LucasLaughing

Thanks! Loved the in-character response - the incident report will be filed by the end of the next pay period Thank you! I tried a few different techniques for the lighting / glow, but what ended up working best was just building it on a transparent baseplate and then putting white paper underneath while I photographed it. Thanks - a next generation metal eater would be rad!

Hi judges, I forgot to mention this earlier but I would like my freebuilds judged. Thanks! Wake up Call Going to Extremes

Location: F-09 Arium Minor Tags: Octan, Exploration Lu's Log - 04 Oktobrinali 3815 I'm back! I've spent the last few months working as the navigator on a refueling vessel; interesting work, to be sure, and I'm glad to do my part to help the fleet, but gods it feels good to get my feet on solid ground again! Or, in this case, mostly solid ground. The vast majority of Arium Minor is covered by majestic mountain ranges, but there are still some places where the fire in the belly of the planet comes to the surface. My task today is to put one of the new "Metal Eater" units through it's paces; I'll also be field testing one of our new thermal-resistant suits. The name "Metal Eater" is a bit of a misnomer, as the unit can actually "digest" damn near any material, breaking it down and analyzing it for biological matter. Today, we're looking for "Extremophiles;" microbes that can survive and thrive in extremely hot conditions. Alright, time to see how this thing works. "Metal Eater, initiate drilling program." Balls. Lu to Dr. Long - the unit handles terrain navigation just fine, but the gyroscopic stabilizers need some work. Unit 42b is a total loss, and is not recoverable. Lu, out.

Thanks guys! Thank you! I definitely had fun putting all the microscale stuff together. Thanks! You can see the rest of the poor soul's guts in Goatm's build Thank you - I think the constructive feedback, from you and Beaver especially, has helped me come a long way. I'm also thinking a lot more about camera angles and removable walls while I build, instead of trying to figure it out after the fact. That's a good idea - I should be able to take some more pics of the Frigate this week and put it up in the main SW forum.

Cool ruins - I really like that last shot! The profile bricks and the large slopes give a really nice texture.

I like it! That's a cool drilling vehicle, and the dialogue (especially the last few lines) made me laugh.

Welcome to SoNE, and good choice going with the Empire. Your room has a nice "Imperial" feel to it - good use of the large slopes, and I like the texture that the "brick" bricks add to the wall. My only suggestion would be to add a ceiling, even if it's just a gray baseplate over the top, so that we can't see the white above, and the build feels more "in-universe."

Good to have another builder for the Empire! The build of the ship feels a little too random for my taste, but I do like the round cockpit. I also really like your little landscape - you've got a nice contrast between the water and the lava, and I think the colors balance very well.

Interesting little ship - I like the sides. Is there going to be more to the story?

Note, this is part 3 of the story. Part 1: Wake up call Part 2: Going to extremes ----------------- It was a terrible idea for a mission, so of course High Command was very enthusiastic about it. Pose as mercenaries and help Black Sun destroy the headquarters of a competitor, in hopes of ... what? Gaining the trust of a criminal empire? I didn't want anything to do with it, but once we learned that Agent Goatm An had been spotted at the site, I had no choice. I infiltrate the base with a squad of Dark Troopers, dressed as Mandalorians; once inside I leave the squad and head for the maintenance hanger where Goatm's ship had been spotted. It's not long until I start finding bodies or, more accurately, pieces of bodies. For a second I suspect Goatm, but whoever killed these Ororo employees enjoyed it, and I can't see Goatm gleefully slaughtering unarmed civilians. Traitors or enemies, sure, but this seems too random, too unnecessary. I find their sentry around the next corner. Typical, Black Sun scum. It takes a special kind of stupid to bring a full-sized repeating rifle to a close-quarters battle. There's a pair of them in the next room. One thug's helmet partially deflects my first shot, but not the second. The big guy is faster than he looks. If he'd fired his blaster instead of swinging it like an axe, he might have gotten lucky. I guess this solves the mystery of the carved up bodies. The Mandalorian armor stops the blade, but I can feel ribs snap. That's going to hurt later. The thing about big guys, especially those that spend a lot of time in space, is they have weak joints. When he pulls back the axe, I drop to the floor and kick his knee so hard that the snap makes me wince. I don't know what series of poor life decisions led him to wear a helmet without full head protection, but I take advantage of it. As I turn to enter the utility tunnel I see him. Agent Goam An. Walking slowly toward the main hanger. I follow, cautiously. The hanger comes into view. I can see fighting on the far end of it, a combat walker and some heavily armored troops. Closer, a hooded figure wearing armor, running my way. Even as I start to raise my weapon, my brain dismisses him as a threat. His hands are empty, and his eyes are full of the kind of terror that can't be faked. And there, right in front of me, is Goatm. I could finish it now; his armor doesn't look strong enough to stop blaster fire. For some reason, I hesitate. I'm prepared to drop him if he makes a threatening movement, but I find myself calling out. “Agent An.” He stops, keeping his hands in view. The battle rages inside the hanger, and out in space, but my universe has contracted to this small bubble. I think I'm prepared for anything, but he says the one thing I don't expect. My name. “Sergeant Kirana.” I don't hear the explosion, but I feel it. The deck seems to lurch slightly upward, and dust falls from the walls. Then with a surprisingly quiet sound, almost a whimper, the magnetic shield at the mouth of the hanger vanishes and everything inside rushes into the void of open space. It gets chaotic for a few seconds, and then the blast doors slam shut. The last glimpse I get of Goatm, he seems as surprised as I am. I don't think the explosion was his doing, but it's given him an escape route all the same. I try to open the door - I have 30 minutes of air in my suit - but the safety overrides have locked all access. Damn. I walk to the window instead. A red ship flies past and dips it's wings toward me. Using the magnifier optics in my helmet, I can just make out Goatm inside the cockpit. Well, no reason to stick around here any longer; I have a feeling the entire base is going to become an unhealthy environment very soon. Better see if I can find the Shadow Trooper squad and hitch a ride home. I have a feeling Goatm and I will be meeting again. ----------------------

