When Mutant Dinosaurs Attack the College of Engineering

[Hinckley]

So Sinner and I had a FFLSM competition, Saturday Night Smackdown build-off. We could only post five pics in our entries. And we had to build an MOC using only the pieces from these four sets:

Sinner posted his full entry here-check it out, it's awesome, IMO!

And here's mine: (keep in mind I got my megablocks kicked)

When Mutant Dinosaurs Attack the College of Engineering

Now this was my first attempt at Space and Mecha and this was a difficult foray for me! Not sure exactly what I was doing but I welcome any constructive criticism you may have.

This was my favorite ship, the fighter as I refer to it. It was the clearest picture I had in my head as we started the competition. Imagine how disappointed I was when I finished and there were hundreds of pieces left...

The cockpit swivels...

the engine is sort of greebly. I don't understand engines or mechanics or physics for that matter the way Sinner does, so I just arranged the engine looking pieces so they looked pretty...

You can see it better in the first pic, but I love the missle launcher and the missles I made. I really like the gun arrays and the cockpit. The controls attach to the canopy and lock in over the pilot.

My basic concept was that engineering students were fighting back against mutant dinosaurs on a post-apocalyptic earth. This student built a mech...

I like the mech and I'm surprised I was able to build one that functions in kind of a cool way. I truly have no business building space and mech as I usually stick to cars and buildings...but I like this a lot anyway.

Again, I liked building all of the guns...

I think the articulation is so impressive :-| :-D :-D :-D

left profile...I think right is his better side!

Shark gun!!

This is where everything got shaky. I had so many pieces left over and thought I could build a cool spacecraft with great swooshibility. And this one has 0 swoosh factor, and negative naked swooshability. You may seriously injure yourself swooshing in the nude with this one. :'-(

My idea turned to making this an aerial tank. There is a gunner station under the center "hump". Again I loved building the guns. Perhaps in the future if I want to contribute to good Space MOC building I should just build guns for Sinner's ships :-/ I do like the way I used the missle shooters...

:-D :-D :-D what was I thinking?

Ha! I am very happy with my use of the gray thingy that holds the rubber bands. I was bound and determined to use it. It is the pilots step into the cockpit!! *sweet*

Another shot of the rubber band holder! And a good indication of how much SNOT I used. I was also determined to tackle space building head on and use some SNOT! Too bad the result isn't the greatest. I literally thought "This is the best I can come up with. It must be the limited parts. I bet Sinner's isn't much better." *wacko* Oh well...I never gave up but I had a feeling his would be better, especially when I saw some of his other spaceships...perhaps I should have built a dreamhouse!

:-D :-D Look! Thrusters! Sinner sent me an e-mail during the competition containing a rant about not including thrusters, I was like "Yeah, I hate that" Then I googled thrusters and added them so he would think I was cool :-$

So there it is. Feel free to tell me I have no business building space, it won't hurt me. But I may whack you! But constructive criticism is certainly appreciated as I would love to become a better builder...

Thanks in advance-Hink *sweet*

[Corvus]

I think my favorite is the flying turret. I try on to build anything with wings that are too wide (takes up too much of my precious space) but this is great! My only concern is with the landing. If you had put landing gear on the back of the cockpit, this would be even cooler. :-) I agree that the weapons are fantastic! Beautiful! One of my flaws is that I have a hard time making a large gun.

The walker: The one thing that I dislike on this is the green weapon. If you had put four grey 1x1 cones on the end it would have looked better. The colors are a bit mismatched, but that's fine becuase you had limited parts. Again, the weapons are great, especially the bottom missile launcher.

The hovertank: This is... interesting. It reminds me of something, but I just can't put my finger on it. Again, the green weapon could have been improved by the use of something on the end, and the colors were off (again, not a problem) And again (again) the weapons are great, as is the booster you worked hard on. :-P I like this one, but it could have been better if the cockpit was longer than the weapons; this way, the weapons area would have seemed more like an outrigger.

