63 Bubblecraft

Build 21-31/5 2005, Pieces 356, Steps 96
L/W/H: 48/16/13 studs, 37,78/12,30/9,92 cm

Inspiration: Not really any great inspiration, Ranger Snow just thought these darkgrey balls were lame and made a challenge to use to use them in a space moc.
Well, I didn't find them lame since they would be perfect for gas tanks, shield generators etc.

But the good thing about the challenge was that it prompted me to go out and pick a brick some, and actually use them: until then I'd passed a lot of them because I felt that they took up too much space in the P'a'B bucket, and would not have got any if I'd waited since the P'a'B offer here in Copenhagen was discontinued a few months later :-(

The speedy looking side

The problem with the balls is that they're having some pretty odd dimensions, which makes them hard to mount in a straight line, so experimenting a bit with them, and going with a "molecule building set"-inspiration, I found these odd angles that worked.

After quite a bit of chasing balls around on the floor.

Cockpit

I decided to make the model look like an odd experimental craft with an open framed structure allowing maximum visibility of the technology, in this case the weird powersphere-technology, used primarily for propulsion.

Gun and cockpit: To keep the engine ball I decided to add two balls in front: one for gun, and the other exchanged for a cockpit.

Asymmetry: Of course making it into an odd looking experimental craft naturally meant that I tried to achieve the maximum asymmetry, so the balls/cockpit shouldn't be in the same level, and the appendages on the sides should be different.

Bzzzzzzzz

Engine: I'd had this idea of using basketball hoops for a magnetically accelerated engine for a while (like the Starwars Y-Wing), and this was a perfect opportunity to do it.

Realistically, the hoops should be evenly spaced, but I didn't have enough, and I think this "accelerated" look fits their function much better.

And it gave a perfect opportunity for making a triangular wing on the side to support it.

The compact looking side

Framework: Generally the white frame took a lot of time to get just fairly interesting and smooth shapes. And chasing runaway balls.

The front took especially an long time to figure out, and delayed the project a lot. But it didn't help that I was pretty fed up with the basic look this choice of construction gives the craft.

Gun: The gun also took a long time to complete, as I had to use another collar to keep the ball in place. Which unfortunately only comes in light grey, and together with the trans orange point makes the gun a bit crappy looking.

Rockets: The right wing and mountings were perfectly fit for hanging some rockets on. Unfortunately that was also the perfect spot for a landing gear...

I'm pretty satisfied with the greeble and snotwork here

By the time I got around to the left side again, it was really boring compared to all the exciting greeble and weaponry on the right side, so I had to add something that could at the same time complement the right wing, fill the hole behind the cockpit, and preferably have space for a couple of rockets more.

I wished for something mean looking, and after a lot of experimentation, came up with this "plough-share"-look

Note the rainbow coloured noses of the small missiles, especially the ones on the left of the ship. Only had two red cones :-(

Armament: So here's the total armament: a big gun, a big rocket, and 4 smaller anti rainbow warrior missiles.

You always seem to forget something when taking pictures

Aesthetics: I think the model turned out ok, because of the disturbing mix of smooth and abrupt shapes, which together with the high degree of asymmetry gives it a nice mean look (even if balanced).

However the very basic stacking and 90 degree angling techniques of the framework made me really bored and fed up with it, so I'll probably make a new version with more advanced techniques some time in the future.

The model were presented in this thread on CSF.

Shared a 3rd place with the 66 Voidfighter in the local 2006 exhibition Klodsfest. Each got 10 votes. First and second place were Float Plane (28 votes) and A10 Thunderbolt (20 votes) by Chris Paton. I did get the second place price though, since the rules apparently doesn't allow the same person to get both 1st and 2nd place.