dvogon Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) *Your entry has earned 8 XP* The last assignment is being specially difficult to execute. Fahne and her team have been following the republic spies they found in Tatooine for some time. The spies wanted to secure a mysterious cargo somewhere in Grizmallt. The time and care they have put to protect that cargo is very strange, so it must be more important than expected. Fahne's team has been very busy trying to intercept the cargo ship and an initial setup is being prepared at one less frequented hangar close to the main Grizmallt city. Now, In an unexpected move, the location of the cargo has been revealed... Bagdaar: Here we have the transport. The stolen coordinates were indeed the right ones! This cargo seems to be more delicate than we thought. Fahne: That's a setback. We have to act quickly, we cannot afford failing with this kind of assignment. Bagdaar: It's heading a well protected place in the mountains not too far from here. Probably under the control of the Republic. Gruntar: With that kind of defense a fighter won't be enough for this job. Fahne: Yes, right. I was expecting something like that given the secrecy of this cargo. We need to use another heavier ship instead. Hopefully it's on its way. Gruntar: Ah, good! Then, R2-D9, I guess you won't have a place this time. R2-D9: beeep-blo-beeop [I'll find another assignment, for sure!] Gruntar: Ha, ha, yes, sure! I fear you as much as an assassin droid! After a small ambush in Grizmallt main city one of the republic spies has been just captured. Now it's time to interrogate him. Groodun: We got him! Somehow those republic bastards knew that we were preparing something and they sent this guy to investigate. We found him in the suburbs, asking for information about us. 8-LOM: It was not that difficult to decrypt their secure communication protocols. Lame republic beings, you need to be updated more often. Gruntar: Poor spy! I'll crush you in a couple of seconds. Fahne: Wait, wait... don't be too fast. We can obtain from him more information first. Republic agent: I'm not a spy, I don't know who you are and what are you expecting from me. I'm a republic citizen on a vacation travel and you are all far far away from legal practices. Fahne: Mmmm... I'm not so sure about your legal practices neither. We'll see... Time was running out with the cargo ship close to landing, so it was time to stress the republic agent a bit. Fahne: Here we have some proton bombs. I bet you really know what they are and the kind of damage associated to them. Republic agent: Yes, sure I know about those mass-destruction weapons. They were used too much by the fallen Empire. Hopefully not anymore. Fahne: I'm not so sure about that, but, anyway... These tactical weapons are perfect for an assault of your flimsy base and your cargo ship. Republic agent: What base? What cargo ship? I don't know what are you talking about. Groodun: Yes, you do. Otherwise you wouldn't be at the place we found you. 8-LOM: Recall that I decoded your communications. I guess you will understand that fact sooner than later. Republic agent: What communications? This is starting to be too absurd to be true. Fahne's plan is to start a quick engagement to take the cargo. Now they are waiting for the right ship for the job in the hangar close to Grizmallt. A TIE Striker appeared in front of the Grizmallt sun and started the landing maneuver. These ships are quite expensive nowadays, but almost perfect for close to planet ground activities. Republic agent: You are all mad! What are you going to do with this tactical bomber? Gruntar: I bet you already know that. Groodun: I see you perfectly identifying the weaponry. Republic agent: That isn't that difficult to know, if you have been serving the Republic. Fahne: Ah, this is a precious gem I always enjoy. There aren't that many of those these days. The ship landed in the hangar without almost any noise. Bagdaar: He, he, I love those new antigravity landing engines. Fahne: Yes, they are great! Where did you find them? Bagdaar: Oh, that's something a bit difficult to explain. Maybe some day... Fahne: How hard was your last job? I see some new laser shots on the fuselage of my ship. Crew member 1: It wasn't that easy, but here we are... in time. Gruntar: At least with the ship in one piece... Crew member 2: Oh, don't remember us that. Nothing to be worried about, actually. You'll get your part as usual and the ship in perfect condition. Fahne: I hope so, but not today, we are a bit in a hurry. R2-D9: beoop-blee-beep [The bombs are ready to be loaded, initial locks out] Fahne: Great! Groodun, let's go! Republic agent: You are crazy! Don't really know what are you trying to do but that's going to be a hard mistake. The Republic won't forget this! Groodun: Don't be too worried about that, we are used to these kind of things. We'll be back soon. Maybe you could have some time to think about your attitude. Fahne: It's a shame that you didn't want to collaborate. Maybe later... The ship takes off in silence. Gruntar: Wow! It sounds like a falling feather. Good job Bagdaar! Bagdaar: Thanks, but just in close proximity. The twin ion engines will still sound as usual after finishing the taking off maneuver. 8-LOM: Ok, back to work. Playing the role of an innocent republic being on vacation is not going to be a good strategy. Gruntar: I know a place near here to start with... (to be continued...) Spoiler I still need to upload more photos with details of the TIE Striker and finish the storyline. For a small reference of the ship, see this TIE Striker Fandom page. The ship is based on the TIE Striker set 75154. However that set has some important design errors, the main one being not having a bomber seat due to the technic structure nor anything to drop. This version has been redesigned from scratch. Now it has two pilot seats, plus a bombing mechanism, hidden actuators for the lasers and, of course, the movement of the wings. A detail of the bombing mechanism, similar to that of the Lego Y-Wings. The dented wheel is used to move the mechanism to drop the bombs. The bombs are loaded from the top. The bomber seat at the back The front cockpit A detail of the wing mechanism at the right and there laser activator at the left Edited July 24, 2020 by dvogon Updated the storyline and some additional photos and corrected typos Quote
marvelBoy123 Posted February 2, 2020 Posted February 2, 2020 Nice, the overall build is really good especially compared to the set and it is nice to see how many inaccuracies you were able to fix. You have kept a nice round shape throughout apart from that back section which for me didn't really work. Overall however it is very nice and good to see so many features. Quote
Nicotoa Posted February 3, 2020 Posted February 3, 2020 I love how you managed to include the bomber mecanism into the ship, quite simple but ingenious nontheless. Quote
dvogon Posted February 3, 2020 Author Posted February 3, 2020 Thanks for the comments! @marvelBoy123 Yes, the back of the TIEs is a bit tricky to put the twin ion engines, the motor and the round shape behind. The original Lego design is way less accurate though. Here I have a picture of the mechanisms inside the main body of the ship. I use to take some photos of the building process as informal building instructions for me. The upper L pieces are the laser actuators, the small builds below the wings mechanism. On the left the bombing mechanism, similar to that of the Y-Wing of lego, but a bit smaller to fit into the fuselage. On the right, the dented wheel to activate the bombing mechanism. It is placed on top of the bombing mechanism. The wings weight and stability is maintained by the rectangle technic piece. At the bottom of the fuselage the bombs get dropped helped by some slopes. I have updated the storyline as well. Now it is complete. Hope you enjoy it! Quote
MKJoshA Posted February 6, 2020 Posted February 6, 2020 Very nicely done! I like the angles of your wings. And the height of your hanger is impressive! I love the effect your white windows with black behind them give, but I think the white looks a little starch in contrast to all the grays. Probably fairly realistic for that area to be white, but it still seems to jump out in a bad way. So maybe I'm just too picky Quote
dvogon Posted February 7, 2020 Author Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) Thanks again for the comments! Actually, when looking at SW hangar photos, many have long stretched white lights, specially at the entrance. I wanted to emulate that effect with white bricks, but the result was not convincing as there were not lights. So I tried with the white windows, which gives some additional texture. The black background helps adding contrast. Edited February 7, 2020 by dvogon Quote
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