Mohamed Marei

LEGO×Yu-Gi-Oh! Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (QC Anniversary MOC) byu/BrickPharaohThe1st inbioniclelego Part 5 of my tribute series for the Quarter Century Anniversary of Yu-Gi-Oh, having made its debut at BrickFestival Coventry last weekend! One of my fav Yu-Gi-Oh! monsters, and the subject of fascination of mine since I first watched GX. I first tried my hand at this character 6 years ago for the 2018 BioCup prelims. Wasn't too happy with my execution nor presentation, so this year I finally decided I'd give this another shot. I'd like to say I managed to improve upon my first attempt but I included it in the last 2 shots so you can compare them yourselves! Taking suggestions for monsters from Yu-Gi-Oh! you'd like to see! https://www.instagram.com/p/C_85DxbODaL/?igsh=MTdycjc0b3N5azM3Nw==

Thanks! I was inspired by several concept art pieces which featured alchemical wizards in a rather "chaotic" work environment, and I wanted to replicate this to a certain extent, hence the workbench full of potions, distiller just behind it, and various other bits and bobs that add further character to the main figure. I've been told my photography and editing skills need to improve, as one of the judges felt those aspects (photo editing and framing of the subject) let my entry down quite a bit when it came to judging. Nevertheless, I think it's probably one of my best MOCs of the year and it's garnered a lot of positive attention at my recent local conventions.

Here's a rundown of what I built for the BioCup 2024. BioCup 2024 R0: Journey to Mars! Journey to Mars by Mohamed Marei, on Flickr "Seven years of astronaut school. Seven more years of travel... And here we are. RING RING RING .... Time to wake up." Built for the preliminary round of the BioCup. Theme: space. For this MOC, I combined the classic Lunar Buggy aesthetic with some modern concept art designs to yield this piece. The astronaut builds on top of a Technic Fig whose arms are swapped out for thicker-looking padded arms. The legs get a similar treatment with metal ingots in white. Merlin the deranged! by Mohamed Marei, on Flickr "Merlin's newfound fascination with alchemy has yielded an array of.... interesting experiments, to say the least." Built for BioCup 2024 R1 Theme: Energy Subtheme: Chemical Building something interesting for this round was a real challenge. I toyed around with various concepts until I stumbled upon my limited collection of light nougat bricks.. and then a face emerged. Slowly over the next few days, I built up Merlin and the rest of the scene, inspired by an alchemical twist on the traditional Dungeons and Dragons evil wizard trope. The whole time I was building, you could hear me sing "Necromancer" by Judas Priest. In fact, this ended up being the theme song of this build, and Merlin was built in the image of Rob Halford, legendary musician and Judas Priest frontman, who's also a native Brummie! The gargoyles at the back came last; they were more of an afterthought that panned out quite well I must admit. Sadly, this MOC didn't make it through the matchup I was in, but I took it to my display at Brick Festival Birmingham the following day (Saturday 22nd of June), where it received widespread critical acclaim.

"The knight-errant wearily plods on, in search of more desperate souls in need of his aid." Link to Instagram gallery of breakdown shots: https://www.instagram.com/p/CtzuBHnr_Ud/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== This MOC was my entry to Round 1 of the BioCup and, while worthy of an honourable mention by the judges, sadly did not progress on to Round 2. Being thematically compatible with the BBC #81 I've decided to enter it here for a chance at redemption perhaps? Let me know what you think!

Tachyon Thrasher "An alien robot bounty hunter from deep space. Executing his mission with ruthless precision, only for those deemed worthy of his service." My entry to the 2023 BioCup preliminary round!

