StoutFiles

[LDD MOC] Cloud City

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Before I begin, let me go over my goals when I built this. It’ll help explain why some things are the way they are. I’d say it’s about 90% finished, but enough to where the main design won’t change much.

-Build a Cloud City in the same modular tiered format as 10188 Death Star. Should be shaped like a top instead of a circle.

-Have a piece count that will likely keep the set in the equivalent $400 price range (3500 pieces or less).

-Have playability (ex: figures are easily moved about and posed by kids).

-Structurally sound (hopefully, hard to tell with LDD).

-Give more floor space to important/playable areas.

-Connect areas that flow together in the movie (Ex: Similar to 10188’s prison block and trash compactor).

I’ll start with the most disappointing omission…there is no landing pad. The main question I had to ask myself was “Can it fully hold a System scale Falcon with a bridge back to the door while still being a stable set?” The answer was no, no matter how I cut it. I could shrink the landing pad but then I’m sacrificing a ton of good playable area for a half-assed landing pad. I’ll revisit it someday.

Top Floor: With the bridge, I guess the hope here is that since this is the widest point of the model, a kid would be inventive enough to place the bridge at the same height as a table, stack of books, etc. to hold a large ship. Anyways, I think the bridge is important because multiple scenes take place on it (or others like it). The elevator hasn’t been added to the elevator shaft, but it will be the same general design as 10188’s elevator.

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Middle Floor: I’d tried to capture the feel of the room as much as possible with taking into account the space limitations. The freezing platform was raised as high as needed to fully conceal a figure lowered into the chamber. From there the staircase was raised as high as possible so the figures could still move around without dragging their heads on the ceiling.

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Bottom Floor: Two smaller rooms, so I gave them the prison and torture area.

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Some shots with the two pieces together. I wish it was more of a top shape, but it's the widest I felt I could safely make it.

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Like I said earlier, it still needs some work here and there. I've used 2905 pieces so far, and I plan about 150 pieces would be used on minifigures, so I probably have around 200-300 pieces left to keep in line with TLG. There are a lot of instances where I used 2x10, 2x8, 1x8, and 1x10 bricks that TLG wouldn't use, so I have to account for a rise in piece count to use two bricks instead of one longer one.

Figures I would use: (22 total)

Han (white shirt)

Han (jacket)

Han (carbonite piece)

Leia (white jumpsuit)

Leia (red/white dress)

Luke (tan)

Chewbacca

C-3PO

R2-D2

Vader

Fett

Lando

Lobot

Ugnaught (2)

Stormtrooper (2)

Bespin guard (2)

Cloud car pilot

E-3PO

IG-88B

Let me know what you all think! C & C welcomed.

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This is absolutely stunning! Fantastic work! The top floor is really good, and the Carbon Freezing chamber is spot on! This should be submitted to CUUSSO. This needs to be a set!

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Looks great i was waiting for this..I like what you did on all levels. I had an idea of Cloud City my self ,but a whole different version.. :classic::thumbup:

Why don't you do this in Bricks?

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This is excellent, all it needs is a shoot at the bottom to eject Luke out and you're good to go.

You're right, a system scale landing platform would be impossible, but I think that area is very recognizable with CC, and not including it is doing it a disservice also, a catch 22 if you will. I guess the set could include a smaller scale slave and/or MF like the Death Star did with the mini TIE advanced. And let's face it, the DS played fast and loose with keeping with dimensions throughout the set, and we all still love it. Amazing work done here, and can't imagine the hours put it, would love to see it built, or better yet, produced by LEGO.

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Great work StoutFiles!

I really like your choice of the figs for this set :thumbup:

My favourite room would have to be the the big black room where Luke and Vader have that big fight ( :laugh: ) mainly because of the lights and greebling on the walls.

Keep up the good work :sweet:

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Genius idea! Absolutely genius, I love what you've done so far. And I can't imagine the patience it must have took to build that in LDD. :oh3:

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This looks most impressive StoutFiles!

You've captured most of the key areas very well including the 'recycling' room where Chewie finds the remnants of C-3PO. I particularly like your Carbonite chamber, which is excellent :wub::wub:

As mentioned earlier you could add a little 'hatch' for Luke to fall out of at the bottom, with a small aerial for him to cling onto! Also, have you considered using (these) for the rails on the walkway? I found that they fit well with (these) and (these)!

Anyway, excellent stuff! I'm really looking forward to seeing the final version; any chance that you could make the LDD file available? :wink:

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Good point: I am absolutely loving the middle floor, it is sooo highly detailed and just lets the memories come flooding back... beautifully executed!

constructive crit point: I'm left feeling that the top floor needs some sort of... I don't know... extra special movable features?

Seconded about the chute idea.

