Don't Mess With This Bear
/A little while ago Andrea Lattanzio treated us to an awesome diorama illustrating once and for all why you should never mess with a bear. Andrea is probably best known for building charming, realistic scenes with some great landscaping as well as vehicles and buildings to match (including a project currently on LEGO Ideas). I first met him when we were both displaying some of our MOCs in the masterpiece gallery at the LEGO House in Billund, and aside from being an awesome builder, he is also a really nice guy. Plus, he’s Italian so you know he’s got some swagger. But enough about that, let’s have a look at the build!
The piece depicts one of the characters from a previous build scrambling to get away from a bear, which he somehow seems to have really annoyed. The main focus of the shot is, of course, the car driving across the narrow bridge, but the build is packed with small details which are well worth taking a closer look at. Being the nice guy he is, Andrea gave me a behind-the-scenes look at the process which resulted in this beautiful—and pretty hilarious—scene. But instead of me rambling on about it, let’s hear from the builder himself.
“Last November I built a MOC in which two weird guys lived 30 feet in the air, in a cozy house held up by minimal stilts. The MOC was called Stilt Houses. In the diorama, there was also an off-road vehicle for which I wanted to build a small dedicated setting. Recently I came up with the idea of creating an ironic scene with some building techniques that I had never used, such as the rocks made up of dark bluish gray slopes and inverted slopes.
The diorama is quite small but sort of cute, and it seems to generate a few smiles, something I think we all need at this time… It is mainly composed of three parts: two rocky blocks covered with shrubs and a crumbling bridge that joins them. In the middle, the all-terrain vehicle is crossing the bridge escaping from the hungry bear to take shelter on the stilts. So let's take a look at the MOC.
The starting point for the MOC was the first rocky block, the largest on the left. The block is made with a pretty common building technique that I somehow had never used before. A couple of years ago I managed to get a lot of dark bluish gray slopes and inverted slopes thanks to the bulk program and I finally put them to use in making the rocks for this diorama.”
“To complete the block, I added shrubs and bushes. A bright light orange pine stands out in a mostly brown and gray setting. The leaves are attached to some plates with clips on the end and fixed to plates with bar frame octagonal. It is not the first time I have used this technique and the outcome is always amazing. I got the yellow leaves from the Pick a Brick wall at the local LEGO store in my town. Below on the left, there is a smaller green tree made with a lot of flower stems and the trunk is a dinosaur tail in dark brown. I also added a tree hollow stump (a quite expensive and rare piece from 90s Western theme), a piece that I just love!”
“The second block on the right is similar to the first, a little smaller and with a green sapling on the side. I used a bunch of reddish-brown hoses for the trunk of the tree and some bars with clips to hold the leaves. At the base, there is a barrel that contains the hoses, and all around are some whips to create the twisted branches effect. Don’t miss the mushrooms made with knit caps of different colors!”
“The most characteristic part of the whole diorama is probably the crumbling bridge that joins the two rocky banks. The bridge resembles the one I built for the Stilt Houses, but it’s longer and wider. It’s made of two long black parallel strings with rope climbing grips to which plates with clips are attached and above them different tiles and plates of various colors. And it rocks!”
“Last but not least in the middle of the bridge is the off-road vehicle, ready to deal with mud and rough terrain and complete with all the necessary tools. It is based on my previous Chevrolet Blazer spotted in the Sheriff Hopper's Cabin diorama built in 2019 but with a new 80s two-tone paint job and loads of gear strapped all over. It’s full of details and some interesting part usage such as the weird “Scala towel bar” used for the running board of the Blazer. And take a closer look at the front winch and the side mirrors.”
Photo shoot
So that’s the description from the builder himself! I really hope you enjoyed taking a closer look at this wonderful scene. If you want some more stuff from Andrea, you can always check his blog. On a final note, and I can’t stress this enough: Don’t poke the bear!
What is your favorite part of this model? Let us know in the comments below.
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