That is awesome ... I love how you did the metal torso, and I was hoping there'd be some heads on sticks before we got to the the end of our story

Great build - I love the yellow pipes on the wall, and the spilled beaker is a nice touch. And excellent use of CLAPPIE as well

This is a cool little vignette! I like the action poses and the terrain. The main terrain could have used a few small rocks (or even just cheese slopes) to balance out the big rock, but I like the wedge/curved plates for the hill.

Thanks guys! Thank you - I was quite pleased with the wall lights You probably figured it out by now, but I used a pair of the 7x4x6 stairs for each side. Thanks! Goatm and I are working on a cool story, so stay tuned!

Note - this freebuild takes place shortly after Wake up call. Imperial Star Destroyer Avenger Level 84 [Restricted Area] ISB Major: Sergeant, welcome. Please, stand at ease. ISB Colonel: Sergeant ... is there something on your face? Sgt. Lucas Kirana: Yes sir. Sorry, sir. They've had me working in the hangers. It takes a few days to get the engine oil completely off. Sir. ISB Colonel: But you're feeling fit? You're ready for duty? Lucas: Yes, sir. Very much so, sir. ISB Major: You've seen a lot of action, haven't you Sergeant? Lucas: Yes, sir, I have. ISB Major: Your record specifies almost a dozen combat missions this year which involved you and other members of the 142nd SpecOps battalion working directly for the Imperial Security Bureau. Lucas: ... I'm not presently disposed to discuss those operations, sir. ISB Major: Did you not execute missions for the ISB while working as a commando? Lucas: ... No sir. ISB Major: Did you not infiltrate Bothawui via wingsuit last year, to extract a compromised ISB agent? Lucas: ... ISB Major: Did you not return two days later and execute thirteen members of a rebel cell identified by that agent? Sergeant? Lucas: Sir, I am unaware of any such operation, nor would I be disposed to discuss such an operation, if it did in fact exist. Sir. ISB Colonel: Okay, that's fine. Sergeant, have you heard of Agent Goatm An? Lucas: I don't believe so, sir. ISB Colonel: Davin, why don't you play those recordings. These were monitored out of a shuttle, used by a former Separatist tracker we sent after An. This has been verified as Agent An's voice. Recording: Date 38.9.8. 0400 hours. “I watched a granite slug, crawl along the edge of a vibroblade. That's my dream ... it's my nightmare. Crawling ... slithering, along the edge ... of a vibroblade. And surviving.” Date 33.9.17. 2300 hours. “But we must kill them. We must ... incinerate them. Shaak after shaak, kaadu after kaadu, ship after ship, army after army. And they call me an assassin. What do you call it, when the assassins accuse the assassin? They lie … they lie, and we have to be merciful for those who lie... Those nabobs, I hate them. I do hate them” He had a grasp of tactics and strategy that surpassed many of his commanding officers. And he was a good man, too. A man of wit, and humor. He's gone AWOL now, totally off the reservation. Stole an Imperial ship and disappeared. And, I have another piece of shocking news for you: Agent An was about to be arrested for murder. I don't follow, sir. Murdered who? He's left a trail of bodies, to be frank. People he suspected of being traitors or double agents, mainly. Well, you see, Lucas, in this war, things get ... confused out there. Power, ideals, the old morality, and practical military necessity. But out there, working alone, it must be a temptation to take matters into your own hands. To play God, if you will. Because there's a conflict in every human heart, between the rational and the irrational, between good and evil. And good does not always triumph. Sometimes ... the dark side overcomes what Chancellor Palpatine called 'the better angels of our nature.' And, very obviously, he has gone insane. Your mission is to proceed to the Outer Rim, pick up Goatm's path via the Seperatist shuttle, learn what you can along the way. When you find Goatm, get close to him by whatever means available, and ... terminate Goatm's mission. He's out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct. After all that, we still have to use euphemisms. It's an old term, from the corporate sector. To "terminate" someone, of course, meant to fire them. If someone was "terminated with prejudice" they'd be blacklisted, and unable to find work in any related guilds. Someone terminated with "extreme prejudice" ... well, you'd be surprised how easy it is for the CEO of a major company to have someone killed. You understand, Sergeant, that this mission does not exist, nor will it ever exist... A galaxy full of rebels, and they send me to kill one of our own. Sh*t, charging a man with murder in a war like this is like handing out speeding tickets at the Boonta Eve Classic. I took the mission. What the hell else was I going to do? But I really didn't know what I'd do when I found him.

