Guybrush

If we were just trying to build the prettiest sports car, I'd agree, but this is a beatup old spaceship. Maybe it's just my hangup thinking of the newer colors as being fancier. All things weren't equal though. Using dark red would have required some sacrifices of shape and detail that I didn't want to make. Plus I already owned most of the red. Thanks for reading the whole ramble, I appreciate it! Are you referring to how the angled portion snugs up against those 2x2x2 slopes that are essentially masquerading as "wedge tiles"? That was a last minute addition I'll be honest. I built most of the thing not quite knowing how I was going to marry those sections up! Good to see you're still around too, but this isn't the first thing I posted recently. I did an updated cloud car... *checks* A YEAR AND A HALF AGO!?!? I'd give you the BL folder but they're seemingly still moderating submissions from JUNE, so here's the EB post about it. I agree regarding the official A-wing. Too much chunky, not enough sleek. Also the windscreen off it costs $120 on bricklink, which I know I shouldn't hold against the set but I do.

Yeah, I do like my classic space wings. Actually I don't, they're quite inconvenient to build with, but they're the perfect angle for the awing. Which hinges did you mean? Thanks! I also tried the same parts in brown which looked a little more like leather seats, but wasn't as visible through the canopy. Parts availability is a factor, but alot of shots of the awing are dark, cuz they're in space. And if you lighten them enough that the grey areas look white, then the red areas are closer to a desaturated lego red than to dark red. Basically the lego red is better at getting across the weathered look of the red on the model. The dark red just looks too... snazzy? Especially contrasting with the white. There's a frumpiness to the red that better suits a worn-down rebel beater. Oh that's nice, we actually had some similar ideas here. Sleek yet chubby, yes, that's it exactly, thanks! Well there's just so many new roundy bits and my old awing looked so flat....

Unfortunately the interior stuff just doesn't hold a lot of value for me, leaving the exterior quite small for the price-tag. Would have maybe liked to see them skip things like a pilot area and just focus on going bigger, on the exterior and Jabba's room, which, as-is, is so cramped poor max rebo has to play solo. Compared to other recent high-end efforts, the proliferation of studs, plate-wall construction and relatively low minifig count makes it look a bit low rent. There's quite a lot of characters you'd expect to be in a $500 jabba's barge that just ain't here. Like where's Luke? Who's Leia gonna triumphantly swing to safety with? Friggin Salacious Crumb?

In which Guybrush rambles for a long time. So a lot of new curvy pieces came out since I built my 1/12th (ish) scale A-wing back in 2009 and oh God I'm old! So it was time for an update, and here it is: The primary goal was to make it look properly roundy. My old one had the overall shape right, but read as flat a lot of the time. The official one it too chunky, the shape should be more oval like this. This is also the first time I feel like I've been able to properly capture the rocket slit without compromising the shape. I don't even wanna tell you how long I spent on those hatches with the triangular tops. Two studs wide? Too small. Four studs wide? Too big. So the triangular tile is actually mounted at a 45 degree angle to everything while still having to line up. One of the more complicated things on here actually. You can also see here I got the engine taper right this time. Also the first time I've attempted to render the slope of the back section between the engines. Another thing I wanted to improve was making it look like a big model of a small ship, as opposed to just a big ship, which can be tricky, but part of the solution was actually the seat. I ditched my old dark grey one in favor of tan, so it would always be visible through the canopy. I think it really helps make it look... liveable, useable? While also making it clear this is a really small ship. Are you ready for another really anal detail? Okay, so the awing's central red wedge.... viewed from the side, the official has a rectangular core to the front of the cockpit, then a wedge. My v2 had the whole section in a triangle from back of canopy to tip of nose. Neither is really correct. What I did here was very slightly angle the cockpit area, the tape it down, using 1x12 curved slopes to disguise the change in angle. It's subtle but it makes a big difference over v2. The pointy white things up front I borrowed from Anio's version. See how roundy it is? This pleases me, and again, you can clearly see the headrest, making it look like the small ship it is. I know the red wedges seem a strange choice in the nose section, but the studio model has panel lines that about match that shape. The frame around the windscreen was just sort of a happy accident to make it the right dimensions, but I like how it looks, especially hinged open from the front like this. Thanks to the new 4x4 macaroni bricks I was able to proper engine detail this time. I showed this to my nephew out of context and he said "You made an Arc reactor!" Interior shot in which you can almost but not quite make out the joystick. Detail shot. I will confess I only found one model source that showed the silver pipes, but I really liked them and I happened to have four, so here they are. I found the best way to make the round slope look continuous was to turn the 2x2s around backward. Not sure why but it doesn't look right the other way. The underside, which I put way too much work into for the bit most people won't see. I'm actually holding it upside-down here. Normally the stand attaches her and blocks the intake vents so this was the only way to show them. I know the old 4x8 space wings aren't popular any more but they really are the perfect angle for the a-wing. Bricklink gallery for when it eventually gets moderated. Yes, I know, I should switch to flickr. Let an old man have his antiquated site. Thanks for checking it out and reading my blathering!

Very nice! I was about to say "pity that grey wrist piece doesn't come in brown" before realizing it's the shackle!

I like the use of revolvers especially

It's going to be about the size of the official. I was actually going to buy the official, but it's like $1200 for no apparent reason, and there's a bunch of stuff I'd want to fix on it anyway.

I dunno when I'm gonna get to finish this thing, so here's the rear turret of the Tyderium made out of superhero shoulderpads. If you just made the top half it could also work as a cute awning for a little shop. The underbite is deliberate. Studio model looks like that. Kinda bugs me but it's accurate. Also apparently you can stick a shovel up a 3x2x3 brick and block the bottom off with a 1x2 plate to make kind of a weird intake-looking thing. I had to scrap these from the final project though. Too big. Anyway, nothing special, just having fun with new parts. Or at least new to me after me thousand year siesta.

It's normal for interest in a hobby to come and go. It's healthy to take a break. I know because it happened to meeeeeeeee...

when bricklink runs entirely out of grey I guess we'll know who to blame :D

That's amazing! Some very very good sphere work on the cockpit area. Interior looks great too! I'm amused by the extra seats in the cockpit area, like he's got a bunch of buddies he can bring with him. What are the parts to either side of the ball, on the top front edge of the wings? They look like curved grey panels and you've got a bunch of black and dark detail under them?

Oooh, that's quite nice! There's some very precise angle work required to get all of that to line up so nicely

Wait they had a bigger R2 this whole time and they stuck that minifig one on there?

I love how the fuselage works with the panels hiding the angled parts. And proof positive that if lego should have canted the canopy on the new official one.

Thank you! I was super excited to do the trick with the bars in the central body. I was kind of hoping people would be a little more stumped how that works but I guess I should have known better :D Man that takes me back! I don't even have pics of that old thing. That takes me back too! Is that still the only cloud car set?