[MOC] Minifigure Scale Rebels Phantom with base

[goatman461]

Edit - Season 2 Phantom (thanks to ScottishDave's help)

Star Wars REBELS - The Phantom by Goatman461 by Ryan McBryde, on Flickr

Big thanks to

ScottishDave for inspiring me to remake this ship, giving me some ideas to improve, and helping me along the way. He's a true credit to the forum.

Check out my SoNE build, featuring the Phantom,

here. I'm also going to keep this together for a while, so if you end up at a convention in Texas, keep an eye out for Chop.

Original post/build -

Phantom low angle by Ryan McBryde, on Flickr

Phantom back hatch by Ryan McBryde, on Flickr

Phantom side by Ryan McBryde, on Flickr

I built this for a contest with the DFWLUG. It had to be Star Wars and on a 16x16 base. I chose to do a Rebels MOC because there are way to few out there and I thought it would be a good way to stand out. Hopefully my fellow LUG members follow the kids show, too.

With the wings folded in, it just barely fits the 16x16 base. The three supports are not attached to the base; they just precariously sit on the SNOT'd top.

The ship itself is minifigure scale with fold out seating for the pilot and 8 passengers. The interior is finished out, SNOT'd, and visible through a removable back hatch. The bottom should be white but I felt that the pictures allowed some leeway and I didn't have the white arches I would need to make the Ghost-Phantom access hatch. I also did not make the wings as smooth as I wanted because of the 16x16 size limit was already being tempted.

Rebels Phantom 16x16 Base by goatman461, on Flickr

The base is just a fun depiction of stormtroopers running in circles, Sabine ruining a perfectly good rooftop, Kanan facing off against the Inquisitor, and Zeb chasing down some bucket heads. I also wanted to add some Lothal-style greebling with a greebled Rebels "R"

Thanks for looking. C&C appreciated.

5/12/15 Edit: New shots added

Edited August 30, 2016 by goatman461

[Graham Gidman]

I especially like that Rebel symbol! Really great work!

[Commander Beltar]

Wow! Great to see it all finished. I really love the base and the fact that the Phantom is minifig scale (unlike the set one...) is amazing! If this Phantom was a set, I'd buy it over the official one!

~Beltar

[karmajay]

Love the Rebels stuff!

[GuyDudeMan27]

This is absolutely amazing! I realized a mining scale Ghost/Phantom would be big, but this is huge! All the details bring it alive. I feel the grey bottom looks better overall, since it would naturally aquire some wear. The base is really fun, and gives everyone their own purpose. I love your photo editing as well. It is amazingly clean and brings it even more alive. Now I want to see if you're crazy enough to make a Ghost....

[MikeMo]

Really liking the insignia detail!

[Tariq j]

Great work, its extremely accurate and the base with symbol is excellent as well.

[mkeomotupp]

I really love the base and the fact that the Phantom is minifig scale

[hachiroku]

The Phantom is awesome

I wish a Ghost in that scale.

[Juun]

I really like the Phantom, I tried to put Hera in the official one and she doesn't fit in the pilot seat. This one is so much better.

Now you should make a Ghost where this Phantom fits into and it would be an absolute 10 out of 10. :D

[Kodan Black]

Really great build. I like that you included the greebled part, it is sort of a "inner workings" view below what we normally see. Plus the symbol built into the top is well done. Love the Phantom too.

[Kelso]

That looks fantastic! Would it be rude to ask for building instructions on that awesome Phantom..?

[IronFish]

Could we get more pictures of it on a normal plain please? It's hard to look at it from that angle

[goatman461]

Thank you for all the kind comments. I do not plan to do a minifig scale Ghost. I'm pretty sure I don't have anywhere near the bricks or the patience for that.

That looks fantastic! Would it be rude to ask for building instructions on that awesome Phantom..?

I do not plan to put together any instructions but i might take a few pictures when dismantling it to show how it was built.

Could we get more pictures of it on a normal plain please? It's hard to look at it from that angle

I don't have any at this time but I'll consider reshooting at some point.

[H_Solo]

Wow, not thats a decent sized model there... great capture of the Phantoms details and overall appearance.

[Lord Tyrus]

Beautifully formed. Great to see it finished!

Edited May 1, 2015 by Lord Tyrus

[Alpinemaps]

Big fan of Rebels - it looks great! Fantastic job putting that together. Thanks for sharing. It made my morning. Love the rebel symbol on top.

[LegoPercyJ]

Amazing! I really like the ship interior, the rebel logo, the figs running around- just wonderful.

[Luke_954vl]

It is more beautiful than the Lego version :D

[rollermonkey]

Very nice!

