Legostein

Hello and good afternoon everybody! I hope your week-end is proeceeding good so far. Today I'd like to present 9 capital combat starships of the Rebels / New Republic to you. Six of them have their premiere here today, not having been public before. The other three have been also freshly photographed and brought to the latest state of the art. As usually I'd like to start with the summary picture where you can have a quick look at what is awaiting you in the following post. -------------------- All images are links to the full image and instruction galleries. -------------------- Now let's start with A New Hope. The first ship we see in this movie is the Tantive IV, a Corellian Corvette, also known as Rebel Blockade Runner. I didn't like two things of the official corvette mini model that came with the 10030 UCS Star Destroyer: first, it was slightly too long, and second, the cones for the hammerhead front were not wide enough and too long. So I waited some years. And finally the Fez hat was introduced for the Indiana Jones series. This hat piece exactly had the proportions I had waited for so long. The next problem occured for the engine section. I really liked that at the official model, but this type of construction was too big for my slightly smaller version. How to get 11 engines in 3 rows of 4:3:4engines each? Well, some day I examined an ordinary 2x4 brick from the underside and saw exactly 11 stud holes in 4:3:4 order. Yay! I then used electric light bulb covers for the center engines and diamonds for the outer engines. Only this way the 11 engines don't get in steric conflict with each other. -------------------- In The Empire Strikes Back, we see the Redemption, a Nebulon-B Escort Frigate. It's a typical line frigate used by both, Rebellion and Galactic Empire. This is yet another version of the popular starship which I built because I already showed you the UCS ISD-sclaed version some weeks ago. It's in typical mini-scale. But even when the models are very small, I want to include as many recognizable details as possible. Like the 7 engines here. It was quite tough and cost me several days until I found a solution where all engines have a similar diameter. The chainsaw body has a special double function here. It allows for attachment for the lowest engine in a way that a part of the cone disappears in the stud notch of the brick above. And second, it allows for the attachment of the stabilization fins. -------------------- It's in Return of the Jedi when we first see the powerful backbone of the Rebel fleet, Mon Calamari Star Cruisers. There are many variants of these ships, but among the most common ones are the MC80 star cruisers. Here you see a winged Liberty-type cruiser like the one that was destroyed by the Death Star. The construction is very sleek by using a SNOT technique allowing to use curved slopes in a streamlined fashion. What not many people know is that there's a second Rebel combat starship in Return of the Jedi. It's only shortly seen during the Battle of Endor, and was long a mystery. Recently this vessel has been identified as Dornean Gunship or formerly Y-Head Corvette. The Dornean Navy joined the Rebellion just before the Battle of Endor. The little ship is highly complex with lots of small greebly attachments and details. To include the main details and to realize the typical head shape, the model is slightly larger than I intended it to be. -------------------- Now we're done with the official movies and will continue our journey by going into the Expanded Universe (EU). One of the most common and most popular Rebel combat ship is the Corellian Gunship. Unlike the slightly larger corvette, the gunship is designed only with combat in mind. It's to scale with the corvette and thus also approximately to scale with the UCS ISD. It uses the same Fez hat as the corvette. Not so well-known is the Quasar-fire Cruiser Carrier. Directly after the Battle of Endor, the freshly founded New Republic sends a task force to help the people of Bakura against the invasuon of the Ssi-Ruuk. Flagship of this task force is the Flurry. The ship can carry 4 squadron of starfighters in a huge hangar bay. The upper parts of hinge bricks serve as fighter racks here. It's during the Hapan Incident that we're first introduced to the Mon Remonda, a Mon Calamari MC80B Star Cruiser. It's another variant of the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser which has backup shield generators, and a different shape. This time I used the different angles of wedge-plates to get a streamlined curve for the hull. I want to close with two ships from the Thrawn Trilogy. Being highly modified Dreadnaught heavy cruisers of the Old Republic, the Rebel Assault Frigate is a class of its own. It's highly automated and Rebel technicians gave it a unique greebly look. It needed many many round 1x1 plates to get the design done as you can imagine. The engines are attached on inverted 75° 2x3 slopes which have stud notches on the back side. The second ship from the Thrawn Trilogy is the Neutron Star Bulk Cruiser, also known as Rendili StarDrives' Battlehorn. Like the Nebulon-B frigate this ship is used by both, Rebels and Imperials. It uses a similar hull technique as the Assault Frigate. It sat a long time on my shelf here, but now I am happy to reveal this relatively unpopular ship to you with all the other new designs. The engine section is quite tricky featuring hinges, and several wedge angles. -------------------- After this lengthy presentations I am finally done for today. Thank you for your time and interest! Enjoy your week-end! Yours Christopher.

Hello! A very clever construction in every way! My favourite details are the inverted plane tails used as steering fins for the propeller. Very original use of pieces here! Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! The bushy and grassy area looks really fantastic. I guess you're having many flower stems. But you here show us how you can efficiently use them for a forest-steppe. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! These are great creations and contribute much to the midi line. I especially like the Gallofree medium transport as being one of my favourite ships of the movies. You did an excellent job with open-hull construction of the transport. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! Those dioramas are truly inspiring. I guess you are still working on them, an ongoing process of improvement as you will always find something to add or modify. You're not only lucky to have a great collection but also to have enough space to present it. The dioramas really adopt the mood of the movies. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! The creatures are pretty good, resembling combinations of various hinges and clip pieces. The shape definitely turned out well! The images are not bad either. All the details are there, just very dark. If you don't mind, I'd like to send you some processed images of yours where you can see the details better. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! The all-SNOT-technique works our pretty nicely here and the slopes do good mudguards. I'd take grey wheels instead of the white ones though, as they would fit better to the military colour scheme. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! An excellent review! I also bought this set to build the Harrier jet. I agree that the rear tail is rather inappropriate but fortunately there were enough left-over pieces to construct a more accurate version. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! The hip construction looks very interesting. And the best thing is that those 1x1 slopes really stay fixed on the hip without non-lego methods. Great find! Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello, thank you for your comment! The trees are intended to be easy to make and simple decorations for mini-scaled dioramas. I liked the octagonal cone much better than the rounded cone, and those are also plenty available at cheap prices. Thank you, ~ Christpher

