animals

Chocolate Pooping Bunny

Jason

With Easter coming up, I finally decided to revisit one of Kristal’s ideas from 6 years ago, which was a bunny rabbit that would poop chocolate eggs. I know, right? It’s a super fun idea. This time, I decided to take a completely mechanical approach (the original was designed around the LEGO BOOST robotics kit), and with the LEGO White Rabbit set (31133) being currently available, I decided to use that model as a starting point.

It has a capacity of three chocolates, and dispenses (poops) one out every time you press down on the head. You can see it in action in the video below, and continue reading to find all the information needed to build your own.

https://youtu.be/Ah_ZM8Rp4GM

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Swimming Shark Update

Jason

This is an updated design to my kinetic stand for the shark from LEGO set 31088 Deep Sea Creatures. This version of the stand has a much simpler design than the original, using less Technic pieces and more System parts. It also adds the opening and closing the Shark’s mouth, which really brings the shark to life.

You can see a demonstration of the model in the video below, and continue reading for the building instructions and design notes.

A full kit for this model is also available from BuildaMOC, if you want to conveniently get all the pieces needed to build it.

https://youtu.be/tGe31ojasa8

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Prairie Dogs Update

Jason

It’s been a couple of years since I posted our original Prairie Dogs kinetic sculpture, and it’s been on my todo list ever since to make building instructions for it. I’m happy to say they are finally complete! You can see a demonstration of the updated model in the video below, and continue reading to find the instructions and build notes. It’s also available as full kit from BuildaMOC in both motorized and manual form.

https://youtu.be/Gp2-JC5oNo8

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Butterfly Sunning its Wings

Jason

This is a small model of a Monarch Butterfly, sitting on a leaf and sunning its wings. Turning the crank opens and closes the wings intermittently, which you can see in action at the end of the build video. Continue reading for instructions, kit information and photos.

https://youtu.be/wr0JnT1Kpq0

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Swimming Koi Fish

Jason

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 sets, especially the animal themed ones. So, when set 31129 Majestic Tiger was released, I immediately had to pick it up. I was particularly excited that one of the alternate models was a Koi fish, and the first thing I did after cracking open the set was see if I could make it swim.

If you are familiar with my previous projects, you may already know that this isn’t the first time I’ve tackled a project like this. A few years ago, I did something similar to the shark from the Deep Sea Creatures set. The biggest difference this time, other than the Koi fish having 5 body segments instead of 3, was that LEGO has since released some fancy new gear plates that allowed me to really simplify the design.

It actually came together pretty quickly, and I was extremely happy with how realistic the resulting movement turned out. I go over the design in detail in the video below, and you can continue reading to find building instructions if you would like to build it yourself.

https://youtu.be/YT4oeZh2Zok
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Polar Desert

Jason

For the third in my series of micro scale biomes, I’m visiting a very harsh and barren environment, the Polar Desert. As a result, this is a much more minimal model than the others, with no vegetation to speak of.

Not much can survive in these regions, so I decided to build a coastal area of Antarctica, to include some cute little penguins and a couple of orca in the water. The terrain consists primarily of snow, ice and rocks, along with the small ocean section. Continue reading for more details and building instructions.

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40499 Galloping Reindeer Modification

Jason

With the release of set 40499 Santa’s Sleigh, I was excited to try to make the reindeer gallop, like I did many years ago for the reindeer from the Santa’s Workshop set. I gave it a modular design this time, so that it can be configured with the 4 reindeer that come in the set, or extended to 8, 9, or any other number of reindeer.

You can see it in action with 4 and 9 reindeer in the video below, and continue reading for more information and building instructions. I also made a build video showing how it is assembled, which can be found at the end of the post.

https://youtu.be/145BWcp5xiM
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Temperate Mixed Forest

Jason

For my second micro scale biome vignette, I thought I would build something a little closer to home. In fact, this is the biome I live in, called a Temperate Mixed Forest. As the name suggests, there is a large mix of different trees in this one, and I’ve included pine, cedar, birch and an apple tree, as well as a variety of ground and water plants.

It also features a moose grazing in the shallow water of a beaver pond, with the beaver swimming towards its dam. Continue reading for more details and building instructions.

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Savanna Biome

Jason

Earlier this year, I started a project to design micro scale vignettes of various biomes around the world. I really enjoy trying to capture detail in micro scale building, and these have been fun little models to work on. My goal isn’t to capture the entirety of each biome, but just to render a snapshot of a small part of them.

The first one to come to completion is the Savanna – featuring some elephants, zebras, a couple of crocodiles, and an umbrella thorn acacia tree. Continue reading for more details and building instructions.

Savanna Biome
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