It is Death Star style imo. It wasn't aimed to be the same shape, just built with the similar design status of the integrated rooms and how they are implemented. Perhaps bring the middle floor out in the very centre of the edge of the walls a few studs to give it a bit of a more curved look in the middle?

Other than that... I want to see this in bricks! xD

*edit* Perhaps the use of some curved sloped bricks to give it a more smoother feeling on the 'shape' (tops and underneaths of the walls) it is reaching out to be?

Edited by Fuppylodders

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A fantastic job! I too love the middle layer! The carbon chamber and the core gantry are amazing quality! Have you tried to see what price LDD gives you for it? :laugh:

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looks awesome mate, i would love to build that, not sure if the globe shape is right, but its supposed to be in fitting with the deathstar style so seems fine. How much would this cvost mate? Also how long did it take to build on LDD? I think you have made it accurate and playable :)

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Why don't you do this in Bricks?

I plan on doing it if/when TLG lets me down with a smaller version of Cloud City. Then I'll incorporate the figures and pieces into this version. I've got too many other sets I need to use the money on for the time being.

Very nice! A bit too square to be considered "Death Star" style, but nice nonetheless.

By "Death Star" style, I meant that it's supposed to resemble the shape of Cloud City with the scenes inside. It's not as good as the Death Star in that regard, but a sphere is easier than a top while still being stable. I went as far as I could. Set is within the red box, floors are the blue lines.

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As mentioned earlier you could add a little 'hatch' for Luke to fall out of at the bottom, with a small aerial for him to cling onto! Also, have you considered using (these) for the rails on the walkway? I found that they fit well with (these) and (these)!

Anyway, excellent stuff! I'm really looking forward to seeing the final version; any chance that you could make the LDD file available? :wink:

That's a good idea, I'll give it a shot. Yes, I'll make it available when I think it's finished.

Good point: I am absolutely loving the middle floor, it is sooo highly detailed and just lets the memories come flooding back... beautifully executed!

constructive crit point: I'm left feeling that the top floor needs some sort of... I don't know... extra special movable features?

Seconded about the chute idea.

The top floor does need some features..but there isn't much to go on. I could greeble the circuit boards that are set up for stickers (boo DSS) but yeah...if you have any feature ideas that fit the movie I'm all ears.

The chute is near impossible with this setup. I can't raise the catwalk any higher because it's linked to the height of the window Luke smashes through, which can't be raised higher because it would raise the next floor's height, etc.

What I would suggest is a kid sit the set next next to the edge of a table and Luke can fall a huge distance like in the movie. Perhaps I could make a stand for the set that could double as a stand-alone chute/weathervane? But then you couldn't have the Falcon fly under that...so yeah, I don't see it working.

I'll see about putting some sloped bricks on the top floor walls, but I'm just copying 10188's walls.

Have you tried to see what price LDD gives you for it? :laugh:

How do you do that? I bet it would be Pick-a-brick overpriced :tongue: , but I'm sure this set would/could be priced equivalently with 10188.

Edited by StoutFiles

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A landing pad for a mini-Falcon would be a good addition to this superb model - ie along the lines of the mini Tie Fighter with the Death Star...!

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I think this is a great MOC. I particularly like the Carbon-Freezing Chamber. Are you planning on adding any huge Flick-Fire Missiles to it? :tongue:

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Are you planning on adding any huge Flick-Fire Missiles to it? :tongue:

I was going to ask that :angry:.

:laugh:.

This is looking great StoutFiles. Maybe add the landing platform to connect to the lower floor? Not as accurate but it would be included.

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This is absolutely excellent, and something I would very much like to buy :thumbup:

However, I agree that this set could use a bottom hatch and a lading pad for a mini Falcon - in DS TIE advanced style - perhaps something like this:

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- but with a big fat seat where the cockpit is where Han/Lando could sit (perhaps I'll just mock one up for you).

The landing pad itself could just protrude over the side of the set - I wouldn't mind that :classic:

Other than that I think the torture room and prison could be combined and the free room could be used as the "Ugnaugth/conveyor belt" room.

I think your overall proportions are fine and you sholdn't be afraid of having "protruding parts" :wink:

Good Job :thumbup:

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Incredible work.

What about placing the chute on the side somewhere. That way it could hang off the corner of a table or platform and have the play feature. Looking forward to the LDD file.

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This just doesn't do anything for me! I'm not trying to be harsh. I like the idea, but, I alway associate Cloud City with being disk shaped. Maybe it is just the shape that is throwing things off for me. I know you touched on it in your first post.

Personally, I think I would take the 2nd story out and make it 2 floors and more oblonged(is this a word?). The Torture Chamber and prison can still go in the bottom. Use tiles on the top of the first floor, modular building style. Then on the second floor put all other rooms. Also, some type of landing platform is a must, for the/ a MINI Falcon. MIDI would be too big!

