SNobleJr

All right, here it goes: Main Building Category "The Lost Lagoon" by The Brick Stop "6267 Lagoon Lock-Up/Soldiers’ Tavern Remake" by Aanchir "Caribbean shipyard" by Cincinnati "6262 King Kahuka’s Throne Remake" by SevenDeadlyStreamers "Saber Island 2023" by TomSkippy Mini Set Building Category "King Kahuka's Outrigger Boat" by kritch "Captain's Cabin" by MontyMatte "Shipwrecked Survivor" by nyugvo6 "1872 Imperial Guard Camp Remake" by thewatchman "6232 Skeleton Crew Remake" by Jack Sassy Best of luck to everyone!

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I'm happy that the build has been well-received overall. Well-spotted here, "army-building / cheap little parts pack" was definitely part of the design goals here alongside the previously mentioned playability! I can see where you're coming from; your observations are certainly not invalid, they're just not what I had in mind when building this "set". Had I been building this for the main contest, I definitely would have made the battlements more appropriately sized for the minifigs, but the goal was to get the idea of a seaside fortification across in just 50 pieces, while maintaining variety and play features. I feel like losing the pier (and thus another option for play) wouldn't have been a worthwhile trade just for perfectly proportioned battlements. Don't try to make sense of this too hard - again, it's only supposed to be a compact and simplified representation of a seaside fort, or at least part of one. If I decided to expand this into a larger, detailed build, of course it would include a proper gate, a better proportioned dock etc., but then it wouldn't fit into the mini category. Thanks. The flag thing has been brought up before, and I considered one, but ultimately I judged the torch to be a better accessory - it's something else that can be equipped on a minifig, and makes more sense than randomly waving a flag around!

Wow, I haven't posted here in a while. Strange that it's a pirate contest of all things that brings me back, since it's not even my favorite theme. Oh well, what can one do when inspiration strikes... So, I call this "The Failed Raid" - a pirate's unsuccessful attempt to rob an Imperial outpost. It's a bit of an homage to, but not an exact remake of 1795 Imperial Cannon. Here's a back view: I had two main goals when putting this together: A primarily Imperial theme, since they're the less prominent faction in the theme. A good amount of playability and possible storytelling in a small set: hence the two minifigs with a fair selection of accessories, and a small structure with multiple little features crammed into it (a barrel to store the gold in, a parapet for the soldier to keep watch from with a ladder for access, and a small pier for potential interaction with small boat/raft sets). It was built mostly in LDD, then touched up and rendered in Stud.io. I have uploaded both files for piece count verification purposes. Stud.io claims it contains 62 pieces because it treats minifig torso and leg assemblies as multiple pieces, while according to LDD it's at exactly 50 pieces. Based on the official piece counts in the contest example topic, the latter seems to be correct, so I hope this entry qualifies for the contest.

Hello; I've been following these unofficial updates for some time, and I'd like to say you're all doing great work. It's really nice to see LDD being updated with new parts again, and I'm looking forward to any future additions. There's one odd error I've noticed lately that I'd like to point out: part 30037, the Exploriens cockpit piece, has a strange collision issue on one of its studs, and that one stud only, but it also prevents windshields pieces from being placed properly between the two struts. I've linked some screenshots below to illustrate where exactly the collision error occurs, maybe they can help you figure out what's wrong. Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Thank you for your work on this project!

True, but simply hitting Ctrl-K in LDD was far more convenient than Printscreening, going into an image editor, cutting off the toolbars, and then manually saving. Bit of a hassle, that. I tried checking preferences.ini to see if there was an option to enable it there, but no such luck. Oh well, back to the manual method for now.

Quick question: the previous version changed the view mode screenshotting to include the background, but now it's been changed back to transparent (redundantly, considering that transparent background screencapping is now available in build mode). Is it possible to re-enable this somehow? A diorama I'm doing would depend on it, since it also includes this new piece. Good update otherwise, nice to see some more old bricks included.

