MOC: Rocky Mountain Log Cabin

[Etzel]

It didn't take long before I came up with an idea for a new Western MOC. Some weeks ago I was looking at different log cabins at Brickshelf and thought I might try one myself. I've really gotten into the Western spirit and already got an idea for a third MOC but I don't know when I will find time to build that. Anyway, lets check out this one.

The trapper Henry MacNéill lives with his wife and son in the Rocky Mountains in the log cabin that he has build himself. It's a hard life and lately the demand for furs has dropped drastically. MacNéill no longer gets paid as much for his goods and all his hard work might not be enough to support his family. But maybe the solution to his economical problems is closer than he thinks...:

Brickshelf Gallery

Thanks for watching!

As a bonus, here is the WIP progress of the MOC, starting of as a simple sketch: 1,2,3,4,5 You can also see the total mess that is supposed to be my desk

/Etzel

[Alex the Great]

I like it! The whole landscape is good (including the roof), as well as the house itself. The interior definatley fits in with all the wood, I like the fur on the ceiling. Well done.

[blueandwhite]

Great work. I love that you've lined up the log bricks horrizontally. It makes you wonder why LEGO didn't produce a set of horrizontal log bricks in the first place. The landscaping is fantastic, as is the cabin itself. Your brick-built trees are also great. I would love to see a winter version of this.

[Big Cam]

Great house, I really love the log look you got ont he side of the house. I do wish the roof wasn't green, I just don't think it looks as good as it could be if it was brown, but that's just my opinion.

The grennery adn landscaping is great, I love the breakaway view too.

[lightningtiger]

FANTASTIC MOC 'Etzel' !

Cool log cabin, although I agree withh 'Big Cam' on the roof - green doesn't look right.

The landscaping is very cool indeed.....'Etzel' I'm a conformist! !

[Izzy]

Awww this is such a cool MOC Etzel. I really really like it, as I was scrolling down the photos I was wondering if there would be an interior. And I was not disappointed, it is really cool, the perfect amount of detail in such a small place. I really like the furs too, very nice touch.

The green roof it so awesome in my opinion. It have been proven that grass/moss is a really great insulator, something they would definitely need in the Rockies!

Very cool indeed!

[MetroiD]

This is such a wonderful MOC Etzel! Wild West definitely seems to be "in" Wish I had that many brown logs :/

[Rick]

Another great MOC Etzel. I really like the landscaping and the way you've SNOT-ed those logs and still managed to put the windows in studs up. Excellent work!

[WesternOutlaw]

Fantastic Etzel! I've always liked log cabins, LEGO's Rocky River Retreat, and these types of adventure scenes, an era that is comparable to Wild West (almost), but set in the greener parts of the U.S. Your MOC captures the mood and feel quite well. I particularly like how the cabin rests on the top of the hill with steps leading up. The pines, with three ages of maturity, add to the quality of the scene. That middle-sized tree could easily make for a Christmas tree during winter. Very nice cabin design with the use of the round bricks - I bet that was a bit tricky. What a great interior, and I must say that the fur pelt is quite clever. Overall, it has a very rustic feel, especially with the fireplace and the chair.

The figs top it off quite nicely, and I like how you incorporated the American Indian as Henry's wife. I think the only thing missing is perhaps a canoe and a net for some fishing upstream.

Overall, very nice - oh, and I love the little gold cave below the house - great job taking advantage of an additional opportunity for added detail.

It would be awesome to see this scene part of a larger diorama to include a forest and river. Excellent!

[Fugazi]

Beautiful! I am always impressed by great landscaping, and yours is really well done, including those different trees! I also appreciate the small touches of unusual colours (dark orange, tan). Good work!

[BlueBard]

Wonderful design and a really charming MOC The gold detail made me laugh!

[Sandy]

Oh, wow! At least I wondered how do the SNOT-walls even stay up, but then I noticed you've built them like real log cabins, with the pieces overlapping each other. Adding to that is the wonderful roof, which makes this a great feat in LEGO architecture.

The interior is very nice as well, but I do miss a splash of color in it. Maybe even just colorful mugs or something?

The overall feeling of this MOC is, like others have said, very authentically rustic. It's funny how it doesn't feel very historic, despite the minifigs, though. Maybe the world just hasn't changed that much after all.

[AwesomeStar]

Oh, goodness! What an amazing MOC you've got here, Etzel. It is quite honestly beautiful, it's just so serene!

Everything is perfect, I am slightly lost for words.

<--- Pretty much sums up my entire feelings for this MOC

~A.S.

[Jonas]

A lovely MOC! When I breath in, I can feel the smell of wood, trees and grass.

I do wish the roof wasn't green, I just don't think it looks as good as it could be if it was brown, but that's just my opinion.

Well, it would be nice to have the roof in dark brown, for example. But this type of roof construction needs wedge plates and these are not available in many (natural) colors. I suppose that was the reason why green was chosen.

[Big Cam]

OK, So I totoally overlooked the build shots the frist time through, those were great, I love seeing sstuff built in stages.

The more I look at it the more I'm ok with the green roof, but I personally would still prefer it brown.

[Etzel]

Thanks everyone for your nice comments! I'm really happy that you liked it

Great work. I love that you've lined up the log bricks horrizontally. It makes you wonder why LEGO didn't produce a set of horrizontal log bricks in the first place. The landscaping is fantastic, as is the cabin itself. Your brick-built trees are also great. I would love to see a winter version of this.

Thanks, a winter version is definitely an interesting idea. Maybe I'll try that.

The green roof it so awesome in my opinion. It have been proven that grass/moss is a really great insulator, something they would definitely need in the Rockies!

