BrikWednesday - 9/26/18 T.L.A. S.A.S.S.

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Theblackdog
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BrikWednesday - 9/26/18 T.L.A. S.A.S.S.

Post by Theblackdog » Wed Aug 15, 2018 1:29 pm

Welcome to BrikWednesday, where I will try to post a new creation every Wednesday! I have a fairly large buffer set up, so let's see how long we last.
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The Personnel Excursion Quick Unobtrusive Orbital Dropship (P.E.Q.U.O.D.) is the T.L.A.'s newest special operations dropship, replacing the Hr-36. Advances in technology gleaned by studying Angels and other phenomena in the Impact Zone have improved its speed, firepower, and stealth capabilities. The P.E.Q.U.O.D. is armed with two Size 3 positron guns, two Size 2 miniguns, and two Size 2 missiles, and can (theoretically) carry a squad of five troops, usually the T.L.A.'s elite jump troopers. The P.E.Q.U.O.D. is one of the first few builds in my planned project to rebuild the T.L.A. more or less from the ground up.

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Side view. This was a monster to put together - I spent over a month trying different approaches to get the shape I wanted. The design is based on the Zanzibar II cruiser from Gundam 0083. I especially liked the way the design featured a smooth curve from the nose to the wingtips, and I tried to replicate this on the model as best I could. I also tried for a more consistent color scheme, with grey on top, white underneath, and black on the engines.

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Front. Optical sensors are some of my favorite details to add to a model, since it's more or less obvious what their function is supposed to be.

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Top. I feel like the mindset I got into while building BrikWars units has limited my ability to build complex details, since I have to worry more about conserving parts and finishing builds quickly to get an entire army together. When detailing the P.E.Q.U.O.D. I decided to ignore these considerations and go all out, and I'm mostly happy with the results.

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Rear view. I generally start my ships from the front and build backwards, which sometimes leads me to get stuck when designing engines that fit with the rest of the frame. The lower pair of engines were exceptionally tough to design. Finally, I had a breakthrough when I discovered that the slope of a 1X1 cheese wedge matched a 45 degree slope brick held by a click hinge. I ended up building the rear engine nacelles using these wedges.

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Underside. I'm extremely pleased with how the intakes turned out, although I'm now worried about my supply of 4X2 wedge plates.

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Underside with landing gear deployed. The gray piece at the bottom of each engine nacelle folds out to let the gear extend, then moves back into place to conceal the empty gear bay.

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Sitting on the landing gear. The 1X1 cheese wedges on the side landing gear doors touch the bottom of the wings, keeping the gear in the correct position.

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Exploded view showing the major subassemblies. I've taken care to make sure that all of these parts have at least two points of contact with one another, improving the model's overall structural strength.

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These subassemblies form the top and sides of the ship's front section, and are probably the most complex. I love these 10x3 wedge pieces - they're an easy and efficient way to add shape to just about any model.
Last edited by Theblackdog on Wed Sep 26, 2018 4:33 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: BrikWednesday - Special Ops Dropship P.E.Q.U.O.D.

Post by ninja_bait » Wed Aug 15, 2018 1:35 pm

This is awesome... Love the interior as well!
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Re: BrikWednesday - Special Ops Dropship P.E.Q.U.O.D.

Post by Cakeman » Thu Aug 16, 2018 1:33 pm

Eeeexcellent shaping! It looks really mean from all directions, that front view is just mean. I'm glad to see such a prime build you put time and effort into, thank you.

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Re: BrikWednesday 8/22/18 - U.S.A. Scout Walker

Post by Theblackdog » Wed Aug 22, 2018 5:59 pm

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The United Systems Alliance's Irregular scout walker has been made obsolete by newer walker designs, but remains popular in scout and patrol roles thanks to its long range and reliability. Its armament includes two Size 2 guns, one Size 2 minigun, and four Size 1 missiles.

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I threw this walker together for a recent chat battle, then made a few cosmetic upgrades to the legs, chassis, and guns afterwards.

