For now, some more Lego Ninjago madness! When Fang Suei isn't piloting his Rattlecopter, he's driving his Fangpyre Mech and stomping into action. As always with these Ninjago snake vehicles, they have dark purple mixed in with the greens. I just don't like that. Oh, I forgot to take a picture of the box to show the vehicle with the purple elements. I keep forgetting to do that. So anyway, all that purple stuff had to go. I didn't have matching pieces in green or dark green, and so had to improvise here. The mech's feet in particular have a different look from the original. I also did some work on the tail, fixing some lazy design features there. We've already seen Fang Suei, so I didn't take a close-up of him.













Another snake vehicle, Lasha's Bite Cycle. This one didn't have as much purple as other Ninjago vehicles; nevertheless, it had to go. Didn't have matching parts here either, so there's a little improvisation on the sides, right under the place where Lasha stands.











Other Ninjago snake-man characters.


From left to right: Lizaru, Spitta, Slithraa, Bytar




Rattlecopter, Snakemobile, Lasha's Bite Cycle, and Fangpyre Mech

Just an interesting design note about these snake vehicles: The snake head sections on the front of the vehicles all look similar (angled nose with red eyes), but in fact each vehicle features a different design there, using different parts or combinations of parts. The V-shaped angles are all different as well.

First, the Droid Bomber mod. It's essentially the same as Lego's Hyena Droid Bomber model with laser cannons added on the wingtips, a few small areas with dark gray replacing some misplaced light gray, and I added some small engine parts to it. How do these things get around without any visible form of propulsion? I dunno. Their model has light gray pieces at the back of the sections that connect the wings to the body. I replaced that with a couple dark gray pieces and some transparent orange parts to make it look like lit engines. So on my model, the black sections that connect the wings to the body are the engines.


Cruising Mode


Battle Mode






I looked up the Hyena Droid Bomber, and it does indeed have laser cannons exactly where I placed them here.


Like other droid starfighters, they land by standing up on the wingtips, and the head flips up so the droid can look around.



My first Lego Star Wars MOC, a Vulture Droid Starfighter. I designed this guy myself and built him from the ground up using parts from a second Hyena Droid Bomber set, a Loki's Cosmic Cube Escape set (Avengers), and a few extra parts from other sets. Like the Droid Bomber, he also has engines in the back. I looked up the Vulture Droid, and he does indeed have laser cannons on the wings where I placed them.


Cruising Mode


Battle Mode











I took two additional pictures of the top and bottom of the Vulture Droid.

I remembered to take pictures of the boxes this time. I did a few simple mods to a Battle Droid Transport. Their model has the droids hunched over like in the movies, with their blasters to the side. I wanted my Battle Droids to stand up during transport. It looks better to me.








Each Battle Droid has a peg on his back that fits into a hole behind him, holding him securely in place.
(Lego Battle Droids can fall over easily, bending at the waist.)



I played around with a Clone Walker and did some mods to it. Their model is a bare bones model as seen on the box. So I spiced it up a bit with some additional detail on the sides, some color changes to fix some color hodge-podges, blaster holders on the back of the vehicle, and I used a sticker from another Lego set as an instrument panel for the driver.











Anakin's Jedi Interceptor. Their model has two shades of beige mixed in with the green and grays, forming a hodge-podge. I replaced the beige with light gray for a more uniform color scheme. Their model also doesn't have any instrument panels for the pilot, so I added some of my own.










Wait a minute! That's not Anakin! This is C-3PO's Jedi Interceptor!







A couple more amusing Lego Star Wars pictures.


Go Jar Jar! Beat up that nasty Sith!


Jedi Jar Jar and a Geonosian Jedi.

Lennox' Lion Attack off-roader, featuring a working suspension for rough terrain, a rapid-fire disc shooter, and firing flick missiles. As always with these Lego themes and franchises, there's a hodge podge of colors in the set. Gray is mixed in with beige on the body of the vehicle. Dark gray is where it shouldn't be. Black is where it shouldn't be in some places. There's even a bit of white for good measure. I used parts from my piece collection to fix some of the hodge podges here, and discovered that the orange-ish yellow here is not the same as normal Lego yellow. Also, Lennox the lion-man stands in the back of his vehicle with the large lion mane up front blocking his view! I modified the back area, adding some extra layers for him to stand on so that he can see where he's going while driving.













Crawley's Claw Ripper, featuring a chomping crocodile mouth and front treads that flip forward and back when you move it in those directions. This one was easier to fix. There were just some bright red parts that needed to be replaced with appropriate colors (leaving the dull dark red for the crocodile's mouth and eyes). I also added a few additional parts here and there to spruce up the look of Crawley's vehicle.









Chima characters in action.


