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>> I’m trying to determine the possibilities and limitations of the build challenge.
In the first post, Rich linked to the Flickr group for Vic Viper’s. The best thing you can do is start going through it, pretty much everything I know about them comes from that group (and nnenn’s photostream, but there’s heavy overlap there). The other thing to do is start at the oldest photo in the group and work backwards, since all nnenn’s stuff is towards the end (the result of his unfortunate passing 8 or so years ago).
In the meantime, here’s some more pics for anybody who has a sufficiently large monitor. Everybody December (since 2010, in 08 and 09 nnenn made them), Flickr user Pascal makes a poster version of all of that year’s NoVVember submissions. TFDesigns shows up in a bunch of them.
Note: some of the craft above are of the “Twin Boom” variety, where the prongs are separated from the fuselage and moved laterally to form two long prongs toward the ends of the wings, extending the full length of the craft. Twin Boom Vics are more rare, but they’re legal.
In this case, the wings must continue laterally beyond the “boom” prongs.
Also, the prongs don’t need to be parallel to the cockpit. They can be angled outward by as much as 45 degrees or so.
It may seem that most Vics do this, but what you’re seeing in these posters is the “Vic Viper shot”: the craft being photographed from above at a 45 degree angle, which appears to widen the front of the craft through perspective. The VV Shot usually makes the craft look more impressive, because all of the long lines fan outward into a fuller looking array.
The more structural options in shaping that are chosen, the less “Vic”-y the craft becomes.
BEYOND THE CRAFT: LOADOUTS
Here are some concepts from the space shooter world that you might springboard into an idea for your Vic. Each one of these can trigger your imagination to create a weapon’s purpose or position on the craft, engine arrangements, or greebles that perform functions.
After reading this particular list, know that sometimes it’s the simpler, old school craft, that had only one simple, static weapon, that remain iconic today. Simple and effective is AOK too!
Overall, a weapons package or lack thereof can determine what kind of craft you’re building, and how it might look. Is it a sleek attacker? A hunched or armored defensive tank of a fighter? A short range specialist with thrusters everywhere? Is it a support craft pulled into a leading role with Vic elements integrated after the fact? Or is it a well balanced, iconic craft, bristling with a full array of things, built to Do It All? Is it a craft designed to *absorb* enemy shots instead? These choices may call for a blunt, curvy, stocky look, long and lean, squarish, dagger-like, delta shaped, Twin Boom, or modular, with systems attaching and detaching during the mission.
Here are some space shooter terms, any one of which could be the basis for a Vic to shine:
WEAPONS
PEA SHOOTER: The weapon the player most commonly starts with. Sometimes this is upgradable through the game your craft is in. This is usually a rapid fire weapon, and it’s usually positioned dead center of the craft forward of the cockpit for concentrated fire. (Pew pew!)
WIDE SHOT: This is a version of the pea shooter that shoots a fanned out pattern of small shots to cover a firing arc. This type of weapon is great for crowd control on large groups of weak enemies. (Popcorn explosions everywhere!)
LASERS: These are longer, beam shaped shots that are usually more powerful. Some are merely an advanced version of the pea shooter. Some are twinned, short shots. Some are long beams that span the entire screen. Some reflect off of enemies or surroundings. Some require a windup and cooldown period. Some take up a huge amount of space and last for a long time. And some reach out like tentacles to stay locked on their targets to do constant damage. Lasers are usually forward facing as well.
BLASTERS: These are larger shots, usually made of energy from the craft that do more damage. Some detonate on impact. Some home in on enemies. Some come out in large, shaped burst patterns.Some lasers or blasters charge up at a particular point on a craft before releasing. The location on the craft can also determine the pattern of the weapon “shots”.
ROCKETS: Independent flying weapons that explode either after a set distance or upon impact. They are “dumb” weapons, and do not home in on things, and usually fly in set patterns to form both offense and defense around the craft.
MISSILES: Independent flying weapons that explode either after a set distance or upon impact. Missiles DO track enemies, while rockets do not.
BOMBS: Large weapons that don’t typically detach from the craft, but instead explode immediately, destroying everything within range. These are usually acquired through the mission, not loaded on the craft initially.THRUSTERS
JINKING: This is the practice of using small booster thrusters to move a slight distance very quickly instead of making a large, long dodge. This enables the craft to stay close to preferred firing angles and maintain a good defensive flight path through a hail of enemy fire.
FOCUS: Focus is the opposite of jinking, using thrusters to slow a craft down or steady its motion to better maneuver in tight spots.AUXILIARY SYSTEMS
SHIELDS: Shields can take several forms. It could be a field around the craft. It could be a small arc of plasma in front of the craft. It could be rotating fields that independently soak up damage and independently die or fly off after a set period of time.
RADAR / JAMMING: Maybe your craft has dishes or antennae to act as a spotter for other craft, detect enemies on long range scanners, or to misdirect, scramble or jam enemy targeting.OTHER IDEAS
PODS: Often, in space shooters, there will be slow moving objects that contain powerups for the player craft. We call these pods. The powerups inside can contain a variety of upgrades for a craft, in terms of speed, to progress a particular weapon, to activate Shields, or to set off a Bomb. Powerups can spawn like air drops from your craft’s side, or be inside enemy craft.If you haven’t built the structure of the craft, maybe building weapons or systems for it might be a good starting point instead for your creative look.
