Doctor Sinister

My entry is in! PLMKWYT! Dr. S.

Here's my entry. Actually, it's two ships but similar design - on the basis that the competition was for a Starfighter AND Racer, I've done both...all will become clear when you read the story... My entry is the Sinister Industries Starburst Interceptor. The design is based on the original Sinister Industries Starburst X1A Racer which won the much sought after Keller Racing Prize three years running between 2985 and 2987. The Keller prize was established to find the fastest one-man ship that could circumnavigate the outer rim of Earth's solar system at sub-light speeds. The Starburst X1A managed to achieve a record time of twelve days in its first entry in the competition. After beating the opposition soundly and amazing the racing fraternity, the Terran Empire approached the designers at Sinister Industries with a view to obtaining permission to construct a variation of the Starburst X1A for military use. Here's the original Starburst X1A Racer with its pilot, the galaxy-famous adventurer, stuntpilot and showman Anders Henrikson after his first win in the Keller Racing Competition: A view from the top: And a view from the rear: Finally, a view in flight - note that the landing skids retract upwards during flight. (The cockpit on this version does open, I just forgot to take a picture of that.) The first Mk I Starburst production fighters entered service in 2994, and so far, three variants have served Terran Empire Forces with distinction. Featuring two injection fed Lavadyne engines the ship is capable of operating as an air-breather and in deep space, thus making it ideal for operating from planetary garrisons as well as from orbital or capital-ship based facilities. With the military version having lost the landing skids, the ship can land on its belly, although more usually it docks into a supporting cradle. This is to save weight. Lift is obtained entirely by inbuilt anti-gravity repulsors running along the keel. The Starburst can carry one pilot although there are slower two-man training models available. The Starburst is lightly armed with two forward mounted Grasers (gravity focussed laser beams) and two 12cm "Dart" missile launchers ahead of the engines. Although these missiles are small, the extra forward momentum of the ship firing them makes them a formidable weapon even without the warhead. The Starburst is lightly furnished externally to enable it to achieve its great speed. Many critics of the Starburst project say that it is a very ugly craft as much of its superstructure is exposed, however this makes it much easier to service and repair. Compared to such models as the Nymph Class Interceptor* or the Ganymede Class Strike Fighter** however, the Starburst is merely functional rather than beautiful, although it performs superbly. A view from the rear: A view of the interior of the cockpit showing the controls: A view from the rear and above. Note that the aerospikes present in the original X1A version have been disposed of in the military design: The top lifts off to access the fuel injection system: Finally, a view in flight: Dr. S. * and ** - visit Nova Sector for more details.

Looks more like Luke's from ROTJ to me. Dr. S.

Sorry, I meant can you swoosh it through the air like the "real" thing or isn't it that firm? Dr. S.

Ooh, nasty. That plate looks like it's been chewed by a dog. Hope you get replacements. Dr. S.

It does look good! Is it swishable? Have you thought about adding a blade? :-D Dr. S.

Here's mine, as posted about a week ago in the original thread: This is the scene from Chapter 7 of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and also from series 2 episode 1 of the radio series where Marvin encounters a Frogstar Scout Robot Class D which has been sent to capture Zaphod Beeblebrox. They meet on a skybridge between two buildings suspended 15 stories above ground and Marvin tricks and annoys the robot into taking out the walls, ceiling and eventually the floor of the bridge, causing it to plummet to the ground to its destruction. It's by far my favourite scene from any of the books. The Vignette shows the moment the machine takes out the floor on which it is sat. Here's an uncluttered view: And another: Here's the Robot. The Robot is described in the book as a towering black tank - but on the basis that it's from the Frogstar, I tried to make it look a little froglike as well as menacing - and stupid (even though Frogstar is just a stupid name and has nothing to do with frogs at all). I've given it a mouth and eyes as it engages Marvin in conversation. Here's a side view of the Tank. I decided to give it some chrome exhausts as it's a very vain Tank, proud of its weapons and capabilities and I figured it would want a bit of "bling". Here's Marvin. In the first book Marvin has very little description and in the scene in question is merely stated as being "silver". I had a really hard time putting together all my chrome pieces in anything resembling a robot and I wanted to stay away from the film and TV depictions and go for my own - so my Marvin is made of a bunch of Technic pieces and a chrome "head" on top. I think it works quite well. Here's the scenery - just an 8x8 square essentially cracked in half. It's supported on transparent bricks and a trans plate as I wanted to convey the sense that this platform is suspended in mid air. The trans plate is NOT a part of the Vig' - the Vig' itself is still 8x8 studs. The windows and ceiling have of course long been disintegrated at this stage. The falling half is attached with a hinge piece. The trans studs you see on top are the support for the Tank to click onto, thus making the entire creation one whole piece when fully assembled. Dr. S.

