That was indeed an epic battle, very fun to watch. As a blogger I find total selfish satisfaction when two titans go head to head like this, it makes my job so much easier when I know I can expect something jaw dropping on nearly a daily basis. Both competitors continued to impress the entire month, and some of the MOCs were as fun as they were surprising. One of the things I enjoy most out of watching these is seeing the wonderful imaginative uses for the seed part. I really can’t tell if this round’s part was a blessing or a curse, both builders seemed to both thrive and struggle with it. I suppose that’s the measurement of a good seed part, present options and challenges at the same time. In the end KOS just nudged ahead of 2 Much Caffeine in this truly epic challenge. I found the skill level slightly higher on 2 Much Caffeine’s side, with more diverse and challenging constructions and techniques. He had fewer models, but I feel the caliber of those models overall to be slightly better. Presentation-wise it it had to go to KOS. 2 Much Caffeine had great pics, and even used some clever techniques like forced perspective and atmospherics, but nearly every pic by KOS was a carefully constructed feast for the eyes, utilizing the whole frame with a great understanding of mood and composition and a fantastic use of lighting. Clever techniques utilizing backgrounds and a multitude of materials to enhance the MOC and not distract from it made him the clear winner in my opinion. Both builders continually surprised me with their interpretations of the seed part, but in the end I thought KOS was just a bit more creative with it. Plumbing was a bit of an obvious choice choice to me, and both builders utilized that aspect of the part multiple times, but I felt 2 Much Caffeine gravitated to that aspect a few too many times. I have to say hats off to both builders, I am in awe of your mad skills and it was an honor to watch and be invited to judge this competition.

KOS
Skill 18/20
Presentation 19/20
Use 18/20
Total 55

2 Much Caffeine
Skill 19/20
Presentation 18/20
Use 17/20
Total 54

Two great builders…and I get to figure who wins.

There was a total of 52 models made this time, and each one of them is a cool MOC in their own right. Of the total, Kosbrick made a bit more (31 to 21), which gave him a bit more of an advantage in volume. But there’s more to an Iron Builder than numbers. The criteria for competition is based on three areas: skill, presentation, and use of the seed part. I’ll talk about each builder by category:

Skill:

Kosbrick: With the sheer number of builds made, Kos started strong, and kept pretty consistent through the entire month. Favorites from him include his chandelier, hangers, lamps, jetpack, phone, airplane cockpit, exercise room, polygraph, and Carl Frederickson. Some beautiful ideas are in the models. Kosbrick went in all sorts of directions, with a few unexpected.

Score: 20/20

2 Much Caffiene: Okay, he had fewer, but his variety of builds are just as thoughtful. Favorites include: the sub, the fire truck, the toilet, the space rover vignette, Earth Force Project, the steam track, Ace Chemicals, the Iron Mountain Guardians, and the Martian walkers. Lovely work!

Score: 20/20

Presentation:

This is the first time that I came up with conflicting judgments - I usually look at the presentation of the models as building an environment that is appropriate for the model itself. That usually means making a vignette of some type, but this time both builders did an excellent job of framing the parts in models and environments. Kosbrick made larger environments, that’s all - so while I assumed making larger environment for models is best, 2MC proved me wrong. Outstanding presentation from Kosbrick - lamp webpage, workout room! Outstanding presentation from 2MC - Space age rover, Iron Mountain dojo.

Both:
Score: 20/20

Use of the Seed Part:

Yipes. Here’s where I go completely off the rails on this competition. I knew that the part had potential, but I didn’t expect to see so many different uses.

Kosbrick: A light bulb filament? Excellent! Throw switches? Neat! Polygraph? Whoa!

Score: 20/20

2 Much Caffeine: Periscope? What! Whammy bar? Cool! Mech controls? Whoa! The only thing that I notice negative with 2MC’s work is that there is a repetition of use of the seed part as a pipe of some type - this is most apparent in the planes (which are cool). This is a minor ding, but enough to make a difference.

Score: 19.75/20

Total:
Kosbrick: 60
2 Much Caffeine: 59.75

It has become a real challenge to judge these, and that is a testament to the builders competing. Congratulations to both builders - both are invited to be featured in BrickJournal. Drop me a line!

Too Much Caffeine

Building Skill 17/20

There are some great builds in the selection of 19 that you posted and you definitely started off with a bang. I think my favorite build overall is the guitar: the part is cleverly used, clearly featured, and it sits so perfectly against the speaker. The variety of ways in which you were able to use it- from steam punk to space to micro- is quite impressive.

You earn bonus points in my book for also featuring a female figure -- kudos for putting one of them so prominently behind the wheel of such a smart looking contraption.

Even though you had fewer builds, I can’t hold it against you that you needed to put this on hold to attend to life. I feel fortunate when I have several consecutive hours to build, so I am amazed at how anyone can build non-stop for an entire month!

Presentation 14/20

I think some of your strongest builds were the ones without the plain backgrounds. The use of smoke in your Ace Chemicals and especially the blueprint in the Divine Thunderstrike, made for a much stronger presentation. I liked the forced perspective of the ladder truck, but could see some flames or smoke or some Victorian wallpaper behind the old fashioned toilet adding more depth to the scene.

Use of part 15/20

The angles of the paint roller seem to particularly play to your strength of using it in all sorts of tubing, plumbing, and greebling. Even though there is clever usage of the key part as nunchucks and twisted rebar (and of other parts like the Duplo blunderbuss), there is less overall diversity of parts use.

Overall 46/60

KosBrick

Building Skill 17/20

One of the things that I noticed first about your builds, is the use of the part in multiple scales: micro, to macro, and many in between. I could also sort of follow how one idea might have led to another: door handle to door knocker to double doors, Y-wings to airplanes to cockpit. Bonus points to you for the fan as a fire axe and using a Jack Stone figure in such a way that it looks respectable!

Presentation 20/20

The photography is truly impressive. Every photo is interesting from edge to edge, often using focal point, as in Frankenstein, or blank space, such as in the double doors flung wide open to the bright sun, to make the scene more effective. Each build also is perfectly framed by other accessories that contribute to a very polished and complete look, from gurneys to clouds and plants through windows, to textured walls and a vase of flowers. The use of the website format to show the different styles of lamp is a great way to turn similar builds from a drawback in to an asset.

Use of part 18/20

Even with several similar builds, such as the jet packs, the overall diversity and creativity in which you were able to use the paint roller is impressive. By far, my favorite build is the scene from Up, and my second favorite is the injured pilot watching the planes go by. Both are particularly powerful to me because they not only fulfil the obligatory requirement of using the parts cleverly, but are framed in such a way that they also convey emotion.

Overall 55/60

Congratulations to both of you for surviving the challenge. Both of you have shown an inspiring amount of creativity and talent in finding new ways to not just use, but to feature the paint roller. I look forward to seeing what you build in the future.