On 2/27/2021 at 3:31 PM, Lyichir said:

Was thinking of you and your MOCs/MODs the other day when I saw reviews of the “White Dragon Horse Jet” from Monkie Kid. Any chance you could do anything with that? You might want to change the horse-shaped nose out for something more traditional, but the wings look nice and the colors could work well if you changed out the greens for colors like orange. Just a thought!

Thanks needs to be given to user @Lyichir for his idea for modifying this set back on February 27th of this year. (Sorry for not uploading this sooner, I had to puzzle out the wings, as they were VERY complex.)

This ship is heavily based on set 80020 (White Dragon horse Jet) from the Monkie Kid theme. I made it slightly less overtly dragon-themed by removing the "eyes holes" by closing them up and replacing them with slopes. I also added laser cannons where the flick-fire shooter was, plus the canopy has been reversed 180 degrees too. This allows for more room for the pilot to sit up and reach the controls.

The rear of the rocket-ship has one engine, with the Imagination-fueled powerplant located under the light bluish gray heatsink panels. This space fighter now looks more like a F-18 jet with the new brick-built tail fins.  (at least to me!)

The new Dragon-wing fighters are flying escort duty for Bob's cruiser. (The old fighters from 2016 will be destroyed to make these new ones.)

 

Any thoughts on these new ships?

Finally! Progress has been made on the revised fighter spaceships... however, it's not the ones you've already seen screenshots of!

The LEGO snow speeder design from Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back) of Star Wars fame has been using basically the same design for almost two decades (since 2004's set 4500, actually) and I have appropriated it for my LEGO Universe space fleet.  Yes, I removed the gunners seat and added a new rear cockpit canopy, but it's the same basic overall design. (Ok, so I also placed fins on it from the EU Sandspeeder variant for added flair.) These two have replaced my original Nexus Force fighters from six years ago. (2016!)

There is room inside each cockpit for a single figure. (Please note: The main cockpit canopies have the wrong "look" due to a mix-up. I want to order replacement ones without any printing soon.)

Rear view showcasing the Speed Champions windscreen at the rear when the gunners seat / harpoon gun was. I am going to put a R2 droid head in behind the pilot for hyper-space navigation, but am as-yet unable to locate where I placed them in my collection. (I know I have some extra I just can't find them!)

Bob's car has had some upgrades, but nothing too major. (I added a roof to it) Photos of that will come when I can get them taken.

I also started finding parts for the Nexus Force-themed space Zephyr I designed in 2021. You can see that thread here.

 

thoughts?

I added a roof to this older model and revised where the printed Nexus Force logo slope was located on the rear.

Here is the original version from August 2020.

More pictures of the revamped car are visible in the first post.

Edited May 12, 20222 yr by Murdoch17

On 3/3/2015 at 10:50 AM, Murdoch17 said:

These are builds inspired by or taken from the first MMO made for Lego: LEGO Universe. (or LU, as it was affectionately known)

Here is my base (this pic REALLY needs updating), and below is it's history + the LU story post-2010:

This game had very few real world items in sets, but two things did come out:



First, an astronaut for people who pre-ordered the game in 2010...



and then a rocket that was modular in the style of the game (Nose + Cockpit + Engine) and was released in a LEGO Club event to build your own rocket. (both pictures from Brick Link)

The game lasted barely past it's first birthday (October 2010 was when it started), with the plug being pulled on February 1st 12:01 AM 2012.

As a testament to the game I played and loved, I built some models that continue the story past 2012 and beyond the current day. Here are those builds:



The Neo-Nexus Force, pilots, droids, and officers.

The NIFT-E robot was designed in 2015 to compliment the thousands of Sentry (set 4416) series robots produced in 2006 by the X-POD corporation for the original Nexus Force founders. Thirty-four of these newer robots were produced in 2018 as a test batch, called the Nexus Iron Friendly Teammate - Engineer class (NIFT-E) for use as spaceship ground-crew and heavy engineering duties, including fueling and heavy duty maintenance, computer updating, and guiding ships into landing zones. They are used alongside human counterparts who work on the harder to reach areas of a ship's engine, and on life support systems. Each human master mechanic (of which every base has at least two or three of them, plus several apprentices) is assigned an NIFT-E counterpart, in which they are equal partners working towards the same goal: keeping the ships flying, the base humming with life, and repair bay as empty as possible in case of emergencies.


