TheOneVeyronian

I was looking through the 2015 Chima set pictures again (due to reorganising a Chima minifigure display board I made to fit the 2015 releases in), and I must ask: is that Li'Ella on the left in the Lion Tribe battle pack, just with a new torso and legs print? Or is it a new generic Lioness warrior like the one on the right? The head print on that figure looks extremely similar (in fact, I think it's exactly the same) to the Li'Ella I already have from 70146... not sure I want "generic" Li'Ella clones in my battle packs to be honest, if the latter is true Guess I'll have to wait until official set descriptions are released before my suspicions are confirmed. I would have also found minifigure info from the 3 sets we only have names for so far helpful as well so I could have reorganised my display properly, but I'm guessing we won't hear about those until around Christmas... oh well.

Here I would like to share with you a Lord of the Rings MOC that I have been working on for quite some time now. Here I present to you my take on the most fearsome of demons from Middle Earth, the Balrog: LEGO Lord of the Rings - Balrog by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr LEGO Lord of the Rings - Balrog by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr LEGO Lord of the Rings - Balrog by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr This beast contains over a thousand parts and is very poseable and can stand up on it's own two feet despite being relatively heavy. The chain which I used to represent the Balrog's whip is held up by means of craft wire, but other than that, it is completely purist. The final model ended up being mostly dark bluish grey as you can see. Black may have been better suited to it, but some of the vital textural parts used on the arms and legs just do not exist in black, hence the colour choice here. A gallery containing more pictures and a special fire effect POV-Ray render can be found in this Flickr album, near the bottom. If you would like the LDD file, it is here. Note that most of the flames are missing here. I do hope to eventually build the entire scene with the Balrog from the Mines of Moria sequence of Fellowship of the Ring, so stay tuned... Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed looking at this MOC!

Sorry to bump an old topic, but I just noticed this accessory pack on Brickset. What immediately grabbed my attention about it though is the fact that it contains the first non-polybag appearance of Sykor and Frax, so great news for those who don't want to track down the polybags! No word on where it's available yet, but I presume S@H will have it very soon EDIT: It also appears to have a dark or gunmetal grey version of this part, but I don't know if that's just the lighting in this case.

Fair enough, but remember that I was only using parts available in two copies of the set and the parts left really couldn't make leg mods that I truly liked. As for the gunmetal... same excuse really. I never understood why LEGO decided to give Panthar gunmetal torso armour when the other Fire models got gold torso armour, especially when the rest of Panthar's armour was gold in the first place...

It's exactly the same story in the UK. I thought that was very odd indeed. They're all still available via other normal retail channels like Amazon and certain toy stores and supermarkets here though. It's very very strange for things like this to sell out in less than 3 months here...

Hello again all! Haven't done these for a while, but I recently picked up a second 70208 CHI Panthar at a discount the other day, so I thought I'd mod a set that I already thought was good using only the parts you get in 2 copies of 70208 CHI Panthar: Front: LEGO 70208 CHI Panthar MOD (1) by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Side: LEGO 70208 CHI Panthar MOD (2) by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Back: LEGO 70208 CHI Panthar MOD (3) by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Action pose: LEGO 70208 CHI Panthar MOD (4) by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Modifications concentrate on the neck, torso and arms really (I thought the legs were fine as they were), including: Ditching the asymmetry (seemingly instead going for the "Edward Scissorhands" vibe with long claws on both hands) Going for 5M bones on the neck instead of the grey 4M ones, thus allowing to put shoulder armour on the shoulders rather than the forearms Filling out the torso a little (including using a little unconventional technique on a gold 4M shell located at the back, where it is held between the torso beam and the torso shell). That's all for now. Feel free to use this mod to inspire your own mods of this set!

I welcome you all to my second insanely over-greebled mech, this time with a more System based build and a twist! It's a common problem in high-tech planetary exploration admittedly, and one that I feel has not been addressed adequately. You are usually out on patrol on an alien planet, while all the time your thoughts are with your best friend. But now you needn't worry with the EXO-HOUND, the only Exo-Suit tailored for dog use with it's dog-like design and pet-friendly controls! Now you needn't leave your faithful friend whenever you need to wander foreign star systems, he or she can now come explore with you! LEGO Mecha/Hardsuit - Exo-Hound by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr The LDD file for this build can be downloaded using this link. You are welcome to build your own version using this, but beware that some colour-part combos don't exist. I hope you enjoyed this rather unusual looking hardsuit Comments are welcome!

Finally, here's the LXF file for this mecha/hardsuit. Enjoy!

Thanks guys! I'll get round to sharing the LXF in time, I've been meaning to start a Brickshelf account for a while for this purpose Once I do, I'll post it here. Just be warned that not all parts exist in the colours you see them in here

Introducing my very first attempt at an insanely over-greebled Exo-Suit inspired mecha/hardsuit (in fact, my first self-designed mecha full stop): The Dragon! LEGO Mecha/Hardsuit "The Dragon" by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr The model contains 511 parts and is nicknamed "The Dragon" due to it's armoured cockpit canopy (held ajar here to let you see the pilot) which vaguely resembles a dragon's upper jaw. It is primarily a mecha designed with combat in mind, hence the very well-armoured cockpit, but can also be used as an exploration mecha. This was mainly an exercise in whether I could do extreme greebling and actually started with the desire to use the specific hand design you see on the model in something. Well, I hope you enjoyed looking over this big hunk of greeble from this novice!

