[MOC] Upgraded fortified walls of Desert Wars

[Veynom]

After upgrading my cliff section in 2023, I felt the need to update as well the entrance of my Imperial base on Desert Wars. Over time, I realise we need to constantly evolve to propose a better experience to the public during exhibitions. So far we change/update/upgrade/add more or less 15-20% of our layout every year. Unfortunately, we face more and more a particular limitation: transport. We already rent vans, but we are considering trucks now... but I digress and let's go back to the topic.

So, before we start, what is that base entrance looking like?
In the beginning, back in 2019, it was just the desert ending in the base. The base was rather an outpost to be honest.

Desert Wars 2019 - Imperial Outpost by Veynom, on Flickr

In 2021, a real entrance was built:

Imperial base by Veynom, on Flickr

Imperial base by Veynom, on Flickr

I had recycled 2 watchtowers built for previous uses, added a kind of electric fence and that was it. It did the job. When our train was taking videos (with the embedded GoPro), it looked rather immersive. When we later expanded the layout depth from 4 baseplates to 5 baseplates, the update was rather easy. I recycled an old AT-ST turret on top of a basic tower.

Desert Wars 2022 by Veynom, on Flickr

Over time, I figured out that the parts used for the fence were far from ideal. They often looked sloppy, and the fence was fragile. The end result looked more and more like a rebel-scum hideout than a disciplined Imperial base to me. As I did not want to end up on Kessel, I had to do something to kill that "cheap" design from 2021, particularly as I had also increased the grey footprint of the base during 2023 while also adding some lights.

Here, an picture showing the increased grey area with more and more zones being connected by the road.

Desert Wars at night 2023 by Veynom, on Flickr

So, what to do? Some ideas came to me while watching Rebels and the episodes with the TIE-Defender secret base. From there, I "only had to". Except there was an additional challenge: the lights. I wanted lights all along the wall and highlights some details but providing power when using the MILS system is not so easy, particularly as I don't want to spend additional setup time in connecting wires. But enough blabla, and let's see the new stuff. Here, you can see both the old and the upgrade, side by side.

Upgraded Base Entrance by Veynom, on Flickr

Upgraded Base Entrance by Veynom, on Flickr

So, I start with a ion canon, thick reinforced walls with red LEDs and a new design for the watchtower. For these towers, I even replaced the rocky metaparts by some speederbike hangars, and a few lights.

Speeder bike tiny hangar by Veynom, on Flickr

The tower close to the public side is open on 2 sides, allowing to view and enjoy a small maintenance hangar. Note the speeder bikes are those from 1999 ... they also do the job.

Imperial field maintenance bay by Veynom, on Flickr

Imperial field maintenance bay by Veynom, on Flickr

Imperial field maintenance bay by Veynom, on Flickr

Both towers were completed  and kept the same size at the bottom (16x16) and the same height (to fit in the transport crate). But otherwise, they are more detailed, fit better with the base and the Imperial style. Gone is the WW2 look and feel. Welcome the Empire.

As a side story, during the BrickMania Antwerp event in 2023, a reseller offered us some freebies because he likes our layout. We received a handful of custom Gatling-like machine guns. To thank them, I made a mini kind of brickfilm. Hope you will like it. (It also contains another teaser ...). Just click on the black square.

New Weapon for Desert Wars by Veynom, on Flickr

And I got it ready for last weekend ... more pictures will come. But here is already a video of Desert Wars 2024.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4kgTMBLwoh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== 

[karmajay]

Cool upgrades! Great job! I definitely think that lights improve MOCs and are getting a bit easier to add every year.

Edited March 19 by karmajay

[Yperio_Bricks]

Fantastic layout! There's so much to see! I love that you have a train running through your layout. It's not something we see often with Lego Star Wars. Do you have a video of the running train?

[Veynom]

On 3/20/2024 at 12:30 AM, karmajay said:

Cool upgrades! Great job! I definitely think that lights improve MOCs and are getting a bit easier to add every year.

Thanks! And I agree with you, it becomes easier but when you mix modularity and lights, it becomes a connecting challenge ... but the result is awesome.

On 3/20/2024 at 12:49 AM, Yperio_Bricks said:

Fantastic layout! There's so much to see! I love that you have a train running through your layout. It's not something we see often with Lego Star Wars. Do you have a video of the running train?

Thank you! The Star Wars train is our signature in Desert Wars since 2018. Personally, I've been using motorized Star Wars vehicles as train since 2016.

And of course, I've many more videos. Here are some:

Star Wars train in our Desert Wars 2021 layout by Veynom, on Flickr

Desert Wars 2023 - Incoming train by Veynom, on Flickr

And I really recommend you check this one: our train during a "by night" event .... (on Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsCLM-cgFQg/ 

[Yperio_Bricks]

4 hours ago, Veynom said:

And of course, I've many more videos. Here are some:

And I really recommend you check this one: our train during a "by night" event .... (on Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsCLM-cgFQg/ 

Wonderful, thanks for sharing the videos! The night event

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Wow, very cool!

The layout for the 12 volt train is perfectly integrated!

[Mandalorianknight]

A wonderful build year after year. I'm always impressed at how even at this massive scale, you've got so many little details in every nook and cranny of the layout.

 

6 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

Wow, very cool!

The layout for the 12 volt train is perfectly integrated!

Username checks out. (And you're right, it is integrated very well.)

Edited March 23 by Mandalorianknight

[Veynom]

20 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

Wow, very cool!

The layout for the 12 volt train is perfectly integrated!

That was a given for us. While I love the work done by some MOCers on ballast, for Star Wars, it had to be integrated. It can be a pain sometimes but it works fine and it is visually attractive.

13 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

A wonderful build year after year. I'm always impressed at how even at this massive scale, you've got so many little details in every nook and cranny of the layout.

 

Username checks out. (And you're right, it is integrated very well.)

Thank you! We try and we still have many ideas. Only transportation and setup time become the main limiting factors.

[Veynom]

Adding also some pictures from last weekend:

Upgraded base entrance by Veynom, on Flickr

Upgraded base entrance by Veynom, on Flickr

Upgraded base entrance by Veynom, on Flickr

Upgraded base entrance by Veynom, on Flickr

[MAP Tec]

I can only say WOW :)

[Yperio_Bricks]

Wish i could see this in real life. Where do you display the layout? A brick show in Belgium?

[Veynom]

21 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Wish i could see this in real life. Where do you display the layout? A brick show in Belgium?

Multiple brick shows and conventions in Belgium this year. We will go abroad in 2025, probably France again, and Germany.