07 December 2023

Bug Fest: Moko's MOCs

Posted by Thomas Jenkins

For our latest Parts Festival we've added the bricks from LEGO® Ideas 21342 The Insect Collection to the collections of five amazing builders, and asked them to create original models. Welcome to Bug Fest!

Kicking the fest off today is Moko, a master of nice parts usage (NPU). Indeed, one of his Bug Fest MOCs really puts the 'P' into NPU...

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
LEGO® Ideas 21342 The Insect Collection
US$79.99/ £69.99/ 79.99€/ AU$124.99
1111 parts
4 September 2023
This article contains affiliate links, we may get a small commission if you purchase: Set 21342 on LEGO.com

 Mannekin Pis


After getting a hold of this year's new Bar Curved with Axle End and 1 x 1 Round Plate (4042), I immediately thought of the Manneken Pis statue in Brussels


The shape and colour of the element were the perfect part to represent the arc the water makes as it spurts from that little fountain.  I used Minifig Neckwear Wings Fairy (40526) to create the effect of water splashing in the bowl.

I'm pleased with the way the water effects turned out but the size of these elements forced me to scale the statue down and simplify the statue. Regardless, I think I captured the likeness quite well.

Anteater

The next part that caught my eye was Animal / Creature Body Part, Tail / Claw / Horn / Branch / Tentacle, End Section, Large (67361) as it looked just like an anteater's long snout. 


A method to attach the tongue required a bit of thought, however.

Rockhopper Penguin 

The third element I chose to examine was Weapon Sword Serrated (19858). They looked like they could be used as some kind of hair tuft. Eyebrows, perhaps? Although the real Rockhopper Penguin has yellow eyebrows, I think lime is a reasonable substitute. 

I had to think about how to attach the eyebrows to the penguin's body. I ended up using Bar 1L / Stem with 3 Sprouts/Prongs (68211) which fit perfectly into the tiny holes on the sword. 

READ MORE: See what kekenoji, Ikuse Ryouji, and Takamichi Irie made from the same set

If you're inspired by Moko, why not get hold of set 21342 on LEGO.com yourself?

Help New Elementary keep publishing articles like this. Become a Patron!

A huge thank you to all our patrons for your support, especially our 'Vibrant Coral' tier: London AFOLs, Antonio Serra, Beyond the Brick, Huw Millington, Big B Bricks, Dave Schefcik, David and Breda Fennell, Gerald Lasser, Baixo LMmodels, Sue Ann Barber and Trevor Clark, Markus Rollbühler, Elspeth De Montes, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Chuck Hagenbuch, Jf, Wayne R. Tyler, Daniel Church, Lukas Kurth (StoneWars) and Timo Luehnen! You folks are just the cutest little baby bows.

LEGO® Shop at Home
USA: FREE SHIPPING every day on orders over $35!
UK: Free delivery when you spend £50 or more at LEGO!
Australia: Discover the latest promotions and offers on LEGO.com

All text and images are © New Elementary unless otherwise attributed.

3 comments:

  1. Oh, the Mannekin Pis is hilarious! I recognize it from the early Animal Crossing games (where you could obtain several pieces of furniture based on world landmarks by helping the navigationally-challenged sailor Gulliver). You can imagine how silly an item like this would be to a kid less familiar with its real-world origins.

    The anteater is adorable too! And really showcases how helpful the cutout in this new tail piece is. You could attach things to the old dinosaur tail with the Technic pin attachment, but good luck getting something like a Technic half-pin out when you couldn't push it from the other side. The cutout in the new one does look slightly less "finished" from some angles but any change that prevents an accidental "permanent" connection is a good one in my book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hehe NPU indeed!

      You're right, that tail element was surely designed with the feature of being able to easily remove Technic 1/2 pins. I always thought the cut out was a bit oversized but -whoknew!?- it just opens up more building possibilities! I never thought of exploiting the part in this way. Very clever!

      Delete