The daily trawl of LEGO's cache has uncovered the combination instructions! only 6 days late LEGO, not too bad considering how long it took to get the ultrabuild combiners up 44023+44025+44027 (mech combiner) 44024+44026+44029 (beast combiner) I have to say... that mech combiner looks pretty awful to me, but I am compelled to build the scorpion beast soon. Hopefully I'll get a second copy of Tunneler and Crystal Beasts so I can have both the scorpion and the other beasts

Fair enough, the "why" makes more sense now. I am sorry if this is going to sound like a dumb question (I'm still relatively new to rendering software despite some of my already complex looking renders like my Balrog), but what are these "global threshold adjustments" and how do I go and presumably adjust them? Also, would you recommend a different radiosity setting to the one I was recommended to use (2Bounce)? But anyway, with more conversing with my friend Rancorbait who is also working on chrome renders, it turned out that he had used PNG image files while I had used HDR image files. So I tried the same render again under almost the same conditions (just added a base plane to this one) but using a PNG version of a sky sphere I originally had the problems seen in the second image of my last post with instead. And, somewhat surprisingly, it actually made a significant difference (though it's still not perfect, but it's good for now...):

Hello all I'm having a bit of a puzzling problem with regards to chrome renders using LDD2POV-Ray, and was wondering if someone would be able to help me with a simple, easy to understand explanation or solution. For reference, all the following renders were done under exactly the same conditions (original LDD geometry only, 55% lights, no ambient light, hidden reflecting objects to the left of model, base plane absent, transparent background and 2 additional light sources where the eyes light up), but in each case just the sky sphere used is different. The images are small since they're test renders, but they should illustrate my problem well enough. In case it helps, these were done using latest version of LDD2POV-Ray, POV-Ray 3.7, running on Windows 7. Image rendered with no sky sphere (just for comparison purposes): Image rendered using "Factory Catwalk" sky sphere (from this website): As you can see, it renders with all these colour blotches (artifacts?) and it plagues most of my renders on nearly every sky sphere I've tried. The chrome itself isn't too bad, but it's the artifacts that are really annoying me. Image rendered using "Milky Way" sky sphere (from website linked above) This appears to be the only sky sphere I've used that doesn't cause the artifacts like the ones in the previous image to appear, but here, the chrome is a bit dull (but as you can see, parts of it do work perfectly, like the four legged beast's ankles). Otherwise, this render is about the closest I've got to a successful chrome render. Any help that can solve this rather unusual problem would be much appreciated. Both me and my friend seem to be at a loss as to why this is happening... especially as my friend's (rancorbait) chrome renders have never had the problem in the second image. p.s. I did try to find a tutorial for this type of rendering beforehand but couldn't actually find any that made sense to me, so please forgive any ignorance I may show in this post . I'd provide the LDD, but I haven't actually got any means of sharing them just yet.

I picked up all the new sets at Westfield Shepherds Bush yesterday. I honestly have to say, the Queen Beast is kind of on the small side compared to all my modified Beasts, so no two ways about it, I'll have to mod her as well to be a little bit bigger Still waiting for the combiner instructions to become available on LEGO.com though, so I can build my own version of the scorpion beast. I don't know why they can't just put them online at the same time they put all the main model instructions online though

Well, I'll probably do my usual and pick up all the sets at once, but Tahu and Pohatu will definitely be built first as those were the first Bionicles I ever got around 12-13 years ago. I even remember where I bought them from (Woolworths), too bad the shop chain doesn't exist anymore otherwise I would have bought them from the exact same place I originally first bought them. Ah well, the LEGO Store will work just as well I guess Too bad they're not the prices they were in 2002 (less than £5 for a Toa back then), but never mind that, I can live with these current prices anyway

Thanks guys! Yeah, about the shell colours, they should all really be Trans-Bright Green (or even Orange) but it's just one of those colours I don't have enough of and are quite hard to come by cheaply and in vast quantity unfortunately, hence what you see here. And I know some of you seem to be disappointed I went with the small head, but, as I said in a comment on one of my pics on Flickr, it was simply chosen to match the aesthetic of the other Beasts, which the big one I felt didn't really do the shape well enough after all... Well, since I'm taking some of the shells off (I may not have to completely disassemble it after all ), I'm sure I can show you at least in part how those bits are built. I hope you really like complex masses of bones though

Well, a bit quicker than anticipated actually, The Beastfather is ready! All the description is over on Flickr if you wish to read briefly about it's features and design choices: Hero Factory MOC - The Beastfather (1) by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Hero Factory MOC - The Beastfather (2) by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Hero Factory MOC - The Beastfather (3) by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Hero Factory MOC - The Beastfather (4) by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr Hero Factory MOC - The Beastfather (5) by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr You're welcome to leave positive and constructive comments, but since I have to now go through the pain of dismantling this beast ( ) to get parts back for another project, I can't really apply constructive criticism to the build this time... p.s. can a Mod change the title from WIP to MOC since it's done now?

