Trade Space Station !

✨Trade Space Station !✨

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Finally...More than 60 hours of work, I can present my masterpiece. I have been working and planning this project for a long time. Given the sheer amount of things to talk about, I will split all of my rambling in (at least) four posts : one about the concepts, ideas, and general aspect (you're here !); one about the technical side of things; one depicting how the project evolved (using pictures taken during the construction); and one dealing with all the smaller details, ships, and such.

Enough with planning, though. Explanations, other images and more explanations below the cut !

(less) edited picture of the build :

So. You might see, now that I got rid of all that pesky editing (or most of it) that there is a big arm holding the thing in place. It's easily a fifth of all the work of this build, because I absolutely wanted to hold this thing at an angle, and it's heavy, at around 15 kilograms (33 pounds). I'll talk about the technical difficulties of that in a later post, but it was important for it to be solid, because the station was the central piece of my second ever (very small) lego exhibition. AND it allowed me to meet the recruiter of a much larger exhibit. Long story short, in a month, I'm presenting this piece again (just before my exams, whoops-).

Anyway. Not only is it heavy, but it's also quite tall and wide. Around a meter at the highest point (tilted or not), while the diameter of the main ring is at around 0.75m. Quite a difficult thing to move around. Or is it ? Well, yes and no.

Here are all the main components (excluding the holding arm), when I move the piece around. Of course, all the ships are detachable (it allows me to move them around from one day to the other), but the dome carrying the antenna can also be removed, and then, the entire ring can be disconnected (that, too, was quite a challenge).

Removing the ring obviously makes it waaay easier to transport, because a single wooden plank can then be used (again, except for the arm, but that thing was made to be sturdy, so it can be transported with less care); and , once the dome is removed, I can just let the central cylinder stand upside-down (useful for storage). The only trouble I found with this system is that I once connected the ring the wrong way around, meaning everything in the small hangars was upside down. Quite an embarrassing moment.

Speaking of the hangars, I initially wanted to keep them all empty, to store ships inside, but it didn't really offer this piece the sparkle of life. Setting up these small decors inside most of them, with colors contrasting with the general theme of the build, was actually a really good addition.

The colour scheme as it is now is not exactly the one I had planned at the start of the project. I originally planned on using bright light orange (bricklink colour name) instead of sand green, but I found out that this colour was tough to find in large quantities, and I already had quite a bunch of the sand green, so this tragic decision was made. I think it would have offered a more vibrant colour to the build (resembling a Subnautica default palette, which I enjoy quite a lot), but in hindsight, the green works really well, appart from a small detail I'll expand on in a minute.

What's really funny for this project is that, when it started, I actually only wanted a nice way of showcasing all the little space ships that I tend to make whenever I have access to a small amount of cool pieces. Then came a long time where I only daydreamed about it and planned how I would want it to go, and only when I had a clear vision did I start the actual building process. So, taking all that into account, you can probably double the amount of time I spiritually spent on this project.

What I knew is that I wanted to get this huge ring held by beams to the station's body, which made the build both more interesting and more complicated that it would have been. But the challenge was appealing.

At first, the main body was completely flat and white, but I soon had to add texture, both because it was becoming ugly and because the 2*2 white curved slopes were starting to diminish fast. The first modifications I did were to add the sand green curved slopes instead to create stipes, then letters : the big A-2 you can easily spot. With the few bits of lore that I have created for this piece, you have to imagine that there are hundreds of these stations spread in the galaxy, which can be easily described through 3 criteria : the Letter, the Number, and the Colour. That would mean that, if you wanted to meet with someone at the exemplar I made, you would say something along the lines of 'Meet you at Sand Green A2'.

Texture-wise, the other element of the largest cylinder is the exposed bits of machinery, very classic in sci-fi, I know, but it does work well in this context. The second cylinder has much less textures, with only a few grates, and some 2*1 ingot pieces (because they look cool); but it also has its own, smaller ring (diameter slightly larger than the largest cylinder's).

