hjmediastudios

Picked up 2 of the 2012 X-wings at 50% off. Then, 'cause I had a big payday, I got a Desert Skiff and several Endor BP's.

The common objection of Blender's "horrible interface" is largely from the old 2.4x Blender releases. The newer 2.6 builds have a far more intuitive interface, and it's capable of anything that a non-free program is. As a programmer... NO!!!

For me it'd have to be the first Hogwarts Castle set and the Dumbledore's office set for $10 total, UNOPENED, at a garage sale.

From some experimentation, I think that a visor can be made without modifying the helmet; with some clever molding it would be possible to create a visor that would just snap in. I'm currently working on instructions for the gunship, but due to the size and piece count it'll take a while. Besides, my current first priority is getting one more set design done. I like clear... it's easier to add cool HUD printing on.

For me, it's Duplo.

I just finished a set of Clone Trooper models, so I thought I'd share them with the community for people to make brickfilms or renders with. I've modeled a whole slew of Phase 2 clones: Captain Rex 501st trooper 212th trooper 212th airborne trooper Commander Bacara Standard white-armored trooper Shock trooper The textures, Inkscape source files, and Blender files are included. These lil' gentlemen are fully rigged. I hope someone finds a good use for them! Get them under a Creative Commons license here at Blendswap.

I'm game. Sign me up!

I list people as contributors/collaborators if they submit a model that I like and actually use. This model, while nice, doesn't really meet the quality standards I have for the Space Marines. Thanks anyway.

Not a new piece; it's this piece, also seen in the Jet-Copter Encounter set from earlier.

Not yet...

I wouldn't say it will have been a waste. I've got my name out there (always a plus in the art field), and I've learned a lot about 3d modeling and rendering while I'm at it.

See? Flick missiles are good for something!

Yep. It's flattering to know that it's hard to tell.

This isn't the full set, this is just one ship.

A new vehicle, posted in its own separate thread so as to focus attention on it as a MOC and not part of the Space Marines project: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=73195&st=0

A new vehicle for my Space Marines Cuusoo project: Three Space Marines AC-265 <em>Bulwark</em>-class dropships move through the atmosphere of Rigel 723f. With stabilizers engaged, radar scanning, and a full payload of heavily-armed Marines, each vehicle will proceed to its target location. After laying waste to any and all Ugokin fortifications with its heavy railgun and modular weapons packages (not pictured), the gunship will proceed to release its cargo of Marines at a point specified by reconnaissance troops deployed earlier via drop pods. This is the main element of the new flagship set, although I'm still working on the accompanying token Ugokin vehicle and finalizing the minifig loadout. Expect a substantial number. Currently, each gunship is exactly 1000 parts with the two pilots and gunner, plus a modular sensor package. The final piece count of the set will likely be around 1200 pieces, so if Lego makes this as a set, this'll be the wallet-buster of the lineup. Overall, I tried to balance an AFOL's concern for looking cool with play features. The top hinges up for full play access inside, the cockpit opens, there are two concealed flick-missile launchers, and weapons pods that still in the design stage can fasten under the main wings. The sensor package with radome and antennae can also be swapped out for a turret gun, carriers for recon bikes, etc. The interior holds 8 Marines when fully loaded... but if you're willing to play fast and loose with formations, you could probably fit 10 or so. Make sure to check out the full size of the image- this is a desktop image. (Thank God for liquid cooling on my CPU...) The main railgun of the Bulwark gunship. Each dual-gun set can pivot independently, allowing for an expansive field of fire. 50% of the vehicle's power goes into loading up these babies, so Ugokins should take care not to come anywhere near the gunship's turret. Sealed against vacuum, space parasites, and the semi-annual Marine ShipWash Fundraiser. Hey! Pilots! Pilots with the new pilot uniform I made so LEGO doesn't have to use a special mold to make them! Yaaay!!! A closer look at the main intake and cool rotor-type thing. I'm not sure why it's there, but it is. (You can also see the improvised wheel I used when I noticed that LDRAW didn't have the right kind.) The ball turret gunner's console, located in the front of the ship. My idea is that this guy (or gal) would control the primary ball turret, and the pilot and co-pilot would operate any extra forward-facing weapons. Ain't nobody getting in here without proper authorization. More of the Technic goodness can be seen here. I'm especially proud of the yellow lining of the hatch. It just adds a nice splash of color to a primarily-gray vehicle. Just an inside view. The roof lifts up on two sturdy Technic hinges to allow for easier inside play. I debated making the top actually just lift off, but that proved to be not as fun to my lil' beta testers as the hinged roof. You've survived if you're seeing this angle... at least, until the Marines pop out the back hatch. Hey, I wouldn't want to be on the recieving end of this view, would you? Though not. The carefully asymmetric design is probably most apparent from this angle. This seems to be what AFOLs love, and also lets the sensor package be replaced by a gun that can fire directly forward without hitting a centrally-mounted cockpit. Side view. You can see glimpses of the flick-firing mechanism, as well as a clearer picture of some of the hinge mechanisms that make up the top and hatch. An orthographic top view. A top/back view showing the upper rear wings, as well as the sensor package and a few nods to Classic Space. I was especially inspired by some of Tromas's work when it comes to the radome- something about that just screams "I'm a functional spaceship, not a racing vehicle!" As always, questions, comments, and criticism is heartily appreciated.

None. I originally intended to have the dropship actually drop drop pods, but after some revision it seemed that the better concept is that of a heavily-armored vehicle that flies in low and drops infantry directly, who then link up with an advance force that's been deployed via pod earlier.

It's not a wheel- it's the only weapon that's hardwired into the vehicle. The rest are attachable using modular weapons connections.

I predict within a month. My next birthday is about in a month, too, so maybe I'll get my idea to 10k as a present... Anyway, it's back to working on the mysterious new vehicle.

Starting from scratch. I was going to use the Unity engine, but it's not fast enough to handle the large-scale combat AI I'm working with.

How were you able to reverse-engineer the LDD file format? Any information (brief description, some ideas, source code) you could provide would greatly help me in creating an LDD-to-Blender exporter.

I'm actually making a game. A full-featured game with rather impressive AI, actually.

As the author of one of the projects you're doubtless thinking about, I can say with certainty two things: Using computer-modeling software means the project is presented with CGI as a tool. My Space Marines project is hardly "computer-generated"- I created the concept and used CGI to communicate my vision in the best way I see fit. The project itself isn't any more computer-generated than your MOC photos are "camera-generated." CGI modeling is long, labor-intensive, and a good deal less intuitive than using actual bricks. People don't just click a "make awesome image" button; making that image requires hours of painstaking labor and detailed attention to settings, options, and artistic considerations. The original Space Marines models I created, for instance, took over a week of continuous, intensive work before they were production-ready.

That's probably what I'll be going for.

How to make a Drop Pod: Drop Pod Instructions by HJ Media Studios, on Flickr