CCCIV Entries

superb as usual!!

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I am god!!!!! ( not ) I am sorry for this blasphemy God!!

Wow that horse is fantastic. I like that sword too...

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Jumpin' jahusaphits! Son this just made my day. I've been staring at that shield for like 5 minutes now. Truly wonderful sculpting work. Conan's decal looks great, lots of detail. Of course the accessories are as beautimus as ever.

The Elf is pretty awesome too. Did he get lost on the Great Westward Journey? You and Nick are making the rest of the entries look like simple toys. Good luck over there!

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~MCN Moderator of the Minifig MOCs Forum~

Good work Damien! 3D shield- nice. Conan's hair look good as well- I would say though that from what I can tell, the headband looks like it has hair sticking out from under it- looks good, but I would've done something with the part in the hairpiece- it seems like there's a yellow spot there that just looks wierd to me (I would have either trimmed down the "hair" between the headband and eyebrows; added a few strands between the headband drawing upwards; or take a page from my LSF and say there's nothing that can be done about it anymore and come up with a story about the stray hairlocks getting caught in the headband :p ). That horse looks nice and smooth- the maine running from the top of it's head; painted (or decaled) or fuzz? How long does Apoxie take to harden that you were able to do the sculpting? I've only worked with SculpeyIII or A-B Plumber's Putty (and that Plumber's Putty is a mess- more liquidy than clay) Great job and good luck!

-Alan

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"I am the Alpha and the Omega- I am the creator and the destroyer..."

Thanks for all the good words, guys.

Phar: I assume we'll be seeing your CCCIV entry (entries?) popping up in the next couple of days, yeah? Can't wait.


Alan: There is no headband. The black around the face was all intended to be hair. Here's what happened: I'm still relatively new at doing face decals -- getting them just the right size is pretty tricky. By the time I recieved the decal, applied it, coated it, and had the hairpiece on, and so realized there was a gap between the hair in the decal and the actual hairpiece, it was too late to fix it and get the decal re-printed. I would have missed the contest. I also thought about dabbing black paint there, but decided it would actually look worse that way. So -- it was just a size miscalculation. I hope it doesn't look -too- bad.

There are no decals on the horse - that was all painted by hand.

Apoxie takes approximately 24 hours to fully cure. But the actual time you have to work with it before it becomes too hard is approximately 3 hours. More or less depending on how old the Apoxie is, and the exact composition (composition meaning the ratio of your mixture). I think mine was hardened beyond the ability to do anything to it in about 2 hours. That's why Apoxie is usually applied and worked in layers and sections.


Thanks again, guys.

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MCN Moderator of Customization Tips, Techniques & Questions

It doesn't look bad at all, it just looked wierd to me. Whoops about the headband thing (although I could've sworn that Conan did wear a headband in the movies (which I haven't seen in ages, so my memory could be wrong))- but I like the idea of a headband on him.

-Alan

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"I am the Alpha and the Omega- I am the creator and the destroyer..."

Mhmm, in the movies he did wear a headband -- a thick leather one, but it went around his hair, rather than underneath it. My Conan, just for the sake of reference, is based on the original works of Robert E. Howard, rather than the film adaptions which, while awesome, are totally nothing like Howard's Conan. Plus, in the films we only see Conan as king of Aquilonia very briefly at the end in the epilogue -- where he's sitting on a throne.

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MCN Moderator of Customization Tips, Techniques & Questions

Wow Thats Good its all barbarian likeness the horse has a awesome mane  and the shield is fonominal

gratz on the great job

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I DO STREET RIDIN ON MY BIKE AND HAVE JUST STARTED  MODING LEGO BITS EXECELENT  HOBBY DURING WINTER
 
I.E.  THERE ARE A LOT OF INCREDABLY GOOD MODS ON HERE

yes, and conan also had brown hair, and a very noticable Austrian Accent, although thats probually just Arnold Schwarzenegger... amyways, lovely stuff Damien, that Elf has a bit of a long face... th eyes are a tiny bit too far apart, and the mouth is too far down the face, just thought i'd point that out, other wise awesome :D that horse looks like its been through alot ;) oh yeah, Your Conan kicks butt, it sure beats RB's, and that takes some doing.

~Obliviumjr

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~Obliviumjr

Thanks again, guys.

yes, and conan also had brown hair, and a very noticable Austrian Accent, although thats probually just Arnold Schwarzenegger...

Hahaha. Mhmm. Apparently Conan is not Cimmerian at all, he's Austrian. He's also a body-builder, rather than sleek and tightly muscled. Thank God we have movies to set us straight on these little facts.  :)

The Elf's face isn't perfect - you're spot on about that. He's another victim of what I described above with Conan -- me still trying to get my feet wet with sizing LEGO faces just right. Haven't gotten the formula down pat yet.

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MCN Moderator of Customization Tips, Techniques & Questions

Actually, I think both faces look perfectly fine. The elf'seye spacing doesn't bother me at all- now William T Riker's eyes always struck me as being too widely spaced (once he grew a beard he looked much better). Hey, maybe that's what Jonathan Frakes has been up to these days :D . As for Conan's hair, I think even in the comics he had black hair if I remember correctly.

And Damien, while this may have been cheating, my formula for sizing faces is: I saved the image of a MLCAD minifig, put it in Photoshop, traced what I needed, added the muscles. Then whenever I need to do a face I create a new layer and put the face over the traced smiley that I got from MLCAD (you must have seen my supers decals, those aren't LEGO faces), that way, the faces I draw are positioned like the LEGO faces (of course, I still have to figure out where the ears would go, but with the exception of Cyclops, it's not that important). Feel free to use my Body Template [as a guide] if you choose to try my idea out (so you don't have to waste your time tracing a LEGO smiley). It'd be easier than guessing- but if you're doing your faces by guessing- kudos!

