dinsdag 31 mei 2016

Star Trek Cardassian Galor

There is just something about those Cardassians that you have to love.  And I`m not talking only about Marc Alaimo`s totally STELLAR performance as Gul Dukat in Deep Space Nine.

It`s their way of not realising they aren`t the big bad guys anymore.  That they are a glory of a past age, that has been caught up and surpassed, yet they keep grasping at glory.

The Cardassians are like a rejected lovechild of the Klingon Empire and the Romulans, a war like race ran by a secret oraganisation in the Obsidian Order.  They had a big nasty war with the Federation, but lost, and when the Bajoran Occupation was ended, and the borders redrawn leading to the Maquis resistance, their power dwindled even more.

They tried once more to become the leading military force by allying themselves with the Dominion, but this turned out sour for them, resulting in the occupation and ravaging of their homeworld Cardassia Prime, until in the final hours of the Dominion War they switched allegiance to the "quadrant alliance" and turning the tide of battle, gaining their moment of glory.

The mainstay vessel of the Cardassian military is the Galor class cruiser.  While it was on par with the vessel of the Federation during their war, they didn`t evolve at a rate the Federation starships did, and when the Enterprise D met one it was clear the manta ray shaped vessels where no match for the flagship of the Federation.

I found a picture of one of them build on the internet in a relative small scale, and decided to build one myself going from there, and the resource material plenty available due to their appearances in DS9.  It turned out more then okay, but it was migthy expensive for a 50 piece ship.  One of the small wedges needed only had appeared in an old Snowspeeder set, making them go on BrickLink at about 6 to 8 euro a piece.  Luckily the other side had appeared in the New York Skyline set, so those where cheap to get...


Now to start planning a couple of Federation vessels...

Classic Lego Build: 6876 Alienator

Yesterday we had the Space Police, so today I`ve put together their evil counterparts with the Blacktron Alienator.

These black clad spacemen do predate the police by a year, being released in 1988, so they could do a whole year of mischieve and mayhem before the law interfered in the world of Futuron :-)

The small set comes with a single Blacktron pilot to move the walker across alien landscapes.

Based on a large black plate, a technic brick is added to serve as a way to connect the pilot seat, that doubles as a small flyers.

We build this little plane first, a sort of glider / speeder bike like vehicle.



Black wedges and rotating plates are the beginning of the legs for the main body of the machine.

These are build up with more swivelling plates, to create a construction that makes the legs "shuffle" as the machine moves.


Printed Blacktron wall corners are then included to make the cover of the backbody.  This can open using hinges and protects the tools the pilot carries with him.




Details are then added to the build, and the set is ready to be connected together as the back section is then fininshed.


The full set stands completed

The Blacktron range did have some excellent sets, and the black colour helped making them look all sinister and evil.  Although this wasn`t their intended role at first. Legend says they where deep space miners, but the dark scheme made them all evil guys in children hands, and the new M-Tron took on their role a few years later.


maandag 30 mei 2016

Build Report: 31044 Park Animals

One of my "I received a voucher so I buy this one" sets for 2016, this Creator Park Animals is an excellent set.

Priced at 15 euro, it contains a nice selection of brown elements, something that always comes in handy for a moc builder.

And the fact we received it as the Thank You set this year in Brick Mania Wetteren, makes it an extra bonus.  So it is more then normal that I put this free gift together and feature it on my little corner of the internet.

Opening the box, we get three packs of bricks, as well as three instruction booklets, one for each variation that can be made with the set.

The Squirrel

I`m going to start with the squirrel this time, not for any particular reason then it just was the first booklet I grabbed of the pile.  The build starts around a 2x4 plate.

Using white inverted arches and small plates, the feet of the little critter is first made.  At the back, a joint holder is placed where the tail will be attached to.



The main body of the animal is then build up, using snot for the chest, while joints are installed at the sides for the front legs.


These are simple and small builds each in their own, and then connected to the body.


We then start to work on the tail, which is a collection of joint elements and mainly wedge plates.



The same goes for the top of the tail, and these are then all connected together and to the body of the little animal.


Next, we commence working on the head of the beast.



The little beast has an opening mouth, and a black slope serves as his nose.



The eyes and the top of the head are then installed.


The small ears are placed on the head, being small builds on themselves.


And the squirrel stands completed:

The Owl

The next build of the set of the owl, which while I love owls is my least favorite, it just looks TO cartoony in my opnion. This build begins around an inverted roofslope.

The main chest of the bird is the first thing we build, with connectors that will allow turning the facing of the build.


The chest is then covered up as a rotating plate is added to serve as a neck.

The tail consists of small orange wedges that are moveable due to the connector piece.


Small feet are then assembled to go under this body.


The wings are mirrored builds, and made up of more wedge plates and curved plates.



We then move on to the wide head of the bird.  This mainly has to do due to the large circular eyes that come in the set, and are used for the owl as well.


This head also uses snot to change the angle of the build.



A small yellow cheeseslope serves as the beak.

And the eyes are added to the head before this is connected to the body.

The owl completed:

The Beagle

The final, and `main` build of this set is the beagle dog and a family of ducklings.  I really love the look of the dog and it has been on my cabinet for weeks before I recycled his brown wedges...

The first thing we put together are the small brickbuild ducklings.  Nothing spectacular in themselves, they do look the part good enough.

Mother duck is next, and she is based around a tan wedge and orange wedges serving as the webbed duckfeet.


The body is build up and comes with some small wings that go to the side of this.


The green on the head gives a great contrast to the body, like the real park ducks you see, well, in parks.



The eyes are added and the duck is completed as well

That makes that we move on to the final animal build of this set, the beagle itself.  We start with the large inverted white slope, to simulate the typical white bellies of the dog race.


Connectors are placed to allow for great moveability in the beast, as the head and tail, as well as all four legs can be moved to make it resemble a playfull puppy.

The back is covered up using various browns to have a colour difference in it`s fur, and we put the little tail at the back as well.


The legs are made in pairs, first for the left side, then for the right.  These parts of the legs are identical in colour, and as such you get a 2 on 2 mirrored build





The four paws of the puppy are then assembled and connected to the legs.


The head is the final part that needs building, starting with the muzzle and upperjaw.




Connectors are once more used, this time for the flappy ears of the little dog.

We put the small eyes at the front, enlarging the playfulness of the model.

The mouth can open and a pink round tile serves as the tongue.



The final part of the build are the two ears, who are then connected to the head.


And the set stands completed:

Seriously, I love these Creator animal sets.  They are nice builds in the 15 to 20 euro range, they contain a lot of great parts and as they aren`t vehicles, I don`t get stuck with a lot of parts I personally can`t use afterwards.