[LDD MOC]Zenith - Old Republic escort cruiser

[Dapper-D2]

Looks Spectacular! I hope someone makes it in real bricks it would be a sight to behold!

[Bob De Quatre]

Looks Spectacular! I hope someone makes it in real bricks it would be a sight to behold!

Thanks Dapper-D2

I really hope so too... There is an underground deity that might use his godly bricks to acheive that goal

Edited September 13, 2013 by Bob De Quatre

[TWP]

Great work!

I really like this one, but I wondered, why didn't you just make the real ship, the Thranta-class?

and I like the use of those dementor legs as tiny little detail.

[Bob De Quatre]

Thanks TWP

But I didn't want to build a Thranta-class!

I started by building the red sides, then the blue area (that defined the width of the ship), then I gave shapes to the green and yellow areas and at that point I needed a front for the ship, and tought the Thranta head could looks good, but at first it seemed hard to reproduce... but I tried, and the head is in fact both the last area I designed and the first finished.

The dementor legs stands for anchor arms, to "grab" big ships docked to the Zenith

[TWP]

The use of the dementor legs for anchor arms is even better. So they are for grabbing the defender? Show me please?

[Bob De Quatre]

A defender-class of the same scale should be 19 studs long

I tried to build one, but it was too difficult...

midi_defender by BobDeQuatre, on Flickr

[Jimosaurus]

I'm just blown away by this. Wow!

[Bob De Quatre]

Added feets, did some minor design modifications, and changed some parts/color combination according to bricklink availability...

Zenith escort cruiser by BobDeQuatre, on Flickr

[Bob De Quatre]

Alas the cave god didn't answer my prayers...

So I decided to check if I could buils the Zenith myself.

I've started building the blue frame, and discovered some flaws easily corrected. The placement and attachement of the rearmost feet are tricky, and I seriously doubt it will hold the nearly 8kg of bricks with enough stability.

Meanwhile I've been checking bricklink, and there are some expensive parts, mostly arches and slopes, and mostly dark red... I need to check the parts I already own, to estimate the cost of the project. And it's evident that I'll have to use most of the parts of my SSD, meaning I will never be finished (but anyway it was too big to display ).

[King Aragorn]

Wow this is unbelievable!

How did you do?

Excellent work! :excited:

[mechamike]

Must fall in line and applaud this fine ship.. Really nice build, nice colouring and cool shape.

[MstrOfPppts]

Excellent ship! I really prefer these CW and TOR ships to all those boring OT and PT ones, which are all so similar and just plain gray. I'd really like to see this one brick built!

[Bob De Quatre]

Thanks guys

How did you do?

You know, you take one brick, then you attach it to another brick, and so on

I'd really like to see this one brick built!

I'd like too...

[Cyberbricker]

When i saw the first picture, i didn't even realize it was the actual LEGO model showing.

I'm really lost for words with this one, I'm still overwhelmed...

[deanorth]

like we say here in creole : totoche (means wahou) ^^

The scale of the SSD is indeed a challenge (mine sits on top of a shelve, unfinished but the size is already massive), but this ship is just...maybe because of the red parts, but it stands apart. Hope you'll be able to build it Bob.

[Bob De Quatre]

Thanks guys

The scale of the SSD is indeed a challenge (mine sits on top of a shelve, unfinished but the size is already massive), but this ship is just...maybe because of the red parts, but it stands apart. Hope you'll be able to build it Bob.

My SSD is large with its 200 studs long, but the Zenith isn't far away with 160 studs! And it's not just a pile of plates

[mpoh98]

Wow that is an awesome LDD creation! So detailed and slick! I love it!

[Bob De Quatre]

Wow that is an awesome LDD creation! So detailed and slick! I love it!

Thanks

So I'll need to buy 5000 bricks in order to build the Zenith...

With an average cost of 0,10€ per piece, the final cost is nearly 500€.

I've created a spreadsheet to help me source the parts on bricklink and started collecting prices from some shops (well only one for now).

If I can't lower the price below 300€, I won't built it

[Chills]

Best of luck to get the price down where you want it. If you do build it be sure to post pics of the construction.

[leonardomeo]

First of all, GREAT JOB!

It looks so INSANE!

In fact, im so amazed but it that i will build this one, do you have an updated .lxf file with the feets and modifications you mentioned?

Will your new design be strong enough to hold all the pieces together?

Im kinda doubtfull about the front and the main body parts

Seems it will crack when the hold thing is mounted due to the weight

[Bob De Quatre]

Thanks Leonardomeo

I've started building the frame, and I've strengthened it and I'm pretty satisfied with it.

The front have been completely remodeled as it was obviously not strong enough.

I think I'll release the updated lxf file once I've built it, or once I realize I can't afford it.

[deanorth]

I'm starting ordering the part to finish my SSD, so I understand your pain, trying to get the price as low as possible is...like the Force, hard to reach:)

[Bob De Quatre]

A little update, and maybe off-topic...

I started getting parts' prices in some store and put them in a spreadsheet to compare prices... but with so many lots it's very time consuming.

So I've looked at the available tools like Brickficiency, but it wasn't what I wanted (btx it work really well with "small" projects).

When I don't find the program I want, I built it myself:

Bricklink tool by BobDeQuatre, on Flickr

It works like that:

- I type my bricklink login and password (not stocked)

- BLA automatically gets my wanted lists

- I click on the refresh button of the WL I want to get the full inventory (this is saved in a database, so no need to do it again)

- I add stores I want to get prices from by typing the store's vendor name (that is saved, also with the currency change rate)

- In the store list, I click on the refresh button to get the prices for the bricks in the selected WL (that is also saved)

And that all, the bricks list shows the bricks, the price in each store, the total price for each lots using the minimum price or a default price per part if no store has the part.

By clicking on a store's prices column header , the list is filtered to shows only the parts for wich the store is the cheapest.

The summary section indicate the number of parts and lots, the number of parts without prices, the total amount of the priced parts, the total amount of the non priced parts using the default price, and the total.

If people are interested, I could install the app somewhere where you could test it.

[khatmorg]

Incredible, unmistakably Star Wars design, I love the OT/TOR blend! I wish it could fit minifigs though .

[Bob De Quatre]

Incredible, unmistakably Star Wars design, I love the OT/TOR blend! I wish it could fit minifigs though .

Thanks

Well there is a lot of space inside where I could throw minifigs in

After a lot of color changes, parts swap and structure redesign, I've come to a model whoch is buildable and buyable.

It will cost a lot more than what's reasonable for me, but I'll still try to built it.

Here are the costs for the Zenith itself (without fees and shipment costs):

And here the costs for the stand (cause it needed a stand ):

Edited October 17, 2013 by Bob De Quatre