General WIPs

TF Twitch wrote:

Klushots wrote:

Looks good, Twitch. The one thing I would say sticks out to me that could be improved is the lack of detail on the arms when compared to the rest of it. If they'll fit, SNOT bricks will be your best friend there.

Is there any particular part of the arm or just the whole assembly?

Well, most of it anyway. The parts that are all black and really flat stand out to me (upper arm and top of forearm). But if some of those flat parts can be replaced with 1-stud SNOT bricks, it should be easy enough to remedy.

Quantum Industries wrote:

Wow, fantastic TF, the execution of the troopers legs and feet is superb. I love the guns, and the head is perfectly generic for mass production . I agree with Klushots that the arms (the upper arms and elbows specifically in my opinion) could be ascetically improved a bit.

Klushots wrote:

Well, most of it anyway. The parts that are all black and really flat stand out to me (upper arm and top of forearm). But if some of those flat parts can be replaced with 1-stud SNOT bricks, it should be easy enough to remedy.

I see what you are saying. I was trying to keep the form as original to Sylphion's work as possible in terms of shape since this is based on his work. I think that I will keep the lower arm shape since they are compatible with the ESIONE and Versailles equipment, but change the shoulders and possibly the upper arms.

I was going through my picture file and found this...   

Spoiler:

Quantum Industries wrote:

I was going through my picture file and found this...   

Spoiler:

That giant weapon system looks very impressive! I had to zoom in on the picture to get a better look at it, and I like how it has the "buttstock" between the arm and the torso. For me, the area around the right hand looks a tad confusing as far as how it all works together, but I am sure a closeup picture from a different angle would clear that up.

TF Twitch wrote:

Quantum Industries wrote:

I was going through my picture file and found this...   

Spoiler:

That giant weapon system looks very impressive!  I had to zoom in on the picture to get a better look at it, and I like how it has the "buttstock" between the arm and the torso.  For me, the area around the right hand looks a tad confusing as far as how it all works together, but I am sure a closeup picture from a different angle would clear that up.

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here is one of the rail-gun by it self

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does that help?  

Quantum Industries wrote:

does that help?  

Yes, yes it does.  I will say that I have not seen a handle like that before with that type of weapon system.  I have seen in anime/manga and LEGO that style of weapon, but the handle is unique.  Good stuff!

Edit: I do have a suggestion for the right hand.  Perhaps flipping the handle over so that the railgun handle is held palm down would give it a more natural feel and grip.  Since I have personally handled many different weapon systems, a palm up grip is primarily used only for a charging handle, like the Browning M2 or the Mk-19 grenade launcher.

TF Twitch wrote:

Quantum Industries wrote:

does that help?  

Yes, yes it does.  I will say that I have not seen a handle like that before with that type of weapon system.  I have seen in anime/manga and LEGO that style of weapon, but the handle is unique.  Good stuff!

Edit: I do have a suggestion for the right hand.  Perhaps flipping the handle over so that the railgun handle is held palm down would give it a more natural feel and grip.  Since I have personally handled many different weapon systems, a palm up grip is primarily used only for a charging handle, like the Browning M2 or the Mk-19 grenade launcher.

You could also always go weed-whacker style, too. Having the grip and trigger run along the top of the weapon towards the rear (so you'd hold it with you fist facing downward) with a perpendicular handle for stabilization near the middle. See also: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. I'm sure that's another thing I'll need to do at some point. Probably on my Heavy Assault unit that I haven't even started yet.

TF Twitch wrote:

I do have a suggestion for the right hand.  Perhaps flipping the handle over so that the railgun handle is held palm down would give it a more natural feel and grip.  Since I have personally handled many different weapon systems, a palm up grip is primarily used only for a charging handle, like the Browning M2 or the Mk-19 grenade launcher.

I'll try it out and see what it looks like.

Klushots wrote:

I'm sure that's another thing I'll need to do at some point. Probably on my Heavy Assault unit that I haven't even started yet.

Well, fire up that noodle of yours and get crack'n! 

Quantum Industries wrote:

Klushots wrote:

I'm sure that's another thing I'll need to do at some point. Probably on my Heavy Assault unit that I haven't even started yet.

Well, fire up that noodle of yours and get crack'n! 

Well that's still in the queue behind posting the Medium Assault I already put up here, behind the incomplete Medium Technician I haven't worked on in months, and next to the Light Assault and Light Recon I also haven't started on. Trying to make something of a six-mech band out of them with the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]...