Lennox and Crug


Crawley and Leonidas


All four

Lego Galaxy Squad versus Insectoids. The Galaxy Squad Green Team prowls the surface in the Vermin Vaporizer, searching for nasty bug aliens that are up to no good. The vehicle features a battle buggy in the front that can disembark on a ramp. In the back is a laboratory and a detachable mech robot for more mobile fire-power.

This is a great Lego set, my favorite Galaxy Squad set so far. There was just a bit of gold and beige hodge-podge here and there. Not too much. The front interior section had some dark green and white in with the gray. I fixed that to be more consistently gray. I also modified a design feature on the front sides of the vehicle so that the white angled pieces in front of the wheels match up with each other. The back interior had a bit of gray on the side walls. I looked through my piece collection, and I just happened to have some appropriate white pieces for that. Praise God! I also added some transparent green bulbs to some of the cannons that didn't have them. A few gold pieces on the mech robot replaced with white. Finally, I modified the bug monster's Scorpion crawler (which took way longer than it looks like it should have because I had to find the right pieces for it in green). The Scorpion now has front pincers as well as a modified body and color scheme.

































I made the pictures here a bit smaller than usual because there are so many of them. I should go back and make the Star Wars pics smaller, too.

Insectoid Warp Stinger versus Galaxy Squad Red Team.

At first glance this set looked really ugly to me. Dark red mixed in with green. Red canopies. And prominent dark red tail fins. I wouldn't have gotten this set if I hadn't already had the idea to modify it. Assembly took a while because I replaced the dark red stuff on the spot with white and green. Didn't even use the dark red parts. Set those aside and looked through my piece collection for the more pleasant colors. Among my collection of white pieces were four white tail fins, which I affixed the stickers to. I also have some pretty green-tinted canopies in the same shape as the red ones. Been saving them to use for something cool. This turned out to be it.

The "head" of the vehicle was heavily modified in white and green. Added some engine boosters in the back with pink-tinted lights. The front stinger gun was modified (they slapped a black antenna on there and called it a day; I replaced that with some cool pieces). Then I found that I could add some smaller pink stinger guns on the sides. Finally, I did just a few small modifications on Red Team's speeder bike. That angled piece right in front of the guy doesn't have an instrument panel or anything on it, and they don't give you any stickers to put there. Can you believe that? I used a sticker from my collection of "instrument panel" stickers (last year I bought a bunch of small Lego sets on clearance for parts, and they come with some nice stickers).



















Insectoid Space Swarmer. Another ugly-looking one at first glance. Did the same thing here. Modified the colors, replaced the red canopy with one of those pretty green ones, replaced the grabber mouth up front with a stinger gun similar to the one on the Warp Stinger, and installed some side guns in the same style as the Warp Stinger's pink stinger guns. Different engine piece in the back.










Bug monsters!

The Galaxy Squad Orange Team soars into action in the mighty Bug Obliterator, also known as "Do Ya Think We Have Enough Guns On This Thing?" Like the Green Team's Vermin Vaporizer, the Orange Team can split up to divide and conquer, with the front section of the vehicle detaching to become a land rover with a battery of anti-aircraft missiles. The lady astronaut pilots the remainder of the craft, a fierce attack spaceship with enough fire-power to send any bug monster scrambling for cover underneath the rock he crawled out from. This is why I thought the Warp Stinger and Space Swarmer could use some more guns.

Another great Lego set, this one didn't need much modification. Just some color swaps here and there (misplaced light gray replaced with dark gray and white for a more consistent look). The connectors for the double cannons on the wings allow the cannons to loosely spin. I didn't like that, so I looked through my piece collection and found some Technic parts that hold the cannons firmly in place. The set provides a pair of side-arms for our brave astronauts, but there's nowhere to put them. So I installed a pair of clips in the forward cabin to hold them (behind the driver). Orange Team also has a robot sidekick (who looks suspiciously like a Transformer). There's no room for him in either of the cabins, so I guess he just hangs out and glides around on his wings.

Finally, the alien bug monster has a dragonfly vehicle, which was heavily modified. More consistent colors, an engine, and a holder in the back for his hand-held stinger gun.

The Galaxy Squad Blue Team has a cool Swarm Interceptor with hidden flick missiles. The pilot's cabin can also rotate, the wings can bend downward, and the ship can split into two separate vehicles.

This one was modified to be more consistently white, with some dark gray and a bit of black replaced with appropriate white parts. The yellow cones on the laser cannons were replaced with pretty blue bulbs because this is Blue Team here. As seen above, Green Team has green lasers and Orange Team has yellow lasers (because I didn't have enough orange cones). So Blue Team should have blue lasers. There's a compartment in the back that holds hidden flick missiles. As seen on the box, they're tipped with blunt red pieces. I replaced them with blue bulbs and quickly realized that the missile battery can't lower back into the compartment because there isn't enough room there for bulbs. So I worked with this for a while and created a larger compartment that the bulbs can fit into. The missile battery can be raised without the bulbs bumping into the ceiling of the payload bay.