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

UnplaceableBricksDump.lxfml doesn't work for me for some reason - the whole model is uniformly yellow, nothing is marked in red, not even bricks that were connected to/conflicting with the one removed. Not sure if this is new, I haven't used the feature before. Also, part #6089 (the AquaShark helmet) seems to be broken, it refuses to fit on a minifig. Other than these, the new version seems to be working fine so far, though.

Anyone here remember Shogo, that anime-inspired First Person Shooter by Monolith from the late '90s? For those who don't, one of Shogo's main draws was the ability to romp around in a giant mecha dubbed an MCA (Mobile Combat Armor) by the game. And in a fit of nostalgia, I decided to build all four playable MCAs - from left to right, the Akuma, Ordog, Enforcer and Predator: Individual pictures in the gallery.

How the heck did I miss this earlier? This is bloody amazing, man. Transforming MOCs are hard enough to build with real bricks where you can easily test if the transformation works... doing it while dealing with LDD's slightly clunky interface? You have my congratulations. As for the design itself, I'm rather impressed, like I always am when someone manages to make a trickier transformation work - and this one is definitely not a cookie-cutter transformation scheme. Also, the tough, industrial look is nicely done.

Now this is much, much better than the first one was. Admittedly, the transformation is just as simplistic, but I'm not going to make a fuss over that now, considering you said later in the original topic that it's more of an afterthought than an integral feature - not to mention that you have greatly improved every other aspect of the model. The proportions are much more appropriate, and all the extra details you've crammed in help make it look interesting instead of bland. Also, I like how the wheels are integrated into the feet, and the little fold-out fins and thrusters are a nice touch. Oh, yeah, and the wings make pretty damn good "pauldrons" in robot mode. All in all, a huge improvement - keep building! If you tried something with a more intricate transformation, I'd be particularly interested.

I like it; there are too many nice little building techniques in there to even mention, so suffice it to say that it's very well done. Although I do find the huge bony wings -which are quite neat build-wise, by the way- and flashy colors to be... well, not particularly stealthy. Unless the wings are meant to be some kind of stealth field projector and the whole thing just becomes invisible anyway, in which case, no problem. XD

Thanks for all the positive comments, all. About the machine gun- this is the CE tank (the one from the first game), and in the first game it had no machine gun there. Yeah, the Halo 1 version has a coaxially mounted machinegun, instead of a seperate turret. Anyway, about the only things I can say is that it's a quite accurate model of the Scorpion, and I second the notion about adding handholds on the tread modules for marines, for that extra little touch of detail.

Great rendition of the little pest. :D The cockpit's especially well done, IMHO - good idea you've got there with the horizontal placement of that windscreen piece. And yeah, the Flea - and light 'Mechs in general - are immensely fun to drive. Not nearly as much fun for the victim whose ankles one is biting, mind you. :D Hm, gotta build my own version of the thing some time...

Neat mech; makes sense that the Ice Planet crew would have something like this for very rough terrain that a sled or truck would have trouble navigating. I like how it's chunky, but not an outright brick (pun not intended) - it has enough angles and even some curves to keep it interesting. And nice use of the 2x2 plates with pin sockets in the lights/sensors/whatever on the sides. Also, maybe a loader arm on the back for handling the rockets would be a good idea?

Most impressive. Looking at the picture showcasing both modes, I couldn't figure out how exactly it transforms, especially the way the wings collapse into the legs - and that's a very good sign, means the design is complex and well thought-out, the transformation is not just a slapped-on afterthought gimmick; it's integral. On top of this, you've even managed to cram in full articulation, and all this within the limitations of building with Lego. Frankly, if this was an official set - or realized as an official Transformer (and not as a crappy Minicon) -, I'd buy it without a second thought. Great work!

