[SoNE Ep.I] A long way down...

[LegoFjotten]

(This is a continuation of my free build story, see earlier builds for full story)

Almost there - http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=85637

An ounce of prevention - http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=85976

Sabotage - http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=86135

[soNE Ep.I] A long way down...

We'd barely gotten out of the hangar in one piece. For each Stormtrooper we put down, two more seemed to appear. As we were falling back we ran into another squad of Stormtroopers, cutting off our escape route. Our only choice was to take our chances out on one of the landing platforms, hoping it had a ship we could use. Just as we exited the door to the landing platform, Jackson took a hit to the leg. I quickly grabbed him by the collar and pulled him with me as he was frantically shooting at the Stormtroopers. To make matters worse, Stormtroopers started pouring out on an adjacent landing platform. They had both advantage in numbers and the higher ground. Before long we found ourselves at the end of an empty platform with nowhere to go, and a long way down...

Just as we were about to give up we heard a familiar sound, as an "Ant Eater" and a small Rebel speeder swooped around the building, catching the exposed Stormtroopers in crossfire. The situation was turned around within seconds. The remaining Stormtroopers tried to fall back, only to be met by a team of Cloud City guards lead by Lobot.

Lobot and his team had lead a group of civilians towards the landing platforms hoping to find a way off Cloud City, and their timing had been perfect. As we loaded the civilians aboard the Ant Eater we got word that the Millennium Falcon had been spotted taken off with Princess Leia aboard. Maybe this mission we would be a success after all!

Main shot (edited)

Interior

Ant Eater

Although the Ant Eater is more well armoured than well armed, the quick rate of the quad lasers are ideal for clearing drop zones of ground troops before deploying it's own cargo.

Rebel Speeder

Edit: Updated with close to complete shots (maybe!). Not sure about the gradient in the main picture though.

[Dapper-D2]

Wow, looking good LegoFjotten! The Ant Eater is my favorite, but you've done great work with everything here. I'm glad you're on our side! :thumbup:

[Artizan]

looks great, I am looking forward to your "finished" photos!

[Nom Carver]

I have been looking forward to see your entry and I have to say that I love it! the action, the buildings, the vehicles, this is one of my favorite entries so far.

[Brickdoctor]

Looking good! I really like what you've done as far as the style of the buildings. The 'Anteater' makes me laugh, but it looks great because it maintains a functional look.

I do wish that the platforms were more round, and maybe they and the bridges leading to them wouldn't look bad in grey, to give some contrast between them and the buildings and prevent the MOC from having too much white in it.

[LegoFjotten]

Thanks for the comments so far guys, I just added a bunch of Ant Eater shots, take a look.

Brickdoctor: Yeah, I know about the white overload, got a Bricklink order on the way with various gray parts that might work better for the platforms.

[TenorPenny]

Love that Ant-Eater. Lots of character for such a tiny ship.

[MstrOfPppts]

This looks a lot like cloud city! The buildings are a bit narrow as said in a previous entry, they look like there's only place for an elevator in there. I know it's hard to make them bigger or even round, but if you'd make them both into one, it might look better. The color scheme is fantastic, love the orange and sand blue details. The Ant-Eater looks pretty cool, though not much like something from the SW universe. The front reminds me of the alien cyborg flying thingy from Half Life 2.

[LegoFjotten]

Thanks for the comments MstrOfPppts, your input is always constructive & helpful!

I'll play around a bit with combining the buildings and/or fleshing them out a bit. Gotta be a bit careful size wise though, I'm pretty close to the limit.

The Ant Eater was built without looking at anything specific, just the basic idea of long wingless design à la the Tantive IV, and open sides like the Republic Gunship. I opened a Tantive IV set and constrained myself to those pieces.

[TWP]

Great work! I love the cloud city and the ant eater looks fun too!

[LegoFjotten]

Uploaded another test shot (see edited first post).

I've hinged together the two buildings, and expanded them a bit. Also replaced one of the white platform with a light gray one, and added a small dark gray base to the buildings just to separate them from the white backdrop. Started work on the interior as well (no photos yet, sorry).

I'm considering replacing the Ant Eater with another smaller shuttle more in a more recognisable SW style. Opinions on that?

I will definitely work more on the presentation, I am not happy with the angle / composition of the shot nor the lighting.

C & C most welcome, the deadline is still weeks away!

[Bob De Quatre]

Looks very good. The mini cloud car adds depth to the scene

I xouldn't replace the Ant Eater, but that's your choice (yeah I know, it helps a lot )

[LegoFjotten]

Thanks! ...and I've updated again with a different camera angle, think this one is a bit more flattering.

[LegoFjotten]

Another update, added first interior shot.

Lobot and a trio of Cloud City guards are about to ambush the Stormtroopers, and lead the civilians to the evacuation shuttles.

[Wedge09]

That's great :thumbup: You recreate Cloud City's architecture very well

[Brickdoctor]

That interior. It's like a more civilian section of the Cloud City playset we've always wanted.

[Sebeus I]

Great job!, you managed to put it a great deal of deatil without making it look too chaotic, that big ship looks awesome and so does the interior of te building structures .

[Lobot]

Great work LegoFjotten, even though it's for the Rebellion

[MstrOfPppts]

The interior looks excellent! Although the whole MOC still has a bit too much play set feel if you know what I mean - The enlarged building looks OK, but the top of it makes it feel like it's in micro or mini scale. The interior has a lot of unconnected and unreachable places. It's exactly how TLG would design a set. And all these things make the MOC look not as a realistic replica of something. Nevertheless the build is smooth, clean and as a whole looks very good and is easily recognizable.

[LegoFjotten]

Another edit, final (maybe) pictures (you must all be bored to death by now... ).

Not sure if I will keep the gradient in the main picture or if I will go for a more discreet background.

[Covi]

This is one hell of a MOC. Love the colour scheme, and it looks very clean.

Great job on all the posing of the mini figures...it could right go into any promotional folder!

So my comment is very easy : fantastic work and everything well put together!

[Mr Breden]

Ah, a fellow Norwegian. I love the shape of the "Ant Eater" and the buildings are

[Jacob Nion]

This is really one of the best entries. I like the playset feeling of it, so the micro scale like towers on added to the main buildings. And your ship is really top of the notch. I see you had to sacrifice the Tantive IV, but it has paid off. Your entry makes me confident that the Alliance will win this battle.

[Rook]

Love the shuttle it have nice warthog or anteater feel to it with that snout.

[LegoFjotten]

This is really one of the best entries. I like the playset feeling of it, so the micro scale like towers on added to the main buildings. And your ship is really top of the notch. I see you had to sacrifice the Tantive IV, but it has paid off. Your entry makes me confident that the Alliance will win this battle.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm sure your entry will be just as instrumental in this battle though!

Love the shuttle it have nice warthog or anteater feel to it with that snout.

The Warthog was part of how I came up with the anteater nickname. :D