I copied this back in 2012 from a desktop download from the old LEGO Universe game. It was carefully cut out and switched to gray scale to save ink. It is the logo of the Nexus Force.



Due to the Nexus Force logo not being found anywhere but a expensive mini-figure torso from a limited edition polybag, I have decided to change the logo to something different. This new logo is seen in the 2014 CITY Arctic sets. I figure this is my in-universe explanation of the logo change:

This moon base-like space base model was inspired by set 60036 (Arctic Base Camp), with a rooftop shield generator partially lifted from set 75098 (Assault on Hoth) and a sensor array inspired by set 76157 (Wonder Woman VS. Cheetah) The base consists of eight separate, interchangeable, modular sections, all of which have opening roof / wall sections for ease of access. These sections include (but are not limited too): a common bunk room, a spaceship control tower, a fusion generator, communications room, break room, and several more. As you can see, I joined the base to the rail-line with a short siding for freight deliveries, and for the servicing of steam locomotives on services such as the Moonlighter passenger train.

Fictional history of the base:

The Nexus force landed on an ice world named DY-17, (this was soon to be renamed Ice Station Destiny) in a bit of desperation, as the Maelstrom had damaged their escape cruiser, the Bright Hope, to the point of near hyper-drive core failure. The ships sensors located no technology on the surface, and not many life forms, but a lot of geothermal activity in the form of large heat/steam vents from the core to the surface, which could be used for emergency power. The ship landed, and soon the base camp for the crew of the Bright Hope was set up. It was then discovered the planet had many mineral deposits that happen to be compatible with the metal in the Hyper-drive cooling system. So, the minerals began to be mined, and pretty soon the crew had a good operation going that was almost self-sufficient and very eco-friendly. A vote was taken, and the crew chose to stay on the ice world they re-named Ice Station Destiny, as the planet had supplied all of their wants and needs. The logo was repainted to show the original Nexus logo as a distant star, signifying the journey taken by the Bright Hope to their new home world, which was symbolized by the ice-covered world on the logo. The Bright Hope and crew were eventually discovered two years after their landing on Ice Station Destiny by the Norstas of the nearby world of Beta Polaris. Bob formed a friendship with this like-minded race, which eventually became an Alliance between the two forces, and the rest is history

Common bunk room, as everyone on the base sleeps in shifts in these bunks.

This corner hall module also leads outside via a back door. (not visible here)

The beating Nuclear heart of the base. It is powered by cold fusion, and is situated at the center of the base, under the radio communications antenna.

This deep-space communications room is where every listening post the Nexus Force has comes to bear it's potentially deadly load. What are they listening for? No, it's not the latest M-TRON corporate gossip or Blacktron III secret battle plans. It's whether the Maelstrom has figured out how to invade our universe from the old pocket dimension they have been sealed away in. This ultra top secret project has listening posts attached to an uninhibited asteroid or comet in almost every known sector of inhabited space. They plan on finding out where and when the Maelstrom ever invade (if they ever do) and planning a counterattack with all available forces before they can even fully emerge through the rip in space-time.

The fusion reactor's control room.

This module leads outside to the base's elevated landing pad. Upstairs is the flight control tower.

This tower makes landing large spacecraft easier, and helps keep an eye out for unwanted guests. It sits on top of the previous module.

These computers analyze rock samples looking for fuel traces to be mined.

The break room is mostly taken from set 60036, with the addition of the Death Star plans. (Why not?)

The radio array on top of the nuclear reactor.

SPACE VEHICLES

This ship was originally set 70816, Benny's spaceship (x3), with the Unkiitty seat and radar dish removed in favor of a skylight and laser gun turret instead. The sliding wings were redesigned to be stationary and thus provide space under the turret for commander Bob. The ship also has separate passageways for crew to walk so they don't have to go outside to go to Bob, engineering, or the bridge. More recently, I combined the ship with a more elongated nose taken from the 2015 DC Comics set 76028 (Darksied Invasion).

I was inspired to build this model by this cool ship by Oran Cruzen over on MOCpages. (RIP)

The ship has three areas for up to eight crew to be placed, with passageways for the figures to "walk" from section to section.

The rear of the ship has three engines and a rotating, elevating laser turret above.



