Legos, anyone?

[danth]

22 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I call it the Variable Dump Truck 3000, or VDT3000.

NICE! The way the bed turns into the legs/feet is just perfect. Also love how the cabin separates to become the chest. Gotta have buff robot pecs!

[M'Kyuun]

On 4/26/2023 at 1:03 PM, danth said:

NICE! The way the bed turns into the legs/feet is just perfect. Also love how the cabin separates to become the chest. Gotta have buff robot pecs!

Glad ya like it, Danth! I vacillated on whether to keep or trash the split cockpit function, but ultimately I was able to make the mechanism stable and kept it. I thought it'd make the mecha look more interesting. I kinda wanted to add a head in between those sections, but there was really no place for it to go and no good place to connect it, so I just made it a proper mecha with an operator at the controls. I like how the legs turned out, too; it has a nice-looking side profile. I would have loved to have integrated some hydraulic pistons connecting the thighs to the lower legs serving to both actuate the dumper and the legs, but there just wasn't enough room. To quote Mick Jagger, "You can't always get want you want". 

[M'Kyuun]

On 4/26/2023 at 12:16 PM, F-ZeroOne said:

Wow, thats a great creation! I really like the double cab, it almost looks like something from "Patlabor" or "Xabungle"!

Thanks! It means a lot to me. Interesting comparisons. My experience with both is pretty limited to my knowledge of the Ingram and Griffon from Patlabor, and the Blue Gale from Xabungle. Honestly, he was pretty heavily based on Long Haul, and I took some license with the split cockpit. The "Optimus Prime" arm transformation method was about the only way to make them fit, and even then, it was a bit of a challenge. I would have liked the forearms to be another stud or two longer, but then the hands wouldn't fit in truck mode. I appreciate your thoughts and the kind words.

[F-ZeroOne]

You're welcome!

[Chronocidal]

Well that was about as painless as I could have hoped for, was able to login, grab the new X-Wing and logout in about 10 minutes.  Been a long time since I saw the LEGO Shop site working that smoothly.

Would have actually kind of liked to get two of them honestly, just for the selection of parts, but maybe I can do that later.  

[Dobber]

56 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Well that was about as painless as I could have hoped for, was able to login, grab the new X-Wing and logout in about 10 minutes.  Been a long time since I saw the LEGO Shop site working that smoothly.

Would have actually kind of liked to get two of them honestly, just for the selection of parts, but maybe I can do that later.  

Grabbed one this morning too. No muss no fuss. 
 

Chris

[Chronocidal]

Looking at the site photos, I may have been a little unfair to the X-Wing based on the initial shot.  I think there are still some oddball proportions going on, but this one does look like it tries to duplicate some of the details that none of the other versions have tried so far, especially on the greeblie panels.

The proportions here don't look bad as a base to work with.  I think we really just need a 5-stud diameter engine.   The canopy needs a replacement though, and I think the nose would be helped a lot if it tapered more, probably down to a 3-stud width nosecone, which I think would be entirely possible with those curved bricks they used.  It's just too flat and wide.  I'm also hoping the wing mechanism isn't too insanely over-engineered so I can reduce the gap between the wings.

I do love the fact that they replicated so many of the markings with colored plates though, instead of printed panels.

Edited May 1, 2023 by Chronocidal

[technoblue]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

Well that was about as painless as I could have hoped for, was able to login, grab the new X-Wing and logout in about 10 minutes.  Been a long time since I saw the LEGO Shop site working that smoothly.

Would have actually kind of liked to get two of them honestly, just for the selection of parts, but maybe I can do that later.  

 

58 minutes ago, Dobber said:

Grabbed one this morning too. No muss no fuss. 
 

Chris

It was a nightmare last night. For two hours, the site was dumping 503 and 504 errors. I got my order in eventually, but ‘next day’ looks like the ‘best day’ for LEGO releases.

[Sanity is Optional]

Managed to get myself the SSD+Bomber+a set of Hoth Troopers to push me up high enough for the Death Star.

Took like an hour though, and that's with already having everything but the SSD in cart.

[Dobber]

I was able to preorder the SSD at LEGO.com months ago somehow. When they first put it on the site they must have messed up and had it for preorder instead of coming soon, so I had that on order for a while now. Looking forward to seeing what the UCS Venator will look like later this year. Hope it scales well with the UCS Star Destroyer. 
 

Chris

[Dobber]

19 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Looking at the site photos, I may have been a little unfair to the X-Wing based on the initial shot.  I think there are still some oddball proportions going on, but this one does look like it tries to duplicate some of the details that none of the other versions have tried so far, especially on the greeblie panels.

