Blacktron I revisited - spaceships, cars, and robots OH MY! - updated 6/12/25 with real-world Renegade MOD and space base!

[Burdokva]

Very nice, especially the flagship!

The minifigures look like the Harkonnen from the new Dune movies.

[Murdoch17]

2 minutes ago, Burdokva said:

Very nice, especially the flagship!

The minifigures look like the Harkonnen from the new Dune movies.

Thanks! I never noticed the Dune bad guy resemblance until now.

[Murdoch17]

10 minutes ago, Operacion Saturno said:

Fallout Recovery Vehicle mean Blacktron version.

SNIP

 

I think you meant to post this in your own topic @Operacion Saturno...

[Space Coyote]

I love all of your work presented here. The captain fig is a good example of how you can change a lot about a character's entire vibe with just a few small changes. The robot inspires me to give my own a try some time, it's very inspiring and imaginative. That opening base is excellent, you always nail your interiors. But I get what you mean, space furniture has an abstract quality to it but you did a great job with it.

[Murdoch17]

10 hours ago, Space Coyote said:

I love all of your work presented here. The captain fig is a good example of how you can change a lot about a character's entire vibe with just a few small changes. The robot inspires me to give my own a try some time, it's very inspiring and imaginative. That opening base is excellent, you always nail your interiors. But I get what you mean, space furniture has an abstract quality to it but you did a great job with it.

Thank you @Space Coyote! I'm glad I inspired you, and thanks for the kind words regarding this all, but especially the furniture as that's where I struggle the most. (I also sadly still need to build the base in real bricks, hopefully that will happen someday!)

Edited May 16, 2024 by Murdoch17

[Space Coyote]

One thing I like to add to my sci-fi interiors is a small kitchen area or break area with a small coffee pot build and a few mugs on a little table, even in the far reaches of space folks still need their coffee! I feel these touches can add a lot of life to my builds without taking up much space.

Edited May 16, 2024 by Space Coyote

[Murdoch17]

With all the rumors of a $110 Blacktron I spaceship coming early next year, I decided it was high time to reveal this classic Blacktron robot I made a while back. This model is recolored and modified from the E.R.I.C. robot from set 76831 - Zurg Battle - from the Pixar film Lightyear. I call this one E.D.G.A.R. which stands for:
Electronic
Data
Gathering /
Assimilating
Robot

Thoughts?

[GeoBrick]

1 hour ago, Murdoch17 said:

Thoughts?

It's nice.
But I also see it double up as a trash bin gathering robot. 

[Operacion Saturno]

Blacktron V.A.T. approves!

 

[GeoBrick]

Now there's an interesting combination of minifig parts. 

[Murdoch17]

Three more LDD models added to the first post today, 11/15/24.

These new models are:

Outpost 13

Transport ship "Havok"

Armored troop ground vehicle "Marauder"

These three will be built as funds allow, with the first on the list being Outpost 13, for which construction has partially commenced. (as seen above)

Edited November 15, 2024 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

E.D.G.A.R. is now built in the real world!

[Murdoch17]

Happy holidays everyone, I bring news!

With the addition of 10355 (Blacktron Renegade) to the Lego portfolio for January 2025, I've decided to replace the recolored Star Wars transport ship with the new Renegade. (It's a good thing I never finished it!)

I've made a cargo pod based off the one posted by Huw on Brickset in an article about possible improvements to the set. These two MOC's are going to be finished in early January when the space base's few remaining parts are ordered.

I also combined a free Renegade / Cruiser adapter MOC I found on Rebrickable with the cockpit from the Blacktron Cruiser GWP. This will go on my copy of the Renegade I'll hopefully be buying next week, replacing the newer set's cockpit. As you can see, there are a bunch of parts missing... this will be rectified when it's built in real life. (The Blacktron MOC on Rebrickable I modified is by user Brickstertwo and can be found here.) NOTE: The adapter MOC by Brickstertwo only covers the rearmost four studs of what you see in my pic. The rest is from the GWP (except for the logo!), in case you're wondering.

All told, I have 131 parts left to buy for the base, pod, antenna, and some recolors for 10355 to make it match my other ships. (such as trans-light blue engine exhaust, and light bluish gray rocket nozzles instead of yellow) The Cruiser MOD has already been ordered as of the 22nd.

[biggest_jr]

Nice I'm stoked to see it! I'm sad to say I missed classic Blacktron entirely, but the revamped Cruiser is easily one of my favorite sets. I'm grateful to folks like you for keeping the theme alive!

