Valkyrie Hunter D

Called it:

Nicely staged and lit!  I was really hoping Aoshima would've given Blue Thunder the same treatment, but they opted for a model kit instead.

On 6/8/2023 at 3:44 AM, Scyla said:

If this is true I will buy it for sure. 

Not a bad choice for a licensed airliner given the boxy design of the nacelles. I wonder if the nose would be brick build or come with a specialized piece.

The probably would have to include the nosecone gimmick and maybe removable engines? Interior would be a stretch given a brick built fuselage.

The real question is what livery it could have: British Airways or Air France? 

The British and French prototypes are probably the easiest to reproduce without pad printing over multiple pieces or a plethora of stickers:

The dipping nose would have to be feature and strong landing gear too.  I would love for it to be the BOAC livery with the blue nose and fuselage stripe, but my gut says it's going to be a British Airways ship.

On 6/8/2023 at 5:39 PM, M'Kyuun said:

A fellow AFOL and good friend of mine who builds very large MOCs mentioned to me a month or so ago that he was contemplating building an M-Tron layout and asked whether I would consider building a mecha for it. Unbeknownst to him, I accepted the challenge. Unbeknownst to me, in the intervening weeks, he changed his mind and began working on a Space Police 3 themed MOC instead. 😄 Anyway, I was already well along with my design which was based on an earlier, simpler MOC I'd built back in 2014-15 and have since thought of improving. My friend's request was the motivation I needed to actually put in the work. I finished it yesterday and overall, I'm fairly pleased with it.

The back wheels can castor 180 degrees, allowing it to circumscribe a fairly tight turn. However, although I mounted them on Technic friction pins, the friction imparted is nigh negligible making anything but very short reverse maneuvers impossible due to the wheels going in opposite directions. Not my initial preference, but design considerations drove the choice. 

Those familiar with the venerable and still awesome 6989 Mega (or Multi) Core Magnetizer (also known as Mobile Recovery Center) released in 1990 will remember the two cargo pods with their distinctively printed angular side panels which could be raised up to access the features within. For my rover, I decided to build my own, giving it a bit of a 21st century upgrade, as it were. 

As such, I envisioned it as an A.I. imbued drone with an array of handheld power tools, a generator with power cable, a toolbox with several handtools/extensions for power tools, and an extendable, multijointed neck which doubles as a standing platform for our intrepid astrofig to affect repairs at various heights. Too, as can be seen in the pic below, the resting spars can extend independently and are tipped with small wheels to allow the drone some mobility. When collapsed, they are compatible with the MCM's original pods.

Of course, as is my wont, this rover, like the majority of my MOCs, is "more than meets the eye'. 😜

I tried to stay true to the original red, light gray, and black color scheme for the most part; however, I did sprinkle some silver bits here and there throughout the build for a little additional flavor, as well as the few odd white bits, which occurred, too, in the original M-Tron sets. The only real deviation is a dark bley Technic liftarm with ball joint  which I used for the waist/crotch piece. Oh, and a few blue Technic friction half-pin, half-axle pieces.

The resulting mecha is fully articulated, including the thumb and two fingers per gripper. It can also carry the pod on its back (I neglected to take a pic, sorry). Take my word for it (the boosters on his heels are double jointed and can extend about a brick's height allowing for walking poses with the pod attached as well as just providing stabilization in general). Yet another photo op I missed.

So, full disclosure, in 1990, I was entering the military, and while I owned one of the smaller M-Tron sets, the theme on the whole didn't really grab me. I thought the MCM was cool, but I never pursued it, even after entering active duty when I had the funds to buy it. Dumb, dumb me. Thirty-some years hence, I finally scored a copy and it's such a magnificent model, definitely a standout when weighed against the whole of the Classic Space and post-CS eras. My friend, the one who originally engaged my interest in building a mecha for his then proposed M-Tron layout, is a huge M-tron fan, and I was intrigued to venture into this theme to which I had never really given much thought.  I love the utility, practicality, and playability of this theme, and the magnet gimmick just adds that extra bit of fun to the mix. My mecha build had its challenges along the way, but ultimately, I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. I hope it appeals to some of you out there, and moreso, I hope it inspires. Cheers and play well!

