Raskolnikov

Yeah, I'm aware of that seller and emailed them a while ago--no response. I then looked into ebay's report system but it seemed complicated/time-consuming. Given the number of sales and the fact that he's stealing from other eurobricks users, it may be worth another look.

Heh, I'm pretty sure he knew. Eps. V and VI also kept using the Devastator model in some scenes with a replaced sensor array to make it more similar to the ISD II. So @Kristof the source material definitely is inconsistent lol. When the first transport escapes from Hoth, we can see an ISD (supposedly the Tyrant in fact) change from an ISD I to an ISD II mid-scene. @Gremer2 notice in the early shots, the main engines have 3 flaps, and the greebling on the superstructure (i.e., the terraces) is very large and mechanical. The superstructure on the ISD II has denser greebling with lots of little windows. I've stared at Star Destroyers too long...

If you buy the instructions separately, I suppose you're not stealing from the designer. But I doubt many people are so scrupulous. And since (as I understand it) these kits come with instructions, the purchase would still be supporting the thieves. Also @anothergol and @Samppu, as someone who knows a bit about IP law, at least in the US, I have to respectfully disagree with some of those conclusions. While there may be practical difficulties with taking legal action, I don't think it's accurate to say that a designer has no recourse because they don't own Star Wars. I could go into more detail privately, but suffice it to say (1) Disney's rights aren't necessarily dispositive of a designer's rights as against thieves of his work, (2) regardless, the transformative nature of a work is an important factor in establishing fair use, and (3) profiting off a work doesn't necessarily preclude fair use.

To answer both questions, storage is a continual issue for me, as I'm in a city apartment. I'd like to display my entire Imperial fleet w/ the Mon Cal, but I haven't thought of a way to do that in my current situation, especially not if I buy the UCS ISD and add it to the bunch >.< So currently I'm taking a bit of a break, and the front half of the Mon Cal is taking up part of one of my dog's favorite sleeping spots. But I'm sure you'll see more of it (and @icm its A-wings) in the future.

Yeah, those are the ones I was thinking of, came out in 2018. Not useful for your top mods, but I was surprised that LEGO made that kind of a piece at all. There is a use for them on the side cutouts near the front of the ship, though. Can be seen at 8m52s on this video (and apparently in the thumbnail too): Although, if you're going for accuracy, the 45 degree angle on those wedge plates cutouts is too steep--should probably have use 2x3 wedge plates like on the littler cutouts near the back.

Nice photos! I really like the interior pics in the album as well. There sure are a lot of options for ISDs these days, but only one allows for playful use of minifigs :) As for the mods, I considered a few of these, and a lot of it comes down to personal preference. I actually built a version of the top panels where the large raised sections with studs were mostly replaced by tiles, but I just like the way the studs look at a distance--makes those raised areas pop. As you said, the lack of wedge tiles also makes the tiled design look a little inconsistent--if there were wedge tiles available in the right shapes, even I might be convinced to go studless. We'll see if the new 2x2 wedge tile heralds more to come. I think your choice to replace 1x1 "texture" tiles makes sense, given the other mods. You could also throw in some 1x2 ingots, or possibly jumpers. The rectangle thing that extends from the superstructure also looks good. It's not really a part of the Aggressor's design that I was happy with--think I tried a couple different things, then said "f it" and left it as exposed studs. The Devastator/ISD I has some noticeable turrets there, one of the few occasions where I prefer that studio model. 4x4 macaroni tiles and 2x2 corner tiles both came out in 2017, after I had most of the hull and engines done. I like the corner tiles on the superstructure roof, and might've done that myself if they were cheaper at the time. I think I used all six that I had ordered for exorbitant prices elsewhere in the build. I considered the 4x4 macaroni tiles on the engines, but thought it made them a bit too cylindrical. Wish we had 4x4 macaroni plates to go under them. The added terrace on the portions of the superstructure jutting out near the rear looks good and is accurate. I just skipped it for simplicity and because I was looking ahead to my Victory conversion. Kind of makes sense that a Victory would be slightly less terraced (although I also skipped that feature in the Tyrant, but plan to add it if I ever get around to some upgrades). Removing the lightsabers on the main turrets also probably makes sense with what you're going for. I tried versions of the turrets that used those clips, but chose the lightsabers to highlight the rotation mechanism. The bar w/ stud piece (used on the new ISD set) also opens up some new design possibilities, but it wasn't out at the time. Anyway, thanks for sharing!