All in all, a good job, Hinckley! *y* *y* *y* *y*

[Shadows]

I actually like 'the fighter' aka hoverthruster ship a lot. If it had that big gun from what the hell??? the aerial tank, I'd love it more ;-)

The mech is pretty solid looking too, aside from the colour scheme, which obviously was forced by the set selection. It does give it the "built by students out of spare parts to fight off the evil hordes of invading mutant dinosaurs" look though, so A+ for interpretation.

Thrusters. Yep. Them's thrusters.

So, did I mention how much I liked the fighter? X-D

Space may or may not be your thing, certainly can't tell from a first attempt, but you did cover mecha well, and I think potentially you should dabble in steampunk. And guns. All of your guns are very good.

Overall, an impressive effort! *y*

Almost wish I'd voted for it... :-P

[Siegfried]

Thanks for posting this. I have been looking forward to seeing better photos of yours.

Fighter

I didn't realise that the cockpit rotated. It seems to work well too. Nice greebly engine.

Mech

I quite like the Mech, but since I like Mechs with backwards facing legs it isn't too surprising. IMHO it looks very Mechwarriorish. I wanted to make a mech, but after I decided to use some of the leg pieces in the landing gear my options were limited! :-P He would need a very impressive power source to run all of those guns though; I epecially love the shark head gun. *wub* I forgot that the shark came with that set until it was too late so in the end I just put it in the food box!

Aerial tank

To be honest, I found this one pretty confusing and from the photos I couldn't tell that there was a gunner station. I love how you used the rubber band holder. My Merman set was assembled and had already been partially disasembled for parts (the boat was broken months ago), and I forgot that one came with rubber bands. I could have easily found a place for it on my MOC. :-$ I am confused by the whinch at the back but I appreciate how you added thrusters! :-P (Mine has more though!)

Overall

I was very surprised that you used the green 5 high pieces. I tried and tried but gave up. I felt they were too dominant to blend, and not enough to build much with. At one stage I was trying to build a little base out of green, but I just could make it look good. :-$ I tried to avoid it, but like you I ended up using the light blue for structual stuff when the pieces became scarce. I felt I used a lot of SNOT in mine, especially on the front (it took me several redesigns to get the front strong enough to handle!) and engine, but you made my attempts at SNOT and interesting part usage look lame! :-P The entire right hand side of the tank is on the side; how strong is that? 8-

[john cleese]

well i know how hard it can be to build with only a handful of sets, just today i tried something with the aero-booster and claw crusher, and i eventually just gave up, i became bored. Anyway you did a good job but sinner won IMO, sorry. I think you did better than i could though.

[Asuka]

It

[Hinckley]

Ugh! I've been busy. But I've wanted to respond to this...

Thanks for posting this. I have been looking forward to seeing better photos of yours.

Aaaaw. :-$ You're nice! No problem!

He would need a very impressive power source to run all of those guns though; I epecially love the shark head gun. *wub* I forgot that the shark came with that set until it was too late so in the end I just put it in the food box!

As I was adding gun after gun, I felt that it was probably too much. I wasn't sure for what reason, but I thought "Who needs it to be so realistic? :-| " Then I got a certain e-mail from a certain walrus ranting about thrusters 8-| I thought "Oh crap! I don't know if I know how to think that way!" I think the shark head gun is my favorite part of the whole dealy, after the rubber band holder...Thanks! :-$

Aerial tank

To be honest, I found this one pretty confusing

So did I :-|

and from the photos I couldn't tell that there was a gunner station. I love how you used the rubber band holder. My Merman set was assembled and had already been partially disasembled for parts (the boat was broken months ago), and I forgot that one came with rubber bands. I could have easily found a place for it on my MOC. :-$ I am confused by the whinch at the back but I appreciate how you added thrusters! :-P (Mine has more though!)

