MKJoshA

Just got pictures of my entry up last night. Let me know what you think.

In the mountains of Titaan there are many dwarven mines. One of them, the Diamond Mine of Ulrich, is reachable only by traveling through a narrow canyon with sheer cliffs on all sides. Ulrich's family had owned the mine for 3 generations, but it was he that struck the richest vein so it was he that the mine was named after. His grandfather began and his father finished building a fortress around the entrance to the mine since dangerous monsters were no strangers to the Titaan mountains. One day the earth started shaking and Ulrich, who was outside the mine counting the latest haul of diamonds, and a few other dwarves, saw stones hurling downward. Unsure of what to do they ran towards the entrance of the canyon. They were loath to leave their riches unattended, but never having experienced an earthquake before they thought that perhaps a dragon had come to steal their diamonds. As they reached the entrance to the canyon the ground gave one last heave and they found themselves trapped away from their mine. Because there was no way to Ulrich's Mine except through the canyon, the dwarves were stuck without hope. One year later: It had taken time for Ulrich and his small band of dwarves to stop mourning their loss and begin to plot a way back into their mine. They spent their time in Newharbour taking expeditions through the mountains trying to find another way into the canyon. But try as they might they could not find another way. They considered trying to move the rocks blocking the canyon but it required equipment they did not have and could not afford since all their wealth lay on the other side of the landslide. They also knew that mining a second shaft to connect to Ulrich's Mine would be time consuming not to mention dangerous as cave-ins are in high probability when joining two mine shafts. Ulrich did find it strange that he did not hear any sounds of activity from the other side of the landslide. He wondered if it meant all the other dwarves had perished in the earthquake or if something else was keeping them from seeking rescue. One day the dwarves were sitting in a tavern in a corner of Newharbour as far away from the water as possible. Dwarves despise water, they would much rather be on dry ground. But Newharbour was the best place to find people to help in a crazy quest in those parts so they stayed. As they talked about their lost mine they noticed an Aoi entering the tavern. Ulrich recognized what he was right away even though it was odd to see Aoi outside of their continent. As Ulrich's gears started turning he invited the Aoi to join them. Ulrich found out that the Aoi's name was Qwang and that he had been away from his home country for many years. Something had happened to Qwang that had caused him to be banished from his home town, but he wouldn't go into any details. He also had something that most Aoi didn't have in that part of the world: an airship. If there is anything a dwarf hates more than being on water it's being in air. But Ulrich wasn't about to let something like flying stop him from getting back to his mine. The Next Day: They took off at dawn. Ulrich chose two other dwarves to accompany him back to the mine. He knew that they would be able to clear the landslide with the equipment from the mine with only a few hands, and he didn't want to endanger any more dwarves than he had to with a crazy flying venture. "Fly closer to the mine!" Shouted Ulrich. "If I fly any closer we will crash the ship and become one more skeleton in that graveyard!" Shouted back Qwang. Ulrich looked closer and saw that there were indeed the bones of many of his friends scattered across the courtyard. He also noticed something he had not counted on. A cyclops. That complicated his mission. He had a choice to make. Would he try to fight the cyclops with only himself, two other dwarves and Qwang (if he was willing), or would he go back to Newharbour and try to recruit some help? It looked like he had a quest on his hands to reclaim his mine. Notes: I have based this information on what I could find in the library and from other quests. I have tried to set it in the world of Heroica while allowing for a possible quest. I have measured and this does fit within the 32x32 stud limit. Links to larger versions of the 3 pictures are as follows: http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5504/9669149862_73c124f403_k.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7336/9669140338_c108b6461b_k.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7320/9665934053_b209c2ac56_k.jpg

As we flew towards Bespin I thought back to what brought me here in the first place. I have a story very similar to many rebels. Not every rebel has... well let me start from the beginning. I was heading to work in an old swoop racer my family had owned for a couple of generations ever since great-great-uncle Odis had won the annual Corellian swoop race back in the day. Waaay back in the day. It's a miracle it still runs, though it helps that it's been constantly repaired by my brother and I over the years. We have as many engine ports firing as we ever will at this point. The thing is just too old. We haven't done anything about the gaudy color though, it reminded us of the "good old days." I thought it was a normal day as I headed to work and in some ways it was. The Empire was cracking down on the freedoms of alien species again. Nothing new, but this particular alien, a Qwohog, caught my attention and got me thinking... Does the Empire really have to round up simple farmers? Even if he is of an odd alien race? OoC: Please judge this as a free build.

