76 replies to this topic

[Arjohan]

Impressive comrade.
You gave me a new reason to download LDD. I will try to make my personal Atlas AS7-D. Anyone knows the color pattern from Star League 'mechs?

[Puppeteerxerxes]

I"ve been questing around on bricklink for the last 2 nights to look at some of the harder to find parts. I've been able to find just about everything (some color substitutions, can't find anything but light gray 3x3 plates but oh well.) The only part I haven't been able to find at all are the first block, the worm gear block thing. Bricklink often uses different descriptions for parts, but I can't seem to track this down. Anyone know where I can find one?

[Dauphni]

Voilà: http://www.bricklink...Item.asp?P=6588

[Puppeteerxerxes]

Thanks man. I don't know how I missed it, though I guess with the 8 page of lists and multiple highlighters, filling orders from 5 different stores yeah, I guess I can see that. I'm ordering parts in next day or so, figure with shipping then the inevitable getting the 1 or 2 parts I missed that I"ll have this done by mid to end of June. I've spent 8 hours this week sorting my parts and buying. Looks like about 100$ for the bricks that I didn't already have.

[dak irakoz]

You should be able to replace the 3x3 plates with other things, such as a 2x3 plate and a 3x1 plate. I don't recall it being too important that it was that piece specifically.

They were used just for size convenience for building. Don't follow the instructions to the letter. See in the model where they are used.

Edited by dak irakoz, 23 May 2013 - 07:23 PM.

[Puppeteerxerxes]

I've been doing that to try and collate the pieces to simplify it. I found the 3x3 pieces in light gray, and most of them are used for internal structure. I'll replace the outer ones for aesthetics. I've ordered extra tiles to try to mimic the buccaneer camo. I've got 400/800 pieces needed ordered, had some problems with a bricklink cart and lost my place in 2 stores there and had to start over. Frustrating, but making progress. I've located every part now, just need to do the very boring logistics of going through the list 3 times to make sure I have all the parts.

Unfortunately I'm still short enough starting pieces for each arm, leg, and the torso/head assembly that I can't really start. I've pulled apart the model a bit to see how you put things together, I can tell you weren't really planning for someone to build it (I've been fine tuning the parts list where I could use more common bricks in certain places etc...) but still an amazing model. Even minor modifications can take a bit with the lego software, not the easiest to use.

[Dauphni]

May I ask how much time it took you to make this? I've been designing my Catapult on and off for more than a week now. In that time, I have gotten the torso more or less as I want it, and I'm working on finishing up the arms. So far I haven't done anything on the legs yet. I played a lot with Lego as a kid, but this is the first time I've done a really big Lego project like this, so I'm curious for some perspective.

[dak irakoz]

well, it took me quite a while. At first I wanted to make what seemed to be exact game scale, but that proved to be way, way too big. I then moved to what I'd call a minifig scale, which is a slightly cartoonish version of the proportions. I started with legs, took me a while, then moved to the torso. At this point I realized that the legs were much too small for the body. This prompted me to completely redesign the legs. After that, I did the shields arm and then the gun arm. I think all in all it took me a few weeks.

[Dauphni]

The scale issue is interesting, because it's still quite a bit larger than what most would consider minifig scale. From what I can tell, most commonly that is taken to be 1:44, while your model is more like 1:35. To help me out with keeping all that straight, I've got a model assembled from the game files open in Blender next to LDD at all times, so I can continuously compare the two. My own model is turning out to be smaller than yours though, I'd say it's roughly 1:64 scale. Still, it's good to know my progress is pretty much on track and I'm probably looking at another week or so.

[dak irakoz]

yeah, well, I had no access to any scale measure at all. I had the mechlab open and I did it by eye. The scale I used was mosly based on the size of the cockpit glass. Also lego has a way of constraining how exact you can get the scale.

[Dauphni]

That just makes it even more impressive, because it turned out great! Also, for me half the fun is trying to find ways around the limitations Lego tries to put on you. As they say, constraints breed creativity!

[POOTYTANGASAUR]

I honestly thought it was real until i heard that it was a render haha. Kinda gave me a ***** and if you could make a Victor i would get two boners

[Puppeteerxerxes]

I've received about 2/3 of the parts I was missing. I'm trying to organize them still so I can build without too much confusion. Unfortunately a lot of the cosmetic changes I made really skewed the build directions. Step 1 is placing a 1/2 bush out in mid air. Step 2 places another on the other side of the mech, then three goes to completely unrelated parts of the leg. Oh well. I've taken a few photos so far, will be posting them as I can.

[dak irakoz]

Yeah the build instructions often have that problem. I look forward to the pictures

[LordBraxton]

***** (singular) is censored but boners is not

that's what I got out of this thread

NICE centurion BTW

Edited by LordBraxton, 02 June 2013 - 03:32 PM.

[dak irakoz]

I'm glad we've all learned this important lesson

[SpinalDethpizza]

O.o
So amazing, now you've gone and made me want to try my hand at this. XD

That is crazy awesome work you did on that thing.

[Puppeteerxerxes]

I've got 99% of the parts now, anything missing was from oversight in counting over 2000 parts lol. I've gotten 1/3 of the way through the build guide, with the upper left arm and center and side torsos done, with some in progress pics. I was out of town for a week and now working nights so I won't be able to really put much time into it until next week, then I hope to have finished pics. It's pretty big, I'd guess the torso itself is 8 inches side to side, and OP was right, it's pretty heavy. I may try to rework so the torso is more hollow now that I've been able to get a better look at how things were constructed, the LDD is not great for being able to visually separate parts sometimes.

[dak irakoz]

can't wait to see it in the flesh, so to speak.

[Puppeteerxerxes]

Finally got a chance to work on things again. I've finished the torso and head assembly now, last night also finished the shield arm. I love the hands man. The arm is heavy though, enough that the axle holding it bends, not a ton, just noticeably. I think this is going to be a sit in place model, I'll probably use something to prop the arms on. I may even build a stand.

I hope to finish the initial build by the weekend. One thing I'll warn anyone about who tries to build a complicated model from LDD software, the program doesn't really differentiate a very weak linkage or lack of support from sturdy. It's impossible to tell until you start putting things together.

Overall it looks amazing, but it's big. Looking at it now makes me think it will be the size of a small cat when done. I've got some in progress pics, I'll post those with the finished ones. I can't really get to me desk now that it's strewn with legos.