Assuming they all hit the same spot; the LRMs in particular would be prone to spreading damage around. And even then, the Atlas is probably one of the few 'Mechs with enough armor to survive that. I have, although on a much smaller scale. If you're looking for a minifig-scale model, BrickCommander is probably a better choice, it even has several different versions: Original Raven MW4-style Raven Dark Age Raven

Haha, yeah, I've also exploited the shared leg assembly to build several 'Mechs in short order. Handy time-saver. :D And, you know, once you build a Thor, a Loki also becomes a natural choice... again, due to using the exact same legs. :P Heck, you might as well build all four classic heavy OmniMechs, if you feel like doing all that work. XD

...this is freaking brilliant, man. :D (And the blood splatter on the floor is a nice touch, LOL)

Damn, that's quite impressive. Minifig-scale 'Mechs tends to be imposing sights in general, and yours delivers. And I love the detail you crammed into the cockpit. If I had to nitpick, though, I'd mention the arms: the Vulture has fairly spindly arms, yes, but yours could still use a bit of reinforcing, in my opinion. No other problems I can see, though. About the feet: Perhaps you could try using hinge plates to make the toes a bit more robust? Oh, and I'm going to be a BattleTech nerd here, but the Vulture Prime actually mounts a pair of Large Pulse Lasers in addition to two Medium Pulse Lasers. ;) (The MechWarrior 4 stock config, though, does mount just four Mediums; it runs hot enough already without the insane heat buildup of the Large Pulse Lasers.) P.S. Have you thought about making some variant parts for a Vulture C? (The dual Gauss Rifle config.)

I don't have many of the big spaceships, unfortunately, so I can't really speak by experience here. I do, however, have the Warp Wing Fighter, and I find it to be an excellent model, though admittedly, there is probably a bit of nostalgia factor here, too. Also, while it's not exactly a spaceship, the Scorpion Detector is another old favourite of mine.

According to Bricklink, no; it's only available in brown, reddish brown, trans-black, trans-clear and trans-orange. Universe mode in LDD is helpful for making consistent color schemes, although admittedly, it can cause problems when trying to build a model IRL. Also, GALLERY UPDATE I got into a real building frenzy yesterday - managed to churn out four 'Mechs in a single afternoon (mind you, two are once again variants of the same base chassis, like the Vulture and Vulture C the last time): Black Heart (70 tons, MekTek custom) Catapult (65 tons) Catapult K2 ["Katapult"] (65 tons) Marauder (75 tons) That's the heavy category done for now. Now on to the really big stuff, the assault 'Mechs.

GALLERY UPDATE Once again, sorry for the double post -and the thread necromancy-, but I'm back from a hiatus with three new 'Mechs, and I figured this was the lesser of two evils, as opposed to starting a whole new thread for the same series of MOCs. The new 'Mechs are the 60-ton Vulture, its infamous C variant, which replaces the primary configuration's combination of lasers and missiles with a pair of humongous Gauss rifles, and, last but not least, the iconic mascot 'Mech of the BattleTech franchise, the 75-ton Mad Cat. I admit I sort of cheated here - the three 'Mechs quite noticeably share the exact same leg assembly, and the Vulture Prime and Vulture C, being variants of the same base chassis, obviously have a very similar torso as well.

I hate being so blunt, I really do, but I'm afraid this is not very good as far as transforming MOCs go. The transformation is incredibly simplistic, it practically just falls flat on its face - I would hesitate to call it an actual transformation, in fact. The limbs are equally primitive, and the whole thing is awkwardly proportioned with narrow shoulders and wide hips - and no waist, on top of that. Also, in robot mode, the chest is, unfortunately, plain ugly; the underside of a 4x10 plate is not exactly high on aesthetics. However, I do, in fact, like the head; not an overcomplicated design, but it looks pretty good nonetheless. The claw/tooth pieces are a nice little touch, they add a bit of unobtrusive detail to an otherwise fairly simple design. Functionality-wise though, it would have been better to put the socket part of the joint on the head, and the ball on the torso - in the current configuration, the robot can't look sideways. I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but the MOC does need serious improvement - I would advise you to look at the following Transformer MOCs for inspiration and building tricks: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=77566 http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=103199 http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=136893 http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=85214 http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=93234 http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=111279

Oh, man, I remember these guys. Kinda cute at first, but they got annoying after a while... XD Still, it's a great more-or-less minifig-scale representation; the arms are quite creative, I must say.