MISSION START
I have added judging criteria to the initial post in this thread.
Also, I got a sneak peek at a Build Day with @arcadiumsol, and there is going to be some good competition. 😉
SPEED UP!
>> Lol this challenge has consumed my life. So many modifications and rebuilds.
Yes, I saw your ‘testing some ideas’ photo on Flickr that does not actually contain a Vic Viper or any build that looks like it would be part of one. It does contain something that all Lego builders are familiar with, which is a giant mess.
@bengood921 i moved the VV before the picture but its pretty much done. I had to order like 24 dollars in parts. Luckily almost every part comes in white.
Here’s a preview
@whitesidewjw hey can i barrow 2 of the part i commented on, on flickr?
@whitesidewjw hey can i barrow 2 of the part i commented on, on flickr?
@arcadiumsol nope you can’t borrow, but you can have two 🙂The question is, when can we meet before the Q4 meeting? My schedule is insane for the next month.
@whitesidewjw I dont mind driving to you or even waiting till Q4.
RECURSIVE TECHNIQUE
One thing I’ve noticed is that on some starfighters, sections of those starfighters have shaping that is self contained, and often have silhouettes similar to starfighters themselves. This is often because the same parts are used on the nose of the craft and air intakes or on the wings and the dorsal fin. Sometimes, creating a smaller silhouette of the larger craft can create complex color blocking between sections if you’re building from the cockpit box outward.
I am now building a brand new starfighter as the Grand Prize for the Vic Viper challenge. It will be named the Saito FS-19D “Heavenly King”.
Done in medium blue, blue and black and clocking in at around 550 parts, she is shaping up to be a beauty.
EDIT: After a little bit of research, this fighter has been renamed. Definitely going Japanese here.
The Saito FS-19D “Heavenly King” starfighter is complete, and will be given away at Q4 to the Grand Prize winner of this Vic Viper Build Challenge, minifig division.
Stats:
* 40 x 26 studs
* 13 bricks tall
* 576 parts
* Black, medium blue, blue, white highlightsWeapons and systems
* 1 彗星 “Comet” bullet / blaster weapon
* 1 青い夕日 “Blue Sunset” twin laser piercing weapon
* 7 スターライト “Starlight” point defense/multiblaster weapons
* 1 星座 “Constellation” primary engine with 7 nozzles
* 6 流れ星 “Shooting Star” secondary thrusters
* 8 柱 “Column” VTOL thrusters
* 1 天使 “Angel” data and pilot recovery and analysis systemWorking landing gear
Includes pilot and hinged canopyThis craft will also include a brick built sign for display much like I do for the G-Fighters.
I am very, VERY excited with this build, and jealous that one of you gets to win it. That means it’s a good one on par with any of my best work.
Apparently 天王 , which is on the fighter now, means “Heavenly king”, so I’m going to name and refine the craft’s equipment to reflect this.
I have built a sign for the Heavenly King, and this will be included with the prize for the best minifig scale entry. Next up? Building a microscale Vic as a prize for that category. Thanks to a purchase from @joshhall’s store, I have the 2×6 metallic silver slope brick as its “canopy” and experience with the Ceres microscale Vic to work from.
@willmcdine, I still have two minifig scale Vic cockpit boxes *with canopies* fully constructed if you want one.I started mine today. I must say these are more complex than I expected. Looking forward to see what everyone else comes up with!
how small qualifies as micro?
A minifig cannot fit in the cockpit area. That’s it.
I am now building a little diorama that will contain the microscale prize entry, about the same size: 40 x 28 studs. Probably the microscale craft flying among some asteroids, about to fly into a powerup.
I think we can do the Q4 prizes the same way as usual, but with prize winners also able to choose the prizes I’ve built. So, no matter what, somebody can pick the prizes I’ve built over the other prizes that are typical.
How did this go? Any pictures of the entries?
The challenge went well! No surprise that Sean won first in both categories, and I must say he deserved it. Pictures of all the entries are on David Bacon’s Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/79167445@N07/
my notes are insufficient to remind me what happened here. Sean got 1st place, got Rich’s ships as (add on? ) prize. I know 2 people chose to use their pab credits toward the auction parts I took up. I know David Bacon also won something…will….but I don’t remember what it was, and honestly, I was ill-prepared for the relocation, since I didn’t take the smallest set and I didn’t think about the “use it or lose it” status for contest awards. Can someone first refresh my memory on who won, then those people tell me what they currently understand to be their prize?
I won both the micro and fig size challenges and walter and I both used 1/2 cup on the auction stuff.
I do believe the original plan was the ships were additional prizes.
Q4 prizes:
Minifig scale:
@arcadiumsol, @willmcdine, @whitesidewjw
Microscale:
@arcadiumsol, @bacon1986, @randomdanMy MOCs were additional prizes donated by me.
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