A good crop this year

So Novvember is over, and there was quite a good showing of Blacktron this year.

First, is the Viv Punisher by Pico van Grootveld

Second, the VVx-14 by Max Braun

Third, this big chunky Blacktron II viper by Crimso Giger (It is also my personal favorite of this years crop)

Fourth, the B1C Viper by Nix Antonio

Fifth, the NBT VV by Aaron Dayman

Sixth, this great use of the X-pod part by Michael Stiendl

And seventh, the Blacktron Intimidator by Peter Morris (Oh, this one is a Transformer.)

Go here to see the whole poster!

MFP Lieutenant Morgan Blackeye

Oh right, I am doing this stuff. It's been just over a year since my last Minifig Profile

NAME: Lieutenant Morgan Blackeye 
NICKNAME: N/A 
AGE: 26 
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT: BETA CENTAURI
BACKGROUND: Morgan lost his eye in a freak accident during his teen years. He is unwilling to give full details, but it is known that it was a vehicle accident. His body resisted an implant, and he didn't like the mechanical prosthetic, so he opted for an old fashioned eyepatch. He is an excellent gunner, and only needs the one eye. 
BEHIND THE SCENES: Not much to say about this guy, other than I got him in a large batch of figs, and was looking for heads to give them, and the Pirate head was one I stumbled across.
ACQUIRED: Trade, 2013

The claw chooses who will go and who will stay

If I saw this sort of claw above me, I would follow it's orders too.

The Flying Claw, built by Michael Steindl, is just fantastic. The overall shape is quite unique, and the cockpit is just fantastic. well done.

Lego Space: Stealing the Future

The book (Which I have yet to aquire) Lego Space: Building the Future has some awesome photography, but not all pictures made the cut, for various good reasons I'm sure. Here are a couple of those shots that have been posted recently.

Those Neo-Alienators are super cool, and I really wonder what the rest of that dropship looks like.

SHIPtember has come and gone

I already posted one Blacktron SHIPtember build, and here is the only other Blacktron SHIP to come out of SHIPtember, DJ Quest built the Blacktron Fast Attack Carrier Telum:

So I guess the Blacktron 1 and the Blacktron 2 were equally represented this year. Will a Blacktron 1 SHIP take the prize again? We shall see...

A total enigma

It bugs me when people post a sweet awesome spaceship, but don't even bother naming it. Such is the case with this recentish Blacktron 1 MOC by Michael Steindl

But really, when ships are this cool, do they even need a name? maybe I am just OCD.....

SHIP happens

It's in the midst of SHIPtember, that time of year when spacers crawl out their asteroids and build big. After Nathan Proudlove won last years with his Arrested Development, there seems to be a lot of talk about building Blacktron SHIPS this year. So far there is only one to report, and that is Pascal's Hammer of Injustice:

Hopefully there is more to come this year (None from me, all my black brick was tied up elsewhere.)

Microscale Fleets are for wimps

A bit late in posting this here. I had planned on posting each individual ship first, but I got sidetracked. No surprise, really. Anyways, here is my Epsilon 9 battle fleet (And all but the small ship in the background are minifig illusion scale.)

The fleet contains the following ships:
The flagship of the fleet, is the Epsilon Corvus

Two support corvettes the Beta Centauri and the Delta Centauri.

The Tyrax, the state-of-the-art Talana Class Frigate.

A Super Nova 4, an Allied Avenger 2, and a Atmo Bomber provide Fighter cover.

A small shuttle is there bringing the esteemed mad scientist Dr. Winks.

Atroop transport has also been added to the mix, in case any enemy ships need to be boarded.

And hanging behind, the heavy cruiser Gamma Centauri.

Keeping the landing pads clean

Even the most evil of space organizations need to keep their stuff clean, so That New Zealand Guy built this little street cleaner to do the job:

Another Disappointing Birthday

My birthday and as with all my 21 others, I didn't get any Blacktron. Oh well. But my Exosuit came in that day, and it was around the same time someone asked me if I had made a Blacktron version yet. I haven't, but no need when warvenov has done it.

The builder has stayed true to the original Blacktron version quite well, even if it is mostly a carbon copy of a super awesome and crazy good official set.

More pictures here.

