(SoNE - Episode V): Furry and Smelly

[MontyPython]

Shadows of Nar Eurbrikka: Episode V: Secret Plans: Furry and Smelly

Hello fellow eurobrickers! Today I'm going to show you my very first MOC here, on Eurobricks Forums. It's nothing really special but I spent a lot of time on it. Since I'm a beginner here you must forgive if I'll make any mistakes.

In this MOC I'm visiting Hoth with some other rebel soldiers. I know, this planet was a checkpoint in III Episode, but since I bought some Tauntauns last week I choose Hoth as a place where my scene's happening. It could also be Toola or Orto Plutonia, but as I know tauntauns live only on Hoth.

Right, let this be enough, shall we start with the story?

The Story

Me, Fitzwilliam and Easton were just repearing our ship, Susie, when we hear someone who was calling us. It was general Alastair O'Flatherrford, old and kind, but sometimes very stuborn man.

M: Me; F: Fitzwilliam; E: Easton; A: Alastair

A: Got any free time today, do you boys?

M: Sure, general. What's all about?

A: You see, Empire is building another Death Star and we think some Bothans might now something about it ...

F: Right, and where's our place in this story?

A: You'll go on Hoth and track down a Bothan, I think he's called Raymond, who has a friend who might have a cousin that know something about the whole Empire deal ...

E: Wait a second! You want us to go on that pile of ice to find someone who maybe know someone, who's not sure if he knows someone, who knows something about Empire's dirty business? We're not crazy!

A: Alright, alright, keep your alans of. This is important job and you guys should be happy to get it. And by the way, you have nothing important to do, am I right?

M: Ofcourse we ... erm ... Right, we'll do this, we know it's for our good too.

Indeed, life's hard. We loaded the ship, do the last fixtures and we left our warm little hangar behind us.

It was quite a long journey. We drove throught an asteroid field, were almost eaten by excorgot and the, we finnaly landed on Hoth. There we immidietly came in touch with some rebels that have a base there. We explained them a situation. They said there's an old bunker that was never found by troopers and our man may be there.

W: Winston; E: Errol; H: Harrison

M: Right, boys. Will, Easton and I will leave know. We'll find that Bothan.

H: Don't be in a hurry lads, you need a lot of equipment here, this isn't Tatooine, right? Errol and Vinnie are going with you, and I'll get you some tauntauns.

M: Okay, Harry! Thanks!

And so, we were put in warm trousers and jackets, we got some helmets and we left. But first we met Tauntauns, those furry and smelly creatures. They were quite easy to ride, so we left quickly. In 'bout thirty minutes we came to that bunker. Doors were ofcourse closed and hidden in snow so we had to use our imagination. Easton ofcourse used his piromaniac imagination and blow up some snow, which made a nice big hole. Ofcourse nobody heard us . Then we used the rope.

Hoth actually wasn't that bad. In the middle of ice of snow in my turban and on tauntaun I felt like a king.

Easton was observing the place ...

And Vinnie helped Errol with the rope ...

And so, Errol bravely went throught the hole. It was clear down there, so someone really was there ... Errol suddenly heard a voice:

R: Raymond; E: Errol

R: Who's there?!

E: Stop, little fellow, I come in peace!

R: So you think peace is something like "I'll blow your roof!"?!

E: Alright don't be mad, let us explain ...

So me and others got down ... That little fellow actually had a nice place down there. He had a lot of food and drinking water, speeder and considering how big was his hole, probably even a spaceship ...

Bothan actually wasn't that bad as we thought. He was a nice little fellow and he actually knew something about Death Star, the empire was building.

But, that's a story for other time.

Edited August 25, 2015 by MontyPython

[BEAVeR]

Well it may be your first MOC, but it's a welcome entry for SoNE (even though it isn't an Imperial entry...)!

That spaceship you built actually has something about it I quite like. It's great how you've added in assymetry in the wing decorations and little details. Also, the design with the two pairs of wings is quite interesting. You've got a lot of elements there for a really nice ship. But you're not totally there yet. You see, the ship is very blocky. Even for a freighter ship, it looks a bit unrealistic. Try beveling the edges with curve or slope pieces. Or instead of going with one big hull, split it up in several sections of different dimensions. Make some relief on the roof (this doesn't have to be raised: you could even have a little trench on the roof). There are plenty of techniques to make your ship look more interesting, and you can find a lot of good examples around the net. Another suggestion is going for a more subtle big shape. you could angle the wings for instance, to make us forget it's Lego we're watching at. You could play with different angles for the different pairs of wings. I'm just giving you some tips to get away from the overly blocky look and get to a more realistic, more fascinating, more captivating design... Let your imagination run free. And then... awesome things could happen, especially considering what you've already pulled off here.

But there's more! That piece of bunker is really, really nice. That's an interesting lay out. I love the playing with layers and heights, and the impression the top floor is almost floating. Well done there! Also, the SNOT makes everything look very clean (and is a good way to save on tiles too...), but maybe a bit too clean on the top level. It looks like they're standing on a very, very smooth ice skating plane, which isn't exactly what I imagine when I think of Hoth. You could give some more studs there to create texture, maybe even recreating the pawprints of the Tauntauns. Or some slopes against that ventilator to give the impression of heaped up snow. Also, I have no idea how that Tauntaun got up that casing. It looks a bit unrealistic, but that's just a little detail. And for the rest, everything is quite beautiful here. That pillar, the corresponding vent, the speeder... plenty of things to like. Even the base looks nice.

so all in all: not too bad for a first appearance. Not bad at all! Keep on building!

[-Horizon-]

Really nice entry especially for your first. I love the details and machinery on the bottom and the Spaceship looks awesome.

P.S. Nice Taun-Taun collection.

[MontyPython]

Well, thank you, for so nice comments!

I'm very happy and a bit prous of myself when somenone say that I make something he likes. I will use all the advices about shaping the ship in my further work, if I can use this word for this, and try to make more aerodinamyc ship. I'm also all new in SNOT, all I made I learned from previous builds on this forum.

[markus1984]

Nice story!

The ship is ok but the snowbase is great!

Many details and a very good build technique

Great work man!

markus

[MstrOfPppts]

I too prefer the snowbase to the ship. The ship has interesting wing positioning idea, but I find the overall shape of the body to square. The SNOT usage in the base is nice and so are the many details. I really like the orange bombs. I'd only sugest to tile the thinner support so that the studs are hidden. Also my personal preference is never to use twosided heads with a headgear that does not cover the back face. Any black hair might also work on that Bothan ...

Edited May 27, 2014 by MstrOfPppts

[MontyPython]

Ship updated!

I'm very happy, when I read those comments!

I removed the wings, because they kept falling of and also do some fixture on cabin. It's simillar to star tours ship now ...

Edited May 31, 2014 by MontyPython

[Manx]

Space-ship looks a lot better now! I really like the blue parts on it - glass, flames from engines ... And the scene on Hoth is superb!

[MstrOfPppts]

Great work on the ship redesign! Looks a lot better - though I have to mention it, since I already "attacked" goatman, that your entry too looks more like two creations. Maybe try making the base a bit bigger and put the ship on the upper level. Another very minor note: Including the taun-tauns just because you bought a couple is a bit silly as was going to the planet that was already visited in an episode. Though there's nothing wrong with that and I understand it's new for you, I still think you had far more possibilities ...