Blacktron 2 Cosmic Gemini

[The Librarian]

Something I built a while ago, playing around with bubble canopies and rover gimmicks. Since we're on the subject of space pirates, I thought this would be a good time to share it.

A few more photos here.

Edited March 4 by The Librarian

[danth]

Ooh I really like those little pods!

[Umbra-Manis]

I freakin love the triple cockpit setup on this! 

[JesseNight]

Beautiful model!

[GeoBrick]

Marvelously done. I like the "ramp down, buggy out" feature of the pilot's cockpit.

And that's a sweet manipulator suit on the last pic.

Edited March 5 by GeoBrick

[TeddytheSpoon]

I love the design of this! Definitely reminiscent of some of those early space sets with all those play features.

[Aanchir]

Love this! I like that you stayed true to the orb-shaped modular cockpits of the original sets while still employing more modern shaping. To me, modularity like that is as integral to Blacktron as prison pods are to Space Police. The pilot's seat becoming a planetary rover when you lower the boarding ramp is another delightfully retro Space set feature that you've polished up to perfection.

 Honestly, while I appreciate how official Space throwback sets in recent years have stayed true to the sharp angularity of their classic counterparts (not an easy feat while still aiming for a "futuristic" look by modern standards), in contrast to the curves typical of more KFOL-oriented Space playsets, this sort of heavier re-imagining is a delight, and honestly very close to the sort of look I envisioned for a Blacktron reboot baack when Space Police 3 was still current/recent. And make no mistake, the smooth curves you've achieved here go well above and beyond the quality and complexity of most kid-targeted playsets! The minifig crew is also brilliantly evocative of that era — I love that you included a captain and two lower-ranking human and alien crew members (although with the visor obscuring the latter's skin color, I mistook them for an android/humanoid robot at first glance).

If I have one gripe, it's that the paucity of exposed studs makes the "LEGO-ness" less apparent at a glance, and also arguably cuts down a little on the playability of what's otherwise a brilliantly playable model. Like, if the black and white striped "wing" area on either side had studded plates on top in place of some of those smooth tiles, you could more easily stage a fight between two minifigures on the wing, or set a robot on one of the wings to work on maintenance/repairs. Occasional exposed studs can also be a useful reference point for the model's scale, which I feel would make this ship all the more impressive at a glance.

Also, while I can see you included an ingenious dome-shaped storage space for the elaborate utility pack (itself an extremely clever re-imagining to the jetpack/mono-tripper from the original Blacktron 2 sets), there's something I can't quite tell — are there any storage compartments for stolen gadgets/drives of stolen data? Because I feel like that sort of thing is pretty important to Blacktron's espionage missions. I do see that behind the utility pack there is one of the printed tiles like the Blacktron 2 sets often hid inside these sorts of compartments, but I'm not sure if it is part of a removable data drive, or a control panel attached to the ship itself (since the sets used those printed tiles for both purposes).

On a final note, I'd love to see a photo that shows how the landing gear folds up when the vehicle is in flight!

Outstanding work overall! You clearly have a great appreciation for the features that made Blacktron what it was, as well as the creativity to recreate those iconic features in incredible new ways!

[The Librarian]

Thanks everyone!

On 3/13/2024 at 3:20 PM, Aanchir said:

If I have one gripe, it's that the paucity of exposed studs makes the "LEGO-ness" less apparent at a glance, and also arguably cuts down a little on the playability of what's otherwise a brilliantly playable model. Like, if the black and white striped "wing" area on either side had studded plates on top in place of some of those smooth tiles, you could more easily stage a fight between two minifigures on the wing, or set a robot on one of the wings to work on maintenance/repairs. Occasional exposed studs can also be a useful reference point for the model's scale, which I feel would make this ship all the more impressive at a glance.

I build studless whenever I can, I'm afraid, focusing more on overall appearance than playability. In that regard, I must also confess that despite wanting to, I didn't leave much room for secret compartments. There is technically a space under the curved slope behind the central cockpit, but nothing in it except some exposed studs. The internal construction required to mirror everything just didn't create enough space to put anything in.

I'll try to get you a picture of the underside when I can; I completely forgot to take one the other week, which was a mistake because I'd like to showcase my efforts to make it symmetrical, as well as how everything folds up underneath!