That is another reason we should have more pictures allowed. The winch is for tripping AT-AT's. It's a harpoon shooty-dealy. Are more thrusters good? I have no freaking clue. I took apart a little car I had built to put the thrusters in after I read your e-mail. I was just trying to impress you :-$ I wanted you to think I was cool. :-/

As far as the rubber band holder goes, I have always wanted to use some in an MOC. I was building a big spacecraft at one point and used them as walkways between the cabins and the ...pipes?... were underneath the walkway and you could remove each rubber band holder to access the ...ventilation system? If I were made out of time I would take up an interest in engines and space travel and power sources and thrusters. Ask you about how they work and why this does this and that does that, take an interest in my friend's interest and then build a cool spaceship which I have always wanted to do. But, I am very busy. Perhaps someday... *sweet*

Overall

I was very surprised that you used the green 5 high pieces. I tried and tried but gave up. I felt they were too dominant to blend, and not enough to build much with. At one stage I was trying to build a little base out of green, but I just could make it look good. :-$ I tried to avoid it, but like you I ended up using the light blue for structual stuff when the pieces became scarce. I felt I used a lot of SNOT in mine, especially on the front (it took me several redesigns to get the front strong enough to handle!) and engine, but you made my attempts at SNOT and interesting part usage look lame! :-P The entire right hand side of the tank is on the side; how strong is that? 8-

[Jipay]

I'd sum it up this way : excellent models, crapy colors. Why, oh why did you find it amuzing to mix up all those colors. I hate you for that :'-(

The mecha is awesome, but green + red + sand + grey + lime + black + blue + chrome. That really reminds me of those old fabuland sets.

8-|

[Siegfried]

I'd sum it up this way : excellent models, crapy colors. Why, oh why did you find it amuzing to mix up all those colors. I hate you for that :'-(

They were just the sets we both had free at the time. The Harry Potter set was added as a laugh, and maybe we shouldn't have as the colours from that set clashed the most. :-P I did need many of the pieces from it though!

[Hinckley]

Why, oh why did you find it amuzing to mix up all those colors. I hate you for that :'-(

You hate me? :'-( I like you! :'-)

Anyway, if you want the answer as to why I chose those colors all you need to do is read the first post...This challenge was a FFLSM! I chose shape over color scheme. Perhaps I should grayscale the pics and they will look nicer.

Well, thanks for the compliments jipay 8-| I hope we can still be friends even though you hate me. :-P

Sinner I replied to your post asking you very direct questions and you only reply to jipay? :'-( I'm crying in my cereal and that's making it taste sour...

[Siegfried]

Sinner I replied to your post asking you very direct questions and you only reply to jipay? :'-( I'm crying in my cereal and that's making it taste sour...

Is that the thanks I get for stepping up and defending you? :'-( I could write Jipay a quick reply but you desevered more...or are you trying to start an argument? *wacko* Should I be acting more outraged? :-P

The winch is for tripping AT-AT's. It's a harpoon shooty-dealy.

You know, as much as I love watching that scene, it really makes no sense. Why to the snowspeeders carry such a great harpoon and why do the AT-AT drivers keep walking when the smart thing to do would be to stop, destroy the pest of a snowspeeder, and then send out a trooper to cut the silly cable. Asimo has more intelligence than an AT-AT...(Have you seen the video of Asimo falling over? I almost cried, poor little guy. :'-( )

I was just trying to impress you :-$ I wanted you to think I was cool. :-/

With all seriousness, I was impressed. I didn't think that three decent sized models could be made out of those sets. These guys are great students! :-P But don't worry, I think you are cool, and so does Stauder!

As far as the rubber band holder goes, I have always wanted to use some in an MOC. I was building a big spacecraft at one point and used them as walkways between the cabins and the ...pipes?... were underneath the walkway and you could remove each rubber band holder to access the ...ventilation system?

That's an interesting idea....

Let's talk about this. The time is almost nigh when we said we would do this again. Do you have time right now? I have 6 weeks between shows...First we have to start a fight somewhere...I think we should pick three sets again, but from completely different themes and not try to gear it towards either one of our strengths or weaknesses. That is not to say that we tried to last time, but Town House and Wild Hunters seems to give me an unfair advantage... :-/ Anyway, maybe we could do a nice laid back six week challenge, no pressure, what do you think? *sweet*

Current free-ish sets

Wild hunters (Slightly picked over but mostly good)

Town house

Sentai Fortress, except Silent Strike

Skeleton Tower, except the dragon (but he isn't that hard to rebuild)

Blade Titan

Stealth Hunter (Slightly picked over but mostly good)

Skeletons' Prison Carriage

Aquabase Invasion, except the Squid

Tiger Shark Attack

Fast Flyers (Slightly picked over but mostly good)

Cool Cars (Slightly picked over but mostly good)

If none of these sound good I can look harder.... I am prepared to let you use full sets for the ones that I can't fully piece together.

