[MOC] Wild Jazz Trio

[Inconspicuous]

Greetings!

My latest MOC is a celebration of the local wildlife here in Northern California. I frequently see deer and turkeys while out hiking, and mountain lions are native to the area (sometimes making the local news).

I made this MOC for a Lego event called Brick Palooza that's taking place tomorrow in Santa Rosa, California. The event was a great inspiration to build something ambitious. It will also be my first time displaying a build for the general public. If anyone's attending, be sure to keep an eye out for this one!

Trio Annadel

 

The landscape and wildflowers were inspired by my local state park, called Trione-Annadel. As a play on words, the jazz group is named Trio Annadel.

I made a signboard with Trio Annadel lettering, but have omitted in some photos to better show the landscape. Here's a photo including the board:

 

The biggest challenge was preventing the tall figures from falling over. The mountain lion is anchored in 3 places, with the tail playing a major role (prevents from tipping forward).

In case you're wondering, the collar is a GPS tracker. This mountain lion must be helping the local scientists with their tracking project!

 

Meet the musicians! I tried to pick instruments that matched each animal's physiology. For example, the mountain lion's claws are natural guitar picks, and the deer's sturdy hooves are perfect for those bass runs.

This build gives a whole new meaning to "turkey drumsticks"! (...ba-dum-tshh)

       

 

One of the structural details that I've particularly proud of - the deer is balanced entirely on its front hooves, similar to the way that real deer walk.

 

I'm also very pleased with how the turkey's feathers turned out. You could even say I'm a... big fan.

 

View of the plants in the back, including purple ones that are really common at Annadel. Throughout the build, there are several other types of wildflowers (including golden poppies and sky lupine). See if you can spot them in other photos!

 

The turkey is perched on a giant cushioned chair! Did you notice it's playing with foot talons, since it doesn't have hands?

 

Here's the top view to show the general layout better. The baseplate separates into 3 modular chunks for transportation.

  

 

Hope this trio was able to jazz up your day! Thanks for taking the time to look.

(Link to the Flickr album for more photos.)

-Inky

[1963maniac]

This really did jazz up my day!!!

[Kivi]

This is absolutely amazing.

Some details are really outstanding like the plants, cymbals and antlers. But the nicest touch that adds to animal feeling are paw prints on guitar.