VK-318

A collector is someone who gathers items for the pleasure of doing so and allowing them to be viewed. A collector is not someone who passes down moral judgement against those with differing opinions, from atop an ivory throne. I happen to be a collector of an old, less than popular theme myself. I collect Lego Space's Spyrius sets from the mid-1990's. And, I'm glad to expound on their virtues to anyone who cares to listen. But I have never insulted anyone for disliking my pet theme, or for preferring other sets to mine. That would be going to far. And that's what you're doing. By setting yourself up on a pedestal, you make yourself a target for those who resent your arrogant demeanor, and you deter those who might also like these old sets from speaking up for fear of being associated in the minds of other Eurobricks users with your aggressiveness. Just changing your vocabulary would help, though I appreciate that this may be easier said than done since English is evidently not your first language. As I see it, your opinions are that [a] 7140 is better than the sets that followed it, because it better captures the "used universe" look of Star Wars and [c] it is the original Lego X-wing, a trait that carries some innate value of its own. If so, you could choose to say so in this way, rather than in the rather rude way you have done so up to this point. I do hope you will, otherwise I will have wasted a lot of time and words writing this post (I think I'm writing a post to rival an average SoNE comment by BEAVeR!). More broadly, to several people who have commented in this thread (including nokialover), Bob De Quatre has a great point, which is that trying to reach a public consensus on which sets are the "best" is about as productive as trying to decide which ones are UCS. We could decide which one is the most accurate, or which is the best engineered (referring to structural integrity, quality of any Technic functions, that sort of thing), or which offers the best value for money in terms of cost per piece, cost per kilogram, and the like. But "best" can be used to refer to any one of these, or any one of a million other traits; while nokialover wants THE first set, Nom Carver wants accuracy and Flieger is fond of play features. Defining "best" is not productive, nor is it a good thing since doing so removes room for personal opinion. By the way, although I appreciate the battle-worn look of 7140, I personally prefer the newest model. It's not that hard to mod in battle damage, and white is closer to the official color than light bluish gray. Very light gray would be a nice touch in future X-wings, but since there are so very few pieces in that color available, it's not very likely to happen any time soon.

Brickcommander.com has some really impressive (and very large) models to scale with the 10030 Imperial Star Destroyer under "Micro Space." There are also some neat and much smaller models at st.deckdesigns.de, created by Eurobricks own Legostein.

Don't you DARE.

I think it's time I started that therapist freebuild, now that I've got the right hair for it. Really great build, though, BEAVeR. Remember my remarks last time, about the declining appeal of your builds? You've fixed that. This is really terrific. And that's quite the ... interesting exploit. I hope it makes it past the judges; this is too fine an entry to loose to a technicality with Ninja Nin making signs of returning.

Thanks! I wonder how long I'll be able to justify keeping that look ... If I had to bet, I'd say their waiting until close to the end, so that they can organize their entries to take back as many areas as possible from us.

Actually, it's supposed to be your messenger, Behemoth. I didn't look close enough to get that detail of wardrobe right, though. I'll see if I can fix that.