Awesome in small packages

Shamisenfred has built two fighters for a challenge over in the Starfighters group. The first is a Blacktron 1 coloured fighter that doubles as a fancy ride:

The second is a Blacktron II fighter utilizing that half cylinder as a cockpit.

Both ships are well detailed for such small footprints (Even though they both fold up a bit)

Deja vu

I know I have posted this before, but today being the release of the Lego Ideas Exo-Suit, I figured I ought to repost Peter Reid's Blacktron version of his original one:

This was also an entry in my second Colour it Blacktron contest, and now I wonder how I didn't pick it to win. I think I was in a very anti-mech mood at the time.

Super Nova 4

This MOC might even be older that the Shuttle I posted, but It's actually a good thing I held off taking pictures of it until now.

You see that canopy? It only recently came out in trans neon green. Before it had that trans lime colour. It's close to neon green, but obviously it's different. I was so happy when I saw that that part had come out in trans neon green.

More pictures in my photostream, if you care to look

Shuttle

I finally got around to taking pictures of my shuttle that's based off of 1479 Twin Pilot Craft.

It's also modular, built like all the Blacktron II cockpits, so it can attach to any of the ships (Except the Aerial Intruder, the shuttle is too wide) More pictures here. Oh, and this is just the beginning of a whole wave of Blacktron II creations by yours truly.

Curves are the new angles

One thing about the old Space stuff, is that all the windscreens had no curves. They were all straight with angles. There hasn't much trans neon green canopies since the became curvy, but they have started to resurface. Whitesidewjw from Flickr has made use of some of the newest TNG (That's Trans Neon Green, not The Next Generation)

Updating Blacktron II sets is one of my favorite things to do, and whitesidewjw has gotten in on the fun with his Aerial Intruder (below) and Spectral Starguider (above)

Even the evil beings of the Galaxy need to move stuff

Ben Cossy built this magnificent Cargo Hauler for the Blacktrons.

My Favorite detail has to be the angled windows in the cockpit. That just looks awesome.

Always stealing stuff

The great thing about recolouring any sets in Blacktron colours, you can always give the explanation that the Blacktrons stole it.

Crimso Giger took the classic Galaxy Explorer and made it Blacktron. Then he modified it, so it isn't an exact copy. Blacktron. They will even steal your classic rides.

"Well that's interesting"

Alkinoos_38 just posted these twin cruisers in the Blacktron Flickr group.

I think they are kinda cute, actually, but the most interesting fact about these, is the fact he built two. I current project I am working on involves building two identical ships, but mine will be on a larger scale, and in the Blacktron II colour scheme.

Full Circle

Though to be honest, I have been around this circle three or four times now. My latest Blacktron creation is a revamp of my first Blacktron II ship, the Talana. This is the first one to be named other something other than Talana, as it is the Tirax.

At least this one has a fancy background. More pictures will be forthcoming. Also my 200th blog post. Wooo!

It's all about pint sized speed

Some time ago, people started building spaceships that weren't fighters, but were racers. The called it GARC, and it has been quite a fad. Recently, they have gone micro, and Jacob Unterreiner took the original micro GARC, and Blacktronified it.

 The results are mean and sleek, and all those stickers really give the impression that it's a racer, not a fighter (But being Blacktron, you can bet some hidden guns somewhere)

NOW who is the hunted?

All the official space sets were shown to have the Space Police hunting down the Blacktron, in both iterations. Pico Van Grootveld has posted this ship, and he calls it the Hunter:

The big front is quite unusual in a starfighter, but it works really well. More pics here

A trio of greatness

Looks like Michael Steindl has been busy! These three great creations all appeared in the Blacktron pool, and at the risk of being redundant, these are are top notch!

First is this Blacktron 1 VicViper. It ain't Novvemebr right now, but who cares? It's big, it's mean, and it has a great cockpit. I always admire people who can do such angles, and have it flow with the entire ship. The triangle prongs are also pretty neat. A very smooth ship all around. Can't find any studs....

Next is a large Blacktron 2 Battlecruiser that looks like is was influenced by Nathan Proudlove's ship back form SHIPtember. I really like the half covered panel up in the command tower. The engines are quite unique and cool.

Lastly, we have his Heavy Fighter. I LOVE this ship! The cockpit is gorgeous, the shap as a whole, and the fact that it isn't as studdless as the other two. The studs add a level of meanness.

