Kodan Black

Excellent... I wasn't entirely sure but from a couple photos it looked like that is what was going on. Believe me I checked the various angles that you had up on Flickr.

I've been watching this on Flickr with a lot of interest. Can you please post up more shots of the doors on the front? There were some other pics on your Flickr that made it seem like they roll down from the top and swing out and I was very curious what you had done there if so. I like the big cargo pod idea, it seems very practical and would allow them to move larger items or onload/offload quicker. And the interior seems really well set up for a couple. Love the shaping of the cockpit with the big side pieces and the various greeble bits underneath. Nice to see your take on something SW since I've always enjoyed your scifi/AG stuff.

Really gritty feel with sooooo many awesome details. All the piping and electrical connections, etc. really stand out. Both the characters selected and their posing also strongly enhances the whole vibe.

I like it, you've adapted it really well to the purpose. The addition of the TIE panels is nice and fits in with their needs well. The only part that seems a bit weird is the blue fins at the back, there isn't really much of that color anywhere else so I probably would have gone with the same ones you used around the cockpit. It has a nice smooth overall look to it, but then in the closeup shots you can see the detailing and greebles. A good take on the subject matter.

I like the aggressive shape! It looks like you dropped the radar dish, is the greebling on top of the cockpit the replacement? One thing I did notice that might be a practical concern is that it looks like perhaps the docking collars on the side won't really work anymore due to the protrusion of the engines right behind? Did you do an interior? I'm curious how the layout is with the typical circle shape being only 2/3 usual size, but with the added rear space by the engines.

Really well done. Never one of my favorite ships from SW, but seeing your rendition it is easily the best version I've seen. Even the underside is really nice. I think you captured the light and fast feel of the movie ship really well.

I like the shape! Unique and yet recognizable. I like that you picked Sand Green as it isn't too bright, but I wonder if maybe making there a bit more where you did use it might make it stand out a touch more without being overwhelming. Like instead of a 1x4 to use 2 and have it be 2x4. I like the cool shaping on the radar dish! And it looks like you gave it a full interior too, always a nice touch. The treads behind the cockpit are also a nice look. Is anyone worried about the lack of depth perception on their gunner though?

Really awesome that you managed to get the outside to be accurate and then went ahead and included play details inside. Some really nice detailing and greebling on the outside too. IMO the time and effort really show.

Love the LEDs!

Really incredible work and I love how it turned out! Can you explain a bit more about how it came about? Did you propose it and they agreed? Did you do this on your own? Are they going to display it in the terminal when it is done?

So much to see and I love how you laid out each floor and have the various things hanging like the ships. Love that photography studio on the top floor! If this place existed near me I'd go!

I like the Anglerfish, looks sufficiently ugly to match the real thing.

I've also found that as my collection has grown I've had to redo my storage solution multiple times. That has led to me being unable to find parts at times because I don't know what container they are in. I have probably 20ish containers of different sizes, the hardest to find stuff in are likely the large bins of 1 color. But even the ones that have like 8 compartments can be hard to find a specific part. Storage/sorting is probably the most realistic limiting factor beyond funding for most AFOLs.

To a certain extent I would say yes. When I was a kid I basically had a mental catalog of all my parts. So if I was building and needed a piece I knew how many I had and if it was already in use on another creation. Now I have WAY more parts but I don't entirely remember all I have and that also means that at times I am building something and find that I only have 3 available when I needed 4. Admittedly that would be solved by having even more pieces, but at a certain point I feel like I have too many of some. There are PAB cups full of 1 particular part that I maybe use 10 of at any one time and I have 100+ sitting there in a cup. Those are basically just taking up space. For me it is hard as there are plenty of common parts I probably have enough of but a new set comes out with new minifigs (looking at you SW) and I decided to get it. Most of the set I don't care about and will break down into pieces but I really want the minifigs. I can, and do, use Bricklink to just get the figs but often that ends up being a poor value. Some $40 set with 4 figs I can get just the figures for $5 each. I then look at it and say why not get the set and then I have all those parts too for just a bit more. Right now I have at least 15 sets ranging from $10 to $100+ sitting at home in boxes because I'm busy building or MOD'ing, so I'm fairly satiated right now -- but the new Yoda's Hut isn't too far off.