After my dust-up on Fondor, I decided that a new outfit was in order for my next mission. It didn't matter much what, so long as it didn't scream "IMPERIAL!" at the top of its lungs. Rather than waste time with the tedious process of requisitioning an outfit from the Scout Service supplies, I raided the wardrobe of the Avenger Enlisted Drama Club. A few minutes work and I had a get-up that, if somewhat lacking in protective material, was certainly less obvious than my armor. I was deployed to a barren region of Ord Mantell, a desert whose once-fertile soil had been ruined by toxic fluids that leached from the debris deposited here decades ago. Streams ran here and there, and the temperature was not intolerably hot, but there was hardly a plant to be seen anywhere. There were Rebels, though. And, unfortunately, they didn't really care whether I was an Imperial, a bounty hunter, or a bit of shriveled bush that had gotten tired of the place where it was growing. The opened fire, and of course I returned the favor. The Rebel training regimen is not especially effective, I think. I was easily able to down one Rebel as I approached their position behind an old thruster pylon, and the other fled after sparing a shot for a bundle lying under the large wing that was propped up as a sort of sunshade. I finished off the other Rebel, then went to investigate. The bundle was in fact a body. A Mandalorian, though fortunately (or perhaps not so fortunately) he was not Boba Fett. He still bore a thank-you note, one of the many notes that the Avenger was distributing and carrying, trying to get them to the elusive Fett. But his hands were in binders, with the gauntlets removed. As were his fingers. A pool of blood was gathered on the hard, sandy ground, and severed fingers lay steeping in the dark fluid. Close by lay the tool with which this mutilation had been done: a large wire-cutters whose blades were crusted with blood. I studied the bodies around me grimly. Torture, then. There could be no other explanation. The Rebels had caught one of our messengers, perhaps the contact obtained by Behemoth, and had sought to torture him into revealing Fett's location. And when I arrived on the scene, they sought to silence the poor fellow by killing him. And, whether for good or ill, they had succeeded, and put the man out of his considerable misery. There was no opportunity to bury him, and I had not the tools. Neither could I have buried the Rebels if I had wanted too, though I didn't. Killing in battle is one thing, and some defend it as an entirely moral and ethical action. But torture is something else. Whatever the officers may do, no soldier who tortures a prisoner is worthy of the name of warrior, and by the unwritten code of war his life is forfeit to any who may capture him. Let these two rot, and their flesh be devoured by flies; it would be a fitting end for such Rebel scum. But my encounter with these scoundrels was not entirely unproductive. The Rebels had dropped their datapad. And even without taking the time to search it carefully, I could plainly see that it contained a trove of potentially useful intelligence. Nothing to win a war with, to be sure. But we would give the Rebels a hot time of it now. So, despite my distaste at the scene I had just discovered, I was smiling when I left the spot to return to the rendezvous point. OoC: I made some modifications, after receiving the posted advice from MstrOfPppts, BEAVeR, and others. The original should be in spoiler tags below.

I'll see if I can work that out. When I build it, I was mostly looking for the look of a dark interior (hence the black back wall). I'm collecting recommendations, and I'll make some modifications once I have a few ideas. The issue with changing the interior is that the roof of this little pub is really, really hard to take off and put back on without causing it to disintegrate. Thanks for the idea, though, I'll see what I can add. Maybe some bottles and glasses for the rebels, too.

... And the Empire has the first Fondor build! http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=98789 I'm keeping the build intact while I work on the others, so if you have ideas for improvements I can rebuild, repair, mod, and reshoot as needed. Edit: My second episode build is completed, on Ord Mantell. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=98798 As before, I'm keeping this one intact so that I can make any changes that may be asked for. I intend to hold my third build in reserve in case I need to help retake a location from the Rebels.

So what does this make me, mail-delivery specialist? Add to that that the best way to find Boba Fett is to find his ship, the Slave I. Normally, this would be a great idea and really rather simple, once you know which planet he's on, and we did, more or less. But finding a ship on Fondor is a challenge akin to finding a Jawa on Tatooine. It's the proverbial "needle in a haystack." So, instead of trying to find Fett's ship, I've opted to look for the man himself. That's why I'm wandering around the back streets of Fondor, trying to find one of the most dangerous men in the galaxy ... and give him a thank-you card. Pathetic, no? Oh, and did I mention, the Rebels are looking for him to? Probably for a reason other than giving him thank-you notes. At least, some of them are. I really must try to find out how it is that Rebels can slip so easily past our customs system. And evidently not all Rebels are very attached to their mission, since these three came out of a grungy casino, proceeded by the odor of hard liquor. The clone armies crafted by the Kaminoans were given pure white armor as a symbol of their fearlessness. The white was a challenge to the enemy, since by its high visibility it insinuated that the enemy lacked the skill to hit even the most obvious targets. These Rebels wasted no time in taking that challenge. But they were, I judge, green recruits, and quite inebriated, while I am a combat-seasoned fighter and stone-cold sober. Final score: Rebs 0, Volker 3. Two of them would have their hangover headaches somewhat amplified thanks to my armored fists, and one might well never wake up at all. I didn't take the time to set for stun. Now. Before I was so rudely interrupted, I was trying to find Fett. OoC: I made some modifications, after receiving posted advice from BEAVeR, MstrOfPppts, and others. The original post should be in spoiler tags below. Edited 9-26-14 to correct a typo (proverbial for provervial) and adjust a too-small font size.