I already put the jousting barrier in there, it's used to tether the horses. I liked the idea of a well actually - or perhaps, in times of peace, a souvenir shop selling skeleton heads. :-D Dr. S.

Hi Fartface! (snigger) I love your MOC, it has energy and style and it looks really exciting. I guess the tree in the back is the hydroponics area for oxygen generation? What a good idea. I reckon it would look better though if you used some small plates to close it up a little, make the footprint a bit smaller and sleeker. Perhaps put some controls in the cockpit - if you really want a bicycle in there, maybe build a hold at the back and store it in there for planetary exploration? Once you've got a smaller hull, you could build a canopy over it and then maybe mount some weapons on the top or something? I love the engines at the back - those little fins are dead cool, I think the use of the dragon wings is good as well - if you matched the colour scheme to the wings you'd have a wicked looking little fighter craft. And those click hinges on the main wings could be used to make the wings fold up when docking. These are only suggestions though, but let us see more if you decide to fiddle with it! Dr. S. (how was that?)

I love your stuff, and I adore your pictures just as much - fantastic! Dr. S.

Actually...I wondered if this would be the makings of a good tank - or hovertank if you don't have treads. Add a top turret, some flare dispensers...jazz it up a little - it's kind of tank shaped, not everything has to fly. That's my suggestion anyway! Dr. S.

Is that the boarding hatch I saw there? And if so, it has studs down, not up...must make it hard for the minifigs to get in... Dr. S.

Should I feel guilty for ordering this with the express intention of NEVER playing Chess with it, just stripping it for parts and fig's? I mean, I feel kind of bad... Dr. S.

That's a REALLY good Vig - I love the lamp. And your real room is awesome too! Looks very cosy! Dr. S.

Hmmm, it looks fine in real life. The colours I used in the addition match those in the original model. I tried to follow the layout/placement of the colours as best I could, so walls are light grey, plates are bley - except for one plate that I don't have in the latter. The colour difference doesn't worry me anyway. Real castles evolved over centuries, with new additions by new owners every so often - so you will always get different styles and designs appearing in different phases of a castle. I reason that this castle is no different. Dr. S.

Not if you have a big enough town. :-D Click for the larger version. Dr. S.

I think I'm going to do that anyway. Good plan. Dr. S.

Have been fiddling a bit more... I've added an observation platform to the rear left hand corner. I don't have the necessary pieces to build a full tower but I'm quite pleased with this. As you can see, I've used the curve in that corner to make the platform diagonally oriented. It's supported on three pillars. I've used the offset-stud building method to get the pieces to line up with the battlements below. This was the trickiest part to get right, but it aligns perfectly with the supports offset. There's a ladder leading from ground level so the troops can man the platform. LMKWYT! Dr. S.

Thanks! I wanted him to be backed into a corner, I'd have put more skellie corpses in there if there had been room! Dr. S.

I'm ahead of you, I have the Skeleton Ship on order and I was thinking of adding it to the Castle. There's a back entrance to the Castle which could lead nicely to the harbour. In which case, as you say, it would not be a moat any more, it would be an island castle just off the coast! Dr. S.

So far you mostly appear to want Sir Taindeath dead - which given his name, is probably apt. However at Classic Castle they overwhelmingly want him to win! Odd... Dr. S.

Not yet. All I did was mount the entire castle on an extra-large grey baseplate. It fits nicely with the plate sticking out around every edge. It was on those edges that I put the plates for the moat. You can pick the whole thing up and it's as solid as a rock! Dr. S.

No, but if you want some I can do some. Dr. S.

I decided that set 7094 just wasn't quite right, so I ordered a shed-load of blue plates of varying sizes and voila! One moat. A bit of decoration here and there and I think it looks dead cool. This is such a small modification it's not really a "MOC" but it does make it look ten times better, IMO. Anything else you reckon I could add? Dr. S.

Thanks! It's actually eleven - there's a dead skellie under the dead warrior on the ground. There are eight skellies attacking Sir Taindeath. But this wasn't my aim when creating it, I just had a vision of the shape of the piece. Dr. S. Yep, I thought it made for a dramatic scene. I took pictures with the sun behind and in front to get different effects. For what it's worth (I get a vote too!) I want Sir Taindeath to win - on the basis that my previous Castle vigs have been described as "a bit bleak" with knights etc. all facing, well, certain death. :-D Dr. S.