LucByard
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Posts posted by LucByard
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Although it's not fully finished yet, it's close enough for display:
The visitors seemed to love it and it's been my best event yet.
Next to do is the service deck suspended between the legs.
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Ideal for display in the home of any modern LEGO lover... If your Wife lets you... Which mine won't : (
Wait, why did I build this?
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You're a very nice writer, by the way. Do you write the story beforehand?
Thanks G. So far, I've typed the narrative straight into the post and mostly made it up as I go along based on what I built but I've also got a couple of chapters that I now need to build for which is the harder way round.
I just wish it was Octan!
Wonderful job again on the story. You're a real novelist!
~Insectoid Aristocrat
Can't think of anyone that would fit into super corporate Octan less well than Yseult. I really pleased that you like my writing, I'm very excited about where Yseult's story could go. -
I've wanted to do a design for a while where a minifigure's legs are augmented such that the minifigure's legs form the thigh of the mech.
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That is a beautiful little design that nails the '45 degree front' concept. Using the grey double-bow in the nose helps to tie-in the fact that the click-hinge had to be grey and stops it looking out of place so you've designed around that colour problem really well.
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PLEASE NOTE: Location in thread title is an error and can't see how to change it: Thanks to whoever changed it. : )
Location: B05 - Marphacia.
Tags: Civil, Land Vehicle.
Ever get the feeling no-one likes you? Yseult thought to herself as she powered up what looked like the oldest most out-dated walklift in the foundry. The KH-40 was an augmech, a rare type of walker where the pilot's legs clip into the upper leg and the whole torso looks mostly supported by the pilot's own body. It isn't, the rear dampers taking most of the load but it was a design that left most workers feeling uncomfortable, despite the extra speed and freedom of movement it afforded. The design soon fell out of favour but this unit had clearly spent a long time in service; it was covered in a multitude of different green markings as different work crews had taken it into their fleet for a while and put their mark somewhere on the bodywork.
Yseult made her way through the freight terminal, deep in the pyramid behind the lower landing bays as the heads-up display in her visor outlined the route to her first pick. It was slow going compared to the hoverbike she was used to and as a pilot at heart, she had accepted the work a little begrudgingly but she'd been sat around for long enough and hadn't exactly made her flying history public knowledge. She didn't really want them to know; The more they know, the more questions they can ask. At least moving crates around in a loader kept her out of people's way, and them out of hers. Is this what he meant? She had made a deal with Big Sal and was getting paid for the work but he'd targeted her, specifically, she'd felt when she gazed at the rusty old replacement hoverbike he'd bestowed upon her. Surely, he hadn't gone through all that for her to move boxes in a mech. I won't find that out here she thought. So I might as well get on with it.
Additional images:
The design allows a full kneeling pose.
Here, you can see the connection at the back contracted and expanded with the position of the pilot's legs.
Here is a clear shot showing that there's no bodywork between the two halves save for the rear clips.
Although there is no rotation at the waist, hips and ankle, the design is still quite versatile for posing.
Riddaeon watched impatiently as Big Sal examined equations on a screen while only half paying attention to their conversation. "You spoke to her then?" the scientist said without looking up in response to Riddaeon's report. "Analasys?" he asked. Riddaeon had an air of concern in his tone. "Hot headed, cynical." He began. He paused for a moment, recalling their conversation. "Sharp though." He continued. "Quick to evaluate and react, even though she probably over-reacts". "Does she trust you?" Big Sal interjected. Riddaeon thought back to the trap he'd set. "No". Now Big Sal looked up from his screen. In between the large beard and the mop of hair, behind the thick-rimmed glasses, his eyes darted around as if calculating something complex in his mind. He strode in a not-quite-straight-line over to an old vidi-board full of equations and started scrawling in one of the few empty gaps. His stylus stopped suddenly as if all of his mind's effort had become focussed on one single mental calculation. He turned to Riddaeon. "And what about her?" he asked. "Can we trust her?". Riddaeon thought for a moment... "No". Big Sal's bewildering look of impossibly complex internal arythmatic slowly turned into a knowing, sly grin. He returned to the board and finished the equation... "Good" he said aloud... He looked at the final entry in the equation: delta Upsilon... "Good".
