LEGO Ideas: VR-052F Ride-Armor (Cyclone) from the Robotech/Mospeada Series

[daikoncat]

Hi Everyone, 

It has been several years since I shared my last LEGO project of the VF-1S Valkyrie. I now just wanted to share with everyone, my latest creation, which is based on the VR-052F Ride-Armor (Cyclone) from the Robotech/Mospeada series.

Like my previous project, this LEGO build is transformable and poseable in all modes. I chose Stick (Scott) Bernards Ride-Armor first, but I will be working on the others. You can check out the progress of those on my flickr.

If you like what you see, I really would appreciate it if you give your support of my project on Lego Ideas. My goal is just to have my work professionally reviewed by LEGO. If it makes it as an official set, then that would just be a bonus. Instructions are in the works but it will take me some time. It would be free for all, but all I would ask in return would be your support

Anyhow, here are some photos and a video link of the transformation:

 

Thanks!

[no3Ljm]

That’s so awesome!

 

[seti88]

[daikoncat]

Thank you guys 

[jenius]

Wow that's amazing. I can't believe you were able to get it to stand without a support! Really impressive stuff.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I just looked at your album.  VERY cool stuff, daikoncat, thanks for sharing!

[danth]

This is just ridiculously awesome. Kudos!

[daikoncat]

2 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

I just looked at your album.  VERY cool stuff, daikoncat, thanks for sharing!

 

40 minutes ago, danth said:

This is just ridiculously awesome. Kudos!

Thanks for the positive vibes guys, it makes all the work worthwhile 

3 hours ago, jenius said:

Wow that's amazing. I can't believe you were able to get it to stand without a support! Really impressive stuff.

Thank you! Yes, that was the most challenging part. My earlier designs were too top heavy and thus I needed to figure out how to reduce the weight and keep it balanced, without compromising the form. I would really like to slim it down just a tad bit more, but I am happy with the results so far.

[Beltane70]

That actually looks better than most of the commercially produced ride armors that I’ve seen out there!

[daikoncat]

7 minutes ago, Beltane70 said:

That actually looks better than most of the commercially produced ride armors that I’ve seen out there!

lol! I have a 1/12 Riobot VF-052F that I think looks awesome (though I have never opened it for some reason), I actually tried to take some design cues from it. But this build is actually primarily based off of the old 1/8 VF-052F by Gakken, which is the clunkiest version of the bunch (I am a sucker for vintage toys). I was most familiar with the transformation of that toy, so it made it easier for me to plan out how everything should come together.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I forgot to ask: are those "Sand Green" colored Lego pieces?

[daikoncat]

15 minutes ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

I forgot to ask: are those "Sand Green" colored Lego pieces?

Yep! I was able to find most of the elements I needed in this color. A color I had wanted to try though was light aqua.

[M'Kyuun]

Great work, Daikoncat. Honestly, I've never been a big fan of the Ride Armor design, for some reason. However, as a fellow mecha builder, I recognize the challenges of realizing the Ride Armor in a three dimensional functional form, and I tip my hat humbly to you for making it work so elegantly and for so accurately capturing the look of it. It's a beautiful bit of work. I supported you, and I hope, despite all the licensing issues with Harmony Gold, that this will see production. If so, I'm down for a couple copies.

If I may venture an opinion, I think the sand green is closer to the source than the aqua, which is too light and oft gives the appearance of glow-in-the-dark plastic.

 

I also supported Bricksash's VF-1, although, much like every other Macross related submission, I have zero doubt that, even with 10K votes, it will never see production due to all the legal issues posed by HG. I don't know if restricting its availability to the Asian market would be cost effective for LEGO, but since they haven't gone that route with previous Macross projects, the apparent conclusion is no. What a shame that one company's greed and shady practices have robbed the most of the world of Macross.

[daikoncat]

47 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Great work, Daikoncat. Honestly, I've never been a big fan of the Ride Armor design, for some reason. However, as a fellow mecha builder, I recognize the challenges of realizing the Ride Armor in a three dimensional functional form, and I tip my hat humbly to you for making it work so elegantly and for so accurately capturing the look of it. It's a beautiful bit of work. I supported you, and I hope, despite all the licensing issues with Harmony Gold, that this will see production. If so, I'm down for a couple copies.