This rocket was originally poly-bag number 55001 from the failed 2010 MMO Lego Universe. Just like in the game, it can split into three modular parts connected by Technic axles. These sections are the following:

-Nose-Cone
-Cockpit
-Engine



The rockets can be dissembled into the three component sections and are interchangeable with each other, and with about 15+ other rockets available in LDD form from the Lego Universe Wiki. Also, the completed rockets can seat 1 mini-figure each.

The LEGO snow speeder design from Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back) of Star Wars fame has been using basically the same design for almost two decades (since 2004's set 4500, actually) and I have appropriated it for my LEGO Universe space fleet.  Yes, I removed the gunners seat and added a new rear cockpit canopy, but it's the same basic overall design. (Ok, so I also placed fins on it from the EU Sandspeeder variant for added flair.) These two have replaced my original Nexus Force fighters from six years ago. (2016!)

There is room inside each cockpit for a single figure. (Please note: The main cockpit canopies have the wrong "look" due to a mix-up. I want to order replacement ones without any printing soon.)

Rear view showcasing the Speed Champions windscreen at the rear when the gunners seat / harpoon gun was. I am going to put a R2 droid head in behind the pilot for hyper-space navigation, but am as-yet unable to locate where I placed them in my collection. (I know I have some extra I just can't find them!)

LAND VEHICLES

This revamped model is one mean-looking space-driving machine! Partially inspired by Lola the car from the TV show Agents of Shield, (although this one doesn't fly) this is Bob's ultimate ride.

It still seats one figure, although it now features a roof overhead for weather protection. The doors also open.

..and it even has room for taillights! (no exhaust pipe needed, this thing runs on clean fusion.)

This model is a slightly modified version of set 60033, Arctic Ice Crawler that I call the Mobile Ice Driller . Whereas the original set has a crane hook, this one has a much more useful drill bit.



The drill is used for mining energy crystals embedded deep within the ice of the frozen world on which the Neo Nexus Force is stationed.



This is a very slightly modified version of set 60035: Arctic Outpost. All I really did to this one was add the symbol to the front fender.



The inside of the mobile outpost is a lab, complete with Bunsen burner and microscope with crystal sample. It seems the computer hanging from the ceiling bar is off right now, as the scientist is out collecting more samples that were dug out with the Mobile Ice Drill.



The rear of the model is pretty sparse in details, and as such, their isn't much to say about it.



The snow speeder you see here is a simple vehicle to aid in fetching luggage and equipment across the base. It is armed with a flare gun and a radio. These come in mighty handy when the sun sets and temperatures plummet to well below minus 125 Fahrenheit!

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Well, that's all I've built so far, but that's not the end of the story or the models. Scott Bourgeois from MOCpages has made some pretty awesome stuff related to the Neo Nexus Force, their first allies, the peaceful Norstas (from the planet Beta Polaris in orbit of the the North Star) and the common enemy, the Xantukans. (inspired by the snake cultists from Ninjago) These were visible on MOCpages, but are now long gone.

EDITED 5/10/22: Added new real world pics of my Snowspeeder MOD-turned-starfighter.

EDIT: 5/12/22: added new pictures of Bob's car, as promised.

Any thoughts / ideas / complaints would be appreciated!

Looks great! I like it,
The logo looks Sci fi enough to me. 

You need to get away from the artric exploration as much as you can, Redesign the vehicles and make them more futuristic.

 

Please @Operacion Saturno

avoid piglet quoting of a full pictured post.

Especially a 7 years old one.

4 minutes ago, Professor Thaum said:

Please @Operacion Saturno

avoid piglet quoting of a full pictured post.

Especially a 7 years old one.

ok
But what is "piglet quoting"

Edited May 14, 20222 yr by Operacion Saturno

to quote a huge topic full of pictures

4 hours ago, Professor Thaum said:

to quote a huge topic full of pictures

OK
I saw this topic on top of the SCI FI posts so I tought it was new.
I think it has potential, but the creator needs to modifiy the Artric sets.

 

To respond to your comment, @Operacion Saturno; I like building off the Arctic theme. It's a more grounded theme than say, Classic Space, but yet still enough sci-fi to be recognized as such.

Now, onto updates on models old and new:

I just finished building the new train cars from late-May (I've been lazy, I know  ) but in the mean time, I've made this model in LDD that was inspired by the 2018 Arctic CITY theme's set 60196, Arctic Supply Plane.

It has a rotating cab, articulated saw arm and spinning blade. NOTE: The 90+ track links are missing in this view, because they would not attach to the wheels. However, they are in the parts file.