Modified payload bay.







A few more shots of the Swarm Interceptor's action features.












Blue Team: Interceptor pilot and robot dude from the Space Swarmer set

Eris' Eagle Interceptor prowls the skies over Chima, looking for Ravens who are up to no good. The main body of the aircraft didn't need much modification. Just some color swaps here and there to make the color scheme more consistent. I swapped out the red missile tips for transparent blue ones so that it's more consistent with the lion vehicle. The forward cabin, however, needed some extensive work. On their model Eris can't fit in there with his wings on. You have to take his wings off before putting him in there. I thought that was lame, so I set about designing a forward cabin that he can fit into with his wings. My cabin is a bit longer than theirs, but it's well worth it.

I'll show a picture of the birds first so you can see their wings.


Razar, Rizzo, and Eris















Redesigned forward cabin.








The forward cabin can detach to become a small flier.

The wolf pack is on the move with Wakz' Pack Tracker, a mean machine for cruising through the forest. Just what Wakz and his buddy Winzar need to go hunting for trouble. This was a surprisingly good set, featuring moving jaw action. When the vehicle is moved forward, the front jaw closes and opens. Very cool! This one is mostly gray and dark gray for a nice wolfy look. There was just a bit of odd beige and dark red here and there that I replaced with gray so as to be more consistently wolfy looking. There's no place to put the dudes' swords, so I installed a pair of clips in the back to hold their weapons. Mom thinks the sideways-pointing swords look sort of like a rear fender as well. This set uses Lego's standard spring-loaded missile launcher on a ball joint so that it can pivot in any direction. I've never liked those spring-loaded missile launchers. I replaced it with a custom-designed weapons array featuring Chi cannons, flick missiles, and a seat for Wakz so that he can operate it. I also gave the driver a dashboard instrument panel.

This is mom's favorite Chima set so far (perhaps because it resembles a military Technical; she loves military stuff). I gotta admit, these wolf dudes are very cool. They're supposed to be "bad guys" in Lego Chima lore (stereotyping of wolves?). I think I'll have them be good guys in my personal mythos, brave and fearless defenders of the forest and its supply of magical Chi crystals.




















Wakz, Winzar, and Equila

The Star Slicer, a mighty Buggoid ground vehicle.

The first thing that came to mind here was "This thing needs some guns." Those poseable foreclaws look mean, but this is what these bug monsters are up against. This, too. Green Team's vehicle has eight green-tipped guns, and Orange Team's over-the-top starship has a whopping 16 yellow-tipped bug blasters (not counting the red flick missiles; six of those). Our bug monsters are badly outgunned here. So after the usual modifications (dark red parts replaced with white pieces and dark red canopies replaced with green ones for a look that's more pleasant on the eyes), I added some pink-tipped stinger guns and flick missiles up front. And what if the Galaxy Squad forces circle around behind? The Star Slicer now sports a stinger turret in the back that can rotate and elevate. It has a big translucent stinger gun and two smaller pink-tipped ones on the sides. Now properly armed, our buggoids can go on the rampage.















The Star Slicer seems like it would most effective for a heavy ground assault, like an Imperial AT-AT from Star Wars. It's got those mean foreclaws, stinger guns for crowd control, and rear defense turret. All I need now is a Galaxy Squad HQ base (probably have to design that myself), and I can re-enact the Battle Of Hoth... except with alien bugs and colorful bug-fighting teams. Maybe the Battle Of Hoth meets Starship Troopers.


Also modified Blue Team's futuristic 4x4 with transparent blue bulbs on the cannons and blue thrusters in the back. My sister doesn't like the transparent canopy that sits there in mid-air above the guy's head connected to nothing behind him, and I don't really like that either. I added a few pieces so it looks like the canopy connects with the middle of the vehicle. Like other Galaxy Squad vehicles, this 4x4 has a split function. The back where the robot sits can detach and become an agile flyer.








Here's a mini Insectoid I built.

Now we're getting more into Starship Troopers territory. Orange Team has a mech robot, and look at those Insectoids! That's very cool because I really enjoyed "Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles". The first modification here is to get rid of the dark red parts on the Insectoids and replace 'em with green and other appropriate colors. Their version has transparent pink eyes. I gave the bugs trans-green bulbs for eyes, making them consistent with my other Insectoids. And these guys don't have any guns. I was working on some shoulder-mounted stinger cannons for them, but I decided