[SoNE Freebuild] Endor - Exhaust Hatch

[goatman461]

Goatm-An 4-61 is a Tie pilot assigned to

test fly experimental starfighters for the Empire and occasionally help develop develop new weapon platforms for the ground forces.

After

crash landing a Tie Fighter on Endor, narrowly escaping a gorax, and killing his way through village after village of Ewoks, Goatm has finally reached one of the Imperial construction site. Coincidentally, his friend and favorite mechanic is onsite installing some special sentry cannons.

Goatm's mechanic explains to Goatm that this is a special construction site because of Vader's Exhaust Port Security Initiative. The location of this port has been kept very secret. Construction requires only underground, horizontal drilling operations, the lowering of the exhaust port into place via an Imperial shuttle piloted by an ISB pilot, two highly trained snipers on hand with orders to shoot all sentient and non-sentient creatures in the area, and a small construction crew made up of the greenest, most inexperienced, and incompetent recruits that wouldn't be able to find this location if they tattooed it on their sloppy, stormtrooper bodies. The mechanic was pretty certain these guys don't even speak basic. (Just having fun; no offense meant to my extremely talented, wonderful German and Austrian comrades)

These two snipers brought some serious rifles and a specially modified speeder.

The shuttle pilot expertly lowered the exhaust port though the hole below, where it was quickly attached to the underground system of tunnels. Some stormtroopers will be happy to know that this build was done with the utmost care to preserve the natural surrounding. Other Imperial's will be sad to know that this preservation did not include the Ewoks living nearby.

Imperial brass inspects and approves of the new exhaust port. The Empire's new exhaust port hatch technology seems to be working well, too.

Thank you for clicking. I hope that you will leave comments and criticisms below. I would like for this build to be judged, please and thank you.

[VK-318]

Wow. I think you may skip a rank after this, Goatm An 461. With your brilliant episode build and all these (4? 5?) other freebuilds, you'll be racking up the points quickly - and hopefully giving us Imps the boost we need to finally win an episode!

Edited June 15, 2014 by VK-318

[Lobot]

I really like this goatman461, it's well thought out and constructed

The exhaust port and grab look typically efficient, and equipment that the Empire would use. I'm not totally sure about the Paploo(?), but that's BEAVeR's fault...my resolve for hating ewoks has diminished somewhat recently! Also, it might be worth creating a (black or dark brown) recess for the exhaust port to sit in?

[Lord Tyrus]

I really like this goatman461, it's well thought out and constructed

The exhaust port and grab look typically efficient, and equipment that the Empire would use. I'm not totally sure about the Paploo(?), but that's BEAVeR's fault...my resolve for hating ewoks has diminished somewhat recently! Also, it might be worth creating a (black or dark brown) recess for the exhaust port to sit in?

I think it's Wicket! anyway, you seem to have speared it's head and hood, yet left a flappy bit of skin under the hood!

Anyway, this is brilliant! Especially the exhaust tube and that MASSIVE speeder!

Edited June 16, 2014 by Lord Tyrus

[MstrOfPppts]

This is a great MOC! I really like the broken tree and the general shape of the hatch. Also the inclusion of the liftarm hangin from the vessel is a nice touch and well executed. The only thing I'd complain about here is the base. It's well made apart from the edges around it. In most places they are too square or sticking out too much with no particular reason and again you have a gray plate stickig out just for the sake of holding the speeder? Also the hole in the middle could be skipped and could be plated with some smaller plates around to make a crater effect. There's some pretty nice bases build with plates only in Historica forum and I think that most of the magic is achieved by using different wedges ... should give it a try and keep up the good work!

[markus1984]

Wow, and the next great freebuild from you.

I find the quality of your mocs increases from time to time.

Another great continuation of your story and really good work at the MOC with all the details!

markus

[BEAVeR]

Another amazing build. Almost perfect... if it weren't for the poor Ewok

But apart form that, you have some great stuff in there. You have the nice, functional hatch, the badass cannon (you've done a lot with a small amount of parts there!), the sweet speeder that looks greebly and speedy at the same time, without looking very uncomfortable, the arm... even the vegetation is pretty spot on in this one. Once again that mix of curved, round and skew pieces delivers very well (although I have the feeling the trees in the previous builds were a bit more detailed, but those were bigger whatsoever), and this time you really get away from squareness with those branched going all directions. Very nice! I also really like the concept of having both the stem and the trunk in the build. But they don't really connect. It looks like they're a bit too far apart to belong together in my opinion, and while it is great that you laid the trunk at a certain angle, it doesn't correspond to how it should have hit the ground. Okay, they could have moved it, but still you're missing a potential interesting effect here. It would have been great to see both parts just barely seperated, with a tiny bit still attached. It could also give the tree an angle in the vertical plane, which would add a nex direction to the scene, which is always good in natural environments. Also, the cut in the tree could have been cleaner, because once again, the fact that the tan is recessing that far in the tree kind of takes away the believability. And I owuld suspect a clean cut from a saw, and not a ragged end from an explosion, because that would attract way too much attention, and in that case the tree would have fallen away from the site. So my guess is that the two incompetent recruits actually cut the tree the wrong way, but still managed to make room for the ship... something like that.

MstrOfPppts already mentionned the problem with the base, and I wholeheartedly agree. In general, you have two options that look good: 1) making a rectangular base, maybe even with a border. This makes it look more professional, but is mostly suited for artificial environments. 2) making a base with wedge plates and round plates. Think about the shape of a pond or something like that: you have an irregular edge, but never straight corners. These make for great bases for natural scenes. And while the idea of an irregular base is present, the very sharp angles clash a bit with the natural concept. And as for the hole, that would be the perfect opportunity to get a second layer of that wedge base under it, but in a different color, making the hole much clearer. Because that's another little issue with this vignette: the transition between the colors is too abrupt. In general, you don't want to recognize the part, so in natural environments, you should avoid cleary showing the edge of big plates, either in shape or color. Avoid making square patches, and go for more natural shapes. Then the artificial bit (which is your strong point, so you should highlight it) would have a far greater impact, making such a great contrast with the natural environment, without making the MOC a mumbo-jumbo of all kinds of different elements.

I don't want to look like the know-it-all here, though, and I hope you find the right tone in my comment. Consider it some useful advise (that's what I keep telling myself, at least ) for you and for any one that might read it. I'm only trying to give you some new impulses, so that we can get to see new, even more marvelous builds from you! And with this one, you've certainly set the right tone. Because I haven't even mentionned all the fine details like the different angles on the bike, the ridges in the arm and the twirling hoses, and even the detail on the inside of the hatch. But perhaps that's just my way of punishing you for hurting that Ewok .

[TheBear]

I don't think this story is very realistic. Ewoks can take out an entire legion of the emperor's best troops with just a few stones and logs so there is no way that Goatm would have been able to travel through the forest without getting cooked for lunch.

[MKJoshA]

I love your felled tree, cannon, and exhaust port! It's a very busy scene, but I think the business works in your advantage for this MOC.

[Shadows of Nar Eurbrikka]

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