mortesv

From Death Star II to Minifig - a Journey through Scale

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One of my favorite aspects of UCS is their sheer size. Comparing a large UCS model with mini scale model that often comes with it can capture my gaze for hours on end :wub:

I got the idea that if I had a scale model for the blockade runner I could actually go all the way from Death Star II to a minifig - here is what that journey looks like

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The second Death Star: 160km in diameter with the 19km Executor next to it (I have modded the mini to fit in scale) - Not the most interesting angle but it captures the size difference :tongue:

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The 19km Executor with an 1600m ISD next to it (this mini is also modded to a length of 13 studs)

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The 1600m ISD (Imperial I Class) with the 150m Tantive IV next to it (again modded to scale)

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The 150m Tantive IV (with modded engine section and a few other mods) next to the 26,7m Falcon (in scale at 16studs - the modded Tantive IV is 3 studs longer than the stock model). As a bonus I discovered that the X-wing from the 2011 Advent Calendar were also in scale with the Blockade Runne :sweet:

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Close up of the Falcon. This model is 90% based on Tim Goddards (Rogue Bantha) work - I'm a fan :thumbup:

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Lastly the Falcon - nothing special here (see if you can find the small mods :tongue: ). I have placed a few sandtroopers next to it. It is supposed to be built to scale with a minifig - although a bit on the large side I would say :laugh:

Thus we have gone from the Death Star II all way down to a minifig through the magic of scale models :laugh:

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Great step to step of them mortesv :sweet:. Ever since the new SSD came out I've wanted to see someone do this, IMO the UCS Tan IV should have come with a mini Falcon to do this probably. Whats the angle on the DSII anyway mortesv? Are you hanging off the ceiling to take that :wacko:?

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Great step to step of them mortesv :sweet:. Ever since the new SSD came out I've wanted to see someone do this, IMO the UCS Tan IV should have come with a mini Falcon to do this probably. Whats the angle on the DSII anyway mortesv? Are you hanging off the ceiling to take that :wacko:?

Hehe, no, the Death Star is standing on a table I'm just looking down on it :wink:

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Wow! I didn't know that the Tantive IV was that big. I thought it was considerably smaller than the Falcon. Huh.

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Hehe, no, the Death Star is standing on a table I'm just looking down on it :wink:

Oh I thought it was on top of a bookcase or something :grin:.

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Kind of reminds me of those posters showing how planets compare in size to the sun etc. This would make a great poster. Really good work. You need to include an x-wing fighter as the next jump in scale.

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Thanks for the comments guys :sweet:

Wow! I didn't know that the Tantive IV was that big. I thought it was considerably smaller than the Falcon. Huh.

If you look at the movies, you see that the Tantive IV just fits in the main hanger bay of an ISD, while the falcon is a tiny doodle on the bridge - also in ROJ you see the Falcon flying past a Corellian Corvette - however the shot only lasts a second or so - so you really have to look carefully :laugh:

Oh I thought it was on top of a bookcase or something :grin:.

Hehe, if that was the case I'd be 3 meters tall - and cast in Avatar 2 :tongue:

Interesting!

I usually forget how massive these things should be in real life.

That is what the small scale models are for :wink:

Kind of reminds me of those posters showing how planets compare in size to the sun etc. This would make a great poster. Really good work. You need to include an x-wing fighter as the next jump in scale.

Perhaps I'll make that poster one day :wink: About the X-Wing, the Falcon is already at minifig scale, so what I could do is moc an X-wing in minifig scale as well - somewhere between the system model and the UCS in size :sweet:

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Great idea mortesv, it’s really interesting to see the different sets scaled against each other. You have a very impressive collection of UCS sets, which I hope to match one day! I really want the Death Star II....

Re: the Falcon modding, the only obvious difference I can see is the two Grey levers on top of the cockpit; in the box photo they’re both forwards but in your version one is pointing backwards!! :laugh:

Have you changed the cockpit ‘window frame’ slightly, it’s difficult to see from your photo but it does look slightly different? (and the one area that I’d be tempted to try and improve, as it doesn't seem to fit well together).

