Every year, OcTRAINber gets bigger and bigger, with ever more participants entering models of increasingly high quality. It’s been amazing to see all the creative, well-executed models each year, and boy did 2021 bring a LOT of good stuff to look at.
It’s been a busy season for those of us here at BMR, but at last we’ve finally got the results for all of you. Your judges for this year were Cale Leiphart, Chris Stone, and Matt Csenge from the BMR team. There were a lot of very cool Critters to look through, and I’m excited to share which ones have won. Before that, though…
The Prizes
The prizes this year are as follows:
Each of the main category will receive a Circuit Cubes Bluetooth Upgrade+ Kit plus an OcTRAINber Printed Brick printed by BrickForge.
The winner for Best Motorization will be receiving a Studly Trains Tiny Train IR Control Kit donated by LifeLites, plus an OcTRAINber Printed Brick printed by BrickForge..
Winner: Bobber Caboose
Trained Bricks: “Katy Caboose”
Cartoon designs do not generally transfer easily into a medium as ‘square’ as LEGO, but Katy Caboose was realized very well. Good work on the shaping of the roof and steps stand out the quickest, but the solid effort put into the rest of the texture detailing is impressive; as is the way Katy’s “mouth” is represented on the doors. Great work, Trained Bricks, and hats off as well for meeting our somewhat tongue-in-cheek challenge to motorize a bobber caboose!
Honorable Mention
The Brick Files: “Proto-Freelance Caboose”
What we loved the most about this little bobber caboose is the amount of texture and detail packed into a small space. This bobber features a full interior that is quite clever. It was certainly a close second for our favorite bobber.
Winner: MOW Rolling Stock
Asperka: “RhB Baudiensttraktor Tm2/2 – 2”
This impressively executed Critter somehow managed to get better each time we looked at it. Asperka managed to fit a Circuit Cubes battery and motor into a small cabin, powering a narrow-gauge drive, and still leave plenty of space in and around the model for all the appropriate detailing. The amount of open space left in the model for tools, and the fact that the cab windows are very minimally obscured, is amazing. Very well done!
Honourable Mentions
MOW turned out to be one of the most creative categories this year. We really sweated the voting on this one, and so we have three models we felt worthy of Honorable Mention.
Ewout Rohling: “NSWGR Inspection Bike”
Hod Carrier: “The Honey Bucket”
Winner: Industrial Rolling Stock
These little 2 axle coal wagons have a huge amount of detail. But what impressed us even more was the motor, battery, and Power Functions receiver used to power the train they make up are so perfectly hidden with them. You would be hard pressed to tell where the mechanical/electronic magic is in the train. Well done.
Honorable Mention
BrickTheBrick: “Wagon with Excavator”
This model would have maybe been a better fit in the MOW category, but we still thought it was great. The wagon is well done, and mini excavator is on point for scale and detail.
Winner: Electric Locomotive
Thomas’ Ka 4015 is deceptively small. It rides low enough to the rails that the buffers are nearly halfway up the locomotive’s body, with great shaping, and also powered by Circuit Cubes – we’re seeing little bit of a trend! We were very impressed by how compact the motorization solution was. The engine sitting so low leaves little room to fit the electronics, but Thomas pulled it off with a very good amount of space left for his cab and crew.
Honorable Mention
Tenderlok: “Coke Quenching Locomotive”
Sven aka Tenderlok took the bold step to build a critter in a scale larger than the default mini fig scale we are all used to and the result is a wonderful little electric critter.
Winner: Internal Combustion Locomotive
Ts__/ Thomas: “Köf II DB 322 607-3”
The KöF is perhaps among the most-often built LEGO locomotives, and it’s not hard to see why – it’s a very nice looking engine, and the fact that LEGO themselves own one for shunting work makes it a fun subject to model. With all the many, many KöF out there, it’s hard think of one catching attention the same way something a little more novel might.
With that said, Ts__/ Thomas’s KöF caught all of our attention immediately. The shaping, proportions, detailing, and texturing are all masterfully executed. The engine hood is a nice and slim 3 studs in width, features a tapered nose, and captures the complex yet subtle shapes of the side panels. On top of all of that, it’s powered as well. This model has certainly raised the bar for LEGO KöF builds, and it’s raised it quite high.
Winner: Steam Locomotive
Ewoutro: “Guinness Brewery No. 13”
The Guinness Brewery No. 13 feels just about as “Critter” as a steam engine gets. A narrow-gauge steam engine with the pistons mounted atop the boiler like a steam tractor, it also had special haulage carts it could be lowered into to do shunting work on the broad-gauge rail.
Ewoutro’s rendition of the locomotive is very well done, built to run on narrow gauge track as well as standard LEGO track through the use of a haulage cart, just like the real engine. This dual-mode operation is a very cool detail to see realized in a tiny LEGO model, and though it’s not powered, the execution and engineering put into it is impressive all the same.
Honorable Mention
BritishBricks: “The Bundaberg Fowler”
What a great model. The colors grab your attention right away, but dig deeper and this is a solid locomotive. A unique, inside frame, narrow gauge locomotive with plenty of character and detail, this is a very well presented model.
Winner: Best Motorized Model
Brett Wiebold: “Plymouth DLH 8 Ton #3 ‘PeeWee'”
We had a lot of submissions this year with very impressive and creative motorization implementations. It was very tough to choose a winner.
Brett’s “PeeWee” isn’t the model with the most motors, or the most functions, but it is a very well-executed Critter with a very unique feature: The drive train contains a 2-speed transmission. This transmission understandably means the engine is chock-full of gears and drive axles, in addition to a motor and power solution by Lifelite’s “Studly Trains”. Somehow Brett has managed to incorporate these into the engine detailing so that when you open the hood doors, it feels like you see an engine and not just a cluster of gears. On top of that, behind the front radiator grille he’s included a spinning radiator fan.
This blending of the motorization feature into the aesthetics of the build represents a very smooth and well-realized combination of both function and form, while delivering something novel in a small package. It was a hard-won victory, but “PeeWee” managed to win it.
Final Words
Firstly, we would like to thank you all for participating in OcTRAINber again this year. It’s always great to see how inspired everyone gets, and you too inspire us in turn.
We’d also like to thank you for your patience with the results. OcTRAINber’s been getting a little slower every year – and this year was no exception. It almost didn’t happen this year; with Gerbrand stepping away after OcTRAINber 2020 it took a little bit to find a balance with it again. OcTRAINber is very special to us all, and we wanted to make sure to keep the tradition going.
Looking forward towards OcTRAINber 2022, we are hoping to have this one run much smoother overall and we are also hoping to get the judging finished in a much more timely fashion. We’ve already picked out a theme (Which I for one am quite excited for, look for an announcement in September), and we’ve got ideas for how to get the schedule a little tighter so we can get the judging wrapped up before the mass of Holidays and Shows that eat up the end of the year. We understand that a wait this long is difficult to endure, and it’s on our minds.
Congratulations once more to all the Winners of OcTRAINber 2021. We will be contacting you soon regarding the Prizes.