rob-ot5000

Hello, and welcome to my minifig-scale bottled city of Kandor! This is the first MOC I've posted on EB, so be gentle. Or harsh. Or honest. EDIT: I may update this later, as I keep building, or take better photos This is part of a much larger Fortress of Solitude project I've been working on since forever (hence WIP, or work-in-progress). Please excuse the dust, dog hair, bad lighting, bad photos, etc, etc, ad infinitum. I'm only posting because someone asked how I did it, and because I really like some of the work I've done and am keen to share it, even if I'm not in a position to take decent photos. Or dust thoroughly beforehand. Seriously, my dog sheds a lot. It's a problem. On with the show. Here's some shots of the city, still bottled. Each shot is a 90 degree rotation clockwise from the previous shot. And here it is out of it's bottle. As you can see, the city is built on a 2x3 plate for a base, and fitted into a 4x4 (round) space, offset using two jumper plates. This is pretty tricky. The top of the cylinder, when assembled, only has a 2x4 opening, so you can't simply put the city inside the bottle. The opening at the bottom is the same 2x4, so you can't attach the 2x3 city then add the half-cylinders because the city overhangs on at least two sides. The easiest way to assemble it all is to add the two 1x2 jumpers to the bottom of the city's 2x3 base, then hold the cylinders around the city, so that the cylinders grip the jumper plates and form an even surface. Then attach the assembly to a 4x4 (round, or not), making sure to apply pressure to the half-cylinders AND the city itself. This can be frustrating, especially if the city isn't stable enough to withstand the pressure put on top. For mine, that longest spire is a perfect place to apply pressure and ensure solid clutch-power on the bottom. As for the city itself, well, you have tons of options. I went for the white color-scheme, to match the general aesthetic of the 70's movie version of Krypton, but plenty of depictions of Kandor/Krypton have color, so it all depends on what you want. For my project, I just started grabbing all of the tiny white pieces I could find in my collection and started throwing them together, finding pleasing arrangements, hoping to suggest micro-scale alien architecture. This is the fourth version or so that I came up with (though I think I liked the second version better, it is lost to me now). Here's some shots without the bottle, each one turned 90 degrees clockwise, as before. As you can see, there's all sorts of tiny bits in there, lightsaber hilts (attached vertically using a 1x1 round w/ pin), a lever-base, cheese slopes, a skeleton arm, some minifig hands, and lots of SNOT building on a 1x1 brick with studs on 4 sides. There are so many ways you can configure this stuff, it's nuts. I actually just acquired some white minifig skis that I'm hoping to incorporate soon. The only restrictions are to the inside of the cylinder, which leaves some room to build past the 2x3 plate-edge on the short sides, making the city more rounded in appearance. Spires also need to be position to fit through the centered 2x4 gap at the top. That's it, really. If anyone has any questions, please let me know! Now that that's out of the way, here's some shots of the Fortress itself (very much a WIP), and a couple of other goodies. A wide shot of the base and half of the outer Fortress, with Kandor sitting in front for size-reference: Pictured are four spires, individual constructed and attached at the base. The spires are built using a core of standard bricks and technic bricks, strategically placed so that the outside can be plated and tiled in various places, adding to the crystalline look I'm going for. Here's where the spires attach, using some technic pieces, so that the spires are able to swing open, allowing access to the interior (which is fairly non-existent at this point ) The spires are built with some overlap, so that, if you raise the first one, it catches the second, and so on. When closing it up, the last one catches the next-to-last, and so on. Aaaand, this is the point at which I stalled out on the project. I want to incorporate some gears so that the entire structure can be opened and closed using one crank/gear. But I'm not a Technic guy. I came up with a simple enough lift system, but the spires are too heavy for it to work smoothly, or well, or at all really. I thought about redesigning the spires to be more hollow, thus lighter, and I thought about changing the way in which the spires interlock, and I thought about changing.....etc. So yeah. That's why there's a year's worth of dust on this monster. I should get back to work soon. Again, criticism, thoughts, and ideas are all welcome. Here's a case of kryptonite that would go somewhere inside, though I'm not entirely happy with it, simply because glass isn't enough to save Superman. It'll have to go behind lead, but then we couldn't see inside, so I'll probably add a vault for it to go in. Eventually. And last but not least, my Phantom Zone projector. I styled it largely based on the Superman: The Animated Series version. It is able to tilt up and down on the stand, or detach completely so that Superman can fly around with it and zap anyway who annoys him. Like Jimmy Olsen. Damn that Turtle Boy! A picture here would be good. #FAIL Phew, I'm tired of writing this post, so I guess that's it. Thanks for checking it out!

It feels like there's been a sizeable influx of resellers lately.

It is! And I am! I'll snap some shots tomorrow and make a thread to post 'em in, in case anyone's interested. I've been meaning to take pics of it, but it's just a small piece of the Fortress of Solitude I'm working on, and that's been kind of stalled for a while, so I haven't. I'll edit this post with the link, so I don't clutter up this thread anymore. EDIT: Hey hey, the link is in my sig!

And maybe some capitalization at the beginnings of sentences?

The dual-molded legs are available on Bricks and Pieces. They're about $2 (US) per pair. I bought some extras for Superman, Captain America, and for unspecified future use. Yeah, they look amazing.

Yes. The anticipation was exquisite.

