Contrarian and I got 'Air Rahi'.
 
The first thing I thought of was a bird, insect or dragon, but even though those wouldn't have been bad choices if I put a spin on it, I really wanted to make something that's not just unique, but uniquely unique.
So, since Flying Tarakava didn't quite work (another time :D), I had to settle with just 'unique' with a Flying Squirrel. 
 
Keeping this small while using limited colours meant that this was a real mechanical challenge to get together, and after a surprising amount of effort I'm very fond of this little booger - he might survive a week more before I cannibalize him for his ball joints. 
 


 
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Round 2: "One More, Oh Mighty Sun God."

 

 

 

This round's theme was 'Historical', our sub-theme being 'The New World', with Djokson as my man to beat. 

 

Against the crowd favourite, I was certain that whatever I could come up with would quite likely be my last in this competition.

So honestly, I just went for the Hail Mary by going for a three-part vignette like this. 

I fully expected any one of the objects to just irredeemably suck, and was fully prepared to make the switch to something else if I couldn't get even one of these to work.

 

Thankfully, though I know the Spaniard, Aztec and table alike were riddled with numerous flaws that I didn't get around to addressing, each were passable enough to contribute to the final scene in their own way: The Spaniard as a comical victim, the Aztec as a sinister show-off, and the table as a crude accomplice of Aztec butchery.   

 

In my opinion, the star is the Aztec. Initially, I wasn't even going to make these humans, but that neat little combo I found with the G2 Pouldron and the SW Finn Head was too cool to omit. 

There's so much going on with this bloke: white skulls and bones, blue, dark blue and purple feathers, brown skin, gold armour and headdress, and a good old G-string to keep it together.

Though it's not my best in terms of polish or skill, it's probably the most gosh darn interesting thing I've ever cooked up.

 

And hey, I beat Djok by what I felt was the skin of my teeth, PogChamp. 

 

 

 

 

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Round 3: Oblivion's Emissary

 

 

 

This theme was... something. The judges evidently ran out of ideas, so they paired me up with good guy The Chosen One and told us all to come up with ideas ourselves.

 

Couldn't quite get Leo to agree to a 'Combiner Model MOC-Off', so we went to juggling ideas between one another, Though I wouldn't have minded some of the others, in the end, I really pushed for 'Dark Creepy Thing' - that just sounded like the sort of stuff we both wanted to make. 

Ehm, though I've got no regrets, that might have been a mistake - he did warn me! :(

 

Scored a SW Kylo Ren, so I went for a MOC inspired by an enemy from the game 'Darkest Dungeon'. 

Even just watching a playthrough (I haven't played it), seeing those things let rip was a pretty memorable moment for me, and I wanted to replicate some of that 'oh wut ew' feeling with my entry.

Some people acknowledged the resemblance to the description of Tren Krom from G1 Bionicle, and it's actually sort of uncanny. 

 

In particular, I'm pleased with how I applied those 'organic' looking parts I into the build, such as the Hakaan feet, Vorox Armour, Pyrox mask and add-ons and Krika blades.

However, I'm a bit less happy with how the hood and sleeves look in the MOC's 'hidden' mode, even after so much time spent making the most minute changes to get them right for the photo.

The main thing that held this back from advancing were those rookie-tier tentacles. Though I reckoned they looked good enough, I really should have tried harder to find a better solution, or even scrapped them in favour of some other gross protrusions.

 

Nah, I can't really disagree with the judge's verdict.

The shaping of the torso and head, the great usage of colour, the editing, and his faithfulness to the source, it all coalesced into something that was plain brilliant. 

The better MOC - and unlike my last round the better MOCer - won. 

 

 

 

 

I'm very content with my placing - top seven what up B-) - in a competition which got such a large and consistent turnout. 

 

This competition pushed me to go beyond what I'm usually comfortable with, and I'd definitely be down to try different things in the future as I continue to grow and learn.

 

 

Cheers to the judges and all my fellow contestants for making this Bio-Cup happen. I'll eagerly await the final rounds of MOCs that will decide the winner.

Edited by Poor Disadvantaged
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  • 2 weeks later...

These range from cute to creepy, Oblivions emissary is my favourite just for how scary his back is. The Bitil revamp could do with more insect like wings, the Hahli fins do not fit in with his bug theme. Mompka is adorably derpy. Teh mayan sacrifice build makes good use of the starwars head pieces, but the contrast between the cute lego pirate and the realistic tibesman face is kinda weird. Still it's a good build.

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