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Themiddlebrick

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  1. Themiddlebrick
    Thanks! I ended up reworking the main hull quite a bit to get it to this spot, though the turret came together relatively quickly. I've never built an HMG in LEGO before and I was pretty happy with how it came together, even if a bit oversized (imagine it as s future DSHK I guess). Appreciate the comment!
  2. Themiddlebrick
    Not sure if this is the right place for something like this, it is definitely military but also decidedly sci-fi. Mods please do let me know if this should be removed or relocated With that out of the way I present a moc that I call the LHCP 87 or Light Hover Combat Platform type 87 - meant to be a nod to naming conventions of the Japanese Self-Defense force as this was inspired by the style of vehicles seen frequently in late 80's to early 90's anime and manga especially. Of course I am well aware of the impracticality of a hover tank. However it is such a sci-fi trope I feel it is a subject worth exploring. It this version it is really more of a variable thrust powered tank, which presents its own problems of course but with a healthy suspense of belief I'd like to think the finished model is a plausible representation fitting the world for which it was designed. Anyways on to the build. I really wanted to focus on the cold-wr meets sci-fi nature of the subject, hence the combination of some fairly dated technologies along with an array of various sensors, cameras and active protections. Of course I have taken some artistic license here, but again tried to remain in the realm of the plausible. I am by no means an expert in this area, just an enthusiast. I plan on incorporating this into a small build, I'm still deciding whether it will be an urban setting or a natural one. Any thoughts on this are welcome Let me know what you think below.
  3. Themiddlebrick
    Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments!
  4. Themiddlebrick
    Based on a scene that I stumbled upon on a walk one Autumn day - A 1987 civic parked under a gingko tree collecting leaves The Civic moc is mine from about a year ago, but I reworked it to make the front end one stud shorter than before, I think it looks much better. The techniques are borrowed from a variety of amazing car builders out there I was a bit rushed to get the base done on time for Brickfair Exton, but I was fairly happy with how it came together and the simplicity serves to set up the atmosphere and keep the focus on the overall feeling. And I was honored to win a Brickee for this MOC at BFPA this past September! Feel free to share any comments or questions below!
  5. Themiddlebrick
    And yet...it is out of stock (the corn)! I am still seeing the torso and shield on the site as oos
  6. Themiddlebrick
    17 - 2 points 9 - 1 point
  7. Themiddlebrick
    Really nice, I've been wanting to add a T-47 to my collection, I might just have to build yours!
  8. Themiddlebrick
    Thanks! Well the first one was a pretty involved process with photoshop and many layers to achieve the effect that I wanted. The second one was a bit simpler but still required several layers to get the effect I was after. There are tons of good tutorials out there about compositing photos and adding effects in photoshop or other software.
  9. Themiddlebrick
    Thank you!! Here are some edited shots for fun as well!
  10. Themiddlebrick
    Thank you! And your suggestion has sent me down the rabbit hole on a theme I didn't know existed! So thanks for that as well!
  11. Themiddlebrick
    Here is my latest moc. I call it the UN-D11 Air speeder ...or maybe its a flying car, or a spinner, or a hovercraft... Lately I've been feeling a bit burnt out and have had a hard time coming up with the creative energy to put into building. Instead I've been spending a lot of time looking at concept art, going back and re-examining some childhood favorites to try to get some inspiration. I've also been thinking about going back to my LEGO moc roots. My first "serious" builds were speeders from and based on the Star Wars universe. Something about the cross of utility - the need to move people and things, with the styling - the industrial design of a consumer product - really appeals to me. I enjoy the tension there. And this is the result. Inspired by some of the sci-fi greats, Syd Mead, Don Davis and Peter Elison, I wanted to create something with exaggerated lines and a strong character but also plausible (As far as flying cars go haha). It ended up being a lot of fun and has helped spark my inspiration. I'm looking forward to building more of these weird fantasy vehicles! Thanks for looking! Do you have any artists that you turn to for building inspiration? Let me know in the comments.
  12. Themiddlebrick
    I for one am just glad my child can now recreate the moment that Darth Vader finally got his revenge and got to torture Obi-Wan by horrifically dragging him across burning debris... I know that some have said the Duel at Mustafar is worse, but at least that was a battle. A face-off between good and evil where good, at least temporarily, prevailed. Here Obi-Wan was mercilessly toyed with, it wasn't a duel at all. It is evil triumphant. The whole episode and this scene was some of the darkest material in SW. A weird subject for a playset for sure. I wonder how much influence Disney has over the subjects TLG make of their IP. Obviously it can't be one-sided. But as many have pointed out this is a super strange choice, not just for the subject but for the setting which offers little in way of interest. The set itself is very uninspired. They could have added some height to the background in the form of mining machinery or even part of a slag heap - anything. Speaking of Duel at Mustafar - the recent set along with the Starkiller base Duel are far more interesting builds than this, even if smaller with less exciting figures. This set, and some of the other recent releases make it seem that TLG realize that many LEGO SW fans value minifigs above all. A concept that is hard to argue when you see the secondary market prices of many SW figs. Yeah NED-B is a really cool minifig, probably the best of the lot, but as a droid character it was super bland. But when asking $50 with 4 minifigs I would hope for a somewhat interesting build
  13. Themiddlebrick
    Thanks so much! I’m really happy that you enjoyed it so much! I saw your post on instagram thank you for sharing. As far as advice. I would recommend starting small with a simple image. Selecting the right source material is crucial, not just anything will translate well into the LEGO pallette/ mosaic style. Some editing will likely be necessary. Once I have the image I use the mosaic function in Studio as a starting point- kind of like a sketch to get the basic shapes laid out into the correct proportion plates or tiles. Then it just takes time and trial and error to get to the final product. Building IRL is the final step this is when I can really tell where they layering and mix of tiles and plates is effective or not. Once you go through this process a couple of times it gets easier to anticipate what will work and cuts down on some of the trial and error. I’d love to see what you come up with!
