Set Expansion: Ninjago Dragons
by Geneva D
on Tue, May 14th, 2019. 8:07 am
Our last look at the sets from LEGO Ninjago: Hunted takes us into dragon territory with #70653 Firstbourne and #70652 Stormbringer. Geneva took Firstbourne for an epic showdown with a ruthless band of dragon hunters on the sands of no man's land, while Isaiah added his own touch to the electric Stormbringer!
Geneva:
"First of all, I modified Firstbourne considerably, eliminating small bits of random color that could be seen in places and adjusting the flow from wing to body. I also completely reworked all four legs, trying to give them smoother angles and covering the constraction pieces.
"The head, on the other hand, was already perfect! The printed eye slopes blend in extremely well with the brick-built jaw and the mixel joint attachment gives the dragon optimal poseability.
"I think my favorite part about this dragon is the flapping wings. All you have to do is push down on the red technic pieces behind the front torso and the wings will rise. That function really makes this dragon fun to swoosh around!
"This dragon looks fearsome, but nothing daunted, the dragon hunters spring to the attack.
"The hunters are equipped with chain launching guns - they're out there to take this beast alive!
"I may have commandeered a few hunters from other sets in order to bring this scene to life...
"Building the barricade was the best part of this process - I enjoyed stacking crates and barrels and throwing in chains, pails, lanterns and even a few odd tablescraps!
"In the TV show, the dragon hunters' land features large sections of bare rock that the wind has blown free of sand. I knew I wanted to recreate this for my diorama to give it some more visual interest.
"Along with the dragon, #70653 Firstbourne includes a small helicopter for the hunters.
"While I really like the mean lean chopper feel, I felt that the original had a few too many colors going. So I toned the brown down and tried to bring out more olive and silver.
"Putting that all together, we have a pretty large scale diorama of sand and rock ready to be the stage of an epic battle! Will Firstbourne chew up his opponents or will their metal bring him to his knees?"
Isaiah
"I can't flatter myself that I have much experience in dragon-building (the only other one I ever remember doing was Jay's previous dragon... with instructions... XP), but Modding the Stormbringer ended up being a lot of fun!
"The most important/longest screen time the dragon got in the series was its show-down with Cole and young Master Wu - in which, by the way, our heroes basically just end up running away! - so that was an obvious direction to take with the surrounding scenery. To avoid another huge desert diorama (the dragon is quite large), I went with a tan backdrop and some patches of sandy vegetation and some loose but balanced boulders for Cole and Wu to hide behind.
"I am not sure that this hiding spot is going to last very long, though! But on the positive side, the dragon did guide them to some food, at least...
"As far as the dragon itself goes, the main thing I disliked about it was the long, blocky neck in the original that just looks a bit off, especially compared to the rest of the dragon, which is pretty sleek and stud-less. While I was at it, I continued the yellow underbody up the neck, removed the saddle (which does have some great pieces!) and eliminated the white, and added a lot more yellow spikes from the Firstbourne (I love that color!) and a couple of wings from Jay's dragon from the Skybound season. Both of those sets will be hugely helpful to anyone who plans on modifying this dragon!
"And voila! There you have the results! I must say, I do really like the fearsome look of this beast and the printed eyes/brickbuilt heads on the dragons in this season - I hope they keep that up!
"I hope you've enjoyed our scenes and set mods from the season - we'd love to get feedback, comments, and suggestions from you all! Thanks for viewing, and if you're interested in checking out any of the sets from the line, they are all still available at Lego's online shop!"
Geneva:
"First of all, I modified Firstbourne considerably, eliminating small bits of random color that could be seen in places and adjusting the flow from wing to body. I also completely reworked all four legs, trying to give them smoother angles and covering the constraction pieces.
"The head, on the other hand, was already perfect! The printed eye slopes blend in extremely well with the brick-built jaw and the mixel joint attachment gives the dragon optimal poseability.
"I think my favorite part about this dragon is the flapping wings. All you have to do is push down on the red technic pieces behind the front torso and the wings will rise. That function really makes this dragon fun to swoosh around!
"This dragon looks fearsome, but nothing daunted, the dragon hunters spring to the attack.
"The hunters are equipped with chain launching guns - they're out there to take this beast alive!
"I may have commandeered a few hunters from other sets in order to bring this scene to life...
"Building the barricade was the best part of this process - I enjoyed stacking crates and barrels and throwing in chains, pails, lanterns and even a few odd tablescraps!
"In the TV show, the dragon hunters' land features large sections of bare rock that the wind has blown free of sand. I knew I wanted to recreate this for my diorama to give it some more visual interest.
"Along with the dragon, #70653 Firstbourne includes a small helicopter for the hunters.
"While I really like the mean lean chopper feel, I felt that the original had a few too many colors going. So I toned the brown down and tried to bring out more olive and silver.
"Putting that all together, we have a pretty large scale diorama of sand and rock ready to be the stage of an epic battle! Will Firstbourne chew up his opponents or will their metal bring him to his knees?"
Isaiah
"I can't flatter myself that I have much experience in dragon-building (the only other one I ever remember doing was Jay's previous dragon... with instructions... XP), but Modding the Stormbringer ended up being a lot of fun!
"The most important/longest screen time the dragon got in the series was its show-down with Cole and young Master Wu - in which, by the way, our heroes basically just end up running away! - so that was an obvious direction to take with the surrounding scenery. To avoid another huge desert diorama (the dragon is quite large), I went with a tan backdrop and some patches of sandy vegetation and some loose but balanced boulders for Cole and Wu to hide behind.
"I am not sure that this hiding spot is going to last very long, though! But on the positive side, the dragon did guide them to some food, at least...
"As far as the dragon itself goes, the main thing I disliked about it was the long, blocky neck in the original that just looks a bit off, especially compared to the rest of the dragon, which is pretty sleek and stud-less. While I was at it, I continued the yellow underbody up the neck, removed the saddle (which does have some great pieces!) and eliminated the white, and added a lot more yellow spikes from the Firstbourne (I love that color!) and a couple of wings from Jay's dragon from the Skybound season. Both of those sets will be hugely helpful to anyone who plans on modifying this dragon!
"And voila! There you have the results! I must say, I do really like the fearsome look of this beast and the printed eyes/brickbuilt heads on the dragons in this season - I hope they keep that up!
"I hope you've enjoyed our scenes and set mods from the season - we'd love to get feedback, comments, and suggestions from you all! Thanks for viewing, and if you're interested in checking out any of the sets from the line, they are all still available at Lego's online shop!"