AwesomeStar

WIP: HALO Wars Spirit Of Fire

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Hey there. As a big fan of the HALO series I've recently been blown away by HALO Wars, the newest in the license.

The game strays away from the other games First Person Shooter layout and switches to a Real Time Strategy format, enabling you to command your troops and win, rather than running around alongside them.

My favorite feature of HALO Wars is the good guy's (UNSC) huge battleship, the "UNSC Spirit Of Fire"

Here's a reference picture for you:

sof_800.jpg

My aim is to really kick off my Lego "career" and build this beast to mini-fig scale in Lego. I consider myself an average builder, capable of cool MOCs, like my Market Village Expansion I'm currently working on (but taking a break), but have never really made my "break".

Inspired by Aaron Morse, here on EB, Chris Doyle on ReasonablyClever.com and so many other greats, I decided that my love for this ship was enough to take control of my life and build it in Lego. At mini-fig scale. Oh boy.

I estimate this project to take possibly 2 years on-and-off, on top of GCSE coursework and all those other hassles.

The main color is dark Bluish Gray, as thats all the ship is really. An assortment of geometrical shapes in a uniform color. Already I've made massive plans for the mini-figs, ordering BULK amounts of the BrickForge Space Marine armor sets and BrickArms weapons.

Currently I am sorting things out in my head, conjuring up ideas for the little problems that I'll encounter. And making detailed sketches, of course.

Seeing as HALO Wars is a relatively new game, not many shots of the Spirit are up on the 'net yet, but keeping recorded footage of all the cutscenes in the game playing constantly on my television, I reckon I will do okay. Ish.

Stay tuned for more on this exciting project (for me, anyway). Tips and ideas VERY welcome (oh please give me some ideas!)

Edited by AwesomeStar

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I've got an idea for you : You're stock raving mad !!! :grin: ... Sorry, that was the first thing going through my mind... after that ... a banana :sing:

You have to realise that this is a VERY VERY big project to do ... certanly in MF scale....

Building this large will take a lot of framework, so technic beams and a lot of technic pins is going to be your first requirement..

Here's a folder of a large ship of mine ( also MF scale )

This is the WIP : http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=212080

Here on legoworld : http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=211982

This took me the better part of a year to build... and in sections.. because i forgot I had to transport is :look:

Thanks to Alex54 there some picture's of my second ship : http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2724987 ... sadly I completly forgot to take picture's at the SW event and of my ship... :sad:

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, I might not have all the answers, but I can always try :wink:

Greetings,

Saint

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You have to realise that this is a VERY VERY big project to do ... certanly in MF scale....

Building this large will take a lot of framework, so technic beams and a lot of technic pins is going to be your first requirement..

You must've ordered ALOT of BA Space Assault Rifles [And that halo pistol which BA name escapes me]!!! :oh:

But like saint said, You'll need alots of framework, beams, technic pins, lots of bricks & plates not to mention all the computer screens ect.. you'll need + all those minifigs!

How much have you spent so far?

Anyway I cant wait to see the finished result. :wub:

Sooo many LEGO Spartans....mmmm.....*drools* Make sure you take a pic of the whole crew! :wub:

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:oh:

No offense, but you're crazy! :laugh::laugh:

Like they said, you'll need lots of baseplates, technic pins, and what not.

What I can help you with are the minifigs.

Brickforge has some suh-weet Halo armor:

https://www.brickforge.com/store/home.php?cat=289

https://www.brickforge.com/store/home.php?cat=290

And BrickArms has some really nice guns, too:

http://brickarms.com/Toys/weapons/SpaceAssaultRifle.aspx

http://brickarms.com/Toys/weapons/SpaceMagnum.aspx

That's all for now. :sweet:

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That is one massive project you are going to work on. My advice is, build it in sections, add them to one mainframe, and put on the finishing details. Smaller projects are easier than one large one.

Making it minifig scale is near crazy, as, can you imagine how many troops that thing can carry?

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Thanks for the help guys. Yeah, framework is essential.

From looking at the pic, what shape would you say I need to make ??

Saint, cheers for the ideas and the pictures, what an inspiration!

As for all the other questions about how many troops it could fit, I'd say about... 200+ Marines 100+ FlameThrowers 50+ Spartans, loads of Tech Support and mechanics, and then the game's main cast. It'll all be kitted out with vehicles bays (+vehicles), living quarters for everyone, cryo-banks for cryogenic sleep, all the main rooms, kitchens, EVERYTHING!