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As I can not see clearly from the pictures, what does the lettering in the four quadrants say?
Thank you 3D LEGO, The markings denote the pad's designation depending on a vessel's approach, written in a absrtact brick-font to look spacey. They say 'Alpha' 1R, 'Beta' 2C, 'Gamma' 1L and 'Delta' 1C.
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That is one beautiful pipe organ.
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Thanks Megagan.
Any plans for any ground vehicles or work crews on the terrain under the pad?
Something like that. I've got some ideas and some technical hurdles to overcome though.
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Love the brick-built logo in the floor. Good humour too.
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Planet: Marphacia - B05
Tags: Military, Building.
Chapter 2: Uplink.
Yseult stood on the upper terrace on the eastern side of the M.A.N.T.I.S. outpost watching the Marphacene sunrise. As usual, the morning mists diffused it into a messy and unattractive blur that was far too bright for her liking but she hadn't been able to sleep again, so she watched it anyway.
Why am I here, she pondered, considering the unusual events that had led to her being wrapped up in the Galaxy's 'most avoided' mega-coporation. She didn't trust them, but then they probably didn't trust her either... except maybe for that scientist... Why an I here Big Sal? Why did you bring me in?
"Late finish or early start?" The voice behind her came from a man carrying two steaming mugs, one of which he offered her. "Either way" he continued, raising his eyebrows to emphasise the offer, and perhaps intonate that there is wisdom in having the drink. "Coffee?" Yseult asked, taking it with both hands, the warmth welcoming against the brisk early morning air. The man let out a wry smile. "I wish" he responded. "Why pay to ship in coffee once they discovered you could get twice the caffeine from locally grown delicious cold-steeped brooga beans. Just add..." He looked, down at his mug with a worried expression. "Well, anything that'll take the taste away". Yseult couldn't stop a brief smile and an ever more brief chuckle. She looked at her feet as if to hide her face in embarrassment; it had been a long time since anyone had made her laugh. The man carried the smile he had from evoking the reaction openly. "And there was everyone telling me the new girl was just a walking bad temper." He said, holding his mug forward. That's because I am she thought. She considered the gesture, Friendship her heart implored. You can't trust him her head warned. Warily, she raised her mug and they chinked with a dull thud. "Riddaeon" He said before taking a large gulp of the brew. Yseult stopped, perhaps she'd hoped she'd never have to tell him, she'd prefer not to. It was an instinct, she was safer if no one knew who she was, that was how it had been for five years now. That's how I survive. "Yseult" she finally said, as quietly as she could get away with before taking a long sip of the drink herself. She didn't mind the bitterness so much as the flavour of something trying to be a tart fruit and a herb at the same time. She lowered the mug and couldn't hold back the grimace of displeasure but upon seeing Riddaeon's similar reaction, they both found some comedy in sharing such an unpleasant experience. "It's very bad" she was finally able said once the taste has stopped forcing her mouth into a painfully tight sliver.
