The Librarian Posted August 16, 2015 Posted August 16, 2015 (edited) So, continuing on from my previous creation, set in a post-Legacy era setting where the Jedi have scattered into various sects (honestly, this is largely irrelevant but it amuses me to play with something based on the future of a canon that is no longer canonical), here is a space fighter type vessel for the dapper Force-using Mandalorian about town: The shape is based on the Gauntlet fighter/transports used by the Death Watch in The Clone Wars (Kom'rik class for those wanting to look it up on Wookiepedia), though scale-wise she is much smaller than that. I wanted to evoke rather than match exactly. She's blue because I had a lot of blue (and practically no grey, thank you my last creation), while the name and motif is taken from the serendipitous use of Nightwing's glider's nose for the curve of the nose-cone. Like the Gauntlet, she lands with rotating wings and has a rear access hatch. Also like the Gauntlet, she has an underside hatch, through in deference to the scale, there is only room for the pilot - named Panak Grel by grabbing a bunch of letters and arranging them into something that sounds like it might come and punch you in the face - to eject and jet-pack into battle. What she has that the Gauntlet doesn't is a natty under-bonnet storage compartment for a speeder bike. [/url The bike itself is not particularly special and exists mainly for Grel to charge into battle swinging a lightsaber stave. Anyhow. Full gallery is here and all comments welcome. Enjoy! Edited August 16, 2015 by The Librarian Quote
LegoPercyJ Posted August 16, 2015 Posted August 16, 2015 Wow! That is fantastic! Awesome speeder! Great job! Quote
GuyDudeMan27 Posted August 16, 2015 Posted August 16, 2015 I absolutely love this! The Snot wings instantly made me fall in love. Just sitting, she looks beautiful. All of the little details just add to the overal look. I really like the engine designs. I usually struggle a bit with the engines, but this works perfectly. The red and black inlet in the wings looks very nice, even though it's plated. The back hatch looks super nice, but how long is that little 'tunnel'? And how does it connect into the cockpit? The cockpit looks like it's a bit higher than the back, if you look at the cockpit windscreen. I actually really like the color scheme, even if it looks very different from a lot of Star Wars vehicles. Overall, just an amazing build! I can't wait to see what else you're gonna make! Quote
Jacob Nion Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 This is an amazing vessel. It looks so much smoother than the lego set. Really a great interpretation of the clone wars ship. I love how it is sturdy yet not blocky. The engines and the boarding hatch e.g. make up that solid look. Certainly a milestone for Lego Mandalorians. Quote
Mr Man Posted August 18, 2015 Posted August 18, 2015 Good job, nicely shaped but still with functions. Quote
The Librarian Posted August 19, 2015 Author Posted August 19, 2015 Thank you for all your comments, chaps - glad you like the model! The back hatch looks super nice, but how long is that little 'tunnel'? And how does it connect into the cockpit? The cockpit looks like it's a bit higher than the back, if you look at the cockpit windscreen. The pilot's chair is hinged to allow for the 'drop through the floor' mechanic, so the idea is that it lowers down into the main part of the hull to allow the pilot to get in. There's not much of an interior, unfortunately, and it's too cramped to allow for the swivel chair I wanted to put in there - but the idea is there. I actually really like the color scheme, even if it looks very different from a lot of Star Wars vehicles. Overall, just an amazing build! I can't wait to see what else you're gonna make! I'm actually working on another model that has a very non-traditional colour scheme for a Star Wars vessel - so watch this space! This is an amazing vessel. It looks so much smoother than the lego set. Really a great interpretation of the clone wars ship. I love how it is sturdy yet not blocky. The engines and the boarding hatch e.g. make up that solid look. Certainly a milestone for Lego Mandalorians. One of the things I love about the original Clone Wars Mandalorian ships is how unique they look while still fitting into the overall Star Wars aesthetic. The Clone Wars were really good at coming up with ships like that but I think the Gauntlet is really one of their best efforts - so I was very happy I managed to capture some of that in this model. And she is as sturdy as she looks too: not impact proof but not likely to fall apart in the hands either. Thanks again guys! Quote
MKJoshA Posted August 22, 2015 Posted August 22, 2015 This is gorgeous! I love that it has an EU background too! Quote
Lego Fett Posted August 22, 2015 Posted August 22, 2015 (edited) This is awesome! I really like how you used SNOT to achieve finer lines on the wings! Really like that mandalorian, as well as how the ship opens up! Edited August 22, 2015 by Lego Fett Quote
YellowCorvette Posted August 22, 2015 Posted August 22, 2015 Good job at this awesome ship! Any chances to get a LXF file or a PDF instructions? Quote
BEAVeR Posted August 31, 2015 Posted August 31, 2015 That's exceptional, The Librarian! You didn't just create an excellent rendition of the Gauntlet, you gave it some more character. You made this ship quintessential Mandalorian, hunting, predating... perfect elegant brutality. I love how you show us that not sticking exactly to the source material, but interpreting it, can lead to some spectacular results in the hands of an artisan. It begins with the ship being blue. I like to think you started with the idea of "I'm going to build a ship in blue", and then immediately thought of the Mandalorian armor, which lead to this ship. Anyway, it's great that you paired the color with this ship. Because having such a primary color is pretty boisterous. It means you don't rely on stealth or the element of surprise. It show you're confident in getting the better of any opponent, by mere force, skill and swag. The stripes of red add on top of that some more. So it's great how you managed to make something this unusual work to great effect. I hope it inspires many to take bolder steps to create better MOCs. One of the things I would suggest is to use your design to accentuate certain elements. In this instance, the eyes of the viewer are drawn to the red stripes. It's a bit of a pity they lead your eyes to a meaningless spot on the wings. What you could have done instead, is having the point be near the cannons, so that the eyes of the viewer are led to the offensive part of the fighter, highlighting the character of ship even more, just in the unlikely case people don't