  14. Themiddlebrick
    I could be wrong as I haven't been following for the past couple of weeks, but as far as I understand it there still are no plans to bring back any 2022 parts to BaP. I will happily be wrong about this. Who knows, maybe TLG will offer us a wonderful surprise when they reopen standard parts for shipping! FWIW a lot of parts have been moved from standard to bestseller at the NA warehouse at least which is nice. But there are so many 2022 parts that I want still!
  15. Themiddlebrick
    Agreed, I've been up and down about the Landspeeder. At first I was into the idea, seemed cool to have a UCS set of a civilian vehicle as a change, but seeing the images I was underwhelmed. Now New Elementary's review (which wasn't entirely complimentary) has me swinging back to liking it. I think some mods could make it a really outstanding model. I'm ready for some more PT UCS for sure, and I'm not really a huge prequel fan. Just feeling a bit burn out by the "same-old" stuff these days.
  16. Themiddlebrick
    Ah got it, I wasn't sure if it would be an ongoing thing for May the 4th contests in general or just last year. Either way count me in
  17. Themiddlebrick
    I'm definitely interested in participating this year. I love the idea of using concept art as a source. I'm open to whatever format but I agree that splitting it into different sizes may be a good idea.
  18. Themiddlebrick
    Amazing post! Really informative and shows just how far designs have come, especially in the last few years. I would love to see a couple more modern mocs in comparison as well.
  19. Themiddlebrick
    The list comes directly from the LEGO site so most likely true (though may vary region to region?) On the US site if you scroll to the bottom of the May the 4th page the list is there along with all of the other disclaimers.
  20. Themiddlebrick
    Wow, that selected set list has really killed any interest I had. I've been wanting to pick up R2. Doube VIP + promos would have been a sweet offer and hard to pass up. Now I'll likely just wait until Zaavi has it on sale again. I suppose LEGO knows they don't need to offer x2 VIP on certain sets (and have a hard time even keeping things in stock at "full price") but the optics are pretty bad IMO. Seems really stingy. Doesn't seem very "celebratory"
  21. Themiddlebrick
    Thank you for this detailed feedback! As many times as I went through the instructions it is hard to believe I missed some of these but then again there is nothing like another pair of eyes to find errors in one’s work! I will check these steps and make any corrections asap and update the file. For the last step I could do color call outs (like I did for the single yellowish green pieces in some steps), I considered this but it got very cluttered and difficult to read fast. I will go back and explore this option again. I did edit some of the colors to help better differentiate them but with the lighter ones it is very difficult to do without altering the color beyond recognition. Of course It is also very dependent on your screen, on my color calibrated desktop monitor it is fairly easy to tell the difference but on my phone it is harder (the size of display makes a difference too). That is the advantage of printed instructions, they can be color proofed for accuracy! But I don’t think many people would want to pay $60 for them! It is great seeing your build. Thank you for sharing the pictures!
  22. Themiddlebrick
    I'm not sure if it was available from the PAB Hub or not. It was really only up for a few minutes. A developer for TLG posted the direct link on Discord (which now gives a 404 error).
  23. Themiddlebrick
    Apparently, TLG made a statement to LAN that the 3-month rumor was not true and that no decision had been made one way or the other (the original "rumor" came from a misinformed CS rep, not an official TLG statement). My guess is that new parts won't start showing up until they get a better handle on the backlog of BaP orders.
  24. Themiddlebrick
    This was on the en-GB site, maybe the rest of Europe as well. Quantity was similar to the amount you see in store, with around 30 different items in each category (heads, torsos, legs, hair/hats, and accessories). Others would be a better judge of the parts themselves, personally a few stood out, new green knight torso and legs (same print as the CMF nightmare knight, but without arm printing and dual molded legs). A mermaid tail assembly, lobsters, a dbg cat. The price was £5.97 for 3 figs and £1.99 to add another one, apparently, there is a limit of 40. Worth noting that unlike in some stores, you can't have more than one accessory per figure slot (i.e substitute an accessory for a hairpiece). It looked pretty fun though. Hopefully, they will add more parts, but many still seemed to be available via PaB. We will have to wait and see if that changes as the online BaM improves. I would expect they will get it back up soon
  25. Themiddlebrick
    New online BaM was up today momentarily but was taken down shortly therafter due to technical issues. Looked like fun to me, but I am not super familiar with BaM stations in-store so hard for me to evaluate if it was better/worse. Should be back up soon
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