Of course another formula you could use is dividing the face up like you were drawing a portrait (like what they teach in those art books).

-Alan

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"I am the Alpha and the Omega- I am the creator and the destroyer..."

Finally... a real competition for Nick's Samurai.

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This is fantastic Anthony -truly breathtaking!

Sheesh, all you guys are doing so great with your CCCIV entries, I think mine are cool, but these are amazing. That shield looks awesome, I didn't know you sculpted, but now I can see you are excelent at it! All of your painting looks very nice, going the extra way and painting the horse definately pays off, I actually think this is the first custom I have seen with a painted horse.

Finally... a real competition for Nick's Samurai.

I guess so! Though I think Ethan's custom stands a very good chance as well. :D

- Hearing you talking about apoxie (Or would that be reading you type about apoxie? ; ) ) has sparked my curiosity, I don't know if I heard of it before, where would I pick me up some of that?

~Amanda

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MCN Brick Talk MOD
My B-Shelf (Under Construction)

Wow! That's is one awesome minifig! (I wander why you're bothering with Blundering Elf of Middle Earth when you have got this awesome CONAN! Not that it's no good; it just severely pales in comparison.)

I like the shield best; it must have taken alot of time (and definitely tons of talent) to complete. And that woodgrain paintwork... wow....

Decals are great too. I also like the way you've made his cloak tattered even though he's a King of sorts; shows the ruggedness of the Cimmerian.

Fantastic job Damien! Even better than my entry, but Arl be Barck! (sorry, couldn't resist :) )

Finally... a real competition for Nick's Samurai.

Yeah Fry, he was getting a lil' lonely. Speaking of which, where's YOURS?

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~MCN Brick Talk Moderator~

Nick's MOC Page.

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how did you make the shield? it's awesome!

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I am god!!!!! ( not ) I am sorry for this blasphemy God!!

how did you make the shield?

He already explained in his original post:

"His shield is a BrickForge round shield. The back of it is..."

~Amanda

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MCN Brick Talk MOD
My B-Shelf (Under Construction)

Thanks again for all the kind words, everyone.

As for Conan's hair, I think even in the comics he had black hair if I remember correctly.

He did, indeed. In the comics and in the original stories, the toys, as well as the cartoons, and in all of the artwork like Frazetta. The movies are the only incarnation of Conan that I'm aware of where he had brown hair.


Feel free to use my Body Template [as a guide] if you choose to try my idea out

That would be useful. Wanna shoot me over the file?


Finally... a real competition for Nick's Samurai.

I'm hoping!

 Even better than my entry

Well, let's not go -that- far. I still think you're likely to spank me like a naughty girl in the contest.

Though I think Ethan's custom stands a very good chance as well

Agreed. He just has to post it. C'mon Ethan!

- Hearing you talking about apoxie (Or would that be reading you type about apoxie? ; ) ) has sparked my curiosity, I don't know if I heard of it before, where would I pick me up some of that?

Hobby shop; same place you get any art supplies. It's a specialty product, though - especially Apoxie SCULPT (rather than other forms of Apoxie). In many cases you'll have to get it specially-ordered for you. Or you can get it online at Avesstudio.com.  They also sell FIXIT SCULPT, which I use regularly as well, and is probably better than Apoxie Sculpt -- but it's quite a bit more expensive.


how did you make the shield?

Like Amanada said -- I discussed it in my opening post. It's a BrickForge round shield (brown) painted with a wood pattern, and the lion and rim of the shield are Apoxie Sculpt painted gold.

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MCN Moderator of Customization Tips, Techniques & Questions

I don't have enough time to read the entire topic.. I really like your minifigs. Love the horse! I've made 2 horse customs, it's a rare thing! You don't see a lot of customized horses out there. (Not so long ago I saw a pic of a customized horse. The customizer had brassood of the printing on the head of the horse, and gave it some new eyes, it looked really great!)

Back to bussiness, Peter mentionded the yellow gap, you said that you were thinking about paint first, but decided to leave it the way it is (lovely), but how about using a black sharpy to fill up the yellow gap?

~BB88

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but how about using a black sharpy to fill up the yellow gap?

I think that would actually look worse than painting it.

Thanks for the compliments. Glad you like the horse.

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MCN Moderator of Customization Tips, Techniques & Questions

Just the kind of work you'd expect from an action figure customizing vet!
I was -briefly- considering entering the CCC, but after seeing all the entries, I'm going to wait till next year to hone my skills a bit more. I'm still a newcomer when it comes to castle after all.

You'll excuse me as I drool over the shield and horse a bit more... Great weathering on the horse btw.

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MCN Moderator of Customizing Tips, Techniques & Questions

Got word from on-high that the decals are in the mail.

Damien, don't do anything about the yellow spot on Conan's head. Experience has taught me that trying to fix a non-issue just makes things worse. I wouldn't have that on such an excellent project.

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~MCN Moderator of the Minifig MOCs Forum~

Yeah, my apologies for opening that can of worms. I wouldn't have mentioned anything except for the hair hanging down from the headband-looking thingie. Unless you explain something that it involves the headband (it's not a mistake) in case someone asks. Leave it as is if fixing it would cause more problems- sometimes I'm just a stickler for details with a minor in perfection (or is that a "minor imperfection"? :D ) . Sorry again.

-Alan

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"I am the Alpha and the Omega- I am the creator and the destroyer..."

I love the whole thing on Conan, his horse, his weapons, and him. and i like the sword on the elf.

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