Hello! Many many thanks for the many many kind replies! I feel flattered! You're welcome. Instructions have alwayws been included for my 200+ models, and so they are here, too. It's all part of the service. I always appreciate comments, hints and suggestions. Thank you. It is quite probable that I will do some modifications you suggested, as I do this routinely for many models. However it might take some time for new photos, as ita takes much time to take 11 proper photos. Who wouldn't like to have a job as model builder there? I'd love to make proper mini models for them, but it's very uncommon this will happen. Sadly. You mean because the re-re-re-released version will have a trans-clear canopy? Well, I will wait until the set really appears. They still might change it. ... and once again it looks superb! Thank you again for your time and effort! I take this as compliment. I am not that fond of the Brickmaster mini models so far. They are misproportioned and inaccurate, and I don't like the fact that you have to pay to be exclusive. Here on Eurobricks you get exclusives for free! Yay! Thanks again everyone who took the time to leave a comment. They're highly appreciated and encourage every builder to improve. See you around, yours Christopher.

Hello! A really great build! I like the sub-deck below the main platform. And especially the use of the trans-clear hinge plates for the wings of the flyers are a really good idea! Well done! ~ Christopher

Hello! A fantastic review for a fantastic starship. I was always impressed about the high number fo guns for this "capital" classic space ship. The review shows all of the great features of the set. Command base module, big crew, detachable front section, etc. Thanks for bringing this back to our minds. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello everybody! The Slave One is among the most re-released Star Wars sets of the LEGO® group. There were some not too bad 4-wide mini models, too. To not overlap with the official line, I built a 3-wide version myself which was not too accurate however. Thus I'd like to present a new mini version of the Slave One to you today. I decided to give it as a special exclusive model to this great community here. The model will only be published here, and not on BrickShelf, not on FlickR, not on Lugnet not on my homepage or anywhere else. It's just here. The idea for the new model came to my mind once I had gotten that relatively new 2x4 triple wedge piece in hands. I wondered what it could be used for and finally thought that it would do a good job in the shape of a Slave One model. It's the brown piece right beneath the cockpit slope. Please find attached views from all angles below. The last image is not meant to be a really serious one. Instructions are available as a direct download at the end of the post. Images: Instructions: slave_one_instructions.zip That's my contribution for today. Thank you for your time and interest. Have a great week! Yours Christopher.

Hello, and thank you for the nice comments on this slightly mis-proportioned creation. I'm glad it's instantly recognizable. Of course I was kidding about posting it in the history forum as you have correctly expected. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! What I like most are the two lamps on each side of the door. It's a double inversion with the lamps with studs-up again. Very clever detail! Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello Walter! I know this ship from several older computer games, and it's definitely among the more unusual designs. But you did a great job making a virtual model for it, and I am looking forward to see it on real photos. I especially like the engine details. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! That's really a pleasure to look at! The harbour theme was probably my favourite aspect of town/city, and your creations fits in perfectly. I like the small cutter you've created and it's also a pleasure seeing the old tugboat back in action. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! I like the classic looking scene with the old town cars! However, the figure don't look really that angry. There's only one or tow angry minifigure heads visible where the others seem simply happy to join the show. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello everybody! Today I'd like to present a miniature of present days to you: the NASA Space Shuttle I started the topic in this forum, as it's not from the future although being a space ship. After September 16th 2010 it would also fit into the history forum, as that's the date of the last shuttle mission. Please feel free to move it to the SciFi forum if you feel it fits better in there. It's probably one plate too fat, but it was really fun to build and that's what counts. It comes complete with triple engines and small side engines, heat shield and completely covered bottom. As BrickShelf refuses to udate for over a day now, I'll post a few more images here, but will inform you when the instructions are available, if needed and wanted at all. Thats's it for today. Thank you for your time and interest! Have a great week! Yours Christopher.

Hello! A very sleek looking bus you ahve there! That way a brand new bus would look like when leaving the factory. I like the brick-built musguards for the wheels a lot. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! What I like best, is already the idea of it! It's nothing you would expect to be built. The idea is very original, and the simple and functional building pays justice to it. Besides that, the environment at the sea side is pretty good. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! A good motion picture screenshot. I second the praise of the lava which looks really great by using many shades of transparent yellow/orange/red colours. The new big flames also contribute a lot to the atnosphere. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! That's a quite clever and highly movable design you're presenting to us here. The flexibility reminds me a bit to the old Space Police I Spy-Trak. My only concern is that for the highly versatile mission profile which it is intended for, it could be a disadvantage that the middle section is so close to the ground. It would be great if you could hang it a bit higher between the main axles so that it has no difficulties in the terrain. Cheers, ~ Christopher

Hello! I am really impressed by your creation! It's build in a similar style like the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer from what I can see, but if TLC released an official UCS Venator it would not be able to compete with yours I guess. The heavy turbolaser cannon turrets are very well shaped out, and also the side hangar doors in the trench. An outstanding creation! Cheers, ~ Christopher