Edit: It's literally a dark and stormy night, so what better way to pass the time than to take a few more pics.

Well, my kids thought your mech is cool and "cute", and I trust their judgement-well done!

Rumor has it that LEGO will be releasing a kit based on the Concorde as part of their Icons series this September.  This would be timely for me as I was just considering doing a MoC of it.

The cat's outta the bag:

XH-1 Dragonfly

Sweet- Trouble Bubbles!

Who needs swords when you can build your own Metal Gear?

My guess is another Mazinger. 

Binged on Sanctuary.  I didn't think I'd like it as much as I did.  It has vibes of the first Best of the Best movie, but with sumo wrestling instead of Tae Kwon Do.

RIP to the queen of rock.

That's a grat build - Benny would be proud!

11 hours ago, PsYcHoDyNaMiX said:

Not Bandai perse...

If anyone is interested... since its a daban release:
https://gundamit.com/daban-1-60-pg-rx93v-gundam-model-kit_p2670.html

But it has a hefty tag... other sites/distributors are getting them in and eventually listing them in the oncoming days/weeks.

That reminds me; wasn't the Metal Structure Nu going to be reissued around this time?

One the few new songs I found this year that I really dig:

27 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

Based on Hasbro's posts there will be a Joe vehicle to go up against the HISS.

I heard a rumor that it'll be the Snowcat.  Though I wish it'll be a MOBAT.

Took myself on date to see this yesterday.  It was good time at the movies for me, it didn't even seem like a 2.5 hour film.  The group battle scene during the climax was tops.  I'd definitely see it again with the wife.

19 hours ago, Big s said:

Volume 5 of the kits are up for preorder and this set finally comes with little dudes

Oooh, the game-breaking Hoshun finally makes an appearance.

Thank you, gents! But I was merely following instructions from another AFOL.  There are plenty of "forbidden" building techniques in that X-Wing, but it holds up quite well.  There were a couple of instances where I heavily considered gluing parts together for reinforcement, but in the end, it all worked out.

19 hours ago, danth said:

Wow! That is really slick. It even has the recessed canopy. I prefer the sais to the new X-Wing's flippers.

I thought the sais were cute touch too.

15 hours ago, Dobber said:

Wow that does look really good!

Chris

I thought so too when I first heard about it, and apparently the designer did make sure the proportions were close to those found in the movie models.  I just may have to give his Y-Wing a whirl later on.

After my family's trip to Legoland, one of my boys took home the TIE Bomber kit as a souvenir, so I decided to build my own ship so I could have dogfights with him:

It's just a coincidence that Lego released their latest X-Wing at the same time.  I used instructions by Jerac, who has other Star Wars blueprints.  I love the proportions on this thing, and it's quite swooshable.  The mechanism used to expand the wings is ingenious, but it needs a little help once all the engines are attached.  I still need a few more parts to finish it as the landing gear is incomplete, but it is essentially done.

Remember:

Another nostalgia bomb:

I wonder if it's going to tie in with Fade to Black or just ignore it completely.

Coming later this year:

I do miss the Super Scaler look though.

1 hour ago, Sandman said:

I thought I was the only person to remember Ring of Red. Would've been a great game if not for what you said about rounds taking forever.

I loved Ring of Red's alternate history setting and the mecha designs were cool, but yes, battle sessions were as slow as molasses.  It didn't help that all the mechs moved as if they were stuck on 1st gear.  I also remember taking shots with "99.9" percent chance of hitting the target, only for the shot to COMPLETELY miss.  That happened way too often.

Well, sh!t - Borderscape was canned. I'm guessing licensing costs is the cause for the breakdown since it seems the game was just reskinned and plot points were changed.  I'll still give Mecharashi a try though.