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Great idea mortesv, it’s really interesting to see the different sets scaled against each other. You have a very impressive collection of UCS sets, which I hope to match one day! I really want the Death Star II....

Re: the Falcon modding, the only obvious difference I can see is the two Grey levers on top of the cockpit; in the box photo they’re both forwards but in your version one is pointing backwards!! :laugh:

Have you changed the cockpit ‘window frame’ slightly, it’s difficult to see from your photo but it does look slightly different? (and the one area that I’d be tempted to try and improve, as it doesn't seem to fit well together).

Regarding that lever, inside the instruction booklet one of them is actually turned backwards :wink: - otherwise nothing is changed on the cockpit - as far as I remember :laugh:

I have changed the postioning of the piping next to the radar dish though. In the original design the pipes/cabels that is supposed to connect to the base of the dish were just placed next to it - leading nowhere. I dont know why the designer did this but it was a very easy fix - moving the piping 2 studs :tongue:

Regarding the DSII I got it 6 months ago on eBay - new sealed for 370 USD. It was a very lucky bid - the auction ended July 4th so the other bidders were out celebrating I guess :laugh: I have 13 UCS models many of them which I have tweaked/modded

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Wow, what a great idea! Thanks to your pictures, I can really see the scale of the ships clearer. It really is crazy to think how BIG some of these ships would be if real. SSD...

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Wow, what a great idea! Thanks to your pictures, I can really see the scale of the ships clearer. It really is crazy to think how BIG some of these ships would be if real. SSD...

That is a really cool concept. The scale of the death star in unimaginable but this puts it more into perspective. :thumbup:

Then you can perhaps understand why I'm not very productive while in my "room". I'm just sitting there, gazing at the models, imagining the size for hours on end - going from DS to minifig and back again :laugh:

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Then you can perhaps understand why I'm not very productive while in my "room". I'm just sitting there, gazing at the models, imagining the size for hours on end - going from DS to minifig and back again :laugh:

Tut Tut, spending more time looking at the Lego than building it ey :hmpf_bad:.

:laugh:.

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Tut Tut, spending more time looking at the Lego than building it ey :hmpf_bad:.

:laugh:.

Lol - well, that is why I'm building my models in the living room :wink:

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One of my favorite aspects of UCS is their sheer size. Comparing a large UCS model with mini scale model that often comes with it can capture my gaze for hours on end :wub:

Ha! A man after my own heart! :thumbup: If the intensity of my admiring gaze could turn objects to stone and finally erode them over time then my 17 UCS' would have turned to dust long ago. :laugh:

I've been wanting to play this 'scale game' since preliminary photos of 10221 first showed up last year. The only problem was of course Lego's missing link- a 10019 scaled Millennium Falcon. I toyed with a MOC myself but didn't get round to refining it down to any level of real satisfaction...

Close up of the Falcon. This model is 90% based on Tim Goddards (Rogue Bantha) work - I'm a fan :thumbup:

...and then viola! Here is the 'missing link' in all its unrivaled glory! Now if only my own attempt had been half as well executed.

Great work Mortesv! You've played the UCS scale game brilliantly. Your attention to detail, in adjusting the standard models so as they relate to each other as closely as can be (ignoring where 'canon' contradicts itself of course), is a very, very nice touch. I wouldn't have had the patience myself!

I wasn't aware of Rogue Bantha's work so thank you for citing him. Consequently I tracked down his Falcon and can see he's been most generous in sharing with the community just how he built it. I'll be scrapping my own 'missing link' and following your lead with this MOC!

What a piece of work is Lego, how noble in reason, how infinite in possibilities, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like a 10019 scaled Millennium Falcon... :wub:

Cheers!

