[K - B06] The Lifeblood of the Sea

[aeralure]

Location: B-06 Sorn

Tags: Kawashita, Submarine, B06, Sorn

The Lifeblood of the Sea

== Start transmission ==

Commander Turtle: Aera Lure, what is your status?

Aera Lure: I'm about ready to depart for Traig IV. My team is already en route.

Commander Turtle: There is a new development. I would like to ask you to instead proceed to Sorn. I have just rescued Dr. Fabian Killjoy. His discovery there has our scientists excited. Please go talk to his colleague, Dr. Traize Anastasia. He will be directing the mission.

Aera Lure: I'm on my way!

== End transmission ==

Dr. Anastasia's Lab

Aera Lure: Where o' where is the good doctor? I guess I'm early.

Aera Lure: *sees comm panel

Aera Lure: While I'm waiting, I suppose I could use this to contact my friend Blackhawk who finally finished his training on Orinshi and is performing a recon mission on Guinevere.

Aera Lure: Scrambled. I'm going to have to readjust these settings.

== Start transmission ==

Aera Lure: Blackhawk, are you there?

* squawk **** screee **** pffzzzz

Blackhawk: Yeah I'm here - unless this thing falls out of the sky!

Aera Lure: Oh, you're having trouble? Sorry to hear that.

Blackhawk: Damn straight I'm having trouble! The *bleeping* *bleep* doesn't *bleep* and if the *bleeping* thrusters *bleep* again I'm going to *bleep*! I swear it's almost as if someone was playing a practical joke on me. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?

Aera Lure: No, I don't. Who would do such a thing?

Aera Lure: Hohohoho.. hah.. MUAH ahahaha!!

Blackhawk: What was that? I didn't quite get that.

Aera Lure: Oh, nothing. *ahem* Sorry, you're breaking up. Good luck on your mission!

== End transmission ==

Dr. Anastasia: Sorry to have kept you waiting Ms. Lure. I'm Dr. Anastasia.

Aera Lure: Nice to meet you doctor. No problem at all. I was just advising a colleague. Call me Aera.

Dr. Anastasia: I'm sure you have heard that our esteemed colleague Dr. Fabian Killjoy was rescued on Sorn. He brings back with him valuable information about an undersea lifeform that metabolizes Awesomnium. We'd like to gather some more information about this creature and, if possible, return here with a specimen. I understand you are a pilot. Would you be up for this task?

Aera Lure: Of course!

Dr. Anastasia: I'll need you to bring a team of four of my research assistants to the location we've selected. I have entered the coordinates into your sub and I will observe the operation from here in the lab. I have connected this comm panel to the camera arm on your sub. Once we have identified the lifeform, my researchers will take it from there. I spent the afternoon scrambling the comm pad's network protocol to be sure Octan or Mantis will not intercept the transmissions. so no need to worry about that.

Aera Lure: !!!

Dr. Anastasia: Something wrong?

Aera Lure: No, no. Not at all! I just realized that I have some preparations to do on the sub prior to the start of the mission. I had best be off and let you finish your preparation as well. Never hurts to doublecheck...

Dr. Anastasia: She sure left in a hurry. I wonder what that was all about...

Dr. Anastasia: !!!

== Mission underway ==

== Start transmission ==

Dr. Anastasia: You should be coming up to the coral reef shortly.

Aera Lure: Yes doctor. I can see it ahead. Slowing speed and engaging the floodlights. Deploying the arm.

Aera Lure: I'm starting the video feed now. Are you getting this Doctor?

Dr. Anastasia: Yes I am. The connection is good. Look for a golden cone-shaped creature. It's a kind of polyp that...

Dr. Anastasia: Oh! That's it! The Decahydromapthylrematoratron! I am sending the information to my team. Please proceed with the extraction.

Aera Lure: Roger that.

== End transmission ==

Aera Lure: No action down here, but it sure is peaceful. Wonder how Blackhawk is faring? Just fine I'm sure. He's one pilot I could trust with anything - even a plane that barely flies.

Kawashita KM-34 Rakko Type-2 (猟虎, "Sea Otter")

The Sea Otter is one of Kawashita's most venerable one-manned submarines. Still in use after all these years it has proven to be both reliable and versatile. Typically used these days in civil and scientific capacity, the Sea Otter can still be found in combat missions thanks to a large array of modular options attaching to the upper and lower rear bays as well as the side wing pods. The model affords a near 180-degree view and is most popular in recreational and scientific ventures due to it's supreme visibility.

