Steven Howard

Ghalad

Ivan Martynov

Space Glove

Welcome to Iron Builder: Digital Showdown!

For April Fools this year we have something special: A fully digital seed part duel, featuring two rendering rivals!

Tic Tac Toe

Seems like we finally cross our paths… I guess I’ll make the first move!

The Captain

You may have taken the first shot in this battle, Ivan, but this is no mere game. This is war and my captain will help lead me to victory!

Cap’n Carl in “Iceburgh Issues” (1928)

War? Well, whatever floats your boat! But don’t get too distracted by the captivating vista overboard – icy some stuff coming your way…

Emergency Meeting

You’ve been suspiciously quiet since our last meeting so I vent building once again! Hope you are prepared for the task and another imposting build of yours is soon to follow…

(P.S. The red guy is made from a Spike Prime light matrix. The seed part was not changed in any way)

The Detective

You think something is sus? Well then I think it is time to apprehend this occasion. I think you might be melting under pressure and need to freeze! I’m on your case and ready to take the shot!

The Laundromat

I think it’s time to take you to the cleaners while we are at it.

Christmas Night

Laundering you say… Better naught to mention it in this guy’s presentce. Our contract has a very specific clause…

Capsule Tower

Looks like ol’ clause needs some rest, but he isn’t on this place’s guestlist regardless if he has been naughty or nice. I think this post should cap-tivate you.

Iron Trek

After a bit of rest I think it is time to take you on a trek. Are you ready? It is time to engage and make it so to the final frontier of this Iron Trek.

Mountain Road

I see you’re about to outrace me – that’s the altitude!

Sea-King

You’re tentacletively kraking a smile at my previous small builds… This one should be a real catch.

Top Gun: Iron Maverick

Looks like a kaiju is loose so I’ll come flying in to take it out. I think it is time to jet but I do feel the need for speed and some fried octopus!

The Office

It’s office-al, I got to work, put in the hours, and finished my job. The paper is stacking up- do you have what it takes?… also, don’t forget to file your TPS report. That would be great.

The Hunt

I would surely croak if I did so much paperwork! But let’s not jump to conclusions…

Space Glove

That may be one small leap for a frog but I gotta hand it to you @Space_Glove … here’s a space glove.

Ice Planet: Mobile Ordinance Utility Service (aka-M.O.U.S.E.)

While you put on some space gloves, make sure you don’t freeze when you see this next one. Icy you might be frozen in your tracks. Tread carefully…

MRI

Space is cool! It lures people like a magnet and stimulates their imagination… I hope your spacemen make sure to get a health check before they embark on their journey.

Generation Gap

Why bother with space exploration though when AI is the real star of the future? Don’t glitch out – they won’t scrap us when they take over the globe…

Boombox

I think it’s time for Johny to take 5 and listen to the music. Don’t get boxed in. This moc is boomin’

Kitchen

While you’ve been walking in the park I was busy cooking! I can whistle a tune or two, but sounds of my home are music to my ears.

The Red Dragon

I think you may need some fire to ignite that stove, but don’t go dragon your feet.

Microscope

I see you are scoping out the last post’s details. You may need to magnify it as the details are so microscope-ic.

Garrosh Hellscream

You did a nice worc, I like where your fantasy is going. But don’t think you are trolling me – Hellscream’s eyes are upon you. Hoard or bust!

Barnyard Beam-Up

Holy cow! While we’ve been exchanging puns, someone decided to stockpile our livestock! Report it to newspapers, this story must gain traction!

Dog House

UFOs you say? Well dog-gone-it! I better be on guard. But I won’t be tweeting my house address for those aliens.

Iron Phone1.0

I know this competition has been ruff, but it isn’t yet time for us to ring it in. Don’t phone it in- we are both smart. I’ll make the next call as this moc seems app-ropriate.

Winter Fishing

Did you call me? I don’t think I caught your signal where I’m at. Come swim with me in success and let’s scale up our fun!

Deep Sea Treasure Quest

I sea you fishing. Be careful- while you may find the things you treasure most, down in the depths lurks dangerous creatures hammering away… doo doo doo doo…

Pick-a-Brick

I hope they won’t pick on me! Once my cup is filled, they’ll wish they’d banged their heads against a brick wall instead….

IRON GEAR

You’ve been quiet lately, but this event has been a blast so far. Looks like both of us are gearing up for the grand finale!

War of the Worlds: Trouble on Spike Prime [VIDEO]

I see we are in top gear and I must say, this has been one crazy war of the worlds! It really has animated me.

Dental Trouble

A war it is – tooth for tooth! My sixteeth build might not be as impressive… Well, less chatter and more action – brace yourself!

The Cost

I’ve got a bone to pick with you, Ivan! This contest has been music to my ears, but also has dried me up to my very bones. And now, with that… I’m dead.. (true story- this is me after 2 weeks of Iron Builders 😀 )

Portal

Are you still alive? This was a triumph!

Fast and Furious

We have finally crossed the finish line – I’d say the race is over!

Building is fun, but nothing is stronger than the family…

Iron Builder: Digital Showdown is officially over!

It is now in the hands of our judges to decide who has won this round!

Good luck to both our builders!

Aukbricks

To begin with, I must say that I was absolutely blown away by the creativity, skill, and passion demonstrated by the builders. It was inspiring to see such a diverse range of styles and techniques on display, and I was impressed by the level of effort and attention to detail that went into each and every build.

