hjmediastudios

Glad to hear it! Just wait, though- I'm working on some great set concepts that I think are a great fit for the AFOL community.

I can only take credit for the 3d model, not the design- they're supposed to be the same as the Series 7 Galaxy Patrol minifigure to save on molding costs, but at the time all I had to work from was a blurry low-res image. I'm currently working them over to better reflect the actual Series 7 minifigure armor mold.

And here's a little shout-out to one of the Space Marines' biggest supporters. You know who you are... Customization Is Good by HJ Media Studios, on Flickr

I just finished a quick test of one of my Space Marines going through some basic combat motions: 7V8NORU-5M8=For those interested, you can download the Space Marine models on Blendswap and support them on Lego Cuusoo to see them as a real set. Rendered in Cycles at 350 samples. Criticism is always welcome!

That's great news for me. I live in central Iowa, so new sets trickle in slowly... It's usually the middle of January to early February that the new year's sets come in, so it's good to here that the Marvel sets are so close by, and at my favorite retailer! Man, my bank account is going to take a hit soon...

And here's a first look at the Space Marines' hated and feared Neo-Classic-Space -styled enemies- the Ugokins! Ugokin Menace by HJ Media Studios, on Flickr

And here's another set in the line, containing a MOC'd ground-attack fighter:

Here's the Blendswap download page: Lego Space Marines 2.0. Be warned, I used Cycles to render them, so you'll need to unpack the textures before rendering.

You'll get your wish. The Series 7 Galaxy Patrol collectible minifigure has a similar helmet. And it'll only cost you $2.99 plus untold hours of feeling the packets!

Actually, the hopper design is Peter L. Morris's LAU-PAC with a Space Marines theme. He was kind enough to let me use his concepts. :D

I've just completed the first set idea for my Space Marines Cuusoo project. Called "Space Marines Battle Squad," I envision it as somewhat analagous to the Star Wars battle packs, although with a single, substantial vehicle instead of a little turd of a vehicle and/or little boxes with guns stuck on. It has 168 pieces, including the Space Marines, and includes a single Gunnery Sergeant and three ordinary Space Marines. The vehicle is a chunky and very stable four-wheeler, with three seats and a moving turret complete with flick missiles. (Where would we be without them?) In an effort to prove that it's not just smoke and mirrors, that there's some actual building skill involved, I created complete set instructions for the vehicle depicted in the above image. Click on the picture below to find out exactly how to build your own Space Marines battle buggy. For all you technically-oriented folks out there, here's a runthrough of the creation process. The model was prototyped by hand, using my own stash of bricks. I made the model in MLCad, using LDraw parts. I added some bricks that I didn't have in real life to make the shape a little bit better. The model was exported to two different versions:A submodel-heavy version with arrows and helper parts, for use in creating the instructions. A streamlined, single-file model for later export to Blender. The fancy-pants model was then used to create an LPub instructions file, using a Blender-rendered background I had created earlier.<li>The simple model was imported in LeoCad, exported to .3ds format, then imported into Blender.<li>I did a huge amount of optimization on the model, cutting the model from several million polys to a few thousand.<li>Final textures and materials were applied, and Space Marines were added into the scene.<li>The final scene was rendered in Blender's Cycles renderer, with about 3000 samples. The whole render took about two and a half minutes.<li>The image was post-processed in the GIMP, with muzzle flares and laser blasts, as well as color correction and lens flare, being added prodigiously.<li>The complete image, along with a Space Marines logo and Lego logo, was added onto the cover of the instructions in Inkscape. Whew! That was complicated. That's all for now. Don't forget, you can always download the Space Marines for free on Blendswap, and don't forget to support the Space Marines Cuusoo project to make these little dudes real!

As for converting LDD files to 3d files; it's simple! Export the LDD file to LDraw. Open the LDraw file in LeoCAD. Export the file to .3ds or .obj using LeoCAD. Import the resulting 3ds or OBJ file into the 3D program of your choice. I've used this procedure countless times. As for Blender, I recommend optimizing the model, especially by removing triangles (alt-J).

Man, you don't know what you're missing. The comics... well... 50% are totally worthless, 40% are so-so, but 10% are riveting. (Get it? Hee hee.)

I probably will animated them. By "battle," are you talking about some sort of knock-down, drag-out fistfight, or a more refined affair with guns and repulsors? 'Cause the first one's considerably more difficult to animate. :)

It took me about an hour to create the armor and render it. The minifig was an existing model I had lying around.

Hello again, I was pretty bored over New Years, and, being the huge Lego fan I am, I decided to troll the internet for 2012 Lego Super Heroes rumors. I'm a huge fan of Iron Man, so I was disappointed at the crappy figure shown off at Comic-con. Taking it upon myself to improve on the design, I created some Iron Man and War Machine designs that look great and are easily re-purposed for future mayhem... War Machine by HJ Media Studios, on Flickr Oops. Yes, I noticed the armor intersects the torso. Iron Man Shot by HJ Media Studios, on Flickr Comments, questions, helpful hints, etc. are all welcome!

Thanks for the words of advice. I know that the arms are too short. Alas, everything I've used the model for is done.

They'd likely go with the Samuel Jackson Nick Fury. One, he's going to be in a major movie, and two, he's Samuel L. Jackson. End of discussion. :)

I don't mean to do a bit of shameless self-promotion (well, actually I do), but I have several minifigure models & rigs available under a Creative Commons license for Blendswap. You can find the latest edition here; it's beginner-friendly and flexible.

Well, KrystalKing, it seems you've hit exactly on the premise of my Space Marines theme!

Go for it!

Yeah, they need work. Organic modeling is not my strong suit.

Some Ugokin warriors for the Space Marines to fight, an idea I borrowed from the late, great nnenn: Ugokin Warriors by HJ Media Studios, on Flickr

Thanks! I'm already finding out that the final models, if they're made, will not look exactly like the renderings, due to physical constraints, but suprisingly I'm able to CAD them up in such a way that they look a lot like the originals. :)

A couple years ago, I wouldn't have thought that Lego would do it, but Alien Conquest seems to be a similar theme, albeit on Earth. I'm already working on some alien minifigures. Rocketbilly: You're almost right. The theme boils down to Marines in space.