Base Model

Builds

Notes

So, I had fun this week! My first actual freestyle brick build in I don't know how long so that I might use my minifigure and do some story establishment. Really enjoyed that part. I had ideas for the story as the week developed and I really enjoyed linking it in to goings on around the forum.

The build of the sub itself, interestingly enough, came about from the Strong Gale. The engines used here were the first design I made for the Gale. I decided they were too small for what I was going for. I did not wish to use an L bracket to connect them to the Gale's wings, so that's where the 4-pronged black parts came into play. Once I made the engines using those it was clear to me that they were sub engines, so I set them aside for this use.

The design of the sub centered on the windshields. The main thing I wanted was a 180-degree front end - two canopies attached top and bottom somehow - so I set about choosing a canopy and how to do that. That really determined - though with a bit of struggle - the form of the sub.

The reef was simply due to the fact that I wanted a full story this time and a full setting. Reminding myself of actual coral reefs, the main goal with it was for it to be as densely packed and colorful as i could manage, with lots of different species.

Hopefully, in the future, more actual bricks, but I stressed my collection making Dr. Anastasia's lab. I have lots of little parts, but not many to make walls.

Thanks for reading, as it was indeed a long one this week.

ps: my favorite little accidental discovery was when I was positioning the camera arm (which was a huge undertaking of rotating parts in and of itself etc). I wondered if I could look through the lens and get a shot through it... I did.

Edited June 22, 2015 by aeralure

[Mike S]

Nice sub! The coral is really eye catching too!

[Blackhawk STX]

Hmmm... I don't seem to remember our conversation being so... garbled. I'm sure I was rather explicit in what I was saying. Wonder how that happened?

As for the build, I'll say I'm impressed! I saw what you had done as of yesterday, but it came out great, I must say. Even the set piece was neat. I also liked the story. Glad I could participate in it!

And I appreciate your trust in my piloting skills. It's true that I can fly anything that can get airborne, even if it's by sheer luck...

[aeralure]

Nice sub! The coral is really eye catching too!

Thanks!

Hmmm... I don't seem to remember our conversation being so... garbled. I'm sure I was rather explicit in what I was saying. Wonder how that happened?

As for the build, I'll say I'm impressed! I saw what you had done as of yesterday, but it came out great, I must say. Even the set piece was neat. I also liked the story. Glad I could participate in it!

And I appreciate your trust in my piloting skills. It's true that I can fly anything that can get airborne, even if it's by sheer luck...

Oh I have no idea how that happened.

Thanks! You gave me some things to work off of and I had fun with it.

Your skills are not in question. There have been some times that your dice were.

[Umbra-Manis]

Nice work!

[LucasLaughing]

Beautiful reef! Those flame pieces work really well, as do the unicorn horns.

[Blackhawk STX]

Thanks!

Oh I have no idea how that happened.

Thanks! You gave me some things to work off of and I had fun with it.

Your skills are not in question. There have been some times that your dice were.

Ugh. You ain't kidding there! I have had periods of unhappy dice at times...

[aeralure]

Nice work!

Beautiful reef! Those flame pieces work really well, as do the unicorn horns.

Thanks!

[Master_Data]

Great job on the reef!

[mccoyed]

Amazing reef. Good blending of Lego and LDD too.

[Big Sal]

That reef! Great sub too!

[LittleJohn]

Amazing work on the reef! Very clever piece usage throughout

[SpacerSteve]

Great sea plants. Love how you had a part in gazing the rookie.

[aeralure]

Great job on the reef!

Amazing reef. Good blending of Lego and LDD too.

That reef! Great sub too!

Amazing work on the reef! Very clever piece usage throughout

Thanks for the everyone. Very kind. I really wanted to make the reef look something quite like they are in real life. Spent a fair bit of time there.

Great sea plants. Love how you had a part in gazing the rookie.

Hahaha Me too.

[shmails]

The ship is really well designed, but that underwater reef is what really gets me! So colorful, so full of life. Well done!

[aeralure]

The ship is really well designed, but that underwater reef is what really gets me! So colorful, so full of life. Well done!

Thanks so much! I'm glad everyone likes the reef because as much as the sub is the main part of the build, my being a pilot, it was the reef that became the central part of the story and what I really wanted to have the most impact. I really like the sub - I was happy to make the 180-degree cockpit idea work - but the reef I really put some TLC into.