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Ha! A man after my own heart! :thumbup: If the intensity of my admiring gaze could turn objects to stone and finally erode them over time then my 17 UCS' would have turned to dust long ago. :laugh:

I've been wanting to play this 'scale game' since preliminary photos of 10221 first showed up last year. The only problem was of course Lego's missing link- a 10019 scaled Millennium Falcon. I toyed with a MOC myself but didn't get round to refining it down to any level of real satisfaction...

...and then viola! Here is the 'missing link' in all its unrivaled glory! Now if only my own attempt had been half as well executed.

Great work Mortesv! You've played the UCS scale game brilliantly. Your attention to detail, in adjusting the standard models so as they relate to each other as closely as can be (ignoring where 'canon' contradicts itself of course), is a very, very nice touch. I wouldn't have had the patience myself!

I wasn't aware of Rogue Bantha's work so thank you for citing him. Consequently I tracked down his Falcon and can see he's been most generous in sharing with the community just how he built it. I'll be scrapping my own 'missing link' and following your lead with this MOC!

What a piece of work is Lego, how noble in reason, how infinite in possibilities, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like a 10019 scaled Millennium Falcon... :wub:

Cheers!

You are a poet - and you make me blush! :blush:

17 UCS is quite a collection - I only have a measly 13 :tongue: (I don't count my 10188 as UCS - even though BL lists it as such :wink: )

Post a pic of your mini Falcon when you are done :classic:

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this is fantastic, and really shows the scale well.

I second the request for a minifig standing next to a UCS X-wing. I realise the falcon has a minifig standing next to it, but the minifig is hard to see and is dwarfed by the falcon. Next to an X-wing would help the illustration better I think.

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this is fantastic, and really shows the scale well.

I second the request for a minifig standing next to a UCS X-wing. I realise the falcon has a minifig standing next to it, but the minifig is hard to see and is dwarfed by the falcon. Next to an X-wing would help the illustration better I think.

Thanks :)

I would love to meet your request - The problem is that the UCS X-wing is not in minifig scale - it is way too big - a minifig in the cockpit looks like a child driving a car ;)

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Quite the droll journey! This is something many of us can only hope to afford. I’ll forgive the use of the highly erroneous canon lengths for now. :tongue:

I never quite liked how fat the 10019 was; if you’re interested in developing that model further I would definitely suggest taking a look at OceanBlue’s extensive mod (assuming you haven’t seen it already) – I think you’ll find that the added length greatly improves the overall look (and accuracy) of the set. :classic:

What a piece of work is Lego, how noble in reason, how infinite in possibilities, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like a 10019 scaled Millennium Falcon... :wub:

And yet, to me,/what is this quintessence of studs? Inaccuracy delights not/me: no, nor discoloration neither, though by your smiling/you seem to say so..

:tongue:

I would love to meet your request - The problem is that the UCS X-wing is not in minifig scale - it is way too big - a minifig in the cockpit looks like a child driving a car ;)

That’s right - in fact, at 1:28 scale it seats a Technic figure well. Going by the canon length of 12.5m, though, 4502 is actually about right for minifigures. Now if only it was presentable...

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Thanks :)

I would love to meet your request - The problem is that the UCS X-wing is not in minifig scale - it is way too big - a minifig in the cockpit looks like a child driving a car ;)

ah, didn't realise that. I have a 6212 which seems about the right size for a minifig - didn't realise the UCS was bigger, never seen one in the flesh

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Quite the droll journey! This is something many of us can only hope to afford. I’ll forgive the use of the highly erroneous canon lengths for now. :tongue:

I never quite liked how fat the 10019 was; if you’re interested in developing that model further I would definitely suggest taking a look at OceanBlue’s extensive mod (assuming you haven’t seen it already) – I think you’ll find that the added length greatly improves the overall look (and accuracy) of the set. :classic:

"Canon lengths" - plural? As far as I know only one of the lengths I mention is debated :wink:

Regarding modding the 10019, yes, it is very fat: reference - the reason I haven't posted the mod in a stand alone thread is that it is not really done. As you can see in my picture I have stretched the "middle" engines and made the model slightly longer - but other than that not much else is done, yet - if I ever get around to it :classic:

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