(Too late for) [M4-25] Asymmetrical: The Spring Eternal

[Mandalorianknight]

I mistakenly wrote down the May the Fourth contest's due date as July 5th, only realizing it was actually the 1st after it was too late, which stalled this a bit further, but here's my asymmetrical ship:

It doesn't look like much yet, but that's sort of the point, as you'll see in later images- there's more to it than meets the eye. You may notice it's carrying four separate faction symbols, which is part of it's lore. The ship's owner, the honorable Margrave Keresh Ve'tal, was a former republic intelligence officer who, due to his myriad connections, was simply encouraged to retire as republic turned to empire rather than executed outright. He ostensibly turned to collecting antiques and finding historical artifacts, and accordingly contracted from Fondor what would outwardly appear to be a simple freighter. However, while never formally part of the rebel alliance, the Margrave partook in some less-than-legal activity, requiring his ship to have various allegiances and names, such as War Dawn, Destiny's Light, and The Fool's Errand. When the galactic civil war ended, the margrave started flying all faction symbols as a sort of private joke, and settled the ship's name on the Spring Eternal after an ancient Kaleesh poem.

One tip-off that the ship isn't what it appears to be is it's immense quantity of engines, 29 in total.

The ship, despite it's outward appearance and functionality as a freighter, is, as you can see, heavily armed with a variety of hidden weapons. At the top rear we have two heavy laser cannons that fold out from the top, as well as two hatches that open to reveal chaff launchers to evade seeking missiles. The pod on the port side of the ship pushes open to reveal a gatling cannon (it was difficult to build in the function for it to both slide forward and still be able to rotate the gear to fire), with the bubble canopy behind it gaining a turret (This one is sort of a cheat, the turret's just attached by a chain, you have to manually attach it to the roof after pulling it out.) It also features ion launchers that fold out of each side of the ship, as well as-

Ground buzzers that flip down from the cockpit and weapons pod, and

Proton torpedo launchers on the underside of the ship. (Don't look at the technic mess)

Here's a better look at the chaff launchers, as well as an opened hatch that provides access to the hyperdrive.

Here's the interior of the ship with some cargo.

The Margrave's office. Behind his desk you can see some of his collection- a 501st banner, a lightsaber (unfortunately missing it's kyber crystal) and a black pennant. I messed up and didn't take pictures until it was already closed up, so you'll have to take my word for it that his bed is to one side, and to the other are two pedestals containing a Magnaguard head and a jewel.

From front to back, we have the hallway to the cockpit, which contains access to the shield generator, followed by the Chevin Lephan Hof's quarters, then Rajun Torc's quarters. Lephan Hof is the Margrave's historian and personal friend, who joined him immediately after the margrave's forced retirement. Rajun is a Kage Warrior rescued from the empire by Ve'tal and Hof, who serves as a chef and bodyguard.

Lephan collects ancient oddities that function similarly to holocrons, but in the format of thin sheets bound together by animal hide.

Here are the quarters of the new hires to the Margrave's expeditions. In front, we have Leki Vrash, the daughter of a Corsec officer who serves as the group's scout. In the back, we have Charkol Page, a mechanic who's cobbled together makeshift mandalorian armor.

Here's a look at the opened ramp and how the lighting (or lack thereof) works. The ramp latches into the 1x2 slopes on the front hatch, meaning that lifting it up causes the ramp to lower to the ground.

A very small look at the one of the sliding doors, this one in front of Lephan's quarters. Everyone's rooms have a door, though Rajun and Charkol's are hinged rather than sliding.

The crew. In the very center is our Margrave Keresh Ve'tal. On the bottom row (L-R) we have Lephan Hof and Rajun Torc, and on the top we have new unarmored figures of Charkol Page (left) and Leki Vrash (right). There are also two droids- to the margrave's left, pilot droid T1-5HA, and to the right, GNK-3. Lephan stuck humanoid footwear on GNK's lower appendages to muffle the noise of his shuffling across the ship.

 

I also have fifteen figures I designed for the cantina entry, which was to be an outdoor establishment on a jungle planet, built around a giant tree. I never got around to building the cantina, so I thought I'd drop them all here as well:

(Top left to bottom right):

1. Bade Windrest, slightly force-enhanced martial artist. He hangs around the bar mainly hoping for a strong newcomer he can goad into fighting him.

2. The Angel of Tund, a mysterious being that's never before been seen entering the cantina, or any establishment, to the memory of the locals.

3. Atria Skycall, brawler, currently serving as the establishment's bouncer.

4. Abaline Hestia, slicer. She finds it difficult to find work due to her refusal to take jobs she's not morally comfortable with, which narrows down slicer openings significantly.

5. Kenvo Tscech, bounty hunter. He was once a man, but years ago Kenvo contracted a technological virus that's slowly eating away at his flesh, leaving him more droid than organic.

