Posted February 11, 20232 yr Well, since there seems to be an egregious absence of engagement with my top theme in this classic competition, I suppose it falls to me to fly the flag for those nefarious nogoodniks - the sinister Spyrians! In seriousness, I have a lot of nostalgia for Spyrius and the other mid-90s themes - certainly way more than I do for Classic Space, despite making that my other entry - and if you say that the point of this thing is to contain another vehicle, my mind cannot help going to one of the greatest mysteries of Lego Space: how do they get those robots to where they're needed? I tried to capture the octagonal design of the Saucer Centurion, at a heavier scale. Originally, I was thinking more Star Wars in approach, a big old brick of a barge. But it suddenly hit me that the far more fitting way to do it would be to use those clam-shell dome pieces. Obviously this whole thing is built around the gimmick, with a Slizer gear-box driving the raising of the ramp. The ship is basically a rectangular box at its core, with two sections shaped around 45 degree angle plates fixed to the sides. My first try at the design had the robot swinging down rather than up, for some proper 'drop and run' action, but that provided too unwieldy and perhaps a little out of keeping with the 1994-styling I was going for. A scaled down version of one of my favourite-ever sets was a must. This Recon Robot is, I'd say, not actually that much shorter than the original, but has a more petite wheelbase to make it easier to store. I put Major Kartofski in as the driver rather than The Chief purely because - thanks to using the bubble helmet - it was easier to fit him there than in the ship's cockpit! This was a real joy to build and I hope it stirs a few memories! Now, I suppose I'd better create some Ice Planet bits and pieces for them to steal . . . Edited February 11, 20232 yr by The Librarian
February 11, 20232 yr Wow wow wow, I absolutely love the build. Makes a perfect transport for the old Spyrius robots. Instant Centurion nostalgia too. This is hands down one of my favorite Spyrius MOCs builds out there. I like the way you did the minifigs too. Super sleek and great use of those old windscreen pieces! Would love to see if you made a transporter for the RoboForce series now
February 11, 20232 yr Niiice! I love how the two pilots get the side cockpit and this HUGE surprise robot lifts out of the central cockpit. And the foldout ramp. So rad. Also wheeled robot + saucer is about a Spyrius as it gets. Edited February 11, 20232 yr by danth
February 11, 20232 yr Killer entry!! I was wondering if Spyrius would see some love in this contest and after patiently waiting, you delivered! Very cool interpretation of the recon robot and the twists on the classic figures all work so well.
February 12, 20232 yr I got some questions. The side pod is detachable? The robot is manned? Is there any other feature this great design has?
February 12, 20232 yr Any thoughts of making instructions available for this baddie in the future? At least the robot perhaps? I know making digital instructions is quite an investment (working on some of my own right now). I believe you have interesting and complicated enough builds to even make some space credits.
February 12, 20232 yr Oh, lovely! I was a big fan of Spyrius in my early AFOL years, and in hindsight I still find its emphasis on robots and flying saucers EXTREMELY compelling compared to some other old-school LEGO space factions. This captures that theming brilliantly, in spite of its more modernized aesthetic with lots of curves and studless surfaces. I especially love how the robot incorporates curved parts, ball-jointed articulation, and mechanical greebles while still keeping the primitive wheels and claw hands to retain the original theme's pulpy, old-school sci-fi flavor. Likewise, the ship itself retains those old-school faceted windscreens and the imperfect octagonal shape (as opposed to the more rounded disk shape people generally associate with flying saucers) for a delightful balance of old and new. Moreover, the way the robot is deployed from the center feels VERY much like the sort of function that might have shown up in one of those old space sets, even if none of the actual Spyrius sets employed this particular gimmick! The ramp and hoses even helps obscure/disguise the robot when the model is "closed", maximizing the feeling of wonder and surprise when the model opens up and the robot emerges! To top things off, you did a great job "upgrading" the minifigures with parts like shoulder armor, modern face prints, and the new bubble helmet while keeping a lot of the more iconic printed elements from the original figures. This is a fabulous tribute to the Spyrius theme through and through!