Wow.

Love your use of cockpit on your ship. Nice work.

There is nothing wrong with exposed studs! That's how old man Lego originally intended it.

I love your stairs! It's hard to make a good curved stair case with Legos. Nicely done. I also really like your mini y-wing. Overall the coloring doesn't seem to quite fit Cloud City. And the build has kind of a plain feel to it. It seems like your trying to make this scene work with a small Lego collection. If that's the case you've done an excellent job. However, don't be afraid of how few pieces you have. You can do a lot with a little with Lego. Your mini y-wing proves that. If you don't have a lot of plates try building more on a smaller scale maybe.

I guess we'll just have to take our differences to the building field ;)

The reason for the quiet is because everyone is on assignment right now. They have enacted a temporary com silence while the Redemption orbits around Bespin. Hopefully we are endangering everyone by breaking it.

I thought your pictures did an excellent job even though you don't have professional equipment. I know what that struggle is like. Oh what I wouldn't give for a light box! But, concerning the set, I bought it from Walmart a few months ago and have not regretted the purchase. A nice build, very sturdy, and great part selection. Not to mention I'm a sucker for Mandalorians and had to get Pre Visla!

I disagree with the negative comment about the minifigures. I thought they fit perfectly in a SW nightclub. My favorite is in fact the 1 eyed bearded guy. I love your use of the Hobbit dwarf hairpiece. Good job!

Incredible! It may have been a bear to photograph, but you pulled the incinerator off perfectly!

I'm really thankful for those of you who know Heroica and are willing to enlighten us newbies. My build is going to focus around dwarves. Anyone share some links so I can get to the who's and where's for dwarves? Also, am I allowed to post some WIPs to get feedback?

Now you just need to add Marty from the BTTF set.

I think you've done a great job with a sparse amount of bricks. However, if you want something to stand out you're going to need a wider selection of bricks to use to build something more eye-popping.

Wow! I love the engine. Nice use of the large ship parts. Really captures the feel of a Star Wars engine. Wish I had that many light tan bricks. Nice work!

I have to say, I love the look of your minifig in his "civilian" outfit. Very nice choice of colors and parts. Like the others, I too really like your landspeeder. The asymmetry of it is very nice. I like your SNOT work for the swamp. There are a lot of different colors that should maybe by minimized to just a couple, but overall a very nice feel.

If I'm building an air ship can the wings hang over the 32x32 limit by about 2-4 studs?

I like the idea you have behind the ladder and needing to wait for it to raise before using it to get up higher. Feels very old and out-of-date, just like a pirate would use. More pictures from different angles would help. It's hard to tell what kind of speeder it is and how the seating works. A front view would also be good. I do like you minifig. Nice use of the Superman pieces.

Great details. Definitely glad your with the Rebellion!

Very cool speeder! Love the use of the old style engines.

I agree the interior is awfully plain. I would have made it more interesting except I was trying to hit that imaginary deadline.

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I was under the impression that we got 4 free builds before Episode 1 started and then 4 after it started. Since that's not the case can I only have the micro-ship judged? I'd rather save my other free builds for other things than a boring interior of a ship. I just threw that together to try to take advantage of the non-existent pre-game free builds.

Wow! Incredible use of SNOT!

Thanks for the positive feedback. Detail question, does my free-build counter set back to 4 now since I submitted these before the contest started or do they count towards the 4 between this episode and the next? Thanks for the feedback from everyone else! I'm glad the rusty look came off so well.