I lived in a log cabin like this with grass roof for about a year, that might be the reason why I choose to make that kind of roof. It was a very cosy home and the grass sure did it's insulation job good

This is such a wonderful MOC Etzel! Wild West definitely seems to be "in" Wish I had that many brown logs :/

This is a little embarrassing but I actually was so convinced that I didn't have enough log bricks to build this MOC that I ordered a bunch from Bricklink. Then I started to build anyway just to figure out techniques and stuff, and suddenly I had built the whole cabin. So now I have a BL order of log bricks coming with the mail any day soon with the MOC already done

Conclusion: It don't take that many log bricks actually. Especially not if you include windows.

Fantastic Etzel! I've always liked log cabins, LEGO's Rocky River Retreat, and these types of adventure scenes, an era that is comparable to Wild West (almost), but set in the greener parts of the U.S. Your MOC captures the mood and feel quite well. I particularly like how the cabin rests on the top of the hill with steps leading up. The pines, with three ages of maturity, add to the quality of the scene. That middle-sized tree could easily make for a Christmas tree during winter. Very nice cabin design with the use of the round bricks - I bet that was a bit tricky. What a great interior, and I must say that the fur pelt is quite clever. Overall, it has a very rustic feel, especially with the fireplace and the chair.

The figs top it off quite nicely, and I like how you incorporated the American Indian as Henry's wife. I think the only thing missing is perhaps a canoe and a net for some fishing upstream.

Overall, very nice - oh, and I love the little gold cave below the house - great job taking advantage of an additional opportunity for added detail.

It would be awesome to see this scene part of a larger diorama to include a forest and river. Excellent!

Wow, thanks a bunch!

Actually the walls of the cabin wasn't so tricky, just normal building but sideways. The real problem was the roof with the different angels, that took a couple of tries to make right.

I agree that including this into a larger diorama would be really awesome. Your idea with a canoe and river is great and I would love to do something like that one day. But I don't think my pieces will suffice right now (although I've been proven wrong recently ).

Oh, wow! At least I wondered how do the SNOT-walls even stay up, but then I noticed you've built them like real log cabins, with the pieces overlapping each other. Adding to that is the wonderful roof, which makes this a great feat in LEGO architecture.

The interior is very nice as well, but I do miss a splash of color in it. Maybe even just colorful mugs or something?

The overall feeling of this MOC is, like others have said, very authentically rustic. It's funny how it doesn't feel very historic, despite the minifigs, though. Maybe the world just hasn't changed that much after all.

Thank you! The walls are built with a brick in the bottom that goes sideways and attach to a headlight brick under the floor of the cabin. Then the dovetailed corners (I think that's the right term) helps to keep them steady.

Yeah, the interior is a little dull in colours. Maybe a carpet would have worked?

I wasn't very concentrated on making this MOC historical accurate so I guess there's a lot on anachronisms in it. But it's true, we aren't much different from the people of the past.

OK, So I totoally overlooked the build shots the frist time through, those were great, I love seeing sstuff built in stages.

The more I look at it the more I'm ok with the green roof, but I personally would still prefer it brown.

Thanks! Well, green was what I first thought of when I started with the roof. But as you say brown would probably been a great choice too, I think the roof is a little to steep for a grass roof actually. But I think I would've wanted a dark brown roof in that case to separate it from the cabin and I don't have that many dark brown pieces.

I'm glad you liked the WIP pictures, I thought it was a fun idea to document the progress

[Athos]

That's nice snot work with the log bricks. I've been thinking about trying something similar to see how it looked. Now I don't have to.

Steve

[badboytje88]

Great scene, I love how you made the roof. Very inventive.

[Mac-K]

This is some really nice work Etzel! I'm not sure what else I can add that hasn't already been said. Oh, I think the green as a kind of mossy/grassy roof works really well, and it's accurate too. The fact that it's textured, and has the random wildflowers growing from it, made me realize immediately what you were going for. The cross-beam work on the front of the cabin is such a nice touch too. I admit, I was kind of hoping for a loft in the cabin before I saw the interior shots, but I definitely understand considering this is meant to display a scene, and not just a building. If I might make one suggestion, I think the front door looks perhaps a little modern. Maybe this door?

That's really nit-picky, I know. Honestly, that door you have looks good as is, I just happened to think back on the Wild West sets while looking at your MOC, and I remembered that door from 6761 Bandits' Secret Hideout and thought it might suggest that kind of "rugged" look. But anyway, great work Etzel, I look forward to your next build.

[Blackheart Brit]

Real sharp looking. I like the Cabin of course. The Fireplace and chimney are excellent as well. I also like your Pines, I have been trying to figure a good way of making some and those are excellent.

[Admiral Ron]

Excellent! Reminds me of Jeremiah Johnson!

[I Scream Clone]

Lovely work again Etzel! I love the log cabin and all the details inside and out. I think this is one of your best by a long way! The pitched roof is a nice design and the stairs up to the house look great (dark orange right?). The grass roof is historically accurate and looks great. I even love the two headlights on the back of each side to allow bricks to snap on top, beautiful work all round. Half the job with a MOC is to place all interesting pieces in the right places, a skill which you always seem to have, well done.

Lets keep this western theme kicking.

[Ras 74]

This is a really great cabin!

I like how you used no SNOT at all on the outside, but the entire interior is SNOTed!

If you ever been in a log cabin you can really get that feeling back by locking at your moc.

You are really hooked at that Duplo fur piece

[jimmythefly]

Excellent! Reminds me of Jeremiah Johnson!

Bingo. I came here to say just that, first thing I thought of, esp. with the trapper look and the indian wife.

"I, Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do hereby leave this bear rifle to the man that finds me, God pray it be a white man, it is a good rifle, and it kilt the bare that kilt me."

[MetroiD]

Hey Etzel, have you noticed that this wonderful MOC of yours has been blogged over at Classic-Town.net? Kudos mate!!!