Luckily my brother moved out of my room so I have a huge room to myself. My main concern is actually the col,our. My supply of Dark Bluish Gray is VERY LIMITED, so if anyone is willing to trade Bley for anything I have, like minifigs to bulk multi-colored blocks, I would much appreciate it.

I hope you'll all follow me on this journey and I hope we'll all enjoy it, too.

~A.S

P.S. In regards to my sanity, ehh... this, like I said, is my "break". But yeah, I'm doo-lally!

Edited by AwesomeStar

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Bricklink is a builder's best friend. :wink:

You'll be able to buy bricks in large quantities there. Good luck with this massive undertaking! :sweet:

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Bricklink is a builder's best friend. :wink:

You'll be able to buy bricks in large quantities there. Good luck with this massive undertaking! :sweet:

Thank you Erdy (may I call you Erdy? Whoops, already did!), and I whole-heartedly agree. Have you seen the Diamond Car Insurance advert? It could easily be adapted to Bricklink. The tune is Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend.

~A.S.

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What an impressive project! That ship´s really beautiful and I wish you good luck, but I would recommend to simplify it a little.

According to the halo wikia this ship carries a lot of vessels and troops and has a length of 2.5 kilometers, which is equal to

approximately 83 meters in the region of MF scale (1:30)... :classic:

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What an impressive project! That ship´s really beautiful and I wish you good luck, but I would recommend to simplify it a little.

According to the halo wikia this ship carries a lot of vessels and troops and has a length of 2.5 kilometers, which is equal to

approximately 83 meters in the region of MF scale (1:30)... :classic:

Whoa, crap. I use that site, and have read the article, but whoa!

Erm, okay then. Well, I originally planned it too be about the length of my bed, which is a little longer than average.

The vehicle bay will be the obvious "shrink", and I'll study the in-game options for sending vehicles and other things down to the surface, hopefully I'll come up with some alternative.

Thanks Asuka for the VERY useful maths (something I'm rubbish at), and the luck, of course. :classic:

Glad you like the ship as much as I do (I love it more, dammit!)

~A.S.

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Getting it to the size "roughly" as long as yuour bed is quite the challenge I think.... But I think that is very realistic challenge for a 2 year project .

I took some time to "think" today.. and I for one think this thing CAN be done in a "sort-of-looking-like-it's-completly-MFscale-ship" .. Just don't overstretch yourself by making to large sections you can't handle.

How ? You start out by "cutting" the ship into 4 or more quarters.. front-mid-mid-engine sections and the large slope on the side is a very nice way to smuggle with color underneath ( or not ) ... just hang that over a few of the sections ... because of the sections , you can always add more detail.

Keep us informed !!

grtz Saint

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I've got an idea for you : You're stock raving mad !!! :grin: ... Sorry, that was the first thing going through my mind... after that ... a banana :sing:

Not quite. Mad if he fails, brilliant if he suceeds!

Although Full minifig scale is impossible, maybe 2 yards would be possible, just lengthy. I am glad to see a Halo Wars fan! I never really liked the first person shooters, but I love and kick butt at strategy games. Although i dont have a 360, I am looking at it.

jifel

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Okay, well, I've made heavy advancements in the Planning Process, as I now call it.

My school breaks up on Wednesday for Easter Break, a 2-week long holiday. Seeing as we're a bit short on money, we are not going on holiday this year, which is actually great because....

SORTING! Yes, that's right. My mother (Julia), agreed to help me sort all my Lego. A very hefty job.

So thank you.

Hopefully, when its all sorted by: Colour, Type, Size (the agreed arrangement with my mother), I will be able to build a LOT easier.

However, I'm not at the building stage yet. Last night I used a tape measurer to get the length (From one bedpost to the other), and height (From the floor to the top of the bedpost, which is quite low, and have stuck that tape measurer to my wall, which is empty and uncluttered, perfect for plans.

I'm now going to fill the length and height of this measurement with A3 paper, and will sketch a (hopefully) to-scale blueprint of my Behemoth, from the side. I'm a talented artist (If I do say so myself), so it won't be hard.

