thomas_jenkins_bricks

Thanks for a wonderful contest everyone, I've had great fun watching all the magnificent entries come in over the last few weeks.

What? Really? Well, that was my interpretation of the brief: I though a lot of builders would take a similar approach, so I wanted to give you judges something unexpected! This trooper is going against the norm albeit not of his own volition! I wasn’t sure whether to go for the screaming head or a helmeted trooper. I’m glad I went with the former :)

Thanks :) im quite proud with how the AT-ST came together. I might have to try to make a version of this that stands up now! A combination of these on the inside and these on the outside (and some 1x1 hollow round plates) keep the tree together and keep it standing upright. I hadn’t seen a tree made like that before- I tried to do something different there.

Haha! Oh stop, I'm blushing! There have been some excellent entries so I think my chances are pretty slim! Thank you! Cheers! I assumed other builders would build something in-universe so I wanted to put a bit of a spin on things. The black one in the corner has an open drawer modelled into it but you can't see it at this angle, unfortunately!

Thank you! SNOT mosaics are always a fun puzzle to solve! Thanks! It's something that I guessed EC Henry intended in his original design, though he didn't show it: it has these protrusions behind the wings that definitely look like landing gear. I didn't plan to put in a mechanism at the beginning of the build, but luckily there was enough space in the model to add it in later. This was one of those models that came together really nicely with minimal headaches! Thank you very much! A lot of old retired elements came in useful for those wings- you can tell by the different shades of Grey. I'd wanted to build this for a while, so I'm glad this contest came along to give me that inspiration!

I like this, it has a simplicity to it with minimal studs and nice smooth shapes. It's nice to see another innovation on the TIE Fighter cockpit too. Does it seat a figure?

Great model! You came up with a great solution for the cockpit. I used a similar technique in a MOC a while back, so maybe I'm a bit biased. Brick-built TIE fighter wings are a bit of a mind-bender too: creating the right shapes with clean edges and bordering them with Grey is not an easy feat. This is very refined and clean looking. I think this will do very well in the contest, good luck!

Last one! Thanks to all for an awesome contest. I found these prompts really challenging. I had a blast putting my entries together!

'Nature is After You' - Endor by Thomas Jenkins, on Flickr My entry for the Eurobricks May 4th Contest, Nature is After You category. 'Nature is After You' - Endor by Thomas Jenkins, on Flickr The prompt inspired me to try my had at terrain building- another building genre I've never tried before. I learned a lot form this little diorama and I think I'll try it again in the future. It was way more difficult to construct believable terrain, so props to the builders that make it look so easy! I went through a lot of different colour combos to emulate the Endor vibe but I was mostly limited by the bricks in my collection. My Bricklink wishlst has grown considerably over the course of this contest! 'Nature is After You' - Endor by Thomas Jenkins, on Flickr I never thought I’d build myself an AT-ST. With some interesting shapes and a handful of greebles, it was a very fun little project and made even more so due to the fact I didn’t have to worry about how the thing would stand on two legs! There are so many incredible MOCs of the vehicle in the community, it was hard not to be influenced by a few of them, but hopefully I’ve produced something unique.

Two more entries:

Rogue Clone by Thomas Jenkins, on Flickr This was a particularly difficult prompt to build for! This build shows that with just a few tools and -of course- a Sharpie, anyone can create a clone that truly “goes against the norm”.

Minifigure Habitat - ILM model makers by Thomas Jenkins, on Flickr I went a bit meta for my Minifigure Habitat entry. I was trying to emulate a behind the scenes ILM model department in this MOC but perhaps it comes across as a bit more of a generic workshop, but Star Wars related nonetheless! Here's an image that inspired this little scene: I had a lot of fun recreating my own props for this scene like the desklamp, pots of paint, and other paraphernalia found in the workspace as well as some tiny Star Wars vehicles: the AT-AT is my favourite.

What a wild entry for this category. I think Endor will be a popular source of inspiration but this is a very unique spin on it. The face is very well rendered and the resemblance of the creature from the McQuarrie painting is uncanny! Well done!

My entry for the Imperial Ship category. Cutting it a bit fine but I have a few more entries to post- we can upload throughout June 5th, right?

My entry into the ‘Imperial Ship’ category: the NImbus II. Nimbus II by Thomas Jenkins, on Flickr I’ve wanted to build one of ECHenry’s designs for some time and the build prompt from the contest provided the perfect excuse! Likewise, I often lurk among these forums so this contest provided the impetus to finally sign up. Nimbus II by Thomas Jenkins, on Flickr This MOC is based on EC Henry’s idea for a ship that bridges the design between the Republic Nimbus-class V-wing and the Imperial TIE fighter. EC Henry writes: “This fighter was the successor to the Nimbus-class V-wing. Most notably, the Nimbus II lacked the shield projector nose of the earlier V-wing. This left the Nimbus II almost completely unshielded, but it significantly improved speed, maneuverability, and power efficiency. The Nimbus II would be a common sight for the first several years of Imperial rule, before it was largely replaced by the more robust and more maintenance-friendly TIE fighter.” As soon as I got my hands on the new Pagani windscreen elements, I wanted to give this cockpit combo a try. It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine how this design might later morph into that of the iconic TIE fighter. Nimbus II by Thomas Jenkins, on Flickr There are a few details that I’m rather pleased with: the little greebles in the engines which are I think I made pretty accurate to EC Henry’s original design, as well as the wings which have the black panels reminiscent of the TIE solar panels on one side and flat grey on the other. Finally, I squeezed a little functionality into the model: turning the gear between the thrusters at the back of the craft will rotate the wings into flight or landing position. Luckily, there’s just enough friction in the mechanism to keep the wings vertical when they need to be. Nimbus II by Thomas Jenkins, on Flickr I really enjoyed putting this together, thanks to the organizers for running this contest. I’m looking forward to perusing all the entries once the deadline closes.