Correct. I can build 3, and MstrOfPppts can build 5. Behemoth, our newest member (I think) can build 2.

No, because you made several high-quality builds, then swapped them around. What we're concerned about here is people posting minifig-on-a-plate episode builds to get the points for numbers on a given planet, then coming back later and improving them drastically to a final level. The idea is that when you post a build, it should be a sincere effort, not just a lightning post to snatch points for your team. I'm going to be a little late getting mine up; tomorrow is really busy. I will hold on to my posts so that we can try to take back planets from the Rebels with them. Does that sound all right?

Okay! A new episode is out, and I'm ready to start building. My first two builds will be on Fondor and Ord Mantell. I'll figure out what my third one should be as I go along.

If you want to ease into using SNOT, a good way to do it is to use SNOT for something small in a small build. That back wall with the short white stripes is a SNOTed wall. It is attached with 1x2 Technic bricks with 2 holes, interfacing with 1x2 plates (For more pictures showing how this is done, see the SoNE Freebuild "Desk Job": http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=93115&hl=desk). This was the first time I had ever used SNOT in a significant way, and it was both simple and a great way to teach myself this useful technique. Hey, if markus1984 can promote his creations, I can too, right?

On the contrary, it illustrates how much less competent Ewoks are - we Imperials don't need railings!

You're lucky, then; those guys are really, really hard to find in good condition. I was recently lucky enough to get four with uncracked helmets - then one helmet cracked within about an hour. And I kind of need to get another one of them off a head so I can straighten it - the yellow space guy who's wearing it is looking out of the side of his helmet with one eye almost obscured.

I really, really like those gunners and their helmets - need to get several more soon. I also dislike the Royal Guards, but I think I would have like to get a couple of stormtroopers and a black astromech instead. It would be a perfect Imperial minifig pack for me with those.

Holy Megabloks! Does it have a name? It needs one.

I would recommend finding a way to replace the M-motor with an L-motor or XL-motor. The XL has more than enough power (I know, I have one and it is incredible how strong my Emerald Night locomotive is thanks to the XL-motor), and a small gear assembly will allow you to step up the speed of the movement without excessively compromising strength. I don't know how much room there is inside, but I think you might be able to at least substitute an L or XL for the M without any external changes. Overall, I think your main priority should be speed rather than strength. Doubling the speed of the walker would be about right, I think.

Cool! Are the little red teeth the weapons?

Just got mine, 1 day ahead of FedEx's estimate. I now need to order a couple of 3L light bluish gray bars to fix those feeble shoulder greebles.

I just took a look at your Galaxy Squad MOCpages creations, and while the Nemesis doesn't seem to fit the red faction quite right, I think you're spot on with the other three. Galaxy Squad is one of my favorite space themes, and you've done a really great job composing some clever MOC expansions. Any bugs coming later?

Wow! But I seem to have a rather demanding sigfig - nobody's been able to get it quite right yet. There is a flesh version of my face, but it's evidently pretty rare since even you don't have one. Again, wow!

Scout trooper armor is acceptable. Way back about 10 or 20 pages ago, it was established that by "stormtrooper" and "rebel trooper" we are referring to the lowest-ranking members of the ground forces for each faction, the equivalent of privates in modern armies. So, an Imperial can be a stormtrooper, a scout trooper, a snowtrooper, or whatever else is at that most basic rank. The same goes for Rebels. The only distinction is that if you are a regular pilot, either of a TIE variant or a walker of some kind, you're a TIE pilot, not a stormtrooper. Given how long ago this happened, you may well have missed the posts where it was discussed. Note, though, that this doesn't mean that your stormtrooper or rebel trooper can't occasionally pilot a vehicle in a crisis. As long as you can present a convincing explanation for any irregularities, you'll be fine. For example, in my last episode build I piloted an AT-CT construction walker. I explained this by saying that I had been assigned to the walker because the regular walker crews had been put back in their AT-ST's for extra patrol duties.