A thrilling Iron Builder matchup! Over the two weeks both Eli and Gerrit displayed great deals of creativity and ingenuity with their builds and part usages. A very impressive display from these talented builders!

Parts Usage:
Both builders did not disappoint when it came to parts usage, making great use of all sides and shapes of the challenging watering can seed part. Of Gerrit's, “Caterpillar” and “Peacock” were two of my favorites of the whole round. I also really liked his use of the watering can as shoulders in “The Blademaster”. Eli also found some great uses in characters with “NoseGoes and the Galactic Gig”. As well as his “Iron Bubble Blaster”, which was another one of my favorites of the whole round!
When judging this difficult category, I was asking myself “How would this build be changed without the seed part, how integral is it to the build?”. This is where I feel that Gerrit really shined through in his usages, and as such I will be giving him the category. He consistently produced shapes and techniques that quite possibly could not have been done better, or even otherwise at all without the watering can seed part!

Build Quality:
Build quality from both builders was at its peak throughout the whole round. The builders did a great job at creating impressive builds to show off their technical skills and surround their seed part usages. However this category also includes presentation, which for me is what tips the scales in favor of Eli.
Eli’s presentation remained at it's highest level and consistent with every build. Highlights like the spectacular video in “A Closer Look”, and creative framing in “The Car Poster”. Even just his small edits on builds, while minor, add a great deal of polish to the final product.
It was that polish that I would’ve liked to see a bit more of in the terms of presentation from Gerrit, with 8/10 of his builds just being photographed on plain colored backgrounds. However I did like the simple, yet effective edit on “Caterpillar”, and the lifestyle like photo in “Potted Cactus”.

Performance:
Probably the closest category out of the three for me. Both builders showed their might, with lots of varied builds and fun banter back and forth with their pun-game.
For me though, Gerrit just edges out the lead in this one. I really felt that he was and was not afraid to push himself outside of his comfort zone with his builds and parts usages. He showed a great consisitency in his performance over the round, finding inspired parts usages and producing great builds from his very first to his very last. “Remixing a Classic” was a nice reference, and a great way to close out the round from him.

I want to greatly applaud both Eli and Gerrit for this round. It was really a joy to watch it all unfold, (and a great challenge to try and judge it in the end!) both builders should be incredibly proud of themselves. I will be looking forward to what comes next from both of them!

The watering can presented a very unusual element to work with for this round. Unusual, but still offering plenty to work with - from almost every angle the element has some feature that opens up building possibilities: We have the hollow can to be filled- the two appendage- like bars in the form of the handle and spout, and the underside features a nice clean antistud. At first glance it's a surprising choice but on closer inspection, a great seed part for an Iron Builder.

In terms of parts usage, the builders were very evenly matched. It seemed that Gerrit liked the pattern made by filling the can with round elements like his caterpillar and peacock, and although the technique was similar, the two applications worked very well to create two distinct models. Eli favoured stacking the element, and this worked particularly well with his Cactus Caretakers. The builders used every feature of the element to their advantage, the spindly spouts and handles became noses, legs and everything in between, Eli’s ‘It isn’t Easy Being Green’ and Gerrit’s Blademaster are excellent examples of this. The two space stations were masterclasses in NPU and I think the element worked particularly well at a micro-scale representing architectural features in the stations themselves as well as the thrusters and details in the vehicles. These were among my favorite builds from both contestants.

Both builders provided some astonishingly polished models. One of my favorites of Gerrit’s was the Street Monster, not only was the seed part integrated very well into the model but there were plenty more NPU and well built details to be found elsehwere like the grill of the vehicle as well as the suspension system. The parts usage on the Blademaster- especially the banner on his back was phenomenal too. Eli was consistently pumping out top quality MOCs for the entirety of the competition but his Microscope MOC really stole the show: it’s a great MOC let alone an Iron Builder entry. The concept and execution was simply mindblowing.

All in all, a closely fought round but Eli ekes out a victory over Gerrit.

Another round of Iron Builder, another tough call to make!

Seed Part Usage:
The lime green Watering Can is one of the more challenging seed parts in my opinion in recent memories - it has a considerable size with a fairly odd and specific shaping, and the connection points are also not particularly “system-friendly”, so I will start by saying I’m really impressed by the variety of usage both Eli and Gerrit managed to come up with in this round! In addition, the lime green colour also isn’t the most neutral colour that is easy to blend itself into objects, yet there were hardly any if not only a few entries where I feel the builders were using lime green watering can only because they were “forced” to. It’s the Iron Builder so I shouldn’t be surprised, but credit where credit’s due!

For Eli, my personal highlights would be “Frogs Below the Bridge” for the classic efficient partial usage of the seed part, the perfect incorporation of the seed part in “Iron Bubble Blaster” and the surprising perfect Kermit in “It’s not easy being a green watering can”. For Gerrit, it would be the “Peacock” (I love how you didn’t just “cheat” by using parts of the element that resemble the pattern, but they were actually nicely hugged by the new leaf elements), the refreshing use of the can in sideways to perfectly capture something as organic as the muscles in “The Blademaster”, the simple yet brilliant way of creating a face in “Rodian Lord”, and the one final demonstration of how you can still find new ways to use the parts in “Remixing a Classic” (I think neither of the “sides” of the water can utilized in this build was used in any previous builds in the round, which is really impressive for a final entry) – also special shout out “Street Monster”, while it may not be the most mind-blowing usage of the cans, it’s one of the rare occasions that I wouldn’t necessarily think it is an Iron Builder entry because of how naturally incorporated the seed parts are. It’s a tough call but I eventually decided to hand this category to Gerrit, not only because there were more “highlights” for me as listed above, but I was also reviewing every entry by the end and I feel like there were more entries from Eli that felt more “forced” if I really have to be nitpicking, such as “A Closer Look”, while very innovative, it doesn’t feel like the seed part was needed for it to work, or the water can trees in “The Car Poster”.

Build Quality:
I am giving this to Eli. Both builders have given us some top quality models (as per usual), but for me there are more intricate details in Eli’s model overall. I think a great comparison would be the two space-themed build “Space Jam Station” and “Star Mining Facility”, Eli’s station involves a bunch of satisfying geometries and little details that kept my attention, while Gerrit’s mining facility (while still looking gorgeous) feels more straightforward and rely more for the stunning colour combinations. I also love the consistently clean execution Eli has across all the entries, while for Gerrit I think there are a few like “Potted Cactus”, “The Bounty’s Companion” and “Remixing a Classic” just feels slightly less polished than the other.

Overall Performance:
I would be repeating myself at this point by saying both of you did well and it’s a tough call, but it is! I think both of you also managed to keep the builds diverse throughout the round, and even the pun and repartee game was fairly equal for me this time. In the end, I have decided to give it to Gerrit, because I think ultimately the usage of the seed part is the soul and core of Iron Builder, so if I have to pick a winner it should be the one who impressed me more in regards of the seed part usage. As always, kudos to both builders and I can’t wait to see more awesome builds from you guys in the future!