King Mathias and His Royal Guard by Mohamed Marei, on Flickr "At long last, His Majesty is crowned! Long may He reign!" Initially built as a spiritual continuation of the Knights Kingdom 2018 collab, this build has now been assimilated into my UK 2022 convention lineup. My display was called: CCBS Kingdom Figures. The build started off with a janky looking prototype of King Mathias, where the challenge was to sort out the appearance of the shoulders. Once I had the concept figured out, I trialled several iterations before I was happy with the end result. The throne draft came together thanks to a spontaneous handful of visits to my local PAB wall and some yet-to-be-sorted BL orders. It was left at 70% done in early 2021, when I first posted an earlier version of this design. Then in 2022, in the week before my first UK Brick Festival (May 2022), I hashed out the Royal Guards, which I aimed to keep simple yet detailed. Finally, the base, initially coming together during one of the slower events I was displaying at, was used to incorporate the entire build. Again, another spontaneous PAB wall visit was the source of all the white tiles I came to possess. Overall I am quite happy with the end result, and will be taking this along to some more 2023 shows before retiring it for next year, but not before I've changed things up a bit with my new display (currently in the works). I would send it along to the US convention circuit but I don't think it's too feasible for me right now. Here's a link to an Instagram Reel to show you a full 360 view!

Commander Jax Petaflop by Mohamed Marei, on Flickr "Let's get this show on the road, folks!" Originally started in August, held out for a while until the fortuitously timely occasion arrived (lol). Happy Lunar New Year!

Thank you! Thanks! Those took some trial and error to get right, so I'm pleased you like the end result! Thank you! Yes, a lot of people don't know this but this MOC uses a frame very similar to the Bignicle frame by Souji Gakari. In fact it's an adapted version of that frame, which affords it a great range of poseability (on paper). However, due to the nature of the armor which is quite cumbersome to re-orient while maintaining the intended appearance, the poseability is somewhat restricted. Nevertheless, it's got jointed articulation in the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrist (twist only), fingers, hips, knees, ankles and toes! I dare say it does lend itself well to some basic poses (see some further examples on my Flickr), but I wouldn't push my luck with it XD

Dystopea Wolff - Main by Mohamed Marei, on Flickr "A bounty huntress from the distant future, tasked with fixing the timeline by the Galactic Order." Been wanting to build this MOC for a very long time, and had a very rough draft of the aesthetics built a few months ago before I left for holiday. Managed to crank the finished version out over the Easter break. A total departure from my regular style, this build was epic fun to make! Let me know what you think!

Thank you! It was a real challenge working out these textures and details, and making something that ultimately looked cohesive while remaining true to the source materials I was working with. I found the lower legs particularly hard to get right.

Thanks everyone! To answer your questions regarding the height, this figure currently stands at just over 40 cm tall (to about top of the head level, excluding the crest/kabuto). As for the stand, the MOC technically can stand without it, but I've incorporated it for additional stability, since the baseplate is rather soft and fails to support the MOC on top if it is used to lift it up.

The Great Shogun (Samurai MOC 2022) by Mohamed Marei, on Flickr Progress Shots Well, it's been a helluva journey with this #MOC, which I consider to be my magnum opus. Head on over to the link above to see how it all started! I've started this MOC over two years ago, and had made substantial progress towards this current version all the way back in Jan 2021, when it was about 75% done. Then life got in the way, and I had to prioritise other things, namely finishing my PhD, moving house, getting married, and a whole lot more. Since January I've been slowly reclaiming back some time for my #LEGO #hobby and I've been really enjoying it as of late. I plan to bring you guys a whole lot more in the coming weeks and months. For now, enjoy this MOC and please let me know what you think! I'll also take this moment to thank my MasterPiece friends for their constant encouragement and support throughout this journey, without whom I'm not sure this would have turned out nearly as good.

Which part? The av-toran limbs (Photok iirc) are used as the upper legs with a bit of System to bulk it up. The knee is a 3m CCBS armor piece. Otherwise, the rest is pretty straightforward technic/CCBS if you zoom in on the final pic :)

A shapeshifting bounty hunter who only has one purpose: to destroy. Full gallery on Instagram here Started work on this early last year but managed to find the time to finish it a couple weeks ago. It absolutely blew up on Instagram, so I thought I'd show it to you guys over here! Please feel free to share your thoughts on this MOC, and more importantly: Stay cool, BBC!

Thanks! Bionicle is actually an original LEGO IP, like Ninjago etc., not a licensed theme.