Welcome to Season 7 – Round 4 of Iron Builder!
Who will take home the crown?
Our defending Iron Builder Champion Duncan Lindbo or our challenger Ari Hytti?
And the seed part is…
This round’s seed part is the Cat Tail in Bright Light Orange (Keet orange).
Now our two contestants have 14 days to come up with amazing and inspiring creations featuring this seed part. Wish them luck! They’ll better get cracking!
Who are you rooting for? Who will take it home? Whose builds reign supreme?
Only one way to find out! ALLEZ BRICK!
Breakfast time!
Knife to meet you Ari ! Are you as eggs-cited for this round as I am? I hope you’re bready for this, because you butter believe I’m not gonna take it easy!
Rock ’em, sock ’em
Looks like I’ve beaten you to the punch again, Ari… I hope whatever you’re working can knock things out of the park, I’d hate for you to throw in the towel already!
Across the sulfur wastes
I feel the need, the need for a seed! Can you keep up, Ari , or am I gonna leave you in the dust? (My apologies if all these puns are a little in-sulfur-able!)
Food Fight!
They call me Donuts, ’cause I be dunkin! You may think my puns are corny, but you can’t deny my MOCs got a-peel! Now let’s see if Ari can come up with something to turn the tables…
Banana Hammock
Either way, I feel like kickin’ back with a cold one after this round is over…
Butter & Corn
Now that donutsftw has provided the appetizers, its time for the main course. He’s been talking my ear off so I cobbled this together blindfolded. This may sound corny, but there is a kernel of truth in the story of the rabbit and turtle race…
Dam rodents!
Now there’s a build I can sink my teeth into! I don’t know about any rabbits and turtles, but I’ll leave it to these guys to secure my victory. If you’d like to lodge a complaint, take it up with Simon!
Artilletaur
You may think you’ve been bullying me with so many entries, but you’ll find I’ve been on a roll making some treadfully ambitious builds. Face it, you don’t stand a lance against me
May you be touched by his noodly appendage
Now that’s quite a monster! But does yours fly? You’ll need to be a real Renaissance builder if you hope to beat me. People may say they follow Iron Builder for the MOCs, but I think we all know that what really sells are artful nood-le pics! (sauce below)
Cloud Climber
If you think you’re winning you probably have your head in the clouds. I gave you an early start and I’m already soaring right past you with high-flying builds.
“Gila” Mobile Mining Mech
I think you need to come back down to earth Ari , it’s plane to see I’ve got this in the bag! This build really got my motor running, but I’m just scraping the surface of this part’s potential: I’ve got a hole lot more ideas on my bucket list. You’re gonna need to dig deep if you wanna win this, because I’m no light-weight!
Part-icipation Trophy
Can you handle the pressure Ari ? I’ve built a few award-winning MOCs in my time, so winning this round should be no problem for me… My cup runneth over with ideas for NPU, I’m just worried I’ll have to shelve some of them to have time to sleep!
Warden
Look at you putting up a hell of a fight. Are you feeling the burn yet? I’m sure it must be torchure knowing I’m taking home the bragging rights despite your fiery efforts.
Venus
Back to back posts? Oh how the turn tables – just marble-ous! Granite, you’ve posted a lot already. Shame that your efforts will be a bust, because I’ll be the one to be cemented into Iron Builder history.
Welcome to Carcosa, little priest
I Love your little craft project… But if you think you’re going to robe me of my victory, think again, I’ve still got some tricks up my sleeve.
TV-Head
I’ve got to hand it to you Ari , you’ve put up a strong fight this round! Now, some may accuse me of having “sticky fingers” when it comes to parts usage here, bot like Picasso said, great artists steal!
Hypergriff
Copying my techniques should be ill-eagle. Great artists steal, but the best artists innovate. I’d offer to wait for you at the summit but there’s only room for one at the top. If you think that’ll be you, well, you’re living in a fantasy.
Pinch-bot
Don’t be crabby, but I may have pinched another idea…As for the summit, well, I’ve clawed my way to the top before and I’ll do it again!
Sun Bearer
Oh hey! You finally reached the top. Here’s some sunscreen. I got a sunny disposition about this competition. Before we wrap up, tell me: how does it feel to have accomplished so many builds, to still get burned by me?
Round 4 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!
Building Skill
It doesn’t take an expert to realize that both builders bring an incredible amount of skill to the table, and I especially loved how the personalities of our competitors shown through in each of their builds this round. When it comes to standout models, Duncan’s ‘”Gila" Mobile Mining Mech’ instantly comes to mind. You’ve got the best of everything here - clever implementation of the seed part, movement, and a beautifully polished MOC. It’s a more subtle model, but ’Dam rodents!’ features some brilliant character design, too. On the other side, Ari’s mastery of organic shaping shines through in multiple models, like ‘Warden’ and ‘Sun Bearer.’ In the end, I’m awarding the point to Ari, who wowed me with each and every build. The creative parts use outside the seed element, and the elegant photography are top notch.
Performance
I absolutely love that Duncan brought the same insane building speed to this round that he displayed in 2023. Duncan came out swinging right from the start, and beginning with a toast build was too perfect. While the quicker builds may lack the refinement that Ari’s have, Duncan has definitively earned the point in this category through his great variety of creations, and the playfulness each brought to the round. I mean, how can the Flying Spaghetti Monster not make you smile?
