MKJoshA

Just recharging the batteries... and the wallets.

I've been building for the Shadows of Nar Eurbrikka this past month and am looking for a way to work with my castle minifigs. This seems like a really good place to do it, but I was wondering if these will be similar in contest rules? I don't have a lot of tree pieces, white pieces, or tan pieces so that leaves me with Nocturnus. However, I'm still on the fence about joining GoH since I wouldn't be able to put as much time into it as I have for SoNE. Anyone want to convince me why I should join and what the best way to go about starting would be? (Besides making a sig-fig and race)

Thanks for your feedback. I'll have to try that in future builds.

I forgot to reply to this earlier. The gaps are due to running out of white pieces. I have lots of black and grey but very few other colors for bricks. Building in Cloud City really stretched the limits of my collection. But I was determined to build something in white so that's why there were some gaps. I think it's important to look beyond the movies. If it wasn't shown in the movies, as long as it fits in the Star Wars universe, I think it works for building material. Using only scenes from the movies seems to limit the building possibilities. And as we have seen from the Clone Wars cartoon and EU books, there is a lot more in the Star Wars universe that was never covered in the original films that can still be tapped. I guess I should have been more specific. My thinking was that because Cloud City is an orbital platform even levels lower down would still have large windows if they were on the edge of the platform. However, I completely misrepresented what I was trying to depict by having a picture of upper Cloud City as the scene beyond the window in my first picture. Whoops.

I end up displaying for a few days before parting it out for my MOCs. Star Wars sets are a great way to get weapons, curve pieces, and mechanical colors. I also get them for the minifigs. Those stay on display for a verrrrrrrrrry long time.

I tried to make it clear that my character had descended far enough for Luke's hand to be a logical inclusion. That was my intention at least... As far as stickers go, I hate them with a passion too. I think Lego should do more printing and less sticking. The only advantage is that I get more generic pieces when I don't apply my stickers. Which, is in all actuality, a huge plus. (Contradiction of my own thoughts, I know) For this build however, I felt that the stickers from the Jedi Shuttle fit cloud city so well I couldn't pass them up.

I really like your dropship. Is the pilot based off of any specific alien species?

I like the idea and the build, but the pictures are a little grainy. Do you have any clearer copies?

Love 3PO in the net!

Pictures and content are updated to the official versions now. Hope you enjoy!

My contest entry is up: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=86909

Agreed, the interior is bare. But is it really only 1 step up from "minifig on a plate" (which was the description of what would win 1 XP)? I knew these would challenge my building skills but I didn't know how tough the grading would be :) Guess I'll have to step it up a notch!

Your cylinders coming down from the ceiling are spot on from the movie. I wanted to recreate that feel but lacked the pieces to do so. Glad someone else did.

We fought our way through Cloud City helping civilians whenever we could. We tried to move higher up in the city but were blocked at every attempt by squads of Stormtroopers. We found out later it was because the Princess has making her escape up there. We were forced to head deeper into Cloud City. It was obvious that whoever designed the city had a taste for immaculate architecture. The deeper we got the more signs of wear we started to see on the walls around us, but nothing was what I would have called "run-down." Whoever ran this place must really have a mind for business. As we moved through the city we kept as close to the outer ring as possible since that's where the civilian quarters were. We had a few small skirmishes with Imperials along the way but each time we got into a firefight the Stormtroopers always fled. They weren't scared of us, and they had more than enough men to take us down. When we tried to go up, we couldn't get pass them, as we moved away from the upper levels it just seemed like we weren't worth their time. From a window I saw the fabled Millennium Falcon fly past and shortly after we started running into Imperial troops who weren't so quick to run away. I guessed that the Princess had made it off the city and now any rebels became the Stormtrooper's next best target. Yeoman and I came up some stairs and around a corner and found a group of civilians fleeing an Imperial squad. We started shooting right away and worked to get the civilians out of the predicament they had fallen into. After the action: Comments are welcome.

It's the face of the manta warrior from the Atlantis sets. Thank you for your lighting suggestion. I'll try that next time. Also, I've gotten a few comments saying I need more hoses and greebling so I guess I should start listening to them. I have pieces for greebling, but I only have a couple hose pieces. Any suggestions from anyone on how to get that look without buying more pieces?

Yes, probably one of the best triology of the EU after Thrawn. I'm not looking forward to the new movies because it will trash the EU. And thank you for your weathering advice. I think the Star Wars universe allows for many different kinds of color combinations. Here is the next free build: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=86846.

