As soon as I got my hands on LEGO set 70828 Pop-Up Party Bus, and its huge supply of bricks in coral, I knew I wanted to jump on using this new-for-2019 hue. The question then became: what would be a fitting employment of this bright, idiosyncratic new color?
The first—somewhat absurd—idea that occurred to me, which I ended up running with, was building a pink salmon. After all, I’ve never built a fish before!
A female Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, my primary picture reference when building.
I had very little knowledge of fish (at least, not on a dinner plate) before going into this build. It turns out that “Pink Salmon,” scientifically known as Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, is actually a species of saltwater salmon native to the northern Pacific Ocean. The males develop a signature hump during mating season; for that reason, this species is also known colloquially as “humpback salmon” or “humpies.” I’ve opted to build a female of the species, since I preferred her streamlined shape.
While coral was a given color choice, its companion hues took a little more figuring out to get exactly as I wanted them. I opted to go with olive green based largely on the image at right, and also because I thought something earthy would help to offset the brightness of the coral. From there it became a question of rendering a pseudo-gradient from olive green to coral and then to white for the underbelly. Pale pink and pastel green worked well as intermediaries. I turned to dark green out of necessity for the fins, as I didn’t have any wedge plates in olive green, but I like how the darker color looks here.
The size and shape of my model came about primarily around my use of the 3x12 wedge slopes in olive green, which I immediately gravitated towards for the back part of the body. These large bricks demanded a Studs-Not-On-Top design; a 1-stud wide spine of support plates and SNOT bricks runs along the body of the whole salmon as a result. The huge wedges I used also gave me a very natural place to break for a point of articulation.
I decided to give the salmon some mid-body flexion for a few reasons. Firstly, I tend to compulsively include posability in my builds, especially the creature ones; secondly, the fish didn’t look quite “alive” without a bit of a ripple running along its body; and thirdly, while I was building, I toyed with the idea of making my noble Oncorhynchus gorbuscha into one of those electronic singing fish. This was an impulse I only barely resisted!
Parts of the build I like the best: the fins, which took some creativity to attach; the color balance I achieved; the way I did the fish’s eyes; and the way the body is shaped. I’m pretty pleased with this fun, casual little build that let me experiment with a new color!
Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions or thoughts about this model, feel free to leave them in the comments below.