What's planned for the three UCS B-wings?

Yeah those 1x1 brackets seem to solve a lot of problems. Heh, I just went ahead with v3 without considering previous versions. It was just a little confusing at first, but once I realized you can tilt that spoiler-looking thing with five grilles to keep the halves in place, it seems to work fine and looks pretty slick. It'd definitely be nice if all the roof chunks were connected together as a single module, but I imagine that'd be difficult. Yeah, I've knocked the skis off a bunch, too, but that seems fine since they're easy to repair. I only felt compelled to change the assemblies that hang down from the shroud on pp. 92, 123 because reconnecting them was difficult with the shroud on. The split back thingy also seemed ok, although the hole in that pistol/nozzle piece tends to make one side looser than the other. Would it be better to replace the studded 1x2 brick and pistol/nozzle with instead a 1x2 technic brick and a pnuematic t-shaped bar (held in place with 1x1 round plate with hole, or small pin)?

@jasal82 Cool, that sounds right to me. I recall removing/replacing that wall several times during construction/instructions, so substituting pins/building in place couldn't be the only work around. Previous feedback definitely indicated that there was an issue there, but when I went over the instructions everything looked to be correct, and I chalked it up as a mystery heh.

Hey @anothergol, so I finally pulled the trigger on v3, the first MOC of someone else's that I've made. I figured something that's so detailed, with over three years of revisions would probably have a lot to teach me. I'm actually building two of them, and it's been a lot of fun so far. Mostly done, but I've been using a lot of parts from my collection, and I need to order a few more to finish up. Anyway, I knew that this was a display model going into it, so I've been pretty easy going when it comes to durability. The only thing that's really bugged me so far were the assembles added on pages 92 and 123, as they fell off when I tried to attach the shroud. I thought there had to be some way to lock them into place with more than one stud, so I added what's shown below (i.e., two of the new 1x1 lbg brackets, plus a 1x1 lbg plate): Nothing's that simple with such a carefully fitted model, so this also requires modifying the rear of the "head" to fit these added brackets. More detail on that here: https://imgur.com/a/WmTtYO9 I like how it turned out, and so far as I can tell the shroud seems to fit just as well as before. What do you think? Was I missing anything when it came to those assemblies? Either way, thanks for making the instructions available.

@caperica Not currently working on instructions, but it's certainly a possibility--ask @legolijntje if his schedule has freed up. I think the parts cost would probably be higher than the Aggressor, though. And at this point I'm not sure how much interest there really is in $2000 Mon Cal.

Yep, got it just to give this a try. I guess there just aren't too many light beard options.

I searched but didn't see anything on Crix Madine, anyone have any ideas on that one? What I've come up with so far is below. I like the texture of the darker beard...unfortunately I think it's too dark. Also, @Robianco, do you recall what head you used for Mon Mothma?

Since you put so much effort in already, you motivated me to take a few more pics of the keel and engine sections. Here you go: https://imgur.com/a/kauPs7v Looks like you're on the right track, the rear stand connects very far to the rear of the keel...even a bit beyond where you have it now. I also included pics of the current version of the Tyrant's removable tail (I.e., the black technic thing). You'll see a lot of open technic pin holes on the keel where it can be attached, enabling you to stand the frame up vertically. I also threw in an old pic I found of the detention center. The four large rooms on level one are partly modular, meaning you can remove the floors. This enables you to lighten the ship when moving it later, and also eases the building process for those interior spaces. Anyway, each of the four large rooms has two or more floor sections. Can't make a room's floor as a single module, as it would be too large to be removable. The large structural walls that correspond with the "ribs" stay in place and aren't part of the modules. Hope this helps!

Should be fine. Most of the technic beams are in the frame, and they're mostly covered up. Some are partially visible when the ship is opened up for the interior, but either color probably looks fine.

