Cody Startale

Thank you, guys! So glad to hear that you like it :) I really wanted my first entry to leave a good impression. Exetrius, indeed, I used a laser for this. That was some tricky photography, since I was holding the laser in my shaking hand and the remote for the camera in the other hand. Trying to position the laser right on the eye and setting off the camera at the right time to capture it took quite some tries! But the end result was well worth it :)

View my cast of original characters here: Nar Eurbrikka Cast See the introduction of Cody Startale into the story here: Episode 0 – The Introduction The full story in images (it is recommended to read this first) Clear images of the build (for judgement) Thank you for your attention. I've had it in my head for weeks, and bringing it to life brick for brick has been a blast!

Hello there! It's always nice to meet someone from the homecountry! :) Are you by any chance also located in the capital?

I thought so. I recently shared some experiences of mine with applying transparent decals to brown/dark surfaces, you might want to read up on it and view some example photos here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=139454#entry2646152 The thing is, the darker the surface, the harder it is to apply a visible decal. Technically, decals usually only darken your surfaces. So, black mouth on a brown head, no problem, or brown markings on a tan torso, easy as well. But look at that Lando picture you posted. Light-grey on a brown head? Not a chance, not without some advanced tricks for which you will likely need special printing equipment. See, with your average printer at home, you cannot actually print light grey. You can only print grey with a lower opacity so that it appears to be lighter on the white background of the paper you are printing on. Remove that white background, like if you are using a transparent decal, and what's left of your design is a very translucent grey moustache that's barely visible, and will be even worse visible on the brown head and only darken it. The best option I can think of right now is to use non-transparent decals and print a full brown face to apply, but good luck matching the exact brick color with your average inkjet printer or otherwise the face will visible stick out from the head. I've not yet worked with white decal, though, so I cannot say how well that even works. Nevertheless, at least the torso should be easy enough and an old Lando will actually be an interesting challenge. I think I'll give it a try.

Outstanding!! That X-Wing looks amazing and everything is so full of details. Just the base alone is an overly impressive effort. A proud display of Alliance craftsmanship, I must say!

Lando's face will be tricky. Do you have plans on how to apply that? Grey moustache on a brown head will be very hard to see if you are using a transparent decal.

I am not sure what vinyl stickers specifically are, but I can at least share my experience working with both transparent stickers and waterslide decals. First of all, I consider waterslide decals to be superior. The way they are applied seems more permanent to me, and they blend more naturally with the brick. The downside is that they are way more tedious to produce than simple stickers; with waterslides, I will print them, let them dry, put clear coat on them, let them dry again, make them wet and apply them to the surface, dry again, another clear coating, and then finally dry for the last time. This process takes several hours, even if you speed things up by doing the drying with the help of heaters. Stickers, on the other hand, are quick and easy to make. I print them out, let them dry for like three minutes, cut them out and then directly apply them. The downside to this is that this will never seem as naturally as the decals, because the stickers are pretty thick. They add a visible layer to the brick, where the waterslide decals only add the thickness of the coating and the paint, which is definitly thinner. I have gathered some comparison pictures for you: To the left, there is a waterslide decal on both torso and face (unfortunately, the torso decal print is pretty rubbed off because this was tricky to apply. It was my very first decal, too). On the right, there's a TMNT Rocksteady sticker that I've designed applied to the torso. Note how you can clearly see the borders of the sticker in the flash of the camera? That's the downside of those stickers. Also, because I don't additionally coat them, they are easier to remove from the brick than the decals. So what I've decided to do is: whenever I create new decal designs, I use the sticker method in order to test out the design first. You know, the size, the colors, just checking how it will look when physically applied to a minifig. That way, I can catch things I won't be able to notice on the computer and have a reliable preview of what the finished decal will look like. Sticker paper is cheaper than the waterslide decal paper I am using, so it's the obvious option to test out new designs before printing them on valuable decal paper. About surface color: light surfaces like in the above pictures work pretty well and the colors stay kinda true to what you see in your design. The darker the surface, though, the less your decal will work on it, using transparent paper at least. Here's a test I made, applying a decal to a reddish-brown torso: Sorry for the bad picture quality – I didn't make them myself. On the left, some brown, red and black colors are applied to a tan torso and work all very well. But then head decal is another matter. See the eyes on the brown head? They are actually supposed to be green, and on the right eye there is a pink scar which is barely visible. On the right, a torso design was applied to the brown surface, and you see the black outlines fairly well, but you barely see the supposed-to-be-yellow skin at the top where the shirt is open. So, the colors barely worked on this, too. So I strongly recommend trying to work on light surfaces. If I have to apply something to a dark surface again, I will make sure to use a white decal paper and not a transparent one. I would have to get the color palette right to match the physical brick color, but at least it would enable me to do any color I like. I hope this was somewhat helpful to you!