6. Milana Jens, a historian studying the Jedi now that the fall of the empire permits it.

7. Elian Vane, a solitary biologist who has a deal with the cantina to purchase restricted chemicals through the establishment.

8. Peba Enkk, bounty hunter, famous for speaking very rarely and never failing to capture a bounty once she takes the contract.

9. Garzen Loch, a hermit who's lost a good deal of flesh on his right side, something he attributes to Elian Vane's experiments. (Vane vehemently denies this.)

10. Pacho Nu'un, a Corsec agent and friend of Leki Vrash's father. The Spring Eternal's crew is visiting the cantina to meet with him.

11. Jevan Yfes'k'ren, owner and proprietor of the cantina. A veteran of the early days of the galactic civil war before an imperial bioweapon gave him a breathing condition.

12. Wardem Alars, the Red Sage, on a pilgrimage for a religion he's the last follower of.

13. Muxal Z'tak, a pilot for hire, down on his luck.

14. Marston Oklib, a ship designer Pacho's taken off Correlia to protect from the White Worm cartel. He's to be transferred to the Spring Eternal and brought to a safe location.

15. Leeko, a rodian farmer

 

I'm a little bummed I messed up the dates and couldn't get this into the contest in time, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. Let me know what you think of it!

Edited July 15 by Mandalorianknight

[Shiva]

That ship looks like it has a quite evil acceleration.

Forgot to write. Nice minifigs!

Edited July 15 by Shiva

[MKJoshA]

Wow, sorry you didn't get to post this in time for the contest. It's amazing!

[Kaijumeister]

- Awesome build (love the functions you’ve incorporated!)

- Creative minifigure designs 

- Well thought-out lore

Fantastic job all around @Mandalorianknight, sorry to hear you missed out on the original deadline - this would have been an excellent contender.

[erik1]

Looks very good!

[Mandalorianknight]

On 7/15/2025 at 4:19 PM, Shiva said:

That ship looks like it has a quite evil acceleration.

Forgot to write. Nice minifigs!

Oh yeah- the engine block was originally made when this was going to be more of a corvette-sized ship in-universe rather than a falcon-sized freighter, and then I found those 2x2 tiles with printed jets when looking in my printed tiles ziploc for some dials/consoles for the cockpit. This thing can ZOOM.

On 7/18/2025 at 6:17 AM, MKJoshA said:

Wow, sorry you didn't get to post this in time for the contest. It's amazing!

Thank you!

It is totally my fault I didn't get to enter it, just had the wrong date written down.

16 hours ago, Kaijumeister said:

- Awesome build (love the functions you’ve incorporated!)

- Creative minifigure designs 

- Well thought-out lore

Fantastic job all around @Mandalorianknight, sorry to hear you missed out on the original deadline - this would have been an excellent contender.

Thank you!

The functions were a lot of fun, my eventual goal is to design full-on transforming craft at this scale, so this was a nice warm-up in that regard.

The minifigures are always fun to do for these, incorporating any new parts I've picked up over the last year

And of course the lore is another one of my favorite parts to do for the contests. I may be surpassed in build quality, photo quality, part usage, etc, but I can confidently say no entries have beaten me in total volume of lore created.

4 hours ago, erik1 said:

Looks very good!

Thank you!

[Shiva]

3 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Oh yeah- the engine block was originally made when this was going to be more of a corvette-sized ship in-universe rather than a falcon-sized freighter, and then I found those 2x2 tiles with printed jets when looking in my printed tiles ziploc for some dials/consoles for the cockpit. This thing can ZOOM.

If Han Solo would have piloted this ship, then the old Kessel Run record would have been obliterated.

[Seagull King of Vaughan]

That’s a pretty square freighter!

7656 was one of my first Star Wars sets, and I can’t count the number of times I have put General Grevious’ head on a minifigure body to create a character. It never gets old, and Margrave Keresh Ve'tal is an excellent rendition of this.

On 7/15/2025 at 12:16 AM, Mandalorianknight said:

Lephan collects ancient oddities that function similarly to holocrons, but in the format of thin sheets bound together by animal hide.

*looks around* I think I understand his interest :) 

On 7/15/2025 at 12:16 AM, Mandalorianknight said:

Here's a look at the opened ramp and how the lighting (or lack thereof) works. The ramp latches into the 1x2 slopes on the front hatch, meaning that lifting it up causes the ramp to lower to the ground.

An working lowering ramp? Perfection.

On 7/15/2025 at 12:16 AM, Mandalorianknight said:

The crew. In the very center is our Margrave Keresh Ve'tal. On the bottom row (L-R) we have Lephan Hof and Rajun Torc, and on the top we have new unarmored figures of Charkol Page (left) and Leki Vrash (right). There are also two droids- to the margrave's left, pilot droid T1-5HA, and to the right, GNK-3. Lephan stuck humanoid footwear on GNK's lower appendages to muffle the noise of his shuffling across the ship.

A fine crew for an excellent ship! I always enjoy reading lore myself.