Maybe on one side you put a small landing platform sticking out of the side of Cloud City, then, on the otherside. To balance it out, `make the Gantry stick out, so Luke can hang from the antenna.

Sorry, Jamie

Edited by jamie75

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This just doesn't do anything for me! I'm not trying to be harsh. I like the idea, but, I alway associate Cloud City with being disk shaped. Maybe it is just the shape that is throwing things off for me.

Personally, I think I would take the 2nd story out and make it 2 floors and more oblonged(is this a word?). The Torture Chamber and prison can still go in the bottom. Use tiles on the top of the first floor, modular building style. Then on the second floor put all other rooms. Also, some type of landing platform is a must, for the/ a MINI Falcon. MIDI would be too big!

Maybe on one side you put a small landing platform sticking out of the side of Cloud City, then, on the otherside. To balance it out, `make the Gantry stick out, so Luke can hang from the antenna.

Sorry, Jamie

That's fine, I don't expect everyone to like it. Have you considering the stability of what you're suggesting though?

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Tops, by design, are not stable. If the ratio of the widest point to the bottom gets any worse, the set would topple over or break with any pressure downward on the edge of the set. Physics is not your friend here. The other, more selfish reason for the width being what it is, is that I want my Cloud City to be displayed on a shelf. The Death Star barely fits on a shelf, so if it gets any wider I'm forced to dedicate a table to it.

As for a landing pad, the bridge could be redesigned to fit micro ships if it had to. Look, all the scenes on the landing bay take place on the bridge. Lando talking to Han? Bridge. Leia shooting at Slave I? Bridge. If you want to act out these scenes you need a good bridge, and having a landing pad to scale with it not only makes a modular tiered build impossible, it means that at todays prices were spending 70 bucks for a big circle. If it were me, I would rather have those pieces be invested into the rooms and figures.

With this design you aren't limited on how far Luke falls. He can fall 6 ft if you have the set that high off the ground. If the weather vane is a must, it could be built as a separate attachment to act that scene out, and possibly double as a stand when not in use.

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I think this is one of the most awesome things I've seen on Eurobricks--I've been lurking on this site for over a year now, but this post was enough to get me to finally register so I could comment and join the discussion of this great project.

I've been working (very slowly) on a cloud city project of my own, although on a much smaller scale (maybe 1/3 the size). I'll certainly incorprate some elements from this into my own cloud city.

A few comments and/or suggestions:

-I really love the middle floor, especially the catwalk and the way the back wall really captures the feeling from the movie. Really an epic job.

-I own the death star, but I'm having a hard time comparing the size of your cloud city to the death star (other than the piece counts you mentioned). Is this set similar in diameter to the Death Star?

-The big white open area on the top floor, as well as the dinner (where Vader waits) room on the top floor appear bigger than they need to be. Could you use that space more efficiently to add other play areas (maybe some corridors, or just additional rooms (not necessarily from the movie)

-I really like the window overlooking the bridge/landing platform. Can you add some sort of window pane there (i.e., so there is not just a huge opening)?

-Could you add a conveyor belt or something to junk room/furnace room? For some reason, I picture the junk room (where Chewie rescues C-3po) on the top floor with the living areas. I wonder if you used the space on the top floor more efficiently if you could squeeze it in up there (I see you already have a cool little bonus room on the top floor).

-I like how all the rooms on the middle floor flow together. However, is there enough room behind the carbon freezing platform to fit a hand through?

-I'm having a hard time seeing from the pictures whether the archway at the base of the catwalk (opposite end from the "I am your father" moment) goes anywhere. Where does that arch lead to? Can you post a pic showing that area in more detail?

-I would guess that anyone who is going to pay $400 for a set already has several Chewie, R2, and C-3po already (although I agree they are important for most cloud city scenes). I would prefer to trade those out (as well as white shirt Han) for a few generic cloud city citizens.

Thanks again for sharing your fantastic project. This inspires me to get going again on my own cloud city project, although, I'm half tempted to abandon that and try to build something larger along the same lines as what you've got here.

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I'm just curious whether you've updated this at all since you originally posted (you said at the time you were 90% done). I'm seriously considering attempting to build something like this with bricks--any chance you could post the LDD file?

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Wow...also have you considered designingin the added "top" areas outside of your sphere? that way those who want to build it that way can worry about its stability and you might even find a better way to end each area (there great already just saying)

I really enjoy this and while i dont collect any SW... i WOULD build this and buy mini's just for it.

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That is so cool! :oh3: I would definitely buy that. The design is really good; you should consider submitting this to CUUSOO if you haven't yet :classic:

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