Then come the smaller cylinders, which don't have much texture, except in their transition from one to another (barely visible in any of the pictures, but it exist).

Overall, I'm also really happy of how round it looks, given that circles are not my speciality.

Here is a completely unedited picture of the support arm (Lewa for scale), with a nice counterweight which might be necessary to hold the entire thing in place (it may not be, but I'm not trying to remove it. Bad idea.).

As you might notice, my studio is not a shelf anymore. I built something new from scratch with a green screen, because I thought it would make my editing job easier. And it would have, if I didn't use sand green in my build. Anyway, I'm keeping this for a few days, to snap some pictures of the MOCs which don't fit in my shelve (and are not green, meaning editing will be easier.

Here is the 'studio' from an outside point of view :

I know it's quite a mess outside of my clean perimeter, but I do as I can. You can see one light in the foreground, but there is also one (less visible in the background), symmetrical to the first one, and a third one behind and above the camera (outside of the picture).

You may also notice a lot of sorting boxes. Sorting pieces can greatly improve your productivity, if you label all your box correctly. Covered by the greenscreen is essentially a shelf full of these sorting boxes, labelled by colour and piece type, and it was really practical. Anyway. Thank you for reading until this point, I guess ? If you survived through all this rambling, you probably deserve something...

I mean- Have these pictures I took during the exhibition, I guess...

(You can notice that these are two different days because of the ships’ placement).

✨Custom bionicle (again) !✨

Two more from my Ru-Fahi series !

Details and rambling below !

Jaller Ru-Fahi

…Because I couldn’t not include him. Realistically, all Toa Mahri a good to some extent, but this is peak Toa material right here. One of the first I acquired, one of the best looking ones, too. The base body is practically the same as the original, with some twists, but I mostly made him thicker and upgraded his sword, which is better with a guard and a proper handle. Well, that, and the Hannah, obviously. Sure, the original one was cute, but here me out :

Look at it, and behold ! It might be slightly bigger than the original, have only four legs, and need a larger chain (which I found just earlier in a box of misc Hero Factory pieces, and is better than a basic Lego chain), but doesn’t it look very cute and wholesome and dangerous ? Also, I gave it actual joints, because it deserves it, and removed the Kordak blaster because it didn’t need it anymore. I really love making arthropods with bionicle (I have more for later~).

Pohatu Ru-Fahi

Definitely looks awesome. The original is Pohatu Phantoka from the Rockoh T3 set (because I have one and a half of this set). It is the coolest version of Pohatu (because orange>brown, obviously). Lot of modifications on that one, from the custom jet pack to the arms and the legs. The arc pieces for the front arms are more or less of placeholders because I was niece a good piece to make the arms larger, but it turned out alright. The blades are also stolen from the half Rockoh, and the piece underneath, if anyone recognises it, is from Pohatu Nuva, because it’s a neat reference. And the tube is somehow remaining in the Kanohi, despot the fact that there is not any proper connection for it tand hold onto.

Also, can we talk about this leg ? If you ignore how incredibly illegal this whole piece is (ball joint stuck by the light grey part and small black and grey piece not completely connected to the rest), I think that’s the best shape I managed to get so far, and it reflects nicely what I have envisioned (Pohatu being able to run/jump easily because of the shape). And, it had the added advantage of fitting perfectly with the orange piece above when the knee bends.

Last but not least, I also have started a potential candidate for Toa of air, despite a lack of proper Kanohi, even with my extensive collection. My first candidate would have been Lewa Phantoka from the Axalara T9, but this one has a special place in my heart, so won’t be touching it and it will proudly remain in his shelf (along with the untouched Pohatu). So, maybe another of this series soon ! But probably not. And if I miss posting custom bionicle too much, I have a (complete) collection of entirely custom Toa, but I’m afraid they won’t fit in my studio (they’re big, too big).

✨Trade space station !✨

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Today’s gonna be about the progress of the build in time, which allows me to ramble about the building process. Yay !

