92 replies to this topic

[Fury9er]

That is really impressive, £75ish for something that big isn't too bad either. Easily what I'd expect to pay for Lego now anyway having worked in a shop that sells it. I really love that cockpit hatch too, makes me wish I still had all my lego

Any space inside that torso for engine detail?

[GizmoGecko]

Fury9er, on 08 August 2013 - 05:21 AM, said:

That is really impressive, £75ish for something that big isn't too bad either. Easily what I'd expect to pay for Lego now anyway having worked in a shop that sells it. I really love that cockpit hatch too, makes me wish I still had all my lego

Any space inside that torso for engine detail?

I was about to suggest if people would like that, since I think I'm going to create interchangeable slots on the arms for ppc's and varying ballistic weapons.

When I was thinking about the engine, I was wondering about how I could implement the xl, and represent it with a full internal engine linking to the side torsos.

Or, just a top view of the engine from opening the bonnet which can be done, with a little depth and detail to it.

This is what's in there currently:



A removable standard engine I think would be possible. I don't think I'll ever need to remove it however, so I think a top view of the engine would be best, and a lot easier to do.

Oh and one little issue, I've no idea what the engine inside that thing would look like... Like some sort of radiator with pistons or something?

And what type of ballistics do you guys think would look best? I'll probably make 3, with one being an AC/10. (Why couldn't they make my dreams come true and make a hero without a lower actuator...)

Edited by GizmoGecko, 08 August 2013 - 05:39 AM.

[Adridos]

GizmoGecko, on 08 August 2013 - 05:34 AM, said:

Oh and one little issue, I've no idea what the engine inside that thing would look like... Like some sort of radiator with pistons or something?

Depends on how accurate you want to be.

You can either simply go the radiator with pistons way and create a normal engine inside the front and make it look like a regular sportscar, or you can try to come up with a way to represent the fission engine more in-universe accurately, where the engine is portrayed kinda like a barrel (examples here and here).

[GizmoGecko]

Adridos, on 08 August 2013 - 05:42 AM, said:

Depends on how accurate you want to be.

You can either simply go the radiator with pistons way and create a normal engine inside the front and make it look like a regular sportscar, or you can try to come up with a way to represent the fission engine more in-universe accurately, where the engine is portrayed kinda like a barrel (examples here and here).

Yeah it's not a giant hot rod aha. The MWO online fusion engine does look rather interesting, and being a lover of physics it'd feel wrong not to try and make one!

Since it won't be being removed, I'll probably do the top half of the cylinder with a few pieces connecting it up around it and a degree of depth to it too.

Also, d'you think it would be the full engine inside that huge front region, or it would it be more spinal?

(behold my a* a-level in fine art)

Edited by GizmoGecko, 08 August 2013 - 05:59 AM.

[GizmoGecko]

Here's the left arm finished (I think).






And with PPC attached.



As you can see, the claw is rather weird, and there's quite probably a simpler way to do it. It was just so awkward to make. If anyone's got any tips for the claw I'd really appreciate it!


I'll finish the right arm tomorrow some time hopefully, emulating the ballistic weapon geometry of the 1N variant (my person favourite arm of the Dragons, and general favourite 'mech).

For interchangable ballistics, I think I might go for an ac/10, ultra ac/5 and a gauss, unless anyone would like to suggest another?

Edited by GizmoGecko, 08 August 2013 - 08:00 AM.

[Alcom Isst]

Claw... clawclawclawclaw... Oh! Part 75937. Incidentally, I would like an .lxf file of the completed product.

Edited by Alcom Isst, 08 August 2013 - 10:06 AM.

[GizmoGecko]

Alcom Isst, on 08 August 2013 - 10:04 AM, said:

Claw... clawclawclawclaw... Oh! Part 75937. Incidentally, I would like an .lxf file of the completed product.

Thank you you amazing man/lady!

And you've earned it!

Edited by GizmoGecko, 08 August 2013 - 10:10 AM.

[WonderSparks]

Man, that Dragon is amazing. I've never managed to build a model of decent scale that looked nearly that good. >w> (Probably my best minifig-scale model is this: http://fav.me/d6e5lu4 which isn't even a canon 'Mech. XD)
Anyways, nice work, and keep it up! ^^

[Iqfish]

What I just noticed: the leg connectors will not hold the mech upwards. These are used for bionicle arms or really light legs but not the massive torso and arms of a battlemech. Since the legs are just moving forward and backwards i suggest your only other option: Exo-Force joints. These are really really strong and will hold your mech (and look more massive)

[GizmoGecko]

IqfishLP, on 08 August 2013 - 12:01 PM, said:

What I just noticed: the leg connectors will not hold the mech upwards. These are used for bionicle arms or really light legs but not the massive torso and arms of a battlemech. Since the legs are just moving forward and backwards i suggest your only other option: Exo-Force joints. These are really really strong and will hold your mech (and look more massive)

I agree, I had one of those sets too, was quite damn sturdy!