Thanks for all the constructive critique, and to be honest, this would not happen were it not for you, the EB community. So thank you.

~A.S.

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UPDATE:

I'm now thoroughly drawing out my plans, and have recently acquired a small (but ever useful) amount of Dark Bluish Gray from my dear friend Nathan, who has agreed to help me with construction (Thank Goodness!). Also my other friend Brodie has agreed to give me his small stash of Dark Bley in return for me helping him track a piece down on Bricklink.

Along with the small amount of Dark Bley I own (mostly slopes), I now have a fair bit (but way off the mark) of Dark Bley. Sadly, it is incomparable with the amount I'll ever need. :hmpf_bad:

Drawing is going well, I started with the main bulk, and have so far done about a third of that.

I started with the Technic "skeleton", and have decided on major connection points and a general shape (a very irregular hexagonal prism) for the main bulk of the ship. I'm VERY excited by just the thought of this project, and every thirty seconds or so, I just grin!

In the meantime, my cat has a cold and an eye infection, so I'll have to take him to the V-E-T (I don't say vet around him, he always runs off :tongue:), which will halt drawing by about an hour.

EVERY SECOND COUNTS!!!

~ A rather excitable A.S.

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UPDATE:

I'm now thoroughly drawing out my plans, and have recently acquired a small (but ever useful) amount of Dark Bluish Gray from my dear friend Nathan, who has agreed to help me with construction (Thank Goodness!). Also my other friend Brodie has agreed to give me his small stash of Dark Bley in return for me helping him track a piece down on Bricklink.

Along with the small amount of Dark Bley I own (mostly slopes), I now have a fair bit (but way off the mark) of Dark Bley. Sadly, it is incomparable with the amount I'll ever need. :hmpf_bad:

Drawing is going well, I started with the main bulk, and have so far done about a third of that.

I started with the Technic "skeleton", and have decided on major connection points and a general shape (a very irregular hexagonal prism) for the main bulk of the ship. I'm VERY excited by just the thought of this project, and every thirty seconds or so, I just grin!

In the meantime, my cat has a cold and an eye infection, so I'll have to take him to the V-E-T (I don't say vet around him, he always runs off :tongue:), which will halt drawing by about an hour.

EVERY SECOND COUNTS!!!

~ A rather excitable A.S.

Hope your Cat gets better, now get to work!! :devil::devil:

Seriously, every piece and second counts, and I am glad that you have started. :devil:

Plates on bricklink shouldnt be expensive, so O would build the frames then cover them with dark bley plates.

this piece could be used.

jifel

Edited by jifel

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Thanks for the link, I'd best get ordering!

I estimate building to commence at the start of May. I want to finish my drawings, make some plans, collect and sort my pieces and prepare my room for a 2-year crusade into my Lego world.

So a month's delay, but in that time, I can get all the above done and dusted, then I can get started.

I was thinking, for the structure, Technic, then plates, then tiled on top of the plates to smooth it over. The interior can be a few plates on top of technic beams, connected to the skeleton. I can then make the walls inside, too.

There's five modules, then all the removable decks and stuff.

I'll see if tomorrow morning I can come up with some statistics and measurements for the main bulk... Hmm, that needs a new name, tbh, I hate typing main bulk all the time.

Shall we call it the Hull instead? Its a bit piratey, but I can't think of anything better.

~ A very tired, but happy A.S.

Edited by AwesomeStar

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:laugh: It's Hull, as if it mattered. Also, how do you intend to build the interior, I dont know if there is enough reference. For barracks and etc. you will probably have to do what seems most logical.

jifel

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Yeah, I have some ideas, y'know, military-based designs and stuff. Also, I have the cutscenes from the game on loop on cam-corder, which I've burned onto a dvd, so I can watch it on my tv or laptop for reference.

As a request, for you Jifel, or any other loyal follower of this project, if you see any new pictures of the ship kicking around on the 'net, please PM me or post them here, as that'd be great!

A basic representation of the Hull is actually the mid-section on 7665 Republic Cruiser. Also, that features very similar construction methods to what I'm going for, just on a comparatively small scale.

For the barracks, I'm thinking maybe steel-looking bunks, stuck to the floor, and then maybe weapons rack in one corner and a small space-toilet in the other. Seeing as I need about 200 marines alone, I could do 20 a room, at 2x6 a bed, so thats 10 rooms of 10 bunk beds with a 2x6 gap in between each, 2 toilets and 2 weapons racks. I'll probably put some kind of video-comlink in there too. Thats just brainstorming in about 20 seconds, so you can see a basic idea of scale.