Parts Usage: Both builders showed creativity and ingenuity in the use of the seed part. However, I felt that Steven Howard's builds took it to the next level by incorporating the seed part in a unique and seamless way that enhanced the overall builds, making them both visually stunning and conceptually impressive. I particularly loved the Capsule Tower, which was a perfect example of how to use the seed part in a way that was both striking and subtle.

Build Quality: I was thoroughly impressed by the high level of skill and precision in each and every build. Both builders put in a great deal of effort and thought, resulting in a collection of exceptional MOCs. The Red Dragon and the Boombox by Steven Howard caught my eye with their remarkable aesthetics and demonstrated superb attention level to detail.

Performance: Each of the builders showcased their personalities and humor through puns and quirky builds. It was truly entertaining to watch them in action and witness the back and forth between the two builders. I especially enjoyed The Hunt and Winter Fishing by Ivan Martynov, which both had clever ways to incorporate the seed part and the cat in the Kitchen build added a hilarious touch to the already impressive model.

Overall, the builders demonstrated exceptional skills in creating digital models and their creations were truly astonishing and really highlighting the endless possibilities of digital LEGO building where you are not restricted by available bricks in your collection. I was also impressed by the beautiful renderings of the models. It was a pleasure to witness and I want to congratulate both builders on their amazing work.

Nicolas Carlier

nicolas_builds

First of all, congratulations to Steven and Ivan for their exceptional work and for launching this first digital round of Iron Builder.

Parts Usage
In this category, I was looking for builders who could use the uniqueness of the given piece to deceive our eyes and give a new understanding of the piece. Both builders managed to find many creative functions for this piece, but I want to highlight two builds that I found particularly successful, Steven´s "Laundromat" and Ivan´s "Kitchen", in which the piece is used in a truly ingenious way! Looking at the models as a whole, I think Ivan managed to showcase more diverse creative uses of this piece while showcasing its singularity with simple means. By just placing the piece into a context, the illusion works perfectly!

Build Quality
I think everyone can agree that both builders presented extremely elaborate and creative models. I am still amazed that they managed to accomplish all this in such a short amount of time! Ivan brilliantly showed off his mastery in building highly detailed models with a low amount of pieces and thus demonstrated that you don´t always need to build massive models to come up with breathtaking results. I want to add that Ivan´s "portal" is probably my favorite model from this Iron Builder round! However, I believe Steven took this duel to the next level! His animation was, for sure, a strong move, and being myself an animation enthusiast and self-conscious of the work and skills this level of animation requires, I can only admire the effort and dedication he must have put into creating such an impressive piece of art. Overall, I think Steven´s builds were slightly more ambitious, and his presentation a bit more refined. He fully embraced the possibilities offered by this digital round by showcasing some of his builds in detailed 3D settings or large-scale brick-built environments, which in my opinion, was a very smart move.

Performance
When it comes to performance, it was extremely difficult for me to designate a winner as both, Steven and Ivan, did a fantastic job! They crushed it with 17 builds for Steven and 18 for Ivan, and I think you both deserve a standing ovation for this outstanding performance. And on this note, I hope you had some well-deserved rest after this epic battle! In term of puns and repartee, I think both were equally strong! To pick my winner for this category, I examined which builder displayed the most diversity in terms of size and styles, and that is why I am awarding the point to Steven!

New Elementary

"As always, big thumbs up for both builders who have given us another entertaining round of Iron Builder, but also what a brilliant idea from the team for both the seed part and having a digital round! The Sensor piece is such a unique element compared to a lot of other seed parts before, as it has some very “un-LEGO” features like the lens, the split line, the little indents… while at the same time has a certain bulk to its size and an ironically squarish shape. The digital aspect of this round certainly enabled the builders to do a lot more with the piece than what could’ve been done in real life, but that has by no means made it any less challenging, only made it more fun.

For parts usage, I would like to hand it to Ivan. While both of you did a fantastic job, I think it’s quite clear to me that Ivan has more innovative usage for brick throughout the round, utilizing every different features I have mentioned above, like using the white rectangles on “Cap’n Carl”’s pants and the “Mountain Road”; using the split line in “Emergency Meeting”, the gift box in “Christmas Night” and one of my personal favourites – the kitten in “Kitchen”. Steven, on the other hand, focused on using mostly the circular lens on the front of the sensor throughout his entries, and even though he has also utilized other sides of the sensors in several entries like “Ice Planet: Mobile Ordinance Utility Service” (which is another favourite of mine from the round!) and “The Red Dragon”, the features felt a lot less crucial to the concept of the builds.

For Build Quality, it was a tougher call but I have given it to Ivan again. While both of you have handed in some incredible models, I think Ivan’s models in general has more intricate details and constructions, for instance the laser beam in “Tic Tac Toe”, all the funky parts for shaping on “Sea-King”, all the NPUs in “Kitchen” etc… Many of his models almost feel like entries for other rounds of Iron Builder if you ignore the sensors. Meanwhile, Steven’s models rely more on repetition, like “The Red Dragon” and often the background objects that are used to set the scene feels a bit less polished, for example the street scene in “Boombox” and the furniture in “The Cost”.

Last but not least, for the overall performance, I have decided to give it to Ivan again. Both of you are pretty strong in the game of puns and reparteé, but I think Ivan won my vote with more diverse models when in terms of scales and topics, and I also really like how stylish a lot his models look, like the characters from “Barnyard Beam-Up”, “Dental Trouble” and “Fast and Furious”. Once again, kudos to both builders as you’ve both done an amazing job and I can’t wait to see more awesome builds from you guys in the future!

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Steven

Steven

Ivan

Steven

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Ivan

Steven

Steven

Steven

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Ivan

Ivan

Ivan

Ivan

The round goes to Steven