Haha, thanks. Yeah, as you all have said, just depends on what you personally value. I'm definitely a bit envious of the Monarch's slim profile myself. I do consider accuracy in my own designs, but at a certain point I tend to stop checking references and start making decisions based on playability, durability, and just what I think the bricks lend themselves to. Since the Aggressor was purpose-built for instructions and eventual modding to a VSD, I also did try to use inexpensive/ordinary pieces. Although the cylinders used in the engines seem to have increased in price quite a bit since then. If I ever finish this blasted Mon Cal, some of the parts usage would present a hurdle for reproducing it. Pretty sure I now have a significant portion of the market's supply of certain old technic panels. And I just used four 4x4 lbg wedges that were only in one AT-ST set like a decade ago--don't think Bricklink could fulfill too many orders of those. Ah well.

Was wondering when we were going to see more of this build, I guess this explains it! I love the use of the car doors for the criss-crossing/truss-shaped hangar entrance things. I think that was a really important part of it to get right (along with the front, in general) since it's one of the few details of the ship that gets highlighted on screen.

I wouldn't worry about it. I do believe that reddish brown parts are more prone to breaking, but it's not like they're going to be breaking all over the place. I have a pretty large collection, and I think I've broken two reddish brown parts ever (both 2 x something plates). That's definitely noticeable, since I don't think I've broken any parts in most colors. But it's also not a big deal--worst case, you gotta buy a couple ten-cent replacements. Edit: Also, I own both the sets you mentioned and don't recall any issues with them specifically. At least one of my breakages was when I scrapped a Ninjago Fire Temple, a 2011 set apparently.

In a lot of ways, this post reminds me of a patent application :) But with something like the x-wing, which has seen iterations from some of the best known Star Wars builders, I definitely appreciate the attempt to transparently distinguish the prior art. And since I wasn't too familiar with differences between previous x-wing builds, I've enjoyed using your post as a roadmap while flipping back and forth between them. So far, I like yours the most! Although with the tiles and inverted tiles that recently have become available, I'm thinking Jerac might've made some similar-looking changes if he were to update his version. Speaking of which, I like the transparent cockpit piece, but I also like how the clean lines of your canopy continue all the way down the fuselage. I'm guessing it's not possible to have both? Either way, good work!

It's growing on me. I initially thought it looked too similar to the 2009 version, but on second viewing it seems to be elongated and more proportional (apart from the larger bridge/cockpit). Edit: Turns out the old one is less than 52 cm long, and according to the video (and LEGO's website) the new one is over 62 cm--pretty significant difference/improvement.

Here's some pics explaining that as best I can, although it's probably still somewhat confusing: https://imgur.com/a/VjcclPp Believe I took these pics for @deanorth, actually.

Heh, nice work. That's definitely based on the work-in-progress pics of the keel, though. I'm an inefficient, physical builder, so I repeatedly build and rebuild things before I settle on the design. I know those 6L half-width technic liftarms diagonally placed on every other "rib" got removed soon after I took that pic. Also, it's unfortunately not going to be possible to complete the ship's frame in LDD, as it's slightly illegal. I.e., the program won't let you connect the sides of V-shaped frame together. I don't think it stresses the parts or anything, though, and I believe it has some benefits when built in physical bricks. As for any further helpful information, it's kind of hard to take pics of the Tyrant's frame now, as a lot is covered up. And I'm not sure duplication would be the best bet anyway. If I had to do it again, I'd probably follow the same general pattern shown here, but skipping every other rib and making the remaining ones stronger. The Aggressor's frame does exactly that. In the same vein, I'd also try a lot harder to reduce unneeded weight throughout.

I haven't seen Resistance, but these all look really interesting and well done. Might check out the show because of your MOCs!

Nicely done, the Mon-Calamar-aissance continues! Good idea, since there don't see to be many decent reference pics of the two Mon Calamari studio models. Did ILM blow them up for the Death Star superlaser scenes?

In the first pic of the problem, it looks to me like you should be able connect the plate assembly to the wall. The top of the wall is exactly 15 plates (i.e., six studs) higher than the floor. So it should be an exact fit when the top of the 6L plate lines up with the top of the wall, as you seem to have it in the first pic. If the plate assembly isn't connecting to the studs, double check that you built the wall correctly. Other than, my recommendation is to make sure everything is tightly connected and try again.