Request for Help: Feline body

[Ptah]

Hello, 

 

I apologize if this is the wrong forum to post this. 

 

I'll come right to it, I could use some help on a build.  The movie Black Panther inspired me to make a panther out of CCBS. The legs I managed, the tail I managed.  I'm even happy with the head since I was able to get a CHI Panthar head.  But the body looks terrible.  Basically, I connected two torso with a beam. I could use some advice. 

 

Do any of you builders have tips or trick on how to construct a feline/canine/quadraped body? 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[Aanchir]

Hmm… the only feline CCBS MOC I've made was my Geiger Tiger (top/side), but the proportions of that one are very "alien". If you were to use a similar technique for the sides you'd probably want to also use other parts to fill in the top and bottom of the body as well as the shoulders. A more lifelike feline MOC I quite admire is Alieraah's Obsidian Panther, but I don't really know how the interior structure of that works. Still, it might at least give you some ideas of parts you can use for shaping.

 

Something else that can be useful for making MOCs of a real-life animal can be to look up photos or diagrams of that animal's skeleton on the internet. While you obviously have to simplify (it's VERY difficult to give a MOC a fully articulated spine), it can be a good way to figure out the relative position of the joints, length of the legs and body, etc.

[Ptah]

Thanks Aanchir.  I've checked out both builds.  You're right about the Obsidian Panther.  It is hard to make out the structure of the build.  I did take a look at skeletal forms of felines from house cats to tigers, it looks like it comes down to the back bone.  

 

Thanks for the tips.  Let me know if anything else comes to mind.

[BrickPharaoh]

(Shameless self-promotion) Here's a look at an LDD feline I'd built a few months back: LDD tiger.

 

Some of the pieces I can think of that could work:

• Hero Factory 1.0 torsos give feline forms great curvature IMO.
• Also, some of the CCBS shells are very well suited for slender curves.
• Ben 10 thighs in black are also greatly suitable for such builds.
• The standard HF chest and torso plate could also be used very effectively
• Older Bionicle parts, such as Bohrok hips, could also be used, albeit somewhat risky due to their textures.
• Rahkshi feet in black could be used on the sides of the rear legs.

Hopefully these ideas could come in handy.

 

Also, I don't necessarily think BBC was the right place for this.