Flyclops
As I had recently unpacked some of my collection following the move to Denmark, I decided to give the new setup a test drive. This was also a great opportunity to use some parts I had collected while waiting for the shipment to arrive. In particular, the DUPLO dragon wings (obtained from removing the screws from the dragon itself) were at the top of my list of parts to play around with. The ball joint on this piece isn't compatible with traditional Bionicle ball joints; however, using a similar technique of shoving a Bionicle ball joint into a Technic fork, I was able to create a joint using this Technic fork.
With a wing connection figured out, I began brainstorming what sort of creature I wanted to make. The wing design felt very bat-like and reminded me of early-game RPG enemies such as Dracky from Dragon Quest or Zubat from Pokémon. Using these creatures as inspiration, I began designing the eye, with the intention of having the face be the body. The iris uses a clikits ring while the pupil is a rubber stopper.
Having loaded up on macs from Brickworld and LUGBULK, I played around with some colors before settling on dark tan. The inclusion of the reddish brown layer would help create an analogous color bridge to the dark red wings. Furthermore, as most bat-like RPG enemies dwell in caves, I felt this particular earth/rock tone color scheme would fit that vibe. The reddish brown layer is meant to be a hard, scaly texture, which I tried to convey using the texture of the horn pieces and by adding spikes to the tip of the tail. There is also a rock wedge around where the tail begins to taper, but this was unfortunately not captured well in the pictures.
The feet use Ninjago minifigure wolf armor. At this scale, I needed either a small assembly or singular part for claws, and this piece felt less clunky than an assembly. I only had them in red, and while they are a bit bright, my hope was that the larger amount of dark red from the DUPLO wings would trick the viewer's eye and lower their intensity.
Lastly, I made a base to give the MOC some context. The rock work helps solidify the color choices for the creature. I needed a way to suspend the creature in the air, and I didn't want the support to be too distracting. The boat mast is essentially a Technic liftarm without so many holes, so I went with that.
This MOC came together rather quickly in about 2-3 days. I enjoy these types of sprint builds occasionally, but then they often leave me with a "now what?". Afterward, it takes a while before I can get the ball rolling on a new project. Anyway, that was a bit rambly, but this was a nice opportunity to use some of the new parts I had been collecting for a while now. Also, the funny edit is very much inspired by Djok!
