Just like last month’s model (the Mimic), this adorable little monster started its life as a Mixel. I’ve always had a fascination with the more bizarre monsters from Dungeons & Dragons, especially those that might only come about through magical experimentation. The mutants of the fantasy world as it were.

My original design was predicated on the Mixel qualities. It had goofy cross-eyes and a big toothy mouth (neither of which are very true to the source material). I had just gotten a bunch of 1×4 translucent neon green tiles in a draft, so they were the starting point in my color scheme.

It’s a hodge-podge model and a bit of a hot mess, but I still love the guy. And though I won’t be scrapping him for parts, there were a number of things that needed to change to update the concept for my DungeonHeads.

First of all I wanted it to actually be translucent. A Gelatinous Cube just isn’t the same if you can’t see tantalizing treasure lurking within. Toward this goal, I decided to radically simplify the construction. Gone would be the snot design with studs out on all sides, traded for clean brick stacking.

This also led to a much cleaner silhouette, as the notched corners disappeared. The main impediment to making the whole model translucent is that LEGO doesn’t make any plates of tiles wider than one stud anymore. I reluctantly used 6×6 bright yellowish-green plates for the bottom and the lid.

That’s right, this guy has a lid, because it’s basically just a box. There is enough room inside to stash a minifig or whatever magical loot your heart desires.

I love how simple, but instantly recognizable this little guy turned out!

Keep building and enjoy!