I don't love the color scheme personally as it feels too bold. SW generally feels more grimey and earthy. The ship itself is instantly recognizable and you did capture it well. I feel like the middle section is too long and I think goatman alluded to it above that it comes off a bit barren. It might not seem so out of proportion with more there. The front and back feel completed and look great, the middle just seems a bit like you ran out of time. I agree that this is the sort of ship that I think I'd keep tweaking on over time. I have a few of those myself that periodically I'm just tempted to pull out and redo a part. Sometimes it leads me down into a rabbit hole of redoing more and more though.

I know that for me the SHIP was pretty much out, I'd need really need more time. I wonder if the September month was rough as people adjusted back to a "normal" routine whether that means them in school or kids going back to school. I wonder if trying to have more categories where maybe it is easier to build like an enforced 16x16 or the micro idea would help as that means less time investment but also that it won't mean someone else can spend more time and go bigger and therefore get more points. I was happy with the Empire builds but surprised at how few fighters we got. I personally think fighters are a big part of SW so I figured there would be more interest. But I've also noticed a lot of the people who were regular challenge builders when I started don't even seem to post anymore. I know that some may have moved on to other games like BoBS, but it is too bad we seem to have so few Rebels.

Seeing those pics does remind me of seeing that in Rebels, but I know I didn't just make that fact up on my own: " TIE/lns also lacked landing gear, another mass-reducing measure. While the ships were structurally capable of "sitting" on their wings, they were not designed to land or disembark their pilots without special support. On Imperial ships, TIEs were launched from racks in the hangar bays. " -- http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/TIE/LN_starfighter I guess they can though from the description it sounds like it was less common than Rebels portrays.

Cool design and concept. I too love the boarding ramp, especially in light of the hangar, very reminiscent of the shuttle scene. Are TIE Interceptors able to land on their wings? I know regular TIEs supposedly can't...

Nien Nunb, aside from having a cool name, is a pretty iconic guy. I'll take the tag. Congrats to all the builders and especially to the Empire for another fine victory. This was a fun one and I better start building now for Endor because I'm terrible at landscape.

Yeah, has a great Republic Frigate vibe with that classic Falcon shape. Love the full interior and all the greebles. The one thing I might have added in one of the 4 quadrants is some sort of security locker type area for the guards with weapons, etc. (probably the bottom left based on what each section contains currently). But I love the little office setup and the bed in a couple of the areas. Nice real life detailing.

Love the detailing of the rocks under the water! The building itself is perfectly jungle-chic! You can feel the humidity. Love the uneven tile roof and the lovely porch. Only tiny tweak I might suggest is a rope or chain to tie the boat up to the dock, or at least a cleat of some kind.

I really like that grill! I should be more disciplined and try to do quick builds each day -- I know a lot of artists do things like speed paints just to get juices flowing and push into new areas.

I like it and you have quite a variety of underwater craft. The one thing that stands out to me though is the scuba divers at the bottom of the display. Generally scuba is more shallow due to both limitations on humans and also that at a certain point the tanks necessary for bottom time become too much. Maybe have more divers at the upper levels, smaller subs at the mid levels and then only have deep submersibles at the bottom to better reflect the realities of deep diving. Just a thought!

All good feedback and I'm glad to get feedback! I think I agree now on the mandibles, I tried to balance out the heft of the ship a little by making them more hefty, but I should have kept them sleek. I do need to work on better interspersing pics and story. I tend to do 1 build, set the figs and then take pics. I like how a lot of builders do different shots with figs moved around, so I need to work on that. Honestly I didn't get the shot I wanted for the office. I had it in my head but I think it would have had to be 6-8 studs wider to pull it off which felt too wide. Plus I didn't want to start over once I had it done. I always worry about posting too many pictures because there are so many little details I never feel like I properly show even though I probably obsessed about them for hours. And I always take 40 pictures, edit 20, post 10 to flickr and then end up using only 2 or 3 in my post here. It was indeed. Love that series!

Very clever design and choice of ship. I used to love the notion of "battle taxis" in Battletech. You did some creative building on that scene of cutting into the Rebel ship! And yes, you really knocked those greebles out too! I think it feels suitably Empire and the story is good too. Hopefully there is a follow up build to further this plot.