Also, great photo editing on them all, it adds to the already awesome MOCs. Seriously, why are you still here? Go look at these!

No question who the hunter is here

F@bz has built this massive NBT starfighter, and he has called it the Predator.

I never would have thought to use those quarter domes in the way F@bz did, but it looks really good. Run Space Police. Just run.

1 +1 = awesome!

I know that sounds like an equation from the The LEGO Movie, but it is what happens when two great builders collaborate.

Part 1 comes from disco86, and Part 2 comes from markus19840420. You can hardly tell it was two different builders who built these, they flow seamlessly. Great job

FebRovery is back

And halfbeak has built his obligatory Blacktron rover.

Really, the picture says it all

OMR #2: Alpha Centuari

Okay, time for another blast from the past (more like "dodge the incoming missile barrage from the past") This time, I am looking at my first SHIP, the Alpha Centauri. This ship was inspired by the ship that came with 6988 Alpha Centauri Outpost, hence, the name. Heck, I even wrote a story about this ship, and am working on a more proper book.

When I first built this ship, and when I took the pictures, there was a lot of modifications. I had this ship built for over 6 months, and back in 2007, that was a long time! Actually, it might have been over a year, come to think of it.... Either way, it got modified a lot over the course of it's life. A few mods I can easily recall: The forward section was extended from a 16x32 baseplate, to a 16x32 and a 8x16 baseplate. The X-pod container was another. The interior, especially the rear section.

Looking at it now, two thing come to mind. First, WOW! What a mess! The colour scheme is very messy, and has too much white. Secondly, how does this thing move? The engines are tiny and/or flat. That would never do these days.

Now that's what you call "butt ugly"

Ok, on to the interior. Well, it certainly had everything. A bridge, sick bay, transporters, crew quarters, brig, even a conference room! Everything! Oh, wait, where is the engineering?

Ah, tucked under that ledge in the forward, right hand section of the aft part of the ship. More support for my theory that this ship can't move...

Final thoughts. This stands as one of the few Blacktron II ships that never had landing gear. Not that building landing gear would have been easy (Or smart) with the bottom being built entirely out of baseplates. As of now, I have rebuilt this once, done a couple others that were loosely based on this, and have plans to rebuild a better version in the near future, AKA, when I take apart my Dalek. In 2007, I took this to a local fair, and it won a 2nd place.

Exterior: 6.5/10 Way to cluttered, too much white, still used baseplates. Overall shape would become a classic shape I would use.
Interior: 8/10 Had almost everything, but wasn't laid out very well. Also, engineering sucked. More of a space station then a space ship, really.
Nostalgia: 9/10 I still think back fondly on this, despite it being my ugliest ship, IMO. The backstory that it has probably has a lot to do with it.
Colour it Blacktron!: 7/10 All the right colours, but very poorly balanced. And the baseplates don't help...
Swooshability: 4/10 I didn't understand the concept of internal support back in 2006/07. Middle section was very weak. I recall having a hard time moving this from one place to another.

Final say: 6.9 Much lower than the Talana, but this one stretched my collection to the max at the time.

2 for 1 Deal!

What happens when you combine the Spectral Starguider and the Mega Core Magnetizer?

You get this awesome beauty by spaceruner, that's what.

It's very sleek, and it takes awesome stuff from both and combines them together very well. The little ship is pretty nifty, too.

I'm scared to leave the planet now.

As soon as Rogue Bantha posted this, I knew most Space Police agents would be afraid to go outside. This thing is just scary!

The brick built background is also great, you don't see that enough. Great use of the new Collectible Minifig.

Going back inside my cave, but here are more pictures if you want

Nothing wrong with a bit of Microscale

Jacob Unterreiner of Flickr has posted this unnamed Micro Blacktron I ship.

But really, when it's this cool, who needs to bother with names?

A new year is here

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that it is 2014. So let's kick off the new year with an older creation of mine, but one that I never took pictures of until now.

Yup. It's a forklift. Wait, what would the Blacktrons need with a forklift? well, so they can move their ships around.

The forklift is heavy enough to lift the Arial Intruder, no problem, thanks to a couple of boat weights, and lots of plates. More pictures can be found here.