I really, really like this show. I love the setting, the Freemakers kinda remind me of the Azzameens in X-Wing Alliance. The story is pretty standard, but the execution is superb. I like all the main characters and the humor is excellent. I had some great laughs with this show. Also, Graballa is easily my most favorite thing ever. He's plain hilarious. I absolutely need him as a lego figure!

I tried!

Excellent! I really dig that market scene, the use of the cloth sails is superb. I also like the variety of minifigs, it looks very Star Wars-y to me and has just the right amount of little details overall. Great stuff! Poor Rodian, though... he never stood a chance.

I just noticed that judging by your thread title, you seem to be one episode ahead of the rest of us...

Thank you. I am using CorelDRAW. I hope you'll put it to good use and let me have a look at the finished result!

I can give that Maverick head a shot, if you want (wow, that sounded a little bit murderous right there). On a side note, I think your drawing attempt at it wasn't half bad. I think it's actually pretty well done for what can be done with that technique! Also, if your request does not get a response at first, don't be shy to try again. I considered doing your requests before, but it's a little bit of a problem if you see a request from a very fresh member, especially if it's a first post. You just don't know if they will return and actually follow up on their own requests or if they just asked because they were in the mood that they wanted a certain decal and then didn't care about it that much anymore a few days later. Even if it's just a small request, as a designer, you don't want your time and your work to go to waste, so you'll try to pick the most "rewarding" work, in a sense. For example, I'd love to see how the people who I created decals for put them to use in the end. I have answered a handful of requests around here so far, but not once has someone shown the final result of the decals I made for them. With you and the way you document your progress in your blog, I have a different feeling, though, so I will be happy to provide a Maverick decal. /* Edit: Here ya go: I tried to make the mask resemble that dark champagner color you requested, but the result will obviously depend on your printer. I think the ornaments on the Winter Soldier torso are actually special shiny colors, so don't expect your regular print result to match that look.

Awesome stuff! I just hope yellow heads are not frowned upon from now on :D No, Aland, I'm sticking with them as well!

I guess Rhubard takes his protocol droid everywhere :D The build is pretty plain, don't you think? Also, too bad that we don't get to see another angle, so we could have a better look at the balcony. As of right now, I think you could expand on the build some more, but you have a solid base. :)

Hello, Revell email colors are usually recommended. They are labeled with numbers and there is a pretty useful thread by EB member Wardancer which lets you see which color combinations match the official Lego colors best: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=64353

Sure thing, here you go: I didn't know if you are using clear or white decal paper, so I made both versions. Keep in mind that if you are using the left one on a clear decal, the point in the middle of the Incredibles logo will be clear as well!

Morale is high in the Alliance, I see Great job and nice compact build. It's good to have men like you on our side, hopefully Wedar will run into some Imperials along his investigation to "interrogate" them

Great work! I really like the use of green bricks in your build, it's a nice touch. The story and the photography are excellent, and that Imperial hover tank thing is fantastic. It really looks like it could take quite a beating and I can totally see that hovering through the streets of Theed. Awesome stuff!

I just kinda forgot! And since it seems that thanks to Nar Eurbrikka, I'll definitely stick around for some time, I might as well do it now. But I'll try to keep it short and interesting – so I'll let my Lego self do parts of the talking for me! Yup, that's me – at least close enough. I have a beard, and my real name is Peter, not Cody. And yes, I do wear a hat like that sometimes. I am 28 years old and from Vienna, Austria! I've re-entered Lego like five years ago, mainly when my nephew hit the age of starting to play with Legos and I became interested in it again. I have been a gamer with a soft spot for Nintendo all my life, though! Creating awesome decals like that is almost as fun as retro gaming itself. I am familiar with graphic design, programming, 3D modelling, webdesign, photography, film production and post-production, and some more. I am not the best person in any of those fields, even amateurish in some, but I have a broad knowledge which makes me an incredibly versatile asset in my work life. I know, there are classics missing like Zelda or Metroid, but those are actually the NES games I owned and enjoyed the most as a kid Also, cats are the best, period. Just don't let them get near your Legos. Should I also mention that apart from gaming, I am a very passionate Star Wars fan? It's my biggest hobby and that, combined with Lego, made me register here in order to participate in Nar Eurbrikka. Also, I like to offer my help and services as a decal creator, which, to my delight, earned me a customizer tag early on. So let me know if you need something and I'll try to help! (Also, I love how cool the gaming decals turned out to be. I am thinking about putting this whole "Retro gamer room" on Lego Ideas, what d'you think?)

Admirable build, but what got me the most is the simple and effective narrative. I gotta admit, I'm a sucker for the story parts of Nar Eurbrikka, especially when they are executed as well. Fantastic! The part about Fiend getting her alias is very cleverly written, I really love that. Can't wait to see more!

Simple and slick! I really like it, especially love the rounded stairs, they're genius. The narrative is intruiging as well!

Simply glorious. That dragon looks just amazing! Fantastic use of the minifig, and in such a short time, too!

Thank you!