Please tell me if my math is wrong, I'm fairly crap.

~A.S.

Edited by AwesomeStar

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Your math is fine, but 1 toilet per 10 marines could get messy.

Also, I was just thinking of the republic cruiser, and details on the barracks:

-I would use red lights from the ceiling in the barracks, as I know in US subs they use them, as some soldiers will be sleeping shifts while others may be reading, and red light can be used for both somehow. No idea how that works, but it does.

jifel

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Yeah, I heard about the red lights, and I agree. So that's decided. As for the toilets, I said 2, but I might make a toilet room, with cubicles, just in case of Space-Flu, lol.

As for the beds, I've had some more thoughts about it, and decided on pretty much final design of it (and most of the room). I'll sketch it up in the morning, but I may as well give you some idea.

Each bed=2 studs wide. 10x2=20, so 20 studs wide. At either end of the room I'll need 2 studs so the end soldiers can fit in too. And 2 studs in between each bed. So the total length of the beds is 42 studs long. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

There will be 4 more studs at either end for the toilets + weapons racks (or cupboards), so thats 50 studs per room, add four for a little path in between bunks. 54x10=540, so all of the barracks will total up to 540 studs. Then I was thinking that 2 can be stacked on top of one another, so thats 250 studs per row, but my bed is quite high, at least from the ground, so I can possibly make that 4 on top of one another.

Thats a "basic idea", but at least the dimensions are coming together.

~A.S.

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I dont feel like checking all of that, but the general idea is sound. I fully agree about toilet rooms scattered throughout the ship. Crew barracks should be the same, replacing weapon racks with backpacks of equipment, or deleting that and making a seperate room for crew supplies. I would make 10 toilet rooms scattered around, plus three eating halls, and several cofee machines in the main bridge. This will possibly be the most impressive thing I have ever seen if it works out.

Also, I would have 10 spartans, with half a regular barrack, but extra room for armour racks.

jifel

Edited by jifel

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I agree, but maybe 30 SPARTANs, as in the game you can often get quite a few deployed and you see some scattered about the maps.

Your idea for the crew's room is perfect, as I was only gonna equip the crew with BrickArms Space Magnums, again from HALO. They can just hold those.

For the SPARTANs rooms then, I could use the same Marine layout, except just three rooms, and only single beds, not bunks. Then in the corners there could be two toilets, again, but in the opposite side there can be weapons + armor racks?

~A.S.

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Errrr... I would do something differend.

Creating this monster of a ship is going to be your first objective.. and keeping your eye on the ball is very important. Build your hull first .. Keep that in mind at ALL times ... I can't stress that enough ...

A regular size bed is like 2 meters ? Keep in mind that your ship needs to be at least 50 - 80 studs wide , more even if you want to put hangars in, cargobay's and a bridge , and whatnot..

A longer ship needs to be wider aswel... I don't think it's going to feel right after 2 years of building and you end up with a very nice looking "needle" .

Toilet units inside your quarters are "busy-makers" ... keep that in mind.. if you want a lot of things to be "discovered" on your ship, make them separate , weapons to. A ship has a lot of spaces where they stock stuff.. sleeping-quarters are just that ... sleeping-quarters.

Okay, do you want to show of your finished product ? that concider this : the more you put in per cm² .... the less people are going to see... there going to miss out on a lot of detail that took you months of thinking, ordering, and building ..

A fully equiped toiletblock is going to stand out more with a spartan taking a (younowwhat) or a shower in the showerroom ( take that as an example ) ... than sleeping , eating and doing everything on a few cm² .

Also take in mind that your lights are VERY important ... if there's no light inside the rooms, and it's dark, you've done al that work for nothing...

I don't want to tamper your enthousiasm ... those are some mistakes I've made...

Heck, you got me thinking about a ship of my own again !!

Greetings, Saint

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I have never made something bigger than a 22" Military helicopter, so I will just agree with Saint on the above.

For lights, I would actually use a transred tile with a light behind it, or even a New Exo-Force light up brick It would not be hard to have surface features be pushed to light up a room.

jifel

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