The proportions here don't look bad as a base to work with.  I think we really just need a 5-stud diameter engine.   The canopy needs a replacement though, and I think the nose would be helped a lot if it tapered more, probably down to a 3-stud width nosecone, which I think would be entirely possible with those curved bricks they used.  It's just too flat and wide.  I'm also hoping the wing mechanism isn't too insanely over-engineered so I can reduce the gap between the wings.

I do love the fact that they replicated so many of the markings with colored plates though, instead of printed panels.

The engines are just a little too big but manageable to me. Much better than the grossly undersized ones on the previous UCS set. My main gripe is the nose looks so fat. If you can figure out how to slim that up please share. 🙂

Chris

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

After my family's trip to Legoland, one of my boys took home the TIE Bomber kit as a souvenir, so I decided to build my own ship so I could have dogfights with him:

It's just a coincidence that Lego released their latest X-Wing at the same time.  I used instructions by Jerac, who has other Star Wars blueprints.  I love the proportions on this thing, and it's quite swooshable.  The mechanism used to expand the wings is ingenious, but it needs a little help once all the engines are attached.  I still need a few more parts to finish it as the landing gear is incomplete, but it is essentially done.

[danth]

3 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

After my family's trip to Legoland, one of my boys took home the TIE Bomber kit as a souvenir, so I decided to build my own ship so I could have dogfights with him:

Wow! That is really slick. It even has the recessed canopy. I prefer the sais to the new X-Wing's flippers.

[Dobber]

Wow that does look really good!

Chris

[Chronocidal]

13 hours ago, Dobber said:

The engines are just a little too big but manageable to me. Much better than the grossly undersized ones on the previous UCS set. My main gripe is the nose looks so fat. If you can figure out how to slim that up please share. 🙂

Chris

I want to say fixing the nose should just be a matter of replacing all of the 2-wide elements in the cone with 1-wide elements, so it goes from 4 to 3 total, and then replacing those giant slopes on the sides with more subtle tiles and curves.  The whole fuselage really needs to taper down more though, which means angling in the side panels more, which is going to be a trick to achieve. 

That canopy really has got to go though.  The inverse slope just destroys the natural contour of the cockpit.  It needs to start at 5-6 studs wide, and taper to about 4 for a natural blending into the upper fuselage.. which also needs to be higher at that point, since the bottom of the canopy should angle upwards.

Bottom line, it really just needs a canopy built from plates and hinges.  The one-piece elements are nifty, but nothing they ever make approaches the right shape.  The closest I ever got was leaving a canopy half-closed, and making my own frame out of cut-up mailing labels.

I do have to give them a little credit though.. It's almost invisible because of how thick the layering is, but they did use pale blue plates all around the canopy frame.  They just needed to use jumper tiles on that white panel below the canopy to reduce that panel to 2.5 studs tall, and let some of it show through.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Chronocidal

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

19 hours ago, danth said:

Wow! That is really slick. It even has the recessed canopy. I prefer the sais to the new X-Wing's flippers.

I thought the sais were cute touch too.

15 hours ago, Dobber said:

Wow that does look really good!

Chris

I thought so too when I first heard about it, and apparently the designer did make sure the proportions were close to those found in the movie models.  I just may have to give his Y-Wing a whirl later on.

[sh9000]

That's an awesome X-Wing @Valkyrie Hunter D.

[Bolt]

On 5/2/2023 at 9:04 AM, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

After my family's trip to Legoland, one of my boys took home the TIE Bomber kit as a souvenir, so I decided to build my own ship so I could have dogfights with him:

It's just a coincidence that Lego released their latest X-Wing at the same time.  I used instructions by Jerac, who has other Star Wars blueprints.  I love the proportions on this thing, and it's quite swooshable.  The mechanism used to expand the wings is ingenious, but it needs a little help once all the engines are attached.  I still need a few more parts to finish it as the landing gear is incomplete, but it is essentially done.

You did a most excellent job👍🏼

[M'Kyuun]

13 hours ago, Bolt said:

You did a most excellent job👍🏼

Concur. Why can't the LEGO designers do something like this, especially with that canopy alignment? Anyway, cheers to a great build!

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Thank you, gents! But I was merely following instructions from another AFOL.  There are plenty of "forbidden" building techniques in that X-Wing, but it holds up quite well.  There were a couple of instances where I heavily considered gluing parts together for reinforcement, but in the end, it all worked out.

[Scyla]

I bought the Tie Interceptor and the Endor Speeder Chase diorama with some of the May 4th discounts. 

I really need to get a couple more Speeder Bikes and Scout Troopers from the set.

I there a good option to just buy the Speeder Bike on Bricklink?

[danth]

Pretty cool Ninjago Motorcycle mech coming out. Strong Megazone vibes.

 

 

[Bolt]

That's pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.

[Chronocidal]

New UCS X-Wing arrived today, but I got home too late to open it up.  Will probably give it a once-over later this week, and start brainstorming how to improve it.  

