Classic Albert
When I first originally made the LEGO Classic Albert back in 2003, it took me over six months to get something that at least resembled the mascot. The original didn't survive the move from LA, so I get an opportunity to improve it. I wasn't happy with the original build, but it's a rebuilding year. Not just for me, but for the Unversity of Florida football team too (Tebow!).
I did make a version of the Gatorhead in 2002, but that's a mosaic that also didn't survive the move either, and that will be rebuilt and donated to the University alumni association when I have the time.
The first version was my first from scratch sculpture, but I have done a few more sculptures in the past few years, so I was able to apply some techniques I incorporated from other sculptures into the newer version of Classic Albert.
This was definitely a time-intensive project too. It took over 6 months to do, and with the amount of rebuilds, there were a couple of times I was getting ready to give up. However, after I rebuilt the torso for the third time, I tried to build the head.
I was surprised that that was the easiest part to build. The head took an evening, then Russ pointed out that the mouth would look better with the black outlined. He was right, after another evening, the head turned out perfect.
I finally got the tail correct, and that was my starting point for the rebuild. It's a lot smoother and transitions much better than the original. It took a lot of time to do, but it only two months to do the rebuild as opposed to over six months for the original version.
Both the tail and the nose are hallow, and most of the weight is in the feet and as centered into the torso as possible. Albert now has more powerful legs and chest, and a more rounded torso and arms than the original build.
I didn't think I was going to redo the head, but since the hat didn't come out right in the original, I used the original head as a prototype to make the eyes a little more lower, and give the eyes a little more rounded than oblong look.
He's already taller than the original by a few inches, and I still don't quite have the space to put him in the house, but this version I'm really happy with the turnout.
I also made a stand for him, because even though he's stable on two feet, it's nice to have a display for him too. I'd like to improve the display with SEC Champs and National Champ years, but we'll see :-)
Some stats: over 3,500 bricks, kinda heavy, over 2.5 ft tall, lots of green, and lots of orange.
I will update the build process and older version pictures later in Brickshelf.