This is Alex Van Valkenberg filling in today. Fourteen years ago
my mom wrote a post here, about the lego dragon I built, which I recenlty uncovered while doing some spring cleaning. The creature is in a sorry state, having survived several moves, and storage for over a decade, then months of indecision about whether to rebuild her, take her apart, or just keep thinking about it as other projects and demands took precedent. In the end I opted for a mix of the three, and started to rebuild her from the ground up.
I was inspired by the work on
Jason Allemon of JK Brickworks, among others, to make the new dragon smaller, and more elegant in design. I wanted something that could be displayed on a shelf or desk without walking off the edge, or taking up the while space. To make the new design move, while keeping it smaller and more fluid, I built the majority of the moving components into a large base. The base has a drive-shaft not unlike that of the original, but with a more complex system of levers and cams that move the model above in a more life-like manner.
By having all of the bulkier mechanisms below, the model above can place more emphasis on form. The smaller design also makes her easier to display, and wont take up all the red pieces in my collection.