Part Usage
For me at least, this round once again comes down to parts usage. On the one hand, we have Duncan’s incredibly creative usage of the seed part, once again bringing a ton of variety to the table, but also always making the cat tail the star of the show. The kneeling monks of ‘Welcome to Carcosa, little priest’ is some of the best parts usage of the round! On the other hand, Ari really put all 100 pieces to work, showing us the unexpected tiling potential of the element. ‘Butter & Corn’ really did make for an impressive debut! Ari’s builds also integrate the seed part seamlessly, not once looking out of place or forced in.
After a great deal of inner turmoil, I’ve ultimately decided to award this category to Ari, but I can’t stress enough that this was the hardest round to judge this season. Thank you both for another entertaining and inspiring round!
Thank you for your efforts, Ari and Duncan! A fun Iron Builder round full of great entries and friendly banter is exactly what we need in these trying times. I could have sworn that the cat tail has already been a seed element before, – my knowledge of Iron Builder history is unfortunately rather limited, – but even if it has, you two have certainly breathed new life into it.
Let's not pull the cat by the tail and get straight to the results!
Parts Usage
The little swirly part is very versatile on its own, though its varied use in LEGO sets slightly narrows down the list of innovative ways it can be used in. Both builders had their own ups and downs in exploring the full potential of the seed element. Some highlights for me included Duncan's kneeling cultists and excavator shovels, Ari's gradient flames and head designs, and two very different depictions of the corn cob.
In the end, I chose Duncan in this category. While Ari had some extremely impressive designs throughout this round, I felt that some builds of his would be just as good and full of character without the seed part. The sheer level of artistic and technical execution on display in the Warden and Sun Bearer simply draws too much attention away from the seed element, demoting it to a fun little easter egg - something I'd be fine with in a character building contest, but also something I need to emphasize in Iron Builder.
Needless to say, the part's color also provides an extra challenge. Bright Light Orange doesn't offer as much variety as other plain colors, and that can often backfire in unexpected ways - Duncan's beavers and Ari's spaceship stand out to me as two builds where the seed element's white counterpart would have been a more appropriate choice. This did not affect my choices, as I already find working with a limited color palette unfairly challenging, but it's still a little observation I wanted to share.
Build Quality
Both of you fought hard as the skill bar steadily rose. Duncan has demonstrated mastery over multiple building styles, alternating between "artsy" and cartoonish builds and ultimately topping the lineup with a fun tribute to Ari's well-received Bio-Cup build. However, Ari retaliated by posting perhaps some of the best entries I've ever seen in IB, made even better by outstanding presentation. While I definitely enjoy simpler builds and suppose there is a place for proof-of-concept MOCs in the Iron Builder history, I was swayed by Ari's pure visual artistry and thought he deserved recognition for his overall build quality.
Performance
Once again I find this category to be the most subjective of the three, as reducing performance to the principle of quantity over quality would be a really crude assessment. The contestants have definitely put forth comparable effort, so determining a winner in this last category proved to be a tough call. Duncan's output felt more stable and consistent, which would have ensured him a victory in the long run, had he fought against a more predictable opponent... Ari's initial uneven output, however, quickly spiraled out of control as he presented several impressive large-scale models which were hard to beat and thus managed to keep up. I think Ari deserves a win in this last category.
Congrats to you both!
Each round I enjoy the steady flurry of stellar builds popping up in my feed, forgetting I once again have another tough decision to make.
Parts Usage
It was great to see both builders explore connections besides the seed part’s single anti-stud. Both were skillful at disguising the part too - from Duncan’s Rock ’em, sock ’em robot hands and beaver teeth to the colour pop on Ari’s cloud climber. Ari’s Venus earrings and Hypergriff (great name btw!) beak came close, but the best part usage goes to Duncan’s Carcosa cultists. Interpreting the part as kneeling robed legs was a stroke of genius!
Build Quality
Bearing none of the hallmarks of time pressure you’d expect in a competition this fierce, Duncan’s superb Gila mining mech alone made this an equally tricky call. But ultimately I’m giving this one to Ari. Top-notch framing, posing and dynamism was present in every build, with the boldly minimalist Venus and the mean-looking Artilletaur standing out for their overall presentation. (Not to mention the awesome use of Bionicle legs for Artilletaur’s jaws!)
Performance
Duncan and Ari are both masters of words as well as bricks, so while their delightfully dreadful puns induced many an eye-roll, they are of little help to my verdict. Aside from one corny exchange, they refrained from build-based banter and instead beavered away at their respective high-flying ideas. Of these Duncan seemed to have no shortage. While the build quality didn’t always keep pace with the quantity, Duncan’s willingness to throw as many ideas at the wall and see what sticks was performance enough to tip the scales in his favour.
Of course it depends what my fellow judges say - but seeing as you’ve already built yourself a trophy Duncan, you may as well raise it!
Seed Part Usage:
Build Quality:
Performance:
Ari
Ari
Duncan
Ari
Seed Part Usage:
Build Quality:
Performance:
Duncan
Ari
Ari
Ari
Seed Part Usage:
Build Quality:
Performance:
Duncan
Ari
Duncan