Love this vehicle! I really like the arms and the specimen containment area, as well as the little syringe holder on the inside. Great use of CLAPPIE as well

I would like to purchase a Metal Eater for 350 credits, please. It sounds kind of dangerous, so I'll probably need a "safety orange" reflective vest and some goggles to go with it...

Hey Aland, In the "show codes" link under your image, I copied the "HTML code" which is this: "<a href='http://postimg.org/image/5vdu614in/' target='_blank'><img src='http://s11.postimg.o...in/DSC_0075.jpg' border='0' alt="DSC 0075" /></a>", then I just took the code after thhe "img src" part, which gives us this: "http://s11.postimg.o...n/DSC_0075.jpg" When I copied that into the Eurobrick picture button it seemed to work. You might try signing up for Flickr, though ... I'm not sure if postimg give you the option to put up a larger image.

Looks awesome - nice work! Will you be bringing this to BrickCon this year?

Hmm ... I hadn't noticed the whale similarity until you mentioned it but ... I can dig it! Thanks guys! I did like the look of the boom on the back (and it made the ship much easier to pose), but I realized that, due to the shape of the cockpit, it would make more sense for the tanker to be above the ship it was refueling. Thank you! Thanks, judges!

Thanks! It took me a while to get the TIE Bomber right ... Thank you! Yeah, the room walls could have used a bit more detailing. I was able to get the effects in the TIE bomber shot just using GIMP - I've been messing around with the various paint brush options, and the "spark" and "smoke" brushes have come in handy for a few different builds. Smells like ... victory. Thanks! Thank you! Thanks! The effects on Picmonkey.com are really nice - you can choose how much transparancy or fade you want them to have. I'm not affiliated with the site at all, but they're free and I use them a lot so I figure I should talk them up when possible

Note: This freebuild and my next one are homages to one of the great American war films (Great? Wars not make one great). This freebuild takes place several months after my Ep VIII Entry. ---------------- Everyone gets everything they want. I wanted a mission, and for my sins they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. It was a real choice mission, and when it was over I'd never want another. Oh yeah, Sergeant. The bastards had given me a promotion. I suppose on datapad the engagement at Clovis looked good enough. Using a pair of TIE Bombers for CAS we killed over 200 of the local rebels, and only suffered two Imperial fatalities. Of course, when those two fatalities are your closest friends, closer than brothers, and when you're the one who killed them by calling in an airstrike to the wrong grid ... well, it doesn't look as good anymore. Back to Mos Eisley? Sh*t. I must be in trouble this time. Is this about that REMF who had a big mouth and ended up with a broken face? No, no ... I already got written up for that one. --------------------------

As promised, here is a swooshing pic! And here's a pic showing how the ship can be separated into sections for easier photography: Lastly, this pic shows the hallway leading from the engine room, all the way up to the cockpit:

Sweet design! I like the organic, sort of "bug-eyed" look to the front - reminds me of a deep sea fish. Intriguing story, too - I'm interested to see where you go with it.

Wow, this is awesome! I love all the angles, and nice work integrating the lighting - looks great.