The moment was broken by the sound of an approaching shuttle as it flew directly overhead and disappeared at the peak of the pyramid-like structure that formed the outpost. 'Uplink' was a communications hub, its landing bays arranged vertically down the centre of the North and South faces with smooth walls of opaque and transparent composites on either side. The East and West faces were not so elegant, one having a huge dish for off-world communications and data transfer (the function that gave the outpost its name) and the other having the communal block and local transceiver antenna. At the top of the pyramid, 360 degree views were afforded to traffic control and the executive's offices, above which was their private landing pad. with regular traffic all being directed to approach the main landing bays from the North or South, a shuttle arriving from the West into the peak of the structure could only mean one thing... Someone important had arrived. Once the shuttle was out of view, Riddaeon looked back to Yseult. "Looks like news of your arrival is spreading" He said. She looked back at him, did he expect an answer? Did he think she knew who was in the shuttle? "I've seen people come and go in M.A.N.T.I.S." He continued. "I know what kind of people they are, what they look like". He paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out the answer to a question he hadn't asked yet. "They don't look like you." A tension emerged between them. Yseult knew M.A.N.T.I.S. operatives were supposed to be suspicious types, always looking for spies. Was she accused? Suspected? He took a last gulp of his despicable coffee and inspected the dregs at the bottom of the mug. "Why are you here... Yseult Brenneux?" He gave her one last look, then casually strolled back towards the building entrance. "I didn't tell you my full name" she call after him. He stopped, gently placed his mug on a nearby table. "No." he replied with certainty. "You didn't". He gave her one last glance, then turned and continued to the doors back inside. He's trying to read me she told herself, or scare me. She didn't like either. Uncertainty clutched at her. Where am I? Why am I here?. Would she ever get back to her normal life? But I don't want to go back. I didn't choose that life, they left me there. She was tired of looking back though, M.A.N.T.I.S. was a strange place but look what it offered. But if I leave, I'll never find her... I'll never get her back.
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Wow. Now I'm really envious you didn't join Octan.
Great story! Very well written... it makes me want to freshen up my own writing style.
The build is clean and elegant. My only critique would be on the landing gear of the bike. The 2-2 cylindrical sliding parts seem a bit clunky on a vessel that size. It's still great though!
~Insectoid Aristocrat
Thanks Danny - I'm glad you enjoyed it. The 2x2 'carpet runners' are the anti-gravity repulsers. It's not obvious with this being an 'old wreck' of a bike but should make more sense when you see one in better condition.
That's a few chapters away yet though.
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I used Exo Forcce robot hands (I call them clamps) for fingers and a nozzle in a 1x1 w/top clip for the thumb in this mech but it does result in a smaller hand. You might be able to enlarge it a little though. Maybe widen it and put technic connectors on the fingers to thicken and lengthen them or something.
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Some brilliant angle-work going on here. The engines look great and the treads around the hover pads look like a perfect use.
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Location: B05
Tags: Civil, Land vehicle (I also confused the game tags with forum tags in the beginning)
Thanks for the tips Epsilon, that's exactly what happened. : P
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Yseult Brenneux stood silently in a dim corner of a M.A.N.T.S garage on Marphacia looking at the shabby shell of some old hovercycle, getting angrier by the moment. She didn't try to calm herself down... She didn't want to be calm.
That's the one... The hairy scientist, she thought as she noticed Big Sal leaving the compound in his transport. She followed from a distance, a gentle cruise for her pride and joy, a modified Skyblade hovercycle. Once a bright azure, she'd painted it murky reds and greens to blend in to the equally murky topography of the planet she'd ended up being stuck on. When the transport stopped, as she expected, the occupants got out, as expected and the hairy scientist began pointing around wildly trying to make everyone understand his newest experiment... as expected. Yseult had no idea what it was all about but after listening to the scientist jabber on about it in a café at a nearby trading post for half an hour, it sounded ridiculous... Something about laser beans. It wasn't beans she was interested in though, it was the transport's uplink back to the M.A.N.T.I.S. compound.
She'd managed to convince the scientist that she could supply him a rare piece of equipment he'd been asking around for and was even willing to deliver it to his test site... for a price. The muscles in her arms tensed as she brought the cycle to a stop by the transport; only she knew the item in her back was a worthless piece of junk, but everything went to plan: the part looked convincing and he made the payment. That's when her plan activated. The remote hack in her pocket decrypted his remote login and piggybacked his authorisation through the uplink back to base. Once there, it transferred large amounts of credits out through various accounts to hidden locations. She just needed to keep the link open long enough for the program to return the locations to her. She felt nervously at her right pocket while the scientist enthusiastically inspected and began installing her delivery. Her left middle finger developed a nervous twitch as he began flicking switches in no particular order. It was just as he reached for the most unnecessarily large of the levers that the hack 'bonged'. She had the account details and bee-lined for her bike. Feeling the eyes of everyone present watching her every move, she tried to act casual. She put her helmet on; it felt tighter than usual. It's the nerves, she told herself. Stay calm, stay calm. She started the bike, took one look back at the scientist and for a moment that lasted far too long, they seemed to just stare at each other.