Before actually commenting the build. You may notice chocolate and my (empty) tea mug. They should be apparent in most of the earliest pictures (there was not enough space on the table for them at the end of the project, sadly~

So, here, you can see that my first step was to see the scale of my project. The template of the large ring to see how much space it would take, and the small ring to see how round I could make it (and at the bottom, you can see the white curved pieces. Enjoy this view, it won’t last.)

You can also notice above that I already stared making some small ships.

The next day ! You can see on the left my long rod. This was the ideal height for the central cylinder. I also created the first core of the build (replaced later because too fragile), and the first arms to hold the ring (too fragile too).

Progress ! This is the moment I realised my original color scheme would not work (you can see orange and bright green on the side, which I tried before the sand green).

I had half of the big cylinder added (you can see the slots left for the additional details) and another naked half on the right side. And my collection of boxes on the table is growing. It’s only getting worse after that.

See ? More boxes (and pieces) scattered all around. And a hammer, too. I at this point mostly finished the big cylinder (or so I thought, some reinforcements were necessary), started the smaller cylinder, and realised white pieces were running out. I also still haven’t touch the ring yet, as I wanted to stay focused on one bit.

Mostly done with the cylinders at the point (you can even see the start of the smallest one on the right side). Agin the boxes grow ominously.

Since it was time to start the ring, I created a replica of a sixth of it. Given that there were twelve sections, I wanted to be sure of the design before starting to build them all, starting with the facade. It took some fiddling around (you can see these aren’t symmetrical, as I was trying out different designs). Really, if you have this kind of things to do, try to make it in a vacuum first, you’ll gain a lot of time later, once the prototype has every problem answered (mine were mostly the curve, and the link between each plates (solved with mod 1*2 black plates).

See ? After the prototype was done, I simply built all of the facades and attached them (you can see my 1*4 curved pieces were all missing at the time though).

I kept the prototype on the side, because I’ll still need it later. I also am missing half of the ring (the part above, since there is only a structure below), because I was not sure of how everything would fit, and I waited until these parts were assembled before making it, in case adjustments were needed.

Here is the top part ! And all the hangars done, too. It took me a surprising amount of time to do all twelve of them…

Huge progress ! There is no more room on the table for the boxes, but you can see them…on the floor, on the left…Lot was done, from the bottom cylinder now finished along with its ring, the covering pieces of the big ring (except the internal faces), the hat of the station, and a huge reinforcement for the six arms, which was done separately). At this point, except for a few details, the station itself is finished.

And there is a picture taken moments before disaster. The station is done (ignoring the transitions between cylinders) the arm…supposedly, too.

Sadly, the arm wasn’t, in fact, finished. If you read the first post, you will notice it isn’t as bulky, and isn’t attached on baseplates yet.

Well, guess what ? When I finally tried to see if the arm would hold onto the station, it broke. Rather, two pieces broke, then the rest came down, and so did the station, which shattered on the floor below. Luckily for me, the main cylinder was so dense it practically completely survived. Most of the hangars of the rings only broke section per section, so it only took a few hours to get it back together, but much more time to make the arm solid. And now, it can hold the station for ten hours without flinching ! So, here is a lesson. If something you do fails when you do it with your heart, let the rage flow through you and build it back out of spite. It works* !

*don’t hold me accountable for any failure using that method

✨Clone wars diorama !✨

Another one, technically the largest I have posted (yet~), featuring the 212th and a (placeholder) Jedi.

Of course, closeups and additional details below !

Views from directly in front/above :

Before I continue, I must confess it. This horrendous mistake, which you might spot by paying close attention to the right part of the image.

Yes. I somehow created an offset on the entirety of the wall’s height.

Overall, I’m quite happy with this one, mostly the environment, which turned out great (except for the offset….). What I’m not really sure leases with are the cheap AT-RTs from the battle packs, which are too bulky, but it works well enough for the moment, and since I’m not exposing to any connoisseur, it does the job.

Most of the minifigs are from these battle packs too, except for the Jedi, which is actually a savage oppress with a cloak, but every time I try to just remove the minifig, it feels like something is missing. The paratrooper captain has the hold grey kama and pauldron which always work well, even if it could have done with an additional visor.