If I may venture an opinion, I think the sand green is closer to the source than the aqua, which is too light and oft gives the appearance of glow-in-the-dark plastic.

 

I also supported Bricksash's VF-1, although, much like every other Macross related submission, I have zero doubt that, even with 10K votes, it will never see production due to all the legal issues posed by HG. I don't know if restricting its availability to the Asian market would be cost effective for LEGO, but since they haven't gone that route with previous Macross projects, the apparent conclusion is no. What a shame that one company's greed and shady practices have robbed the most of the world of Macross.

Thank you for M'Kyuun, I am very humbled by your compliment. Regarding Harmony Gold, you make an excellent point and I agree that the odds of this project making it into production are very slim. I have always been neutral about the whole Harmony Gold situation, since I still give Robotech credit for introducing me to Macross (and anime in general) when I was kid. I can only sigh in disappointment everytime I hear negative news on what Harmony Gold has done.

Anyhow, It is my dream to see anyones Macross project make it as an official LEGO set, which is why I supported all of the past and present submissions. As for my Robotech/Mospeada project, if it does hit 10k support, that would be enough to be huge honor and achievement for me, even if it doesn't pass the final review.

In any case, I will still make sure this LEGO design goes out to all the Robotech/Mospeada fans who have interest in building one of their own. 

Good feedback on the aqua color scheme! The color still intrigues me though and I was initially thinking about going with sandgreen for the chest and forearms, then aqua for the rest. But sadly the best I would be able to do for now are renders, until lego releases more elements in that color.

Thanks again for supporting my project M'Kyuun, it really does mean a lot to me.

 

[M'Kyuun]

12 hours ago, daikoncat said:

Thank you for M'Kyuun, I am very humbled by your compliment. Regarding Harmony Gold, you make an excellent point and I agree that the odds of this project making it into production are very slim. I have always been neutral about the whole Harmony Gold situation, since I still give Robotech credit for introducing me to Macross (and anime in general) when I was kid. I can only sigh in disappointment everytime I hear negative news on what Harmony Gold has done.

Anyhow, It is my dream to see anyones Macross project make it as an official LEGO set, which is why I supported all of the past and present submissions. As for my Robotech/Mospeada project, if it does hit 10k support, that would be enough to be huge honor and achievement for me, even if it doesn't pass the final review.

In any case, I will still make sure this LEGO design goes out to all the Robotech/Mospeada fans who have interest in building one of their own. 

Good feedback on the aqua color scheme! The color still intrigues me though and I was initially thinking about going with sandgreen for the chest and forearms, then aqua for the rest. But sadly the best I would be able to do for now are renders, until lego releases more elements in that color.

Thanks again for supporting my project M'Kyuun, it really does mean a lot to me.

 

You're most welcome. Hardly faint praise; it's a very well done model, and I, too, hope that it makes it all the way to production. Heck, if only to spite Harmony Gold, I'd be happy to see LEGO do a limited Asian release, as I'm sure there'd be avenues to acquiring a copy here in the West, much as we do with valk releases. At the very least, it'd be nice to see it make the 10K milestone, as it'd shine a bit of much-deserved attention your way, which may have a tangential benefit of introducing more LEGO fans to Mospeada, and, if they look through your Flickr, Macross.  (the original, not Robotech)

I feel you regarding the scarcity of parts done in certain colors; it's a constant challenge. All the more frustrating is LEGO's reluctance to make a more varied and stronger array of joints tailored towards improved mecha construction. It's the bane of my existence.

[daikoncat]

As promised, here are the instructions. Available for free on Rebrickable:

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-62331/daikoncatlego/robotechmospeada-vr-052f-cyclone-ride-armor-s-bernard-type/#details

 

 

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

3 hours ago, daikoncat said:

As promised, here are the instructions. Available for free on Rebrickable:

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-62331/daikoncatlego/robotechmospeada-vr-052f-cyclone-ride-armor-s-bernard-type/#details

 

 

I just added it to my parts list in bricklink-thanks a ton for this!