CCCII: What were your favorite MOCs?

[Norro]

Wha :? ? I'm a bit confused. How can Kenn's 'Tree on Moon Lake' be a 'blatant rip-off' of your 1st entry if he entered before you? Also, his design isn't really that similar to yours in the first place.

Later.

Sorry to have caused any confusion... This was just supposed to be an ironic statement (woodsmen hideouts in my world always involve trees, water, etc... and the two MOCs, as pointed out, aren't that similar). Would tagging on a couple more smileys help? Thanks for more accurately stating my meaning Bruce.

Hope this makes sence (the net never captures the smile on my face when I say these things...)

God Bless,

Nathan

[JoshWedin]

I also hate it when someone else steals my ideas before I even get them.

Has happened to me a couple of times too. In fact, I was in the process of building my cooper's shop when another one was entered by Rs_Conqueror in the Tudor style category. So I contacted him before posting mine so he wouldn't feel that I ripped off his idea. Luckily he was okay with it!

Josh

[Blueandwhite]

Sorry to have caused any confusion... This was just supposed to be an ironic statement (woodsmen hideouts in my world always involve trees, water, etc... and the two MOCs, as pointed out, aren't that similar). Would tagging on a couple more smileys help? Thanks for more accurately stating my meaning Bruce.

Hope this makes sence (the net never captures the smile on my face when I say these things...)

God Bless,

Nathan

Not a problem. I read your post quickly, and I missed the smiley completely .

Oh, and I must say, I've really enjoyed Bruce's reviews thus far. He picks up on some of the finer points of these MOCs. I hope he continues with some of the other categories.

Later.

[Bruce N H]

You had but to ask.

Realistic customs:


Freak's Saxon. I actually gave this a slight edge over his category-winning monk. The decals (especially the shield) and the painted spear are nice, but it is the customized helmet/hair piece that really makes this for me.



Greg's Jan Zizka and NickGreat's samurai were among my favorites for two very different reasons. Greg's fig was the most historical creation in the categoory, teaching me something new about history, while Nick's samurai was the best technical work, with the flag, the customized weapons and armor, the paint job, and most especially the mask all flawlessly executed.


Jobiwan's Roman General and Robin Hood's executioner were also among my favorite customizing jobs.

Bruce

[Bruce N H]

Sige Weapons:


SirNelson's WarWulf is such a fun creation. The playability is outstanding, and the shape is hilarious (sort of makes me think of the trojan bunny from Monty Python). My favorite detail is that the gangplank thing is the wolf's tongue.


Psu-eriksen's sappers is so packed with details. Everything is here--the mantlet, the crane, diggers stripped down to the waist, plus one who apparently had heat exaustion, the cutaway construction. Is the yellow stuff on one side hay to burn? The wall could have easily been a throwaway, but here the wall is well built with some nice detail at the top. Probably the coolest attention to detail is the cross section of the ground, where you can see the different layers of grass, topsoil, and clay, with the foundations of the wall. That's the sort of thing that very few builders would have thought of.


Both Troy and Ed have great siege towers that would give a great advantage to the attacking forces. Great playability on each of these.


Blueandwhite's pettraria and Greg's perrier were the most 'educational' MOCs, accurately depicting siege weapons that we don't think of often.


PenneyBoy's Negotiator was probably the most humorous entry. I really enjoy the thought of a castle surrendering because they think they're surrounded by a huge army.

Bruce

[Bruce N H]

Ships:


Kenn's Chinese treasure junk is just an amazing creation. The use of brick construction to achieve a curved shape and the interesting overall design really make this one. I also really like the torches on the upper deck and the way this comes apart for interior access.


Chris' merchant's ship. Usually I am less impressed by ships that depend on the large ship-hull elements, but this ship really builds upon that framework to give a different shape than most ships, with the raised rear deck and the extended prow (the rubberband is a good solution to bring those pieces together). The fabuland oars as rudders are also nice.


Ed's ships. Ed has two great entries in this category. While his longship won, I actually like the ferry just a hair's breadth more. The barrels as logs look really good.

Also in this category, I really liked how Freak's Griffon achieved a ship-shape with SNOT, and Fry's BF Sailboat really feels like an official set due to the design, the presentation, and that great sail.

Bruce

[Bruce N H]

Wagons. There were a lot of great entries in this category.


Blueandwhite's soldier transport. The contrast between the studs and tiles on the sides is really effective. I also really love how there are weapons racks inside the wagon.


Greg's Hussite warwagon. As I mentioned earlier, I found Greg's entries especially interesting as an insight into real history. In additon to the excellent execution of the wagon, I also really how the horse-protecting parts come off to become small mantlets. The hitching is great as well.


Kenn's Roma wagon. Another amazing MOC. The way that hinges and handlebars are used to achieve the curved roof is ingenious. I also love the way the interior is packed with detail, the interesting hitching, the chest chained underneath, and the split door on the back.


Sir Nelson's princess' coach rocks as well. The roof shape is very cool, and the skateboard wheels are a really clever detail piece.


psu's beast transport has some great details, like the inclusion of ropes and nets for the hunters to use. The interesting horse hitchings are also very cool.

Josh's wizard's cart and Ed's forstemen's cart rounded out my personal favorites.

Bruce

[Bruce N H]

Yellow Castle.


Yaron's YC expansion best fit the spirit of the original 375, IMO, and could have easily been sold as an official set.


Jim's Norman castle, OTOH, went a different way, building a much larger castle like many of the best MOC castles, just within the boundaries of the category.


TheBohrok's tower and Freak's keep also fit the spirit of the original set. I particularly like the porticullis and the red details in the first and the brick-built beasts in the second.

Bruce