Let's say that I agree with your argument. I don't, but let's pretend. If you straight-up compare the films, sure, they may have a similar level of adult-oriented "maturity", but LEGO/TTG doesn't just scoop them up and drop them in. Characters skew toward their most kid-friendly state. Once upon a time, Beetlejuice had a cartoon show on (I think) FoxKids. It had some creepiness and oddness, but not on the same level, and I'm certain that the LEGO interpretation of him and others will go down a similar route, if needed. This is a kid's toy/game, after all. They didn't make a minifigure of Carnage, the Spidey villain who straight-up murders people (soooo many people!), but they did make one of Carnage, the watered-down version who steals people's life-force, but leaves them alive, and who inexplicably works for Dormammu (FoxKids again ) or whatever. So it makes sense they would choose the versions of DC characters that are more child-friendly, because when you compare the DC(C/E)U versions, to the comic versions or animated versions, unlike Marvel, one set pretty clearly stands out as the adult version (for certain definitions of adult...). That's not to say I would mind seeing those version, I just don't really expect to. And now, because I typed all of that out, tomorrow, they will announce the inclusion of DC(C/E)U packs in Dimensions. You're welcome?

I'm glad to say I've never seen or heard of Detroit Steel, meaning I've got no real reason to get this set. Which is fine, since there's so many more that I do want. I've never cared too much for Iron Man variants, but I seem to have amassed a bit of a collection when I wasn't looking, and if it's a classic comic version using the new Mighty Micro helmet, but with less "chibi", well, I might have to BrickLink it. That's definitely the aspect I'm most curious about. Thanks for all the news, guys!

Personally, I couldn't really care less about Coulson (or Lola), but I know plenty of people have been wanting him (them), so I'm happy for those people. For me, once Coulson died in the movies, that was it. I tried AoS, but couldn't get into it, and the fact that the movies will probably NEVER AGAIN address him kind of seals the deal. As for Daredevil and Kingpin, it kind of seemed like amazingbricks subtly "confirmed" linnormlord's guesses. But it seems that was unintentional. Dang. I reaaaaally want Daredevil, and a Kingpin bigfig could be cool. I dislike bigfigs in general, but it seems as if they're here to stay, and I like the character.

The Scooby head on the baby body reminds me of Scrappy. I feel uncomfortable now.

Wow. A guy with 3 posts comes in here and straight up WRECKS it. Of course no one believes it at first, but 3 posts later we get confirmation from a known source? Ha, that's nice to see. Cheers, Marvellegofan! Off to the other thread...

Oh, interesting! The main image on Brickset shows everyone wearing a shirt. But if you check some of the other images, there's a bare-chested fella instead! Weeeeeeiiiird. I wonder what was up with that?? Anyway, thanks for the clarification, guys!

My favorite line from the article you linked to: "And, to top it all off, they’re shaking their heads and doing “science” to try to figure out girls, as if they’re some strange variant of human that regular humans just can’t get their head around." I hate variants .... What thread am I in?

Indeed, that would be cool to see in different colors. (I used one of my extras with a 1x1 round trans-green tile to give Green Lantern a ring. )

OH DEAR GOD! The minidoll with the baby head reminds me of the "real-life minifig" costume from SDCC. Basically, it's horrifying .....which is why I left the pic in there. Horrifying.

Well that's just physically impossible, then!

You're using...........what??? There's nothing there! It feels like there was supposed to be a pic or link there, but maybe not. I considered the series 12 Rock Star parts, but they felt too glam and less grunge for my tastes. Not bad, by any means, but not what I'm looking for. I tried Superboy's legs too, to get the pants-detailing, but the blue didn't work for me. If only I could get that print on the Bat-legs. Just realized, the new CMF series 16 Emo/Vamp Kid legs might be decent.....

Jeez Batman, leer much? Lol, great pic though. What torsos are those using? Especially the hairy-chested Bats.

Huzzah! Thanks Sci, off to BrickLink to check 'em out! EDIT: There's one in the Indiana Jones set (7683), but I'm not seeing one in ANY of the Prince of Persia sets. EDIT 2: Yow, pricey.

When they revealed pics of the Ghost Rider set, I immediately ordered an extra pair of dual-molded Bat-legs from Bricks and Pieces, in order to replace Ghost Rider's plain legs. IMO, his legs are the ONLY weak point in a brilliant set. Well, I grabbed the Ghost Rider set today from the LEGO Store, and here he is: It doesn't look quite as amazing as it did in my head, but I still think it's an improvement. What do you guys think? And more importantly, what OTHER legs are people planning to use. I expect pictures from everyone on my desk by Friday. EDIT: I'm also considering getting an extra pair of Hobgoblin/Deathstroke legs to go on Taskmaster. It looks pretty darn good. (I'll post that pic later if anyone cares.)

I'd love TMNT, but yeah, their competitor has the license. As for Jaws, I can't see there being a clamor for any of the human characters, nor can I imagine any useful abilities for them. If I can play as the shark, well, okay, cool, I'll do it, but that doesn't seem too likely. I'm in agreement with Lego-Freak. As a fan of both DC and Marvel, I would be utterly stoked to see them both in the same game. (How cool would it be if they brought back the customization feature from previous games? Then we could approximate our own Amalgam characters! Not gonna happen, I know, but squee!) And with the demise of Disney Infinity, their inclusion seems more likely than ever. Not any time soon, mind you, but at some point. Quoted for truth.

Bat-speedos! Hilarious! As for the bare-chested fleshie torso, Duncan (above) mentioned this as a potentially cheap way to go that. My question is: where else can you get that? Are there other fleshie bare-chested torsos? I've been wanting one (or two) to use with the Ra's Al Ghul set so they can look more Neal Adams-esque. Preferably hairier than this one, but either way. Any thoughts?

Your opinion DOES NOT equate to fact. Deal with it. Stop acting like you're twelve years old.

You could pick up the Dimensions Fun Pack. They're often on sale for about 7 bucks.

The box art is pretty? You can use the bricks for your own creations? I dunno. No way I'll be buying them either.