Rear view of the (admittedly very odd looking) vehicle. The Nexus Force logo slope goes on the rear.

This view showcases the movement possible with all five articulation points (four click-hinges and one turntable) on this model.

After the above diesel loco (to go with the coaches since the original shovel-nose Zephyr didn't work out) gets built, the Ice Slicer will be constructed too.

Edited June 16, 20222 yr by Murdoch17

On 6/16/2022 at 4:06 PM, Murdoch17 said:

To respond to your comment, @Operacion Saturno; I like building off the Arctic theme. It's a more grounded theme than say, Classic Space, but yet still enough sci-fi to be recognized as such.

Now I understand.

This is like arctic, but with a touch of Scifi. Got it, cool designs. 

I still need to take many, many more pictures, but now that I've run out of printed logo slope parts I can finally do so. Yes, you read that right: I've finished everything I planned - and didn't plan - with this custom theme. Why don't I order more logos from BrickLink, you ask? The answer is surprisingly simple: the sellers on Bricklink can't seem to tell 2014 and 2018 CITY Arctic logo apart. There is a difference, but I order one and get the other... it's sad but true, and has already happened twice from two separate sellers.

...Anyway, until I can get the individual pictures taken and uploaded, these two collective pictures are all I can do.

Here is the base itself, which comes apart modular-style into about 10 sections and is based off the 2014 CITY Arctic line. I also have two non-motorized trains that go with this theme, one being a short freight and one passenger with two sets of conjoined-twin cars.

In addition to the two trains, 1950’s orange Studebaker, and Arctic Ice Slicer MOD previously seen in the previous picture of the base itself, I also have:
- ice drilling truck,
- heavy duty truck + mobile laboratory
- pick-up truck
- x2 heavily modified Snow Speeders
- x2 LEGO Universe-style rockets
- a snowmobile
- a large robot
- Benny's spaceship MOD into orange / white with an elongated nose cone-area

 

I'll keep you all updated in this thread if I come up with anything new / add new pictures in the future.

Thoughts?

Edited July 15, 20222 yr by Murdoch17

Here we see eight suits, 16 (new!) helmets and six pants for more Nexus Force troopers. I had managed to find a BrickLink store selling the all the figure parts I needed for these Nexus Force troops, plus the blue helmets... everything, that is but heads with printed googles. I already have a style I'm using for the eight I already own from 2014, so I tacked some onto a second order that hasn't arrived yet. All in all, my forces on the layout (whenever I get that re-set up due to water damage issues in my condo) will be:

- 16 soldier figures
- 1 orange mini-fig robot (from Galaxy Squad)
- 1 train engineer
- 2 scientists
- 1 Bob (from Lego Universe)
- 2 astromech droids
- 1 mid-size robot (heavy set 31090 MOD)

Statler: I still don't understand how we got drafted into this space army as drill sergeants!
Waldorf: We didn't, we volunteered!
S: Why would we do that?
W: Everyone knows drill sergeants berate people! We're a perfect fit!
S: I'm still gonna miss our old place in the theatre box...
W: Why's that? Do you actually miss the Muppet Show?!?
S: No, it's because I left my wallet in my seat!
S + W: DOH! HO! HO!

(More parts arrived yesterday for several things, and I thought I'd have fun with them! Still need to find two pairs of orange legs when I get home, as I've been stuck at my moms for a week now due to water damage.)

Nice set of troops!

Any plans to do a Nexus Force version of set 10497? 😀

10 hours ago, danth said:

Nice set of troops!

Any plans to do a Nexus Force version of set 10497? 😀

Thanks @danth! It just might be feasible to do that, but I don't know for sure. If I did, I'd probably change the gray wings to white, blue body to orange, engine color to trans-orange, and canopy colors to trans-black. The printed cockpit parts will need replacement, the logo slope will need adding, etc. The real question is: which VERSION of 10497 would I build? 

Basically: maybe someday!

As of today, all my Nexus Force figs are assembled together at long last.

 

Edited August 5, 20222 yr by Murdoch17

Update time!

I had commented to my brother that the vehicle in Avatar set 75573 - Floating Mountains: Site 26 & RDA Samson reminded me of the Nexus Force "Talon" Dropships from the LEGO Universe video game while he was working on his version.

So he made this dropship (Flickr link to it) for me in stud.io after making a Blacktron III model of it first. I plan on making one of these, at least.

Check out his photo stream for more awesome stuff like this!