Riding along the dark and unpaved road to Grave Stone is the Ghostly Hay Wagon. You may catch a ride with old Jeb Snotworth as he whips his black steed without mercy. He's on his way to Sutter's Mill with a special cargo of hay. Oops, was that a head that just rolled out. It is! Set includes horse, wagon, Jeb Snotworth minifig, and scythe. *skull*

:-D i love the name jeb snotworth... you always got the best names.

so what torso are you using for ole jeb (hard to tell from the photo)... i assume its this guy (because of the red arms) and i bet you are one who doesn't like to removed th arms from the torso ;-)

red shirt cowboy

and is that medium green... interesting choice.

now, im a little confused by the front of the wagon. i really can't tell what is going on from this photo alone. it appears there is a 2x2 plate missing... can you enlighted us to what this represents ???

- BrickMiner

Here's a few additional shots without box art.

Front:

Yes, the torso is from the red fig cowbow (I call Blondie). And yes, I don't remove arms.

A view from the top:

And the side which shows the whole MOC:

In keeping with traditional WW set colors, I chose green to highlight the wagon. I like green as it is also used in Gold City Junction (and goes well with Halloween). I think that dark green or even that newer brown might look good as well). It could be like "My Own Train" and you select the accent color.

8-

Ahhhhhhh Brickster! You've created an evil looking farmer! I like the themeatic cohesiveness with your Sutter's Mill MOC. If you keep going you'll have quite an interesting sub-theme here.

However, I'm wondering if there's a better way you could depict the hay in the back of the wagon...

I could think of a way of doing it using a custom design but maybe that would be too involved.

  Brick Miner said:

i think this MOC could benefit from some special features... maybe like a hidden surprise under the hay. rolling head, or somthing... but im always into little mechanisms, so maybe thats just me.

though, i think that would add a little appeal.

Neat idea. I'm not real good with mechanisms, but it would add a neat addition.

  Brick Miner said:

so, what is ole jeb up to on his way to the mill ??? seems like he might have something up his sleave >:-)

You betcha! ;-) 'Ol' Jeb may be using that old mill for some sinister things.

  Mister Phes said:

Ahhhhhhh Brickster! You've created an evil looking farmer! I like the themeatic cohesiveness with your Sutter's Mill MOC. If you keep going you'll have quite an interesting sub-theme here.

Thanks. The wagon does looks pretty good with the mill. I'm planning some additional MOCs in a similar variety.

  Mister Phes said:

However, I'm wondering if there's a better way you could depict the hay in the back of the wagon...

I could think of a way of doing it using a custom design but maybe that would be too involved.

I sorta like the old traditional look (pretty simple to do and it goes back to the basics). It reminds me of the hay in this set I had as a kid:

  Brick Miner said:

so, what is ole jeb up to on his way to the mill ??? seems like he might have something up his sleave >:-)

Indeed! Something definately sinister at old Sutter's Mill.

Here's a shot of both MOCs together:

  TheBrickster said:

I sorta like the old traditional look (pretty simple to do and it goes back to the basics). It reminds me of the hay in this set I had as a kid:

So what you're doing is bringing an older style to a new Western sub-theme concept?

  Mister Phes said:

So what you're doing is bringing an older style to a new Western sub-theme concept?

Well, if you want to say that, sure, but take a look at the Smuggler's Hayride below. We've gotten so use to specialized bricks that we don't use standard bricks anymore. Here's a set that has wonderful classic castle elements, great figs and parts, but uses standard bricks for the hay. I like throwing in standard bricks when you can, esp. just for some hay.

Yes, you're right in saying we've become accustomed to specialised bricks and The LEGO Company probably should be more innovative with the designs of the latest sets and utilise the standard bricks more. However, for details such as hay it may not be clear when they're merely square blocks. They could be anything like ranging boxes to gold. Although you could argue this leaves more to the imagination.

As for Smuggler's Hayride...

This seems to use quite a few specialised peices as it is, so why exclude the hay?

  Mister Phes said:

Yes, you're right in saying we've become accustomed to specialised bricks and The LEGO Company probably should be more innovative with the designs of the latest sets and utilise the standard bricks more. However, for details such as hay it may not be clear when they're merely square blocks. They could be anything like ranging boxes to gold. Although you could argue this leaves more to the imagination.

As for Smuggler's Hayride...

This seems to use quite a few specialised peices as it is, so why exclude the hay?

This is what I'm getting at. Smuggler's Hayride contains very specialized pieces but they left the hay standard bricks. It adds an element of nostalgia having at least 1-2 standard Lego bricks in a set. I've said this before, but more and more sets don't even have traditional bricks anymore. It makes building very difficult because one has to have "that special piece" or the MOC doesn't work. I wanted a pitchfork but I don't have one. Instead, I used a scythe in this MOC.

I don't mind standard bricks at all; even if sometimes one can't identify what they're for. It's part of the imagination process. So until I see a hay piece, it's yellow bricks.

Some of my earlier Ghost Town MOCs use a Halloween background. Thought I would update these with a more "spooky" feel with real background images. I think the result is much better:

  TheBrickster said:

Some of my earlier Ghost Town MOCs use a Halloween background. Thought I would update these with a more "spooky" feel with real background images. I think the result is much better:

Nice.

Wow, a spook from the past indeed.... :-D

A fine work and a neat MOC, although I just really love these glowing eyes in the darkness.... :-$