It's a very nice little ship for Frax, but if I'm honest, if you really want it to be in keeping with Phoenix Tribe colours, I'd remove the medium blue and replace it with another colour, maybe dark red? Maybe look at the colour scheme of 70146 even. But considering it's your first Chima MOC, it's kinda forgivable In case you couldn't tell though, I'm a bit of a Chima nerd but I do really like your spaceships. Keep on building!

Well, to be fair, I had noticed Argos starting to "chop off" what Hero Factory sets they sold, starting with the summer wave of Brain Attack when I believe the only villain they had in the catalog was Dragon Bolt. They didn't really stock the entirety of the first wave of IfB either so didn't really expect them to have them all this time round. But showing a complete disregard for pretty much 70% of the line this time actually made my jaw drop in disbelief . Needless to say, this year they have failed to get a summer constraction set sale from me for the first time since 2007... if that doesn't speak abundance, I don't know what does to be honest.

The only reason I didn't create a MOD topic is that I thought it didn't actually look substantial enough to warrant it's own topic (also see the modded Rocka Crawler), but if a moderator decides it warrants it's own thread, feel free to move all of this The hollowness of the weapon bothers me too, but let's be fair, I tried Black Phantom's style of just sticking the two halves together and slapping that on top of an axle, and it actually bothered me even more! I could do something Mungus-esque (without the tubs though) or do something with a tri-connector perhaps, but for now I think it looks just fine. My Crystal Beast isn't really a strongwoman (HF site states the summer wave beasts as being female) Unfortunately, yes. That's the only three they have, and even then the Queen Beast isn't in the store catalog, it's listed on their website as an online exclusive. See here (as a side note, they've also marked up some of the other IfB sets from the winter wave). I was kinda gutted too, I was hoping to pick up a Tunneler Beast from them, but now they have to all wait until I get to the LEGO Store next week

Do you read my mind or something? What you outline is basically what I've just been doing to improve it further. I've put some 5M dark blue shells on the shins, 3M dark blue shells on the lower arms (you said forearms but I thought lower arms just to match the shin colours) and swapped the bones for black (so much better imo). Unfortunately the thighs still have the 3M shells since I used one of the liberated 4M shells in place of a 3M one on the back, and now it's either raid my Frost Beast or I've basically run out of loose ones And yes, those are 4M shells behind the shoulders. I promise I'll get more pics of it up on my Flickr soon, but I've had hardly any time for photographing them recently...

You see, I thought the all-black front didn't really work with the trans limbs, I would have preferred a trans-colour torso shell here to make it more "crystal" in this case. Unfortunately the only trans one is the dark blue variety, and it's literally a stand-in until we get a greater palette of translucent torso shells, if ever. The black one's already gone into another MOC, so that is also a possible reason for using it . The leg shells are actually that way to bulk out the bottom of the legs, as an exposed axle didn't look right. This is why I prefer using 5M shells on 7M bones a 5M bone would have thrown the beast back out of proportion, the very thing I was trying to fix. Good point about the grey though, I don't know why LEGO didn't bother with using black in the first place... especially considering the torso, neck and feet were black in the first place.

I've noticed that Argos in the UK are starting to sell the new sets too. But honestly, who told them it was a good idea to only stock Bulk Drill Machine and Surge and Rocka Combat Machine (with Queen Beast as online only, and the others completely nonexistent)? Anyway, I received my Crystal Beast in the post yesterday, and while I think it's a half decent set, I've already been busy modding it with the little stash of transparent shells and bones I'd been hoarding for it. I think VBBN's remark in the review gave me the inspiration to give it a mace rather than the grabber that came with the set Hero Factory - 44026 Crystal Beast MOD (2) by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr

So, I didn't particularly like my first design with the exposed bones, so I went back and pretty much redesigned it, using a long torso bone this time. It's still partly unfinished, I still need to add some spikes and other superficial detailing to it: Hero Factory MOC - Beastfather tail WIP 2 by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr You'll notice this one probably flows a bit better, and also note the use of Stronius shells - I personally quite like them here, as they give the impression of natural hardened armour (maybe like ankylosaurs had) which is partly what I'm going for. I personally like the twin blades on the tip myself too. So, yes I admit - the torso bone did eventually yield a result that I liked. You're welcome to say which tail design you prefer, no need to give a reason why

Any suggestions on how it could be improved then? I actually do want to attach shells to the sides to hide the bones, but I've run out of connections to actually do so in this case. What could I possibly use to hide the bones, since I've run out of ideas? Or should I just use torso bones (the very thing I was trying to avoid) instead for more connection points? The armour shells have actually been switched around a bit (I found that I had used a 4M bone when I should have used a 3M one, that's why they weren't sitting properly in the photo) so it no longer looks awkward. EDIT: Please ignore this post, my next post makes this post largely irrelevant now...