[M'Kyuun]

With all the summer set reveals coming in, there's a lot to like amidst the various themes. City has undergone a much, much needed makeover with an apartment block and a new City Center that add living and shopping spaces with a nice splash of color and architectural creativity that has been lacking for, well, decades. For the past few years, I've been looking at what's being done in Friends so far as adding color and architecture and usable inner space to buildings and wishing for that to translate over to City, and it looks like that crossover is finally happening. The Arctic City subtheme makes its revolving comeback this year as well, bringing some cool new animal molds and some really nice looking sets.

Dreamzzz, a new original fantasy theme is bringing some interesting new stuff to the table as well. Even if it's not your particular cuppa, and not all of it is mine admittedly, I think it showcases the creativity and whimsy that LEGO has been known for throughout various themes over the years. Too, there's a new clicky joint apparent in many of these sets, the first such addition to that system since Exo-Force in 2006. as a mecha builder who uses those joints a great deal, and also laments their limitations, I'm looking forward to what this new joint offers.

 

 

Ninjago is a favorite theme of mine; I've been watching the show and buying many of the sets since its inception, and as a mecha fan, it caters to that particular fondness more than any other theme except perhaps Monkie Kid. This year's offerings are looking great. First, the largest Ninjago City set is coming June 1st. At over 6000 pieces with 21 minifigs, it's another beautiful multi-level urban sprawl chock full of working features (a cable car, a working wheelchair lift, and a flushing toilet!, just to name a few), varied architecture, interesting color palettes, and a lot of cool building techniques that have become the hallmark of this subtheme.

 

LEGO's mecha sets have been increasing in complexity, sophistication, and features, over the years, likely with the addition of so many AFOLs-cum-designers bringing their own love of the genre to the table and pushing the limits of what's possible in a set geared towards 8-year-olds (and 51 year-olds, too)  

To get either a combing mecha or a transforming mecha is a tall ask, even from Ninjago, but to get both in the same wave and have them executed so well is a rare pleasure indeed, and one I hope we'll see repeated more in the future. As a fella who designs transforming mecha, I must say I'm quite impressed with that bike; it hides its nature very well, and other than last year's Optimus Prime set, it is IMHO LEGO's best attempt yet at a transformer, lower case intentional. Hoping for more!

Not to be left out, this Friends set looks stunning. I don't buy Friends sets all that often, although I often stop and admire the varied architectural approaches and uses of color that make those sets stand apart from the rather bland City offerings over the past decade. This set, however, really stands apart as something particularly well-executed and just downright beautiful. I will have it. 

Thus far, 2023 is shaping up to be a great year for LEGO fans; there's a lot of creativity and variety on deck, with more to come later in the year including a rather large Batcave set that I'm very eagerly anticipating. Check out LEGO's site for more goodness and keep playing well.

[M'Kyuun]

12 hours ago, danth said:

Pretty cool Ninjago Motorcycle mech coming out. Strong Megazone vibes.

 

 

I'm so totally down for that set; brilliant execution! I hope transforming stuff becomes more of a norm across various themes.

[Chronocidal]

So I popped open the new X-Wing today after it got delivered yesterday.. and eh, it has some very good things going for it, but I will never understand their stupid obsession with using elastic-powered mechanisms for the wings, when they have perfectly good ratcheting mechanisms that would work much better in pretty much every way.

Will be redesigning the wings from scratch probably, and hopefully getting them to sit against each other instead of the brick-thick gap between them.  I'm actually thinking this might look better with a full 3-plate thickness for the wings, which would allow for a much fancier panel arrangement to get the details on the inner surface.

Apart from the derpy wing mechanism and chonky nosecone though, the design has a lot going for it.  Proportions look better overall than my first impression, and the angled plate construction on the fuselage is a huge step up from previous brick-built designs.  I think what would actually really help it is to beef up the fuselage.  The engines actually look close to the right size for the length of the ship, but the fuselage looks too short (as in top-to-bottom height), probably from the lack of tapering toward the nosecone.  Making the whole thing taller might really help.

Now.. one other thing I am looking at is the overall proportions, in terms of ratios between components, and there are a few obvious things that need fixing.  I don't have much trouble using the Bandai 1/48 X-Wing kit as a baseline, since I don't think anyone else has managed such an accurate model, short of sourcing the actual model parts that were kitbashed into the original filming models.

The Bandai kit's engines and guns are nice round measurements, which makes it easy.  The intakes are 3/4", the rear nozzles are 1/2", and the fronts of the gun barrels are 3/8", so with a 6-stud intake, the rear engine sections should be 4 studs, and the fronts of the guns should be 3 (though the main gun body is slightly smaller).  I think as long as the very fronts of the guns are 3-studs wide, the rest of the gun can be 2 with some greeblies on the side to bulk them up.