Sorry if you already mentioned it in this thread, but are you planning on scenery/landscaping?

[Murdoch17]

1 hour ago, biggest_jr said:

Nice I'm stoked to see it! I'm sad to say I missed classic Blacktron entirely, but the revamped Cruiser is easily one of my favorite sets. I'm grateful to folks like you for keeping the theme alive!

Sorry if you already mentioned it in this thread, but are you planning on scenery/landscaping?

Thanks @biggest_jr! I wasn't born yet when Blacktron 1 or CS were originally released, and was too young for all space sets until the Star Wars Millennium Falcon came out in 2000 as my first space set at 6 years old. Benny's SPACESHIP from 2014 made me really appreciate older space themes, which is what I'm sure the new Renegade will do for younger folks. (at least I hope so!)

As for your question, no scenery or landscaping is planned at this time beyond the base's crater plates.

Side note: You can see my CS models here if you are interested... be sure to read all my updates, as the first post is out of date! (I REALLY need to go back and update that...)

Edited December 25, 2024 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

My Blacktron space base's 100 remaining parts have been ordered as of yesterday.

Stay tuned for updates in the New Year for this model and others!

[Murdoch17]

My Blacktron Army:

1x commander
4x officers
19x troopers
1x robot

(HUGE thanks to my brother for giving me ~10 of his unwanted Blacktron torsos from the old GWP that were purchased from Pick-A-Brick back in 2023.)

The new Blacktron Vendetta. I combined the Renegade with a new cockpit modified from the Blacktron Cruiser GWP, with added parts from a free Rebrickable MOC's instructions. The cargo pod is reverse engineered and modified from one posted in a Brickset article.

More pictures to come somewhat soon of the Vendetta and the just-finished Blacktron space base....

[Feuer Zug]

Cool Blacktron force. The robot is funny and the modified ship a solid build.

[Murdoch17]

41 minutes ago, Feuer Zug said:

Cool Blacktron force. The robot is funny and the modified ship a solid build.

Thanks! I'm working on a Blacktron space train at the moment, and have a backlog of real-world pictures to take, so stay tuned for more @Feuer Zug!

Edited January 9 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

After around 20 months from conception to completion, the Blacktron 1 space outpost MOC is done! (It was actually done in early January of this year, but I forgot about it until now.  )

This sandwich-looking model was built from an 2002 Alpha Team set 4795 (Ogel Underwater base and AT sub) but heavily modified to fit into the Blacktron I theme. I had to fill in the spots where the flexible plastic "window' pieces were, replace the skull logo with the upside-down Tri-Force logo of Blacktron I, find ways to make the model almost totally "air tight", and add on a radar dish instead of a harpoon gun. I also made the building a lot deeper - about eight studs.

The rear of the model. I took out the fancy spinning wall of the original set and replaced it with a bank of windows. The radar installation and it's tower are my own design.

As on the original set, the logo folds down, where it can be used as a ramp. Also as on the original  set, the MOD folds open to access the inside details. Special shout out to Jon Mo who designed the brick built Blacktron logo I used on my model (thanks also goes to EliteGuard01 for finding that logo design and recommending it to me).

The inside was very hard to figure out, as most space furniture is for me. I decided on six computer stations and a desk for the commander. Another source of trouble was to make the building open cleanly and close without holes. The original set struggled with this, and it failed miserably - however I feel I managed to fix that issue.

Inside of the rear with the commander's desk front and center.

[Murdoch17]

(Sorry for the 6 month wait for these pictures. I wasn't happy with portions of the cruiser-inspired cockpit I had made, but couldn't figure out what to do about it until a few days ago - and luckily I had all the parts to change it on hand!)

The Blacktron Vendetta is finally finished! I combined the Renegade with a new cockpit modified from the Blacktron Cruiser GWP, with added parts from a free Rebrickable MOC's instructions for a Cruiser / Renegade adapter . The cargo pod is reverse engineered and modified from one posted in a Brickset article.

You can view the Rebrickable MOC by user Brickstertwo here while the Brickset article about modifying 10355 is here.

The rear of the vessel. I changed the engines flames from trans-red to trans-light blue to match the rest of my fleet. Same thing with the yellow technic wheels becoming light bluish gray.

The cockpit seats one mini-figure, and has two laser cannons just outside the canopy.

The removable cargo pod is inspired by one in a Brickset article from late December of last year. It works beautifully with the ship's drop mechanism.

The top lifts open on a hinge so you can put cargo inside.

 

Thoughts?