When

After I make my Firetruck and alien whack entry would be good, but we can start now if you like. *sweet*

[Hinckley]

Wild hunters (Slightly picked over but mostly good)

Town house

Sentai Fortress, except Silent Strike

Skeleton Tower, except the dragon (but he isn't that hard to rebuild)

Blade Titan

Stealth Hunter (Slightly picked over but mostly good)

Skeletons' Prison Carriage

Aquabase Invasion, except the Squid

Tiger Shark Attack

Fast Flyers (Slightly picked over but mostly good)

Cool Cars (Slightly picked over but mostly good)

When

After I make my Firetruck and alien whack entry would be good, but we can start now if you like. *sweet*

Town House, Sentai Fortress, Aquabase Invasion and Skeleton Tower I can also do and I'm okay leaving out Silent Strike, the squid and the dragon...

Can we start after Monday? *sweet*

[Siegfried]

Town House, Sentai Fortress, Aquabase Invasion and Skeleton Tower I can also do and I'm okay leaving out Silent Strike, the squid and the dragon...

Can we start after Monday? *sweet*

Sure ....this looks like an even odder combination! :-D That will make the deadline the 29 October... 8-|

[Hinckley]

Sure ....this looks like an even odder combination! :-D That will make the deadline the 29 October... 8-|

That's right Gopher! Now we have until until Monday to start a fight somewhere. I believe it's your turn to call me out... *sweet*

[Starwars4J]

Why didn't you ever tell me this was here? I can't believe I missed this *wacko*

First of all stop being so self-critical, I love these! There are lots of ideas that I didn't notice at the time of the contest that I might want to erm..."borrow" :-$

Fighter:

I love this thing...I guess it isn't as much a fighter as a hovering gun platform, or am I misunderstanding the use of those turbines? I mean I see it has one in the back, but was it meant to be fast? Either way I *wub* it. The fact that the cockpit rotates like that is phenomenal, and that little gun on the swivel-thingy at the bottom is just fantastic. Which set did that come in? I've been looking for some bley ones 8-| Maybe some sort of chain-gun might work for that a little better, the gun itself seems small compared to the rest of the ship. Nice greebs too, and the colors actually aren't too bad on this one *y*

Mech:

Okay, the colors on this one are a little distracting, but it's okay! We all still love you! Well except for jipay but that's okay :'-) I like the legs on this, the design of the separate "toe" on the foot is actually pretty intriguing 8-

[Siegfried]

First of all stop being so self-critical, I love these! There are lots of ideas that I didn't notice at the time of the contest that I might want to erm..."borrow" :-$

I thought he was being a bit harsh to himself too. For a non-space builder these are pretty darn good! *sweet*

Which set did that come in?

It's the nose of 7477

[Hinckley]

I'm so glad my two space-building buddies gave me some good feedback on this! X-D

First of all stop being so self-critical, I love these! There are lots of ideas that I didn't notice at the time of the contest that I might want to erm..."borrow" :-$

Borrow away! Thanks :-$

Fighter:

I love this thing...I guess it isn't as much a fighter as a hovering gun platform, or am I misunderstanding the use of those turbines? I mean I see it has one in the back, but was it meant to be fast? Either way I *wub* it. The fact that the cockpit rotates like that is phenomenal, and that little gun on the swivel-thingy at the bottom is just fantastic. Which set did that come in? I've been looking for some bley ones 8-| Maybe some sort of chain-gun might work for that a little better, the gun itself seems small compared to the rest of the ship. Nice greebs too, and the colors actually aren't too bad on this one *y*

