BioCup 2024: Galaxies and Magic

[Mohamed Marei]

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.

 

[VBBN]

These are both incredible! I love the scaled environmental objects surrounding Merlin, something you don't see enough of in large scale figure builds. 

[Mohamed Marei]

On 6/29/2024 at 1:28 AM, VBBN said:

These are both incredible! I love the scaled environmental objects surrounding Merlin, something you don't see enough of in large scale figure builds. 

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.

[Space Coyote]

Awesome work, the alchemy table has so many cool details used in ingenious ways, the little ice cream pieces are great for puffs of smoke. You usually see that technique on trains so it's cool to see you use that same technique in a cool inventive way. I love the color choice in the alchemy display. The bright colors contrast with the black so well. 

The astronaut figure is also excellent, he looks very fun to pose! Great detailing on his vehicle as well. Exemplary work!

[EmHolloway]

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Posted June 26, 2024

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.

Wow, your creativity really shines through in both of these builds. I love your unique approach to Merlin, and 'Journey to Mars' is a fantastic example of how to combine classic and modern elements. Your attention to detail is truly impressive.