Anyway, let’s get going with the closeups !

AT-RT scenes :

On the left, an engineer (my favorite kind of clone) fixing a broken down leg, with the help of one of the pilots. It was hard to get the minfigs in a 'lively' position, and the photo doesn’t render it correctly. The small white backpack is a piece I’ve stolen from the 501st specialist pack, because it’s nice.

On the right, a paratrooper with a completely inaccurate rocket launcher (the clone wars’ ones don’t look as cool, though). I quite like the way this part came together, even if it’s just a small detail.

Explosion scene :

I’ll admit it’s my first try with building explosions, and I’ll hopefully improve.

On the right, the clone says hi ! Well. No. He doesn’t, but it’s what he looks like on the photo, which I funny, I’ll admit, but not the image I wanted to convey, even if technically he’s set properly, as a projectile caused by the explosion.

The picture on the right convey the feeling of movement much better, with the clone shooting on the left, the others running along, and the paras being blown.

Other scenes :

The focus on the left is the droid ! I really like how it’s sprawled over that rock. Other droids can be found in the diorama, notably one being crushed by the rocket launcher AT-RT, partially under a rock, and part of one in the explosion.

On the right, we see a paratrooper down (but still fighting !) with, at his side, a medic applying a hypo. While it’s hard to see with this picture, he has a pouch at his side, and some chroma-black legs, because I was missing a pair of legs the medic has prosthetic legs, isn’t that awesome and convenient ? That is a lesson to learn, any lack can become lore ! Well, kind of. It’s what I also did with the Kashyyk MOC : I was missing all but the helmet of my ninth minifig, so I turned it into a grave of the missing squad member.

✨Custom ice Toa !✨

And another one ! If the others were already experimental, this one is much, much more-

Closeups under the cut !

Front/back views :

That one was a lot of fun ! But it’s also not really stable, considering there are some weird piece combinations. This one also has disproportionate legs, compared to the rest of the body, but it’s alright.

With that one, I really tried to remain within Kopaka’s spirit (notice the ski blades and the Kanohi). The bow and arrow (which doubles down as a lance, and is using one of Kopaka’s blades), is a weapon I don’t think has been used before in the original bionicles (correct me if I’m wrong).

The arms/hands are using Pridak’s feet, because it works well and still allows for large movements.

I used some darker white pieces on the back and shoulders to get some slight contrats, and used technic pieces on the chest to get a proper body shape, with a leg piece underneath.

Legs :

(Too) Many details on the legs ! The blades under the feet are a combination of Kopaka Nuva’s blades and Glatoran blades, which also hold a shoulder piece used as a supplementary leg pieces.

Now is the here we enter the mess : all of the ankle sockets you can see are not used for the articulations, and are only here to keep the back piece in place (Star leg), while the actual socket is behind the technic gear plate. Then there is a socket which doesn’t even have a ball, it is directly stacked on top of another socket, and I use multiple feet to cover the leg areas which would expose how terrible the inside is. At the front, you might also notice a 1*2 curved slope tile held by two technic pins. It’s floppy, and it looks weird from the side, but the front appearance makes it worth it. Finally, at the front, I also use part of a Vahki’s head as a final plate, before we finally reach the connection between the legs and the body. As I said, that whole part is a mess.

Head :

Tried to remain close to Kopaka’s appearance here too, by adding a X-ray vision thing, but the most important part is that the Kanohi is Hero Factory Stormer’s mask, but sideways. The trans blue pieces are Borhok eyes, which fit perfectly, and I managed to cram a socket connector inside, making the head quite mobile and sturdy.

Next week is another one ! Not sure which of the three it will be, but I haven’t decided which one yet (tell me if you have a preference~).

I also finally received my new parts, meaning I can get back to working on my big project, yay !

Ah, I knew a special occasion would present itself that would be worthy of this cat !

Get booped

Get booped back ! Ah !

Oh, and have an actual (Lego) cat while I’m at it !