February 13, 20232 yr YES! I love this so much. First off it’s Spyrius which desperately needs more recognition but then it’s also this incredibly well-built craft that totally resembles the almost UFO-like look of most Spyrius ships of old. And then it completely folds open? And there’s a full-sized ROBOT inside, stored ON ITS BACK? Shut up and take my vote (if this account was old enough, that is).
February 13, 20232 yr I wanted to do a Spyrius-themed entry but didn't have enough red bricks, so thank you for giving the theme some much-needed visibility in the contest. I also love the design. I think too many contest entries went for really modern, streamlined designs but you managed to retain the look and feel of old-school Spyrius ships, it truly feels like a modern rendition of the vehicles the line had to offer. Well done!
February 13, 20232 yr Brilliant! Spyrius colors and feel, check. Big robot, check. Great looking ship to boot. Kudos.
February 13, 20232 yr Whoa, this is epic Incredible overall shape, great attention to detail and color blocking, but the robot transport integration is what really blew me away Loving the slight asymmetry to it as well!
February 15, 20232 yr Really love the design of the Robot and how it fits into the ship! This fits very well in the Spyrius line
February 16, 20232 yr Author Thanks for the kind comments! On 2/11/2023 at 4:40 PM, The Neighborhood Merchant said: Would love to see if you made a transporter for the RoboForce series now Since I'm in the UK, we didn't get RoboForce, so I sadly have no real attachment to it! Never say never though, it's a weird enough outlier that I might toy with it someday. On 2/12/2023 at 12:15 AM, Operacion Saturno said: I got some questions. The side pod is detachable? The robot is manned? Is there any other feature this great design has? No, yes, and sadly no. I did want to cram in something else, a magnetic manipulator arm or cargo storage or something, but couldn't come up with a way to do it that wouldn't compromise the robot storage. The robot is definitely manned - there's no real interior to speak of, but you can hopefully glimpse Major Kartofski in there in some of these pictures and see the cockpit open behind him in the minifig shot. On 2/12/2023 at 11:08 AM, Brickshipyard said: Any thoughts of making instructions available for this baddie in the future? At least the robot perhaps? I know making digital instructions is quite an investment (working on some of my own right now). I believe you have interesting and complicated enough builds to even make some space credits. It's not terribly likely that I'll do them for the ship, but I'll think about it for the robot. On 2/12/2023 at 5:48 PM, Aanchir said: Oh, lovely! I was a big fan of Spyrius in my early AFOL years, and in hindsight I still find its emphasis on robots and flying saucers EXTREMELY compelling compared to some other old-school LEGO space factions. This captures that theming brilliantly, in spite of its more modernized aesthetic with lots of curves and studless surfaces. You know, it struck me when I was planning this that I haven't seen many Spyrius MOCs over the years. It seems such a prime candidate for expanding with big ambitious builds, yet it seems to be vastly under-represented next to Blacktron. On 2/12/2023 at 5:48 PM, Aanchir said: I especially love how the robot incorporates curved parts, ball-jointed articulation, and mechanical greebles while still keeping the primitive wheels and claw hands to retain the original theme's pulpy, old-school sci-fi flavor. Likewise, the ship itself retains those old-school faceted windscreens and the imperfect octagonal shape (as opposed to the more rounded disk shape people generally associate with flying saucers) for a delightful balance of old and new. Moreover, the way the robot is deployed from the center feels VERY much like the sort of function that might have shown up in one of those old space sets, even if none of the actual Spyrius sets employed this particular gimmick! The ramp and hoses even helps obscure/disguise the robot when the model is "closed", maximizing the feeling of wonder and surprise when the model opens up and the robot emerges! I'm really glad the gimmick gives that impression - that's kind of what I was trying hard to capture, something that would fit in with the existing style. Also, I love building studless, but it was nice to play around with making it burly and cheesy rather than totally streamlined and serious! Thanks again everyone - I'm really thrilled you like this one.
February 20, 20232 yr This is fantastic. The subtile asymmetry, the octagon motif, the articulation on the robot... completely nailed the eccentric color scheme spyrius uses (three transparent colors!)
February 28, 20231 yr Love this design! Quintessentially Spyrius but so well made. Edited February 28, 20231 yr by Umbra-Manis
March 31, 20231 yr Great ship design. I'm torn on wether there should be 2 cockpits + the robot bay or just the 1 cockpit + the robot bay.
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