The time for reminiscing was over. (http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=86454) (http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=86609). There was a lot more I needed to think through and process, but it would have to wait. We had landed on a docking platform in Cloud City. Yeoman and I slipped away as the pilot of Galaxy Gull (http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=85513) went to take care of his cargo with the dock-master. We kept to the shadows and tried to figure out what the situation was. Our mission details said that Princess Leia was rumored to be in Cloud City, but we didn't know whether she was a prisoner or free to move about on her own. All of a sudden klaxon alarms started sounding and a male's voice came over the speakers. "Attention! This is Lando Calrissian. Attention! The Empire is taking control of the city. I advise everyone to leave before more Imperial troops arrive." At the word "Empire" we knew we were in trouble. Civilians started running every direction. We ducked into the first corridor to our left looking for a way to the main hallways. Behind the door was an Imperial Stormtrooper with his back to us. It was a quick kill. He never knew what killed him. "If there are Stormtroopers here then this place is in serious trouble." I said to Yeoman. He knew all to well what the Empire did to planets who did not fall in line with Imperial standards. If the Princess was found here then the whole of Cloud City was in danger of being wiped out as an example. "With Stormtroopers here there's not much we can do to help the Princess unless we bump into her on the way." I said to Yeoman. "Let's focus on getting as many of these civilians out of here as possible before Star Destroyers blockade the planet." OoC: This is loosely based off of the Star Wars Battlefront 1 map. There is a portion of the map that leads from the courtyard to the carbon freezing chamber that has a set of suspended walkways. More pictures can be found on my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkjosha/sets/72157634960637273/. Every connection here is a "legal" connection. Please judge this as a free build. This is my 4th and final free build before the 1st contest.

Dwarven Flying Ship by mkjosha "Say Hello To My Little Friend!" by ShaydDeGrai

Fair enough. I understand using smaller brick sizes to accomplish the feel I was going for, but I have to contest the idea of not using blue. Since Corellia was never shown in the movies, and the Star Wars universe is very diverse, I think blue is a very viable base-building material color. We know colors vary a lot on Corellia as Han Solo mentions that in "Ambush at Corellia." Maybe my characters used blue duracrete or blue . We know blue was a common color in architecture as Sal-Solo's estate was painted a variety of blue (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sal-Solo_Estate). I think the Star Wars universe allows for color creativity.

You guys are right. It needs more tools. I was in a hurry with this MOC because I was finishing up my entry for the Heroica contest (http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=86658) as well as working on my entry for Episode 1 of SoNE. Lots of building going on in my apartment. The blue bits are part of the wall architecture. I've seen this used in many builds before. It helps break up the monotony that comes with a single color wall. I see it most often as different shades or gray, green, brown, or tan in castles. Some examples are: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=86589 http://www.flickr.com/photos/60970432@N06/8231445755/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/deviet/8253850225/ Even Lego does this with their sets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52426132@N07/8691182329/in/photolist-ef1zHc-drYoXP-drYpcv-drYpAg-drYy4G-drYpwz-dYT8v5-d7NvMq-d3Hfsb-d3HfmW-d3Hfps-d7Q7g3-d7N787-d7NvJG-d7N71Q-d7N75S-8NBoQZ-dNyKEQ-dNyMpY-dNtdSx-dNyLBG-dNyMSY-dNyLe9-dNyKRq-d3HdJJ-d3HdnA-d3Hdtq-d3HdPm-d3HdqL-dqfJDU-ef7jtG-ef1zTt-ef1Aax-ef1zXF-ef1yJM-ef1zAH-ef1zs4-ef1znn-ef1A98-ef1zbB-ef1zPP-ef1zDv-ef1A3K-ef7jNQ-ef1zbK-ef1zdF-ef1zMK-ef7iNh-ef1zW2-ef7jod-ef7jaL But, since this is a Star Wars universe build, I wanted something that felt more like a Star Wars planet. So I added the blue to the white walls.

How is voting going to work?

I love it too. I got it right away. I wish it could lift up like a normal welding mask, but the detail is still incredible.

The day after I saw the Qwohog get arrested my brother and I were working on the swoop in our family's garage. He had come home from his time at the Imperial Academy on Caridia a month ago and reported in to the nearest Imperial base on Corellia once a week for his mandatory, weekly service to the Empire. He was refilling the swoop's engine coolant and I was welding some spots on the engine to try to get some more power out of it. He and I disagreed about the role the Empire should play on Corellia. I felt that the currant ruling Diktat of Corellia should stop allowing the Empire to abuse it's power and should make a stand against the Emperor. I felt that if all five worlds in our solar system, the Five Brothers, were to make a united stand against the Empire we would be able to throw off their yoke. The Empire has a marginal presence on Corellia as it is, and no one would want to go up against a planet of mad Corellians, let alone Corellia and four other planets. We had had this argument a hundred times before and there didn't seem to be any reason to start it up again. Our aging parents were so proud to have a son who had graduated from the academy. If I started up the debate again it would just carry on through dinner and our parents would take his side. They always did. They didn't feel proud of a son who's only accomplishment was keeping his job at the bar for 4 years. So I stayed silent and kept welding. OoC: Please judge this as a free build.

Wow, love the build. Glad you're on our side! I love the custom carbonite people. Very creative.

I would buy that kind of LOTR set so fast. Got the Urak-hai army builder pretty early on and something with Gondorian soldiers is something we all agree is a must. Also agreed. LOTR sets are so much! The worst part about the Hobbit sets is trying to collect all 13 dwarves. The 9 members of the fellowship was hard enough