Greetings all!  I break up this long silence of no activity with a Work In Progress!  Which is also commonly known as a "WIP" and is not to be confused with a "WHIP".  For clarification, the "WIP" is something that is not yet complete, and the "WHIP" is what my wife uses on me to enforce her rule.  Anyways, onto the WIP!

Be forewarned, this may be a long post, so please bear with me.  You have been warned.

This is Sylphion's ESIONE Malheur, the fifth mecha of the ESIONE line.  While discussing some ideas and "copyright privileges" (or whatever) concerning the Blacktron Meteors that I have been designing, Sylphion showed me the newest ESIONE and asked for my assistance in making it transform.  After some discussions and stuff I accepted and began my work.

Here is the original, used for reference and comparison:
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Inspiration material:
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More on the inspiration material can be found here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Here it is in flight mode, after I have worked on it:
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My concerns with the design lay mainly with the waist and that I do not think that it will not be stable enough in flight mode nor in humanoid mode.  I have more pictures of it over on flickr, found here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Any suggestions, especially about the waist area, are greatly appreciated and welcomed.  My other concern is that there is currently nothing to hide the head.  In flight mode it just sits there and does not blend in well.  Having it fold it into the torso is not possible with the current torso design.  I also had to remove the boosters that were on the back of the upper legs since they interfered with the leg's flexibility and bending, especially with transforming into flight mode.  I thought about putting those boosters onto the outside of the upper legs, but it might interfere with the arms in flight mode.  Any of Sylphion's input on these matters would also be greatly appreciated.

TF Twitch wrote:

Greetings all!  I break up this long silence of no activity with a Work In Progress!  Which is also commonly known as a "WIP" and is not to be confused with a "WHIP".  For clarification, the "WIP" is something that is not yet complete, and the "WHIP" is what my wife uses on me to enforce her rule.  Anyways, onto the WIP!

I have to say, this looks very good so far, but I think it's pretty much impossible to make it transform to the desired form with the current body, as you already pointed it out. The only way would be to make a new chest design from scratch, and a smaller head(the bigger the head, the more space it needs to be hidden, and that only complicates things).

One of the reasons why I haven't built any of the transforming mobile suits is exactly because the transforming mechanism is very hard to reproduce or even mimic. Another problem is the limit on what LDD can do with bricks...

Perhaps you could try to use ball joints in the middle to move the waist to the back.

Thomas_Z wrote:

I have to say, this looks very good so far, but I think it's pretty much impossible to make it transform to the desired form with the current body, as you already pointed it out. The only way would be to make a new chest design from scratch, and a smaller head(the bigger the head, the more space it needs to be hidden, and that only complicates things).

One of the reasons why I haven't built any of the transforming mobile suits is exactly because the transforming mechanism is very hard to reproduce or even mimic. Another problem is the limit on what LDD can do with bricks...

Perhaps you could try to use ball joints in the middle to move the waist to the back.

The shape is there, I am just concerned if the waist is sturdy enough in both humanoid and flight modes.  The idea of using ball joints is good, so I will see if I can fit those in instead.  I also have no clue what to do about the head.  Aside from those two topics, I like how this has come out so far.  Of course, all I am doing is modifying what Sylphion has already done, so most of the aesthetic part has been completed already.

TF Twitch wrote:

The shape is there, I am just concerned if the waist is sturdy enough in both humanoid and flight modes.  The idea of using ball joints is good, so I will see if I can fit those in instead.  I also have no clue what to do about the head.  Aside from those two topics, I like how this has come out so far.  Of course, all I am doing is modifying what Sylphion has already done, so most of the aesthetic part has been completed already.

It's pretty simple to hide the head if you're okay with turning the whole model on it's face in transformed mode. Then just slap on the back a "jet nose" looking thing (e.g. Airmaster Gundam, see for reference) that an hide the head and fold backwards, and turn the wings upwards. Of course, that would kill the AC-ish transformation, but..."beggars can't be choosers" I guess...

A little preview for you guys of what I've been working on lately and also my very own "return with a bang". (Note: they're nearly finished, but the pictures show some early stages)

Behold! The "reboot" or "re-mastering" of my older Gundams that make up the 5 unit "Exorcits" special squad. (Note: Icarus is my old Valor's Edge Gundam re-imagined and re-designed)
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Also, this is the first time I've attempted to build a ship just for the use as background for my future scenes, but it turned out quite nicely.

Behold! The Reinforce Jr. (Note: this one is from Victory Gundam).
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I'll post these sometime on MOCpages once I'm finished with the presentation and the building process, so stay tuned!

