Space Base H17

[ZCerberus]

Mara Mining Station H17

Features:

Over 100 lights

Working turbolift.

Rotating exhaust fans and satellite dish.

Landing pads for ten ships.

Garage bays for six ground vehicles.

Mara Station H17 is situated on the planet L’imearn Main, a desolate planet with rich deposits of an iridescent mineral, Coredium, used in the production of several energy based technologies.  Coredium is a stable mineral meaning that while iridescent, the ground upon which Mara Station is built is solid.  Mining Coredium involves drilling a hole in the planet’s crust followed by exposing the Coredium to a solution (the formula for the solution is a company secret) that liquefies the Coredium causing it to expand and bubble up to the surface where it can be more readily collected.  One of the greatest benefits of using Coredium is that upon liquefaction, Coredium needs no other processing in order to achieve a usable state.  Furthering the uniqueness of this mining operation, the Coredium “mines” have be created by simply adding the solution to existing craters on the planet’s surface.

 Mara Station H17 was initially built as a research station consisting solely of the garage bays and associated landing pads on the west end of the current structure before the current mining process was perfected.  The larger garage bays on the northern side of the structure housed the research laboratory while the smaller garage bays on the south side housed Moondogs used to scout the surface and bring mobile drilling rigs into the field.  Upon discovering an important use for Coredium and a method to successfully mine the mineral, Mara station quickly expanded by adding a larger research facility to the old research station as well as multiple new land pads used to ship out mined Coredium.  Mara Station also quickly became a popular target for Blacktron raids.  The constant Blacktron raids led to the placement of three Peacemaker SAM sites as well as a permanent garrison of fighters at the station. 

View from the left side:

There first two photos I took just last month while this MOC was on display at BrickMania ToyWorks in Minneapolis, MN.  The original display, however, was built for BrickWorld, Chicago.  Here is the backside of the base from the display at BW.  Gives you a sense of where the cargo landing pads that lie on the backside of this base, a clear shot of which I couldn't get at Brickmania:

Speaking of the 100+ lights- here are a few shots while this was on display at BrickWorld:

I am pretty sure one of my personal space heroes, @Si-MOCs took this picture!

Spot a ship or build you like?  Here are some links to some of the various models that appear on this build:

Ground Vehicles:

LL928 M.C.V.P Maverick

LL928 M.C.V.P

U.V.P*

MoonDog

Ranger

4 Landing pads above the garages on west end:

LL951 Blue Jacket

LL214 Wasp

LL1220 Dragon Hunter

LL302 Hornet

1 Landing pad on top of base:

LL929 Galaxy Explorer*

3 Landing pads on east side of base:

LL165 Locust (x2)

LL428 Monarch

2 Landing pads on back of base:

LL330 Grasshopper

LL330 Grasshopper-D variant*

*Looks like I have a couple that haven't made it on EB yet.  I will have to add those soon.

[Littleworlds]

Just spectacular. It doesn't only impresses by its sheer size, but even more so by making an interesting build full of details and diversity out of it, that is just a pleasure to explore.

And the lights, what can I say, they lift it to another level really. Awesome project!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Well, this seems to be the ultimate space station then.

[Venefic]

My favourite part is when the lights turn on. It's just spectacular! I wish I could see this in real life. How long did you plan on this for? You must have receive a good reception at BrickWorld. 

A fantastic job! 

[Umbra-Manis]

Incredible to see all these craft come together with a great base to tie them together Z! The lights are just spectacular!

[Bob Fatts]

I can't tell you how happy this makes me! Such a beautiful tribute to Classic Space! So many details, all the supporting vehicles you built are all incredible. Incredible build.

[axaday]

I'd love to use that big Space logo on something, but I don't think I build anything big enough.

 

[Leonardo da Bricki]

Epic build! I think I saw this on BrickVault a while ago, or maybe TheLegoCarBlog... Excellent work on the Classic Space logo!

[Orange Leader]

Amazing. I have to take some time viewing all those details and loose builds later.

[sander1992]

That looks amazing.

The Space ships look really good and the base is huge.

Nice use of lighting in the base.

[Paddi]

Wow, this is impressive!!

[kieran]

That thing is enormous, full of detail and looks amazing 

[drclark]

Unbelievable build!  Love the lighting.  Wish I could see it in person - pictures probably don't do it justice to see all the details.

Wish I had the time and piece collection to build something like that.

-drc

[Mechbuilds]

10 hours ago, drclark said:

Unbelievable build!  Love the lighting.  Wish I could see it in person - pictures probably don't do it justice to see all the details.

Wish I had the time and piece collection to build something like that.

-drc

Many times in builds like these, their parts run out and they'll have to order more and more pieces constantly until the project is finished. 
Some times it'll take years to gather enough parts to finish a massive build like this. 

[ZCerberus]

13 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

Many times in builds like these, their parts run out and they'll have to order more and more pieces constantly until the project is finished. 
Some times it'll take years to gather enough parts to finish a massive build like this. 

This building and several of the ships and ground vehicles were built starting in February and ending in June for BrickWorld.

I did need to order a number of dark bluish gray panels to complete the landscaping.

[Lady K]

Absolutely fantastic!   So much to look at; I keep coming back to find something I didn't see before.  The whole thing is incredibly well balanced, and  the lighting is exceptional.  Very well done!

 

[Forresto]

Holy Canoli! 

What a MOC!

One could write an essay on all the incredible builds and techniques throughout but i'll settle on one.

The narrow cracks with ore/lava/undersoil showing through the ground are brilliant!