Classic-Castle contest entries

I already noted that Classic-Castle recently held a building contest and Greg3 won the vignettes category with his entry, Down on the Farm. Here are some of my other favorite entries:

Alan/Footsteps Lady of the Lake. What impresses me here is the clever construction to get the arm raising the sword out of the water. The fact that the ground and water continue down below the surface is also nice attention to detail.


Blueandwhite's Saint Nick. The vertical construction is what makes this MOC, with St. Nick on the roof and two levels in the interior. The interior details also distinguish this construction.


Chris Malloy's Janitorial Duties. Late at night the statue comes alive, much to the dismay of the janitor. This scene shows real movement in the poses, and is based on a humorous idea. The fact that the floor is stepped is also a nice detail.


Ed's Fate of Sir. The pose of the skeleton really looks like it fell naturally, and the seaweed growing through the helmet adds to the effect, suggesting that this knight met his fate many years ago. There's a nice color contrast between the black/gray/white of the skeleton and the greens of the seaweed. The shark floating above really makes this feel as if it is under water.


Two from Elijah C, Lover's Leap and Munch Munch. Lover's Leap captures a real sense of movement. It feels as if we took a snapshot mid-fall. Munch Munch has a real cartoon-humor sense to it.


Two from fry slayer, Surprise Inspection and Assasins. These share similar qualities, in that each of them cuts a slice out of a larger scene, and each suggests that it is illustrating a story. Both of them use the vertical dimension interestingly.


Down on the Farm by Greg3 won the category. While this is a somewhat static vignette, it has such a quiet charm that it earned very high marks from me. The fence construction is especially clever.


Josh Wedin's In the Stocks. The stocks are a nice design, and I laugh that they're throwing everything at this guy, including rotten fish. What really makes this one, though, is how a couple pieces of fruit are caught in mid-air, making alive rather than static.


Legofreak's Aladdin. I really like the way this redefines the space by rounding the opening with rock above and below, and the genie appearing out of smoke is very clever.


Royal Privy by Norro and Wrong Place Wrong Time by PenneyBoy both go for the same lowbrow humor. Nothin' wrong with that. :) In addition to just good building technique, the fact that the black pieces are caught mid-air on the first, and the attackers slipping and sliding in the second, really make these MOCs feel alive.


Two by Sir Nelson, Squire's Dreams and Lucky Shot are probably my favorites of the contest. Squire's Dreams has a nice take on an interior creation, with the recessed arches in the walls. The daydream of the squire as he imagines being a knight gives this a real wistful air. I like that he's taking a moment from his scrubbing to use his brush as a mock-weapon to fight the jousting dummy. The water and suds on the floor is masterful.

Lucky Shot really made me laugh. It reminds me of this Far Side cartoon where one arrow killed the wooly mammoth, and one caveman is saying to the other "We've got to mark that spot down." This MOC really uses the vertical dimension well. Notice that the hole in the wall and the balcony both roughly match the dimensions of the rock. Also that the king is recessed into the floor makes it look like a huge boulder really did come flying through the wall to squish him.


Vegar Arnesen's @#$% Happens. This one has a lot of humor and you really feel for the prisoner. Construction at multiple levels is a big plus, and the placement of the blocks and figs on the lowest level make it feel as if the scene is caught in the action. It might be improved slightly if the figs in the levels above were responding to the action below.


Anyway, those were a few of my favorites, with my reasons why. Overall I was really happy with how this category turned out. I am sure that there will be vignette contests in the future, both by Classic-Castle.com and by other sites, and I'll be sure to publicize them heavily here.