Thomas_Z wrote:

A little preview for you guys of what I've been working on lately and also my very own "return with a bang". (Note: they're nearly finished, but the pictures show some early stages)

Wow, the work on everything is phenomenal.  I look forward to the "reboot", especially since Blademaster is my favorite out of those five.
On a side-yet-related note, why can everyone else figure out this POVray thing yet I cannot?

TF Twitch wrote:

Wow, the work on everything is phenomenal.  I look forward to the "reboot", especially since Blademaster is my favorite out of those five.
On a side-yet-related note, why can everyone else figure out this POVray thing yet I cannot?

Thanks, I'M still tweaking the Blademaster, trying to make it a bit more unique. Since it's a melee machine it won't use guns, but I'm making several different melee weapons just for this unit. Also, using POV-ray isn't all that hard, actually, you do everything with the POV-Ray to LDD converter (I'm still experimenting with the settings to find the fastest rendering setting). Here's a link on MOCpages [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] This tutorial got me started, it might help you too.

Thomas_Z wrote:

Thanks, I'M still tweaking the Blademaster, trying to make it a bit more unique. Since it's a melee machine it won't use guns, but I'm making several different melee weapons just for this unit.

I went back and looked over your work again just to see what or if there were any improvements that COULD be made.  My only suggestion is to make the five Gundams a tad more specialized within their respective fields.  For example, making the stealth unit more stealth-oriented and with less "all-around" and multipurpose features.

As for Sylphion's Malheur, I created a transforming mechanism that I like.  I used the new Mixel Joints and I hope that they do the job.  I included some pictures below, but more are available over on [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

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Man, I'm digging this new AF, TF.

Thomas I can't wait to see more from that noodle of yours.

related side note

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Quantum Industries wrote:

Man, I'm digging this new AF, TF.

Thomas I can't wait to see more from that noodle of yours.

related side note

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Looks great so far! I like the color scheme too, but the wings are just perfect.

TF Twitch wrote:

I went back and looked over your work again just to see what or if there were any improvements that COULD be made.  My only suggestion is to make the five Gundams a tad more specialized within their respective fields.  For example, making the stealth unit more stealth-oriented and with less "all-around" and multipurpose features.

As for Sylphion's Malheur, I created a transforming mechanism that I like.  I used the new Mixel Joints and I hope that they do the job.  I included some pictures below, but more are available over on flickr.

Don't worry, the roles are pretty much the same as the originals had, however every unit has at least two roles due to the pilots personalities. Like the Malice is a Saboteur/Infiltrator or the Werewolf is between a sniper and a melee berserker(he's still the fastest on the ground but his fly capabilities are limited). I don't really want them to have just one specific role, they are a special team with prototype/customized units, so they do their thing a bit differently from the regular forces.

I like the mixel joint idea for your model, but I wonder how stable it would be in real legos.

Thomas_Z wrote:

Don't worry, the roles are pretty much the same as the originals had, however every unit has at least two roles due to the pilots personalities. Like the Malice is a Saboteur/Infiltrator or the Werewolf is between a sniper and a melee berserker(he's still the fastest on the ground but his fly capabilities are limited). I don't really want them to have just one specific role, they are a special team with prototype/customized units, so they do their thing a bit differently from the regular forces.

I like the mixel joint idea for your model, but I wonder how stable it would be in real legos.

Okay, I see what you mean and the direction that you are taking it in.  It makes sense.  I emailed Chris Roach the Malheur's LDD file (what is completed of it, anyways) so he could look at the transformation mechanism.  I personally like how compact and easy to work with it is, but I am requested his opinion on it since he works with Mixel joints and transforming things a lot.

Here is an update to the Blacktron Meteor Trooper.  I changed the shoulders and tucked them closer to the torso.  The bazooka is from Mithryl's work.  I redesigned the head since it was TOO plain for my taste.  In case I did not mention it earlier, the shoulders, legs, and SMG (shown previously) are largely based on Thomas Z's work.  Enjoy!
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Thanks to Thomas Z, I am able post this.

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Also,

another work in progress...

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Quantum Industries wrote:

Thanks to Thomas Z, I am able post this.

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Looks great! is that a M.E.T.E.O.R. unit in the making behind it?

BTW peeps: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

It's on MOCpages!

Quantum Industries wrote:

Thanks to Thomas Z, I am able post this.

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Holy Ceti Alpha V!!

I am truly impressed.