That is a much better way to describe it, thanks! :-) A hovering gun platform. Nice! That is exactly what the rubines were meant for. The two on the wings for altitude and the one in the back for forward momentum. Look, I'm using "technical terms." I made this first so I did choose more uniform colors...Thanks for the nice things you said! :-$

Mech:

Okay, the colors on this one are a little distracting, but it's okay! We all still love you! Well except for jipay but that's okay I like the legs on this, the design of the separate "toe" on the foot is actually pretty intriguing Maybe try and cover up that hole in the cockpit but besides that it's great. Gotta love shark gun

Yes, I threw color scheme out the window for shape on this one. He's a very creative student who wanted to be different by using colors that induce vomiting...I do like it though and I'd love to revisit it without limitations...I went through the most re-builds on the legs and feet of this throughout the three weeks we had to finish...

Flying tank:

I don't know why you dislike this one so much, I think it's pretty innovative. Asymmetrical is the new symmetrical so that's pretty "in" right now X-D I think the concept is great, sort of like a gunboat. It's nice and greebly with a decent amount of SNOT. As for the rubber-band thingy I love it *wub*! I always save them too, I mean they're real lego, and they have holes! I intended on using them in a MOC eventually but you beat me to it :'-( Now I can't use them without feeling like I stole it from you! But that's okay, I guess I'm gonna steal a few design elements :-D Don't be mad :-(

Overall I think these have a LOT of potential, and I bet if you tried to re-make these, without the parts restriction they'd blow us away! The main thing I think you're missing is landing gear, but that's forgivable. Seriously these are great, better than I could've done

Thanks, because sometimes I do like the tank. Other times, I remember some of the words people used to describe it during the voting...

Moc1. Moc2 just stinks.

...words hurt and I have a very fragile spirit... :'-( but I'm learning to like myself again... :'-)

:-P

I do wish I had the time to return to them all but will probably only play with the mech for a little bit, when I find time... :-| Thank you for the nice feedback. I appreciate the suggestions and the compliments.

Here is a pic of my crew. I thought you would be happy to see that they are all nerds:

I thought he was being a bit harsh to himself too. For a non-space builder these are pretty darn good! *sweet*

Thanks buddy! :-$

[Starwars4J]

It's the nose of 7477

Thanks :-)

Here is a pic of my crew. I thought you would be happy to see that they are all nerds:

Thanks buddy! :-$

Those aren't nerds :-| I mean maybe the green-haired dude and the chick in glasses, but that woman with the red hair is a babe 8-

Edited September 14, 2007 by Starwars4J

[Hinckley]

The chick in glasses is a guy! :-D His name is She-man. Of course they are all nerds, they're engineering students.

[Corvus]

8-

[Shadows]

The chick in glasses is a guy! :-D His name is She-man. Of course they are all nerds, they're engineering students.

It's a very nice crew. *y*

I'd like to see a competition involving minifigs and I bet you could come up with some great ones.

That said, I still prefer this crew:

*wub*

*wub* X-D

[Hinckley]

It's a very nice crew. *y*

I'd like to see a competition involving minifigs and I bet you could come up with some great ones.

Thanks :-$ You can see more of my custom mini-figs here...with more on the way...

And Sinner made some cool ones for this competition too!

[Jipay]

You hate me? :'-( I like you! :'-)

Anyway, if you want the answer as to why I chose those colors all you need to do is read the first post...This challenge was a FFLSM! I chose shape over color scheme. Perhaps I should grayscale the pics and they will look nicer.

Well, thanks for the compliments jipay 8-| I hope we can still be friends even though you hate me. :-P

Sinner I replied to your post asking you very direct questions and you only reply to jipay? :'-( I'm crying in my cereal and that's making it taste sour...

I know whta kinda competion it was : but you had enough bricks of the same color sheme to create a decent vehicules. But no ! You decided thta you shall use all the bricks :-| :-P

[Shadows]

I know whta kinda competion it was : but you had enough bricks of the same color sheme to create a decent vehicules. But no ! You decided thta you shall use all the bricks :-| :-P

... says the guy with the rainbow fresh avatar X-D

[Jipay]

This has nothing to do with the present matter X-D