7 replies to this topic

[SNobleJr]

The newest 'Mech in the collection: a redesign of the Hornet; originally perhaps one of the ugliest 'Mechs in existence, now hopefully passable:


And here's the full GALLERY.
(Also, here's a separate gallery with the LXF files used by LDD, for anyone who wants to take a closer look at the models.)

Some history and details about the models, for those who are interested:

This is a project of mine I've been working on for about two years now, on and off as time permitted. Essentially, I aim to build admittedly not all, but still a sizeable chunk of BattleTech's 'Mech selection. Currently almost five companies' worth of 'Mechs are complete without counting variants, and two full battalions with variants included. My need-to-build list still includes close to a hundred additional 'Mechs, so this project could go on for quite a while yet.

The models are built to a scale somewhere between the common microscale and minifigscale 'Mechs, aiming for a good balance of detail and articulation (though admittedly, some of the assaults are pushing the size where they might collapse under their own weight if they were to be built with real bricks, especially the reverse-jointed ones). Also, they are roughly in scale with each other. And if anyone's wondering, the uniform black-and-red color scheme is a holdover from the earliest models, built either from my own parts pile or with Lego Digital Designer before its Extended mode was made public, both of which had these colors as the most common ones available. (On that note, I'm happy to do quick recolors if anyone's interested in seeing a 'Mech with a particular paintjob.)

While they probably don't measure up to the immensely high standards for Lego 'Mechs set by BrickCommander, I'd like to believe my models are respectable works in their own right, and I hope everyone will enjoy taking a look at them.

Edited by SNobleJr, 25 July 2012 - 03:39 PM.

[Mota Prefect]

Whoa that's frickin awesome dude, I wish I had your lego set when I was a kid! Love the Urbanmech and Flashman any chance you'll build them for real?

[Adridos]

Some are better, some are less, but very good design perspective and skills.

Really awesome collection (where is Awesome?).

[SNobleJr]

Thank you for the replies!

Mota Prefect, on 21 May 2012 - 12:30 PM, said:

Love the Urbanmech and Flashman any chance you'll build them for real?

Considering that I lack many of the parts required, it's extremely unlikely.

Adridos, on 21 May 2012 - 01:02 PM, said:

Really awesome collection (where is Awesome?).

On the to-do list. I can't say when I will end up building it, but rest assured, it will go up in the gallery when it's done.

[ThunderHorse]

Here goes,

Normally I don't have the time or drive to post (reading at work on my phone, usually). Plus, I always feel like I have nothing significant to add to the conversation, as everyone who has posted before usually can sum up my thoughts.

You, sir, take the cake. You are deserving of my first post on the MWO forums.Your work is incredible, coming from not only a Battletech fan, a lego afficianado, but also as an artist. I salute you, junior. Bravo.

Do you have schematics, by chance? I would buy the individual parts off the lego site and build myself a Madcat ASAP given the chance! That, and please put your considerable talents towards building an Awesome next

EDIT: Whoops. Missed the part about the LDD files. Now I have to look into this Lego Digital Designer thing...

Edited by ThunderHorse, 25 May 2012 - 11:14 AM.

[Tyshen]

Some of these are really good. I love your solution to the Uziel's ridiculous torso. I've needed a good desk sitter at work, I might have to borrow one of these. You want to be careful, though, I've caught some misalligned click hinges on a few that could cause problems if you built them - the Uziel's ankles, the Loki's torso lasers. The legs on the Falconer have some issues, you might need to change the windscreen on the kneecaps, and shorten the upper legs by a stud (or raise the torso a bit, the legs hit the 2x4 double slope on the side of the torso when I tried to level out the feet after alligning the leg hinges, but without adjusting the pitch of the torso, concerned about balance).

Edited by Tyshen, 25 May 2012 - 02:43 PM.

[SNobleJr]

Thank you for the replies!

ThunderHorse, on 25 May 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

Normally I don't have the time or drive to post (reading at work on my phone, usually). Plus, I always feel like I have nothing significant to add to the conversation, as everyone who has posted before usually can sum up my thoughts.

You, sir, take the cake. You are deserving of my first post on the MWO forums.Your work is incredible, coming from not only a Battletech fan, a lego afficianado, but also as an artist. I salute you, junior. Bravo.

[...]

That, and please put your considerable talents towards building an Awesome next

Wow, thank you. That's high praise indeed. Also, the situation is rather fitting, considering it was another Lego 'Mech topic that made me stop procrastinating and register here in the first place.

Heh. Considering how much the Awesome seems to be in demand, I might have to build that next. I've been neglecting assaults lately, anyway.

Tyshen, on 25 May 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

Some of these are really good. I love your solution to the Uziel's ridiculous torso. I've needed a good desk sitter at work, I might have to borrow one of these. You want to be careful, though, I've caught some misalligned click hinges on a few that could cause problems if you built them - the Uziel's ankles, the Loki's torso lasers. The legs on the Falconer have some issues, you might need to change the windscreen on the kneecaps, and shorten the upper legs by a stud (or raise the torso a bit, the legs hit the 2x4 double slope on the side of the torso when I tried to level out the feet after alligning the leg hinges, but without adjusting the pitch of the torso, concerned about balance).

Thank you for the constructive criticism. Admittedly, being limited by a lack of sufficient physical bricks, balancing and hinge alignment problems are among the harder-to-catch problems for me - though I suppose the latter wouldn't be so much of an issue in real life, where the hinges would probably naturally snap into the proper position. All I can comment on in this regard is that the Anubis, Cougar, Raven and Wolfhound are perfectly stable and posable IRL. Probably the other lights, too.

Re: the Falconer's issues: noted. I'll try to think up something to shorten the upper legs without losing much detail. The windshields are kind of irreplaceable, though; those were by far the best fit I found for the shape, based on FD's sketch.

Lastly, the Uziel's actually received a bit of an upgrade recently, I just didn't want to bring down the gallery for any longer than necessary, so I'm saving it for when I upload something new. Basically, the side torsos are now proper domes, using these parts (which, if I recall correctly, weren't available in LDD when I first built the model, and then I forgot to update it when Extended mode was revealed).

[SNobleJr]

Apologies for the double post and bump, but I figured this was still the lesser evil compared to starting a whole new thread for the same series of models just because of a single new 'Mech and a handful of updates.

To Tyshen: the Falconer's upper legs have now been shortened according to your suggestion. Also, the updated Uziel I mentioned is now also up in the gallery.