By that same measure though.. yeah, R2 should be 3 studs wide.  

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by Chronocidal

[M'Kyuun]

15 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

So I popped open the new X-Wing today after it got delivered yesterday.. and eh, it has some very good things going for it, but I will never understand their stupid obsession with using elastic-powered mechanisms for the wings, when they have perfectly good ratcheting mechanisms that would work much better in pretty much every way.

Will be redesigning the wings from scratch probably, and hopefully getting them to sit against each other instead of the brick-thick gap between them.  I'm actually thinking this might look better with a full 3-plate thickness for the wings, which would allow for a much fancier panel arrangement to get the details on the inner surface.

Apart from the derpy wing mechanism and chonky nosecone though, the design has a lot going for it.  Proportions look better overall than my first impression, and the angled plate construction on the fuselage is a huge step up from previous brick-built designs.  I think what would actually really help it is to beef up the fuselage.  The engines actually look close to the right size for the length of the ship, but the fuselage looks too short (as in top-to-bottom height), probably from the lack of tapering toward the nosecone.  Making the whole thing taller might really help.

Now.. one other thing I am looking at is the overall proportions, in terms of ratios between components, and there are a few obvious things that need fixing.  I don't have much trouble using the Bandai 1/48 X-Wing kit as a baseline, since I don't think anyone else has managed such an accurate model, short of sourcing the actual model parts that were kitbashed into the original filming models.

The Bandai kit's engines and guns are nice round measurements, which makes it easy.  The intakes are 3/4", the rear nozzles are 1/2", and the fronts of the gun barrels are 3/8", so with a 6-stud intake, the rear engine sections should be 4 studs, and the fronts of the guns should be 3 (though the main gun body is slightly smaller).  I think as long as the very fronts of the guns are 3-studs wide, the rest of the gun can be 2 with some greeblies on the side to bulk them up.

By that same measure though.. yeah, R2 should be 3 studs wide.  

 

Every success with your mods, Chronocidal. I agree with your suggestion that LEGO should abandon the use of rubber bands in lieu of far stronger and more efficient ratcheting mechanisms. Too, it's high time, given all the other molds they've been making, to make a canopy that's accurate to the source material. I think they did well angling the sides on this model, but the nose, a feature which seems to give them issue with every iteration, looks off to me. Anyway, looking forward to seeing your improvements!

[Bolt]

It's quite impressive what LEGO is putting out this summer. I'm keen to grab a few sets, for sure. 

[M'Kyuun]

5 hours ago, Bolt said:

It's quite impressive what LEGO is putting out this summer. I'm keen to grab a few sets, for sure. 

For sure, it's a promising year thus far, and with rumors of other promising sets on the wind, the goodness looks to continue beyond the summer wave. Alas, I'm short on space for all this stuff, so finding somewhere to put it all is my main challenge. Too, it's not getting any cheaper, but then LEGO always has been an expensive hobby. Upping the temptation and excitement, we just got our first mom & pop LEGO store here in Spokane a couple weeks ago, and I want to support them, so I'll gleefully be paying them a visit on June 1st to pick up a bunch of the new sets. 😁👍

[Scyla]

I have seen some lukewarm reactions to the Ninjago City Market. I can see where they are coming from with the empty space in the middle but I think it will look stunning combined with the the other big Ninjago City sets.

[Bolt]

Deculture!!

[Chronocidal]

Ok, the fact that they were able to actually make something at that level before any toy exists is impressive.  Maybe the transformation sequence was detailed more in some publication? 

[Scyla]

I built the new Tie Interceptor yesterday. And I’m a very happy camper right now.

I was most impressed with the size and how well it goes with the Solo movie Tie Fighter.

What I don’t like is the fact that I had to buy a second space ship I have no attachment to… and at least the A-Wing from the Tie Advanced was a fully formed space ship.

Also not a big fan of the gap between the wing struts and the cockpit. I think with another iteration of the design they could have got rid of it and made the cockpit more round.

I also don’t like that the lasers of the wing tips aren’t angled to a bore-sight point. In fact due to the tension in the wings the laser point outwards. I think this to could have been fixed but maybe I’m expecting too much from it.

Overall the positive sides and its very existence massively outweighs the few issues I have with the toy.

Only a couple more vehicles and my Lego Star Wars collection is finished.

[snakerbot]

5 hours ago, Bolt said:

Deculture!!

That's sick. Love it!

5 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Ok, the fact that they were able to actually make something at that level before any toy exists is impressive.  Maybe the transformation sequence was detailed more in some publication? 

A few weeks ago I spent some time poring over the official images of the SV-303 and stills from the movie to figure out how it transformed. Even made some color-coded images of it, a la the MMM. I could post those if you're interested.