[NuckElBerg]

Great story, beautiful little sub and an absolutely gorgeous looking reef! Really, really love all the colours!

Some tips (if you want ):

- For camera angling, the hide-tool in combination with right-click centering is very useful. Makes basically any angle possible.

- There is a built in button in LDD for taking screenshots. It grabs the current picture, but removes overlays, such as the rotation arrows. Also, I saw you in the Bluerenders thread, so I'm really looking forward to seeing your builds rendered!

That said, great build!

[DarkDruid]

I love the sub and that ocean reef! It's very vibrant.

( CTRL + K ) is the shortcut for taking a snapshot in LDD.

[aeralure]

Great story, beautiful little sub and an absolutely gorgeous looking reef! Really, really love all the colours!

Thanks for the much appreciated!

Some tips (if you want ):

Always welcome! Criticism too. From anyone. I went to art school so I am well versed in critiques. I have refrained thus far from the kind I'm most familiar with when at school when replying here as I wanted to focus only on the positives I see and the things I really like - to focus on encouragement. A good, constructive critique though does offer some ideas for improvement and learning and, when done well, does not come off as a negative. It's all good when you balance both and offer any insights you have, so I welcome any comments of that nature always.

- For camera angling, the hide-tool in combination with right-click centering is very useful. Makes basically any angle possible.

Did not know this. I was messing around with moving the camera and found I could get it just so to look through the camera in the build. I was not using it in conjunction with the hide tool. I'll play around some more. Don't think I have even used the hide tool.

- There is a built in button in LDD for taking screenshots. It grabs the current picture, but removes overlays, such as the rotation arrows. Also, I saw you in the Bluerenders thread, so I'm really looking forward to seeing your builds rendered!

Oh I saw that but since I had a screenshot app I figured I'd just use that. Of course it makes sense that the built-in would remove the chrome. Good to know!

I'm hoping someone replied. Bluerender 004 crashes right at launch for me (though a window opens for a brief moment and I have the correct Java - I'm on a Mac Bluerender I believe is cross platform as it uses Java). I was hoping to get a link to Bluerender 003 or an update to 004 as others have said it crashed for them - or advice or fix specific to my issue. Forgot to check to see if there were any replies yesterday or today. VERY much want to be able to start rendering... Thanks for the reminder.

I love the sub and that ocean reef! It's very vibrant.

( CTRL + K ) is the shortcut for taking a snapshot in LDD.

Thanks!

Even better! I'm fond of keyboard shortcuts.

Edited June 23, 2015 by aeralure

[Andromedas Gates]

The judges awarded you 5 points.

[Master_Data]

Great job, aeralure!

[aeralure]

Great job, aeralure!

Thanks! Means a lot.

Thanks to the judges too for putting in extra time on what was sure to be a tough week to judge.

[Commander Turtle]

Thanks for the cameo!

Smart use of minifigs plus digital to get the results you wanted, and lots of your plants are very original! Totally making use of the LDD parts selection.

I'd be happy to photograph some relevant thumbnails of my character if you want me again in the future He's got a two sided face, grumpy and very grumpy, you choose!

[aeralure]

Thanks for the cameo!

Smart use of minifigs plus digital to get the results you wanted, and lots of your plants are very original! Totally making use of the LDD parts selection.

I'd be happy to photograph some relevant thumbnails of my character if you want me again in the future He's got a two sided face, grumpy and very grumpy, you choose!

Oh right! I hadn't noticed the obvious until now! I used your avatar instead of your sigfig! I could have gotten your sigfig image at the size I was using it from your sig or the Intro topic. I just spaced out on that one.

However, yes, that would be awesome. I may contact you (or anyone else for that matter) as I start using story more to bring others into the mix. I enjoyed this time around connecting to a few other scenes happening at the time I was posting so will likely continue doing that. If you want to preempt me from doing so and send me or direct me to a couple minifig pictures - great!

Also thanks! Really enjoyed the reef work. Having done that, I can really see the fun of having the parts to do some extensive fauna and environmental work. Was great fun in LDD. Spent time thinking about parts use and possibilities. I have no such actual parts - I've been trying so far with actual bricks to collect things to build things to pilot, mostly, but found I barely was able to make a wall section. I'm getting there I suppose, but I enjoyed the reef work so much that I'd like some actual things for fauna. I guess collecting actual parts will never really end, anyway.

Edited June 23, 2015 by aeralure