Her journey back to the outpost was uneventful, that was until her front hover pad exploded. The next thing she knew, she was on the floor and her bike was in three or four pieces fifty metres down the road. She tried to get up but every bone hurt. Her vision was blurred. She saw shadows moving towards her. Five... Maybe six. One of them came really close.
She woke up an a room, it was dark, or maybe just black. She was tied to a chair with the hairy scientist sat opposite her. "They'd like to execute you" he began, "Not me, of course, but, erm, we need the credits back". She stared at him silently.
"Shame about your bike" he added in an annoyingly pleasant tone.
"I'll buy a new one" she replied.
He had an irritating smile as he shook his head. "No you won't. No shops here" he said, waving his arms around like he didn't know what to do with them. His look turned more serious, he wagged his finger. "You have a problem". She raised an eyebrow "You?" she replied but he didn't seem to get it. "I can help" he continued. He leant forward and looked her in the eye "Give us back he credits and you'll walk out of here with a vehicle credits can't buy". She wanted to be awkward and just say no, she wanted to fight her way out, she wanted anything except the answer she knew made sense. She leaned forward as best she could and looked him in the eye...
Once the credits were all back, he took her to a dim corner of some garage in the compound. She couldn't believe the wreck that stood before her. "Don't see what it is now" he nervously prompted, "work for us, and with our resources... a-and my research. see what It could be", she wondered for a moment how it had all gone wrong. How did they know where I'd be to hit the... It suddenly dawned on her. The hairy scientist wasn't the mark in all this... she was.
Yseult Brenneux stood silently in a dim corner of a M.A.N.T.S garage on Marphacia looking at the shabby shell of some old hovercycle, getting angrier by the moment. She didn't try to calm herself down... She didn't want to be calm.
Note for judges.
This is my first entry and more of an introduction to the character. I understand it doesn't really align to corporate activities.
Here's an additional image of the 'beat up old bike' for your benefit.
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Yseult Brenneux joins M.A.N.T.I.S. as a pilot. She's tempestuous and already doesn't like all the full-stops in your name but Big Sal brought her in and for now, it looks like she's stuck here.
I have a post-able first build. Do I need to wait to be on the roster before putting it up?
Thank you.
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This just keeps getting better. I can't wait to see it when its finished
Incidentally, how did I miss that you finally joined EB? I expect you to sign up for MANTIS any day now
It'll be at Bricktastic and it's good to go save for a few cosmetic greebles now I've finished the terrain:
I've also done this:
Because letting strange children near my intricate work can't possibly go wrong.
I'll have a look AG but I can't commit to building regularly for it. If I change the 'B' to an 'M' would this count? : D
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Got Flickr?
Here you go. It's still a WIP so no formal detailed photos yet but lots of progress ones covering most of the components.
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Done the corner sections and got my ship back. I'm in that phase of the build when I do lots of work and nothing seems to have changed which is a bit demoralising so I just need to slog through the finishing touches and the terrain details.
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Very impressive. I like the 1x2x2/3 grills for steps; more effective than I would have expected.
A beautiful model.
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Aww. That's so sad, and so wonderfully depicted.
But when she wakes up and realises she's alone... What then?
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Not drastically different angles but here you go.
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Finally advanced my Skyblade into B2 colours. I've also built a little backdrop for it so that it can be displayed without sitting on a trans brick.
MOC Maras Outpost- Spacebase, Spacebase, SPACEBASE!
in LEGO Sci-Fi
Posted
Such a great way to display so many ships together, and built in a week 8 O
Shame it's come apart so soon, great concept and principle design that could be taken even further, but if this is what you can do in a week, I can't wait to see what you can do when you really give a project all the time it needs.