get it already. You could also have use the trick of using accentuated lines to guide the viewer with the red stripes on the side of the fuselage. Right now there's a single stain of red that actually more distracts the viewer than aids him. If instead you would have made a stripe (a thinner one would look better, I guess) that leads to the front, to the main guns, you once again accentuate what's important. Something else that's important to determine the general feel of a ship, is the cockpit, because we people see it as the face of the ship, and as with humans, it is where we read emotions etc. The trans orange looks good, but the shape isn't aggressive enough. When you think of aggressive, you think of sharp, pointy things: fangs, teeth, claws. Here, that isn't really present in the cockpit. You could have used a pointier windscreen, or finished something you actually already started. You put that blue 2x4 tile on the cockpit, probably to camouflage the studs. Right now, the right angles look kind of strange, so in plain sight. The point is, you could have made it pointier to the front, giving the cockpit more of a frown, more squinted eyes you automatically associate with menace. So if you want to add more personality, you have to treat your ship more like a person with a face. And to make people see what you want, just put subtle arrows in place. And then there's color, shape, details, backstory, but you've already mastered those areas expertly. So keep on going! I'm excited to meet your next model! Quote
The Librarian Posted September 13, 2015 Author Posted September 13, 2015 Thanks for the comments guys - and many apologies for not replying sooner. I have been having a hectic time of it lately and only today got around to checking this thread again! Good job at this awesome ship! Any chances to get a LXF file or a PDF instructions? I'm afraid it's unlikely . . . the way I build is more luck than judgement, so it's very hard to reverse engineer my creations for instructions. I could probably do it, but it would take a while and I'm not going to have the space and time in the near future. Sorry! That's exceptional, The Librarian! You didn't just create an excellent rendition of the Gauntlet, you gave it some more character. You made this ship quintessential Mandalorian, hunting, predating... perfect elegant brutality. I love how you show us that not sticking exactly to the source material, but interpreting it, can lead to some spectacular results in the hands of an artisan. It begins with the ship being blue. I like to think you started with the idea of "I'm going to build a ship in blue", and then immediately thought of the Mandalorian armor, which lead to this ship. Anyway, it's great that you paired the color with this ship. Because having such a primary color is pretty boisterous. It means you don't rely on stealth or the element of surprise. It show you're confident in getting the better of any opponent, by mere force, skill and swag. The stripes of red add on top of that some more. So it's great how you managed to make something this unusual work to great effect. I hope it inspires many to take bolder steps to create better MOCs. Thank you so very much for your kind words and for blogging the ship! I'm very happy she struck such a cord with you. She actually started from the minifigure - I'd built Master Grel there quite a while ago and initially started building a ship in his colours based on a heavily modified Y-Wing, but it never went anywhere. However, after a little thought, I realised the Gauntlet was a much better basis! One of the things I would suggest is to use your design to accentuate certain elements. In this instance, the eyes of the viewer are drawn to the red stripes. It's a bit of a pity they lead your eyes to a meaningless spot on the wings. What you could have done instead, is having the point be near the cannons, so that the eyes of the viewer are led to the offensive part of the fighter, highlighting the character of ship even more, just in the unlikely case people don't get it already. You could also have use the trick of using accentuated lines to guide the viewer with the red stripes on the side of the fuselage. Right now there's a single stain of red that actually more distracts the viewer than aids him. If instead you would have made a stripe (a thinner one would look better, I guess) that leads to the front, to the main guns, you once again accentuate what's important. Something else that's important to determine the general feel of a ship, is the cockpit, because we people see it as the face of the ship, and as with humans, it is where we read emotions etc. The trans orange looks good, but the shape isn't aggressive enough. When you think of aggressive, you think of sharp, pointy things: fangs, teeth, claws. Here, that isn't really present in the cockpit. You could have used a pointier windscreen, or finished something you actually already started. You put that blue 2x4 tile on the cockpit, probably to camouflage the studs. Right now, the right angles look kind of strange, so in plain sight. The point is, you could have made it pointier to the front, giving the cockpit more of a frown, more squinted eyes you automatically associate with menace. So if you want to add more personality, you have to treat your ship more like a person with a face. And to make people see what you want, just put subtle arrows in place. I absolutely see what you mean. The cockpit, I admit, is slightly due to a restriction in how many windscreens I have in trans-orange! I think if I had some more blue wedge plates to hand, I would definitely have tried to avoid the right-angle at the top though - something to definitely consider in the future. As for the guiding lines on the wings, I think this is slightly the victim of changing my intentions half-way through. I was originally going to have guns mounted on the outer edges of the wings, but nothing really came of that idea, so I ended up relying more on the natural point of the wings than the pattern, which chiefly exists to replicate the sticker on the nose. I'm not planning to revise her much at the moment but if I do, I will have to bear all your comments in mind to see if I can improve the sweep of the patterning. Quote
TenorPenny Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 This has a real sense of weight and heft. Well done. Quote
FrenchLegoBoy Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 Besides the great design, the features are amazing. With the little story that goes with it, it really seems like an official set haha, congrats ! Quote
Junior Shark Posted September 16, 2015 Posted September 16, 2015 I love this. So much. Everything about is 100% USDA certified Awesome. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.