Definitely putting them in them in the legs now. I'm not sure whether to install them in the arms or not, as the right arm may become rather heavy, especially with the barrel on the gun, but sometimes those ball joints can be rather stiff.

Hmmmm, I'll try and see if I can work the exo-force joints in.

Update:
Just tried them in the arms, and it really doesn't offer any flexibility in positioning them, as I can't achieve the pose of the Dragon's hunched back right arm, more of a twisted bent inwards look... Doesn't feel right to me.

Thank you for suggesting them for the legs though, 'cause that torso's gonna need a hell of a lot of forces acting against it to stop it from falling!



Update:
Everything generally done now except the right arm and view of the engine from the opened hood. No doubt they'll be a few little corrections here and there as I edit it further.

Edited by GizmoGecko, 08 August 2013 - 04:57 PM.

[Stingray Productions]

honestly, i would buy this thing right away!, soooooooo awesome man!

[Arnold J Rimmer]

Are you going to put this on the Designer website? I'd love to get a look at this thing close up!

[GizmoGecko]

Arnold J Rimmer, on 09 August 2013 - 04:30 AM, said:

Are you going to put this on the Designer website? I'd love to get a look at this thing close up!

If you mean Lego Cuusoo, then possibly. I registered on the site earlier and was prowling other Lego 'mechs on their, with someone who had to rework his remote control Lego Technic Ghost In The Shell Tachikoma robot due to Lego not wanting to get into any legal business with the brand

It had over 5,000 people supporting, but now he's had to submit another design and start getting support again for his now 'construction spider bots'. They're still immensely cool, and so I supported it.

I'm not sure how Lego would approach the owners of the rights to Battle Tech however (I think they might be called Catalyst.), and if they'd just want to stay clear of any major brands. There's a considerable amount of tripe being sold on the Lego website now, but I'm not too sure if the universe would appeal to a lot of kids, although I would've loved to have grown up with giant Lego 'mechs. I remember asking my dad to pick up my first ever Bionicle in its little cardboard box off the top shelf in Toys 'R' Us in 2001 when I was 5 or 6.

Ahhh Nuju.



Once it's finished, I'll probably end up posting it on Cuusoo and leave it. If it gets 10,000 votes but Lego don't want to get involved, then I haven't lost anything. All I want is to create a Lego set I can be proud of, that's all really!

Edited by GizmoGecko, 09 August 2013 - 05:11 AM.

[NautilusCommand]

As said before, I think the legs need beefed up, really badly. other than that, it's great.

[GizmoGecko]

NautilusCommand, on 09 August 2013 - 06:20 AM, said:

As said before, I think the legs need beefed up, really badly. other than that, it's great.

I agree, although all this agreeing on my half might just be due to me being rather easily swayed.

Nevertheless!

Some shots of the new and bigger leg.








And with both legs replaced.



Any niggles, quibbles or requests, do say!

Edited by GizmoGecko, 09 August 2013 - 08:57 AM.

[Sasha Volkova]

GizmoGecko, on 09 August 2013 - 08:22 AM, said:

I agree, although all this agreeing on my half might just be due to me being rather easily swayed.

Nevertheless!

Some shots of the new and bigger leg.








And with both legs replaced.



Any niggles, quibbles or requests, do say!

I always thought the legs were a little bit off, this was EXACTLY what they needed.
I can honestly say you are getting the proud drake to pop up inside me and I really want to go drive my old dragons now xD

[Arnold J Rimmer]

GizmoGecko, on 09 August 2013 - 05:05 AM, said:

-snip-
All I want is to create a Lego set I can be proud of, that's all really!

Well, you've certainly done that! I love the new lower leg, by the by. It was actually that part that I really wanted a closer look at - you inspired me to build a Centurion (my own favourite-of-the-moment), hopefully minifig-scale if I can manage it, and I can't get the damned feet right.

Since I'm working from the bottom up, this is something of an obstacle.

Any insights you could shed would be much appreciated!