I can't believe you thought of that with the 16x16 restriction, but good on ya!

Now, you need to make a minifig-scale Ghost for this to dock into!

[BEAVeR]

Awesome creation, goatman461. You really managed to create an iconic scene, instead of just recreating one.

It's amazing how it already seems that you have made the definitive Phantom. You immediately forget TLG's version. This one is just so much more beautiful... and big. Not only does it stand up fantastically against its source material, but also does it look like a very fine model from all sides. Great how you've also given the bottom a distinct look, completely in the character of the the ship. And you did great to give some more subtle textures, e.g. with those rail bricks.

However the ship doesn't tell me it has been used quite a lot. I would have loved to see some more variation in color. this would have been a great occasion to get your yellowed and old grey bricks to give it some wear and tear. Also that splash of yellow on the 'cheek' of the model could have helped. And here and there some inset tiles to give it some more seams might have done it good as well.

The more I look at it and compare it to the source material, the more I'm flabbergasted by how much of the ship you could incorporate (including a full interior!). However, the most important thing, the overall look and feel of the model might be a tiny bit off. The Phantom is already quite a chunky ship, and yours seem to exaggerate that even more to some extent. The 'cheekbones' on your version seem a tad to wide, but it's mostly the cockpit that does it, because it doesn't get less wide in the direction of the front. I don't think there exists a better solution than yours though, unless you would create a brick built one, but that might take a bit of the realism of your ship away. Well, experimenting is the message!

My biggest advice for this model would be to smooth it all up though. You have a lot of edges where slopes meet, that shouldn't be there. It will require a serious effort to eliminate these small bumps, but if you can get rid of them, your build will look much more professional (because people don't immediately see what parts they're looking at, they stay interested and appreciate your skills even more), and your ship will look more authentic. Combine this with creating extra ridges and seams where appropriate, and you'll have an awesome model. But don't forget to present it properly then... It's pretty hard to appreciate it fully on its side, somehow.

The base is really sweet. Somehow the running in circles idea seems wildly appropriate for the show. For some strange reason I exceedingly like those little pads supporting the base... The greebles make it more interesting to look at, although I have the feeling the negative spaces in between them are still too large. Sure, negative space tells a story of its own, but if you use it more sparsely, it will have more effect. you should use it to bring structure in the sea of greebles, dividing it in clusters. But it should still look efficient enough.

The phoenix logo on top is just fabulous. The blockiness actually actually corresponds pretty well to the nature of graffiti, and the variation in color is a nice touch, although it only strengthens the colorlessness (in terms of monochrome variation) of the ship.

All in all another superb build. I'm pretty sure your fellow LUG members will have a hard time winning that contest! Good luck!

[Chewybricks]

This is awesome. Really well designed phantom. Chewy likey.

[darththeling]

Outstanding work on the ship, inside and out!

And the base is a work of art in it's own right, with the hallway exposed it really engages the imagination. It kind of reminds me of the prison on Stygeon Prime.

[MstrOfPppts]

Excellent work! There really isn't anything to complain about. The scale is spot on as well as all the details and there are quite some. When I saw the round hatch opening at the bottom, I though well he must have foregotten to do it on the other side, but hey it's there. In fact everything is - the foldable seats, foldable wings, a nice cockpit and just enough room for the whole team. The outer shape is also instantly recognisable. The stand is really cool and it's a nice display including all the characters. I'm only missing Chopper ... now don't go searching for excuses and continue with the Ghost! ;)

[goatman461]

Thank you BEAVeR for blogging this and for all of your ever thoughtful comments.

I never considered using yellowed bricks for the "used" effect, and, honestly, I don't think I'd ever go that route... yellowed and light grey bricks just make me cringe. I also didn't get the same sense of the Phantom needing a lot of "wear and tear" based on the source material. I totally agree about it needing the artwork on the "cheek," but I don't actually own the TLG Phantom, and couldn't bring myself to buy the set. I considered BL but didn't have time to get the sticker that way, otherwise I definitely planned to slap a sticker over those bricks.

The cockpit did take a lot of consternation. After trying a lot of different parts, this one stood out as the definite winner. I did consider a brick-built one like the UCS Falcon, but abandoned it because I didn't have the white bars to see it through.

I think I see the main negative space you're referring to, to the right of the "R"... there is actually a piece missing that I didn't notice until after shooting, it was one of those round turrets from the droid gunship. It makes a big difference when that is in place. I'll get some updated pictures with the Phantom sitting horizontally this weekend...

The DFWLUG has a big event in Denton, TX where I will display this and a modular version of my SoNE entry. Sadly I did not win the 16x16 contest; I'll have to get my friend Dwight to post his winning entry sometime.