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Closeup on the minigun. I don't know who introduced the technique of using a minifig scale pot as an ammunition drum (I think it was Warhead, but I've seen other builders use it too), but it's brilliant. As long as you don't look at the gun from the back, anyway.

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Main guns. The open cockpit gives the pilot a great field of view but makes him vulnerable to sniping, especially from the rear. This weakness was actually pretty fitting for one of the largest vehicles in a small-scale chat battle.

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Other side showing the legs and rocket launcher. I'm not very good at building mechs, the joints always trip me up.
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Re: BrikWednesday - 8/22/18 U.S.A. Scout Walker

Post by Texhnophille » Thu Aug 23, 2018 10:29 am

That's a nice color palette with those sand-green parts.
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Re: BrikWednesday - 8/22/18 U.S.A. Scout Walker

Post by Kommander Ken » Thu Aug 23, 2018 11:21 am

Yeah, really cool placement of those sand green slopes, they give the legs a pretty interesting armored shape overall. :tiger:

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Re: BrikWednesday - 8/29/18 F.L.A.S.H. Interceptor

Post by Theblackdog » Wed Aug 29, 2018 8:52 pm

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Previous versions of this ship have appeared on the site before, but I don't think I've taken any pictures of its final version before. The F.L.A.S.H. was probably the best creation I built pre-hiatus, and it's due for demolition as I reboot the T.L.A.

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The F.L.A.S.H. Interceptor was the T.L.A.'s primary air and space superiority fighter prior to Third Impact. In its final version, it was armed with a rotary gauss cannon and four weapons hardpoints.

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Top view.

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Elevated front view.

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Unfortunately, even the standard front view doesn't really show off the gatling gun. I do like the triple MK-II pods though.

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Rear view.

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Underside view - probably my favorite view.

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Landing gear deployed.

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Sitting on the wheels. Hopefully whatever I build to replace this will look as good.
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Re: BrikWednesday - 8/29/18 F.L.A.S.H. Interceptor

Post by Falk » Wed Aug 29, 2018 11:03 pm

Those curves tho
BrikWars 2010 Rules wrote:BrikWars ... stands in pretty direct opposition to many fundamental elements of the LEGO® philosophy, such as "Not Teaching Kids How Funny It Is to Set People on Fire."
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Re: BrikWednesday - 8/29/18 F.L.A.S.H. Interceptor

Post by Texhnophille » Mon Sep 03, 2018 3:29 pm

My god THE CURVES, they're too sexy!
Natalya wrote:Warhammer doesn't sell well because the models are good; it sells because of the awesome universe created around the models.

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Re: BrikWednesday - 8/29/18 Micro Mech Madness

Post by Theblackdog » Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:58 pm

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Evangelist Cyborgs - EVAs for short - are among the most powerful weapons in the galaxy. Nearly invulnerable to conventional attacks due to their AT-fields, EVA units can defeat entire armies on their own. Only the greatest superpowers in the Brikverse can construct these massive biomechanical weapons, and it's a testament to the technological might of the Scythian Empire that they have several of these machines in their service. However, the EVAs can be as dangerous to their allies as they are to enemies. Shown here is the EVA unit that participated in Operation Haymaker, and ultimately played a major role in Third Impact and the creation of the Tang Sector.

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Unfortunately I have problems photographing red without it coming out pink... sure would have been nice to realize this before I started a storyline involving a Third Impact. When the sun comes up and I can get some natural lighting, I'll add a few more shots.

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Recently, the Scythians have begun replacing their EVAs' standard issue progressive knives with underarm beam blade emitters.

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Shot of the EVA with a Pallet Rifle that I built so this photo shoot would have something new in it.

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I also built a capital missile launcher, for when you need to fight SHIPs.

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Missile launcher from the other side.

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Weapons loadout.

BONUS MOC!
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Colette was really excited about these so I figured I'd post them. The Trattorian Brute-Class drone is a larger humanoid drone model. Although developed to provide heavy firepower in the field, they also see use as bodyguards for some upper-class Trattorians due to their intimidating stature. Each arm contains a laser that can operate as either a blade or a rifle. Unlike the EVAs, these are minifig scale.

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I like how the back side came out, along with the EVA-style fins on the shoulders. Really, there isn't much about this design that I don't like.

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Colette said he wanted them to have shoulder cannons, so I added a Neutron Howitzer to this one. It's not really ideal - clipping the cannon onto the shoulder restricts the arm's freedom of movement.
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Re: BrikWednesday - 9/5/18 Stinger Gunship & Scarab Dropship

Post by Theblackdog » Wed Sep 12, 2018 7:07 pm

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The Immortal Stinger Gunship was designed as an inexpensive way to bring large amounts of firepower to the battlefield. Armed with a deadly array of weapons that can threaten both infantry and armor, it is feared across the battlefields of the Immortal front.

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The Scarab Dropship is a troop transport vehicle based on the Stinger, utilizing its heavy lift capacity to ferry minifigs to the front lines. It loses the Stinger's heaviest armament, but can still carry pintle-mounted guns to the front and rear as well as a pair of bombs under the wings to clear landing zones.

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I created the Scarab basically to use as a plot device in Tang Sector, and after that I wanted to try and build a gunship on the same platform. Given how janky the dropship version looks, though, I think it makes more sense in-universe for the gunship version to come first.

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Not much difference from above, is there?

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To partially compensate for the removal of the twin anti-armor railguns, some Scarabs fit heavy autocannon to one or both of their rider-operated turret mounts.

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Rear shot of the Scarab, with the tail gunner operating a flechette cannon. The flechette cannon is also mounted on the Stinger as a chin turret.

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Underside of the Stinger, showing most of its weaponry. In total, it's armed with
-Two anti-armor railguns
-Two antipersonnel canisters, which fire a barrage of hypervelocity flechettes straight down into enemy infantry below
-Two large bombs
-One flechette turret
Seems like a bit much for a size 6 vehicle.

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Closeup on the railgun and flechette turret.

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Closeup of the troops. These were prototypes for a T.L.A. heavy squad, but in the end I decided to do something else for the T.L.A., so now they're just floating around. There's also a Maniac in the back with a shotgun rocket launcher.
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Re: BrikWednesday - 9/26/18 T.L.A. S.A.S.S.

Post by Theblackdog » Wed Sep 26, 2018 4:31 pm

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Sorry I skipped a week, work is getting hectic. The T.L.A. Short-range Air Superiority Ship (S.A.S.S.) is the first new aircraft designed and built after Third Impact, and incorporates many advances gleaned from Angelic science. Chief among these are the two Size 3 positron cannons which serve as its primary armament.

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Front and above. The S.A.S.S.'s cockpit is filled with LCL to reduce the effect of G forces on the pilot's body.

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OK- in reality, the cockpit is tiny, and while it can technically fit a minifig, I usually fill it with more structural bracing so the ship stays together better. This is a smaller ship than I usually build, and I had to sacrifice stability for shaping and features.

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I'm still conflicted on what to do for the forward fuselage. At first I went with a thinner profile for it, but I think this looks better.

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Tail end. I just now realized I should probably add some sensors in the back, to go with those 360-degree monitors that the pilot inside supposedly has...

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Underside. I do have plenty of sensors pointing forward. Eventually I want to add missile pylons as well. I'm not totally happy with this design yet.

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Despite its small size, it does have landing gear.

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Touchdown.
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Re: BrikWednesday - 9/26/18 T.L.A. S.A.S.S.

Post by Falk » Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:14 pm

I like how you packed so much detail into it. Especially the landing gear is impressive.
BrikWars 2010 Rules wrote:BrikWars ... stands in pretty direct opposition to many fundamental elements of the LEGO® philosophy, such as "Not Teaching Kids How Funny It Is to Set People on Fire."
Empire of Luchardsko WIP wiki page

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Re: BrikWednesday - 9/26/18 T.L.A. S.A.S.S.

Post by ninja_bait » Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:19 pm

I really like the style of your builds - near future, very functional, swooshy
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Re: BrikWednesday - 9/26/18 T.L.A. S.A.S.S.

Post by Cakeman » Sat Oct 06, 2018 3:50 pm

Nice curves! :warhead:

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