[GizmoGecko]

Arnold J Rimmer, on 09 August 2013 - 01:04 PM, said:

Well, you've certainly done that! I love the new lower leg, by the by. It was actually that part that I really wanted a closer look at - you inspired me to build a Centurion (my own favourite-of-the-moment), hopefully minifig-scale if I can manage it, and I can't get the damned feet right.

Since I'm working from the bottom up, this is something of an obstacle.

Any insights you could shed would be much appreciated!

http://mwomercs.com/...lego-centurion/

This guy's version is pretty damn good, I'd check it out for inspiration on how to create and present certain parts of the 'mech.

I worked from the bottom up too, but I had 4 attempts at creating this 'mech as I needed to find the perfect size that wasn't too small and wouldn't be too expensive; take a look at my Lego minifigure design of the legs at the start of the post, at £50 per leg.

Don't also forget that you will most certainly redo a lot of areas of the 'mech to keep everything in proportion. It feels horrible deleting an entire limb that you've spent an hour perfecting, but if it's not right it's got to go! Regarding this, if you have another attempt at a certain part you'll sometimes find more simpler and generally better ways of putting the pieces together. Then once you've hit the nail on the head, you'll feel rather relieved!

If for any reason you think my Dragon design and the Centurion one in the link are complex and difficult to achieve, yes they are complex, but that occurs naturally as you keep spending a bit of time on it every now and again, and you may very well overshadows our work (this is my first time building something on LDD, so I feel I could do a lot better with time).



In regards to my work, I'm going to go get a shower, have a curry and finish off the right arm and engine in the next couple of hours. Any suggestions for what ballistic weapons I should make are very much welcome: I'll be creating at least 3.

Also, thank you guys for the support! Really appreciate it!

Edited by GizmoGecko, 10 August 2013 - 10:05 AM.

[Ysarric]

I have to say that I'm a softy for the Dragons, and my (by far) most used mech is the Flame variant. I'm going to be greedy and ask if your model has a way to modify the left torso so that a ballistic could be added there instead. But hey, if not, no big loss! I would love to have the files so that i could play with the colors myself, as well as order the pieces to biuld this beast!

As for ballistics, you have mentioned the AC/10 already, which is what my current build is using. I do not often see the Dragons in-game using 'small' guns, so I'd say that you could create an Ultra AC/5 and a Guass Rifle as the other two. How would you make a large laser/Er large laser look?

[GizmoGecko]

Ysarric Lightbane, on 10 August 2013 - 10:08 AM, said:

I have to say that I'm a softy for the Dragons, and my (by far) most used mech is the Flame variant. I'm going to be greedy and ask if your model has a way to modify the left torso so that a ballistic could be added there instead. But hey, if not, no big loss! I would love to have the files so that i could play with the colors myself, as well as order the pieces to biuld this beast!

As for ballistics, you have mentioned the AC/10 already, which is what my current build is using. I do not often see the Dragons in-game using 'small' guns, so I'd say that you could create an Ultra AC/5 and a Guass Rifle as the other two. How would you make a large laser/Er large laser look?

Ooooo you've reminded me of the Flame's laser arm! How could I forget, it's the reason I even bought the thing.

Putting a ballistic in the left torso wouldn't be an issue really, but I don't like it how the in game model is always the same size, so I'll probably put AC/20 geometry on it, although I have an AC/2 in mine (no mocking please). I wish they'd introduce geometry changes to the older 'mechs like they've done since the Highlander, the old guys need some lovin' too!

I'd suggested originally the AC/10, Ultra AC/5 and Gauss, but I'm not fussed over the Ultra that much, and I'd much rather emulate the laser arm of the Flame. If I get more requests or just have an hour to spare someday then I'll create the Ultra, as well as any other weapons in popular demand!

Now you've got me thinking of double ERPPC cannons in the right arm... Making me giddy.

Hmmmm for Large, and I'd probably beef up the region where the weapon is attached as well as changing the colour. For ER I'd made it longer and for pulse, well... I'll get creative!


When I'm finished, I'll be posting the instruction booklet which contains the pieces you require. I've been trying to build using the ones only on Pick A Brick, however there are 2 or 3 pieces which I really wanted to use, and I'll post those when I'm finished.

If anyone would like the file too when it's finished, then just say.

I'm using this to acquire pieces not available on Pick A Brick, which is odd to think they don't sell them on there too. You can request your pieces and once they've checked if they're in stock and stated the total cost, they'll leave your order open for 2 weeks in case you change your mind.

Edited by GizmoGecko, 10 August 2013 - 10:41 AM.