Joss Woodyard has an impressive portfolio, to say the least, from building robots to monsters to the most organic-looking creatures built from Bionicle parts. He’s currently competing in Bio-Cup 2021 just after coming off finishing Iron Builder, and yet still has time to knock his latest creature MOC out of the park: “Dagon, The Great Leviathan.”

There are four years of history with this MOC, too. From its inspection as a redesigned concept from which the wings are derived, Set 41172 The Water Dragon Adventure, Joss explains that he wanted to take the parts and colors along with the wings and completely flip the design into something “gnarly and fierce.” I sat down with him for a chat.

Keith: You mentioned that this took many years and many iterations. Can you walk us through that journey?

Joss: I made updates to the MOC every year or so, improving it as I improved over the years. Most changes weren't too great though, and the core design stayed quite similar. Sometime last year I started completely from scratch and wanted to make the “ultimate” version of it on a much bigger scale. This was a really big challenge for me because I had never built anything this large before, but it was a great learning experience, and I truly think I've pushed the concept to its limit now.

Keith: How does it stay up? I can’t see an armature except at the bottom.

Joss: The body is basically an extension of the Technic beam stand that’s keeping the whole thing elevated. The whole MOC is a stand with a flexible shell secured to it. If you removed the stand inside, the whole thing would just flop around.

Keith: Your MOCs garnish quite a bit of attention from the big bloggers and reposters. What gives you the bigger satisfaction: getting feedback from people at conventions (if you attend those) or being blogged by the big-hitters?

Joss: Being blogged is always nice, but I can safely say a compliment in person either at a convention or from someone who I really admire or respect gives me the most satisfaction.

Keith: You've competed in a few Bio-Cups—what do you enjoy most about it?

Joss: I really enjoy the energy and excitement surrounding the competition. The banter, the anticipation between rounds waiting for results and themes. And of course, the cool prompts make me build stuff I never would otherwise. It’s always a fun challenge seeing what I can build in a week.

Built in a week: Latin America Theme, Gamma Sucker, a post apocalyptic Chupacabra.

I’d like to thank Joss again for sitting down with us and sharing his process for his latest MOC as well as his excitement. If you haven't already make sure to check out his Flickr and Instagram profile for all his work as well as for instructions for his really awesome Skull Kid from Legend of Zelda’s Majora's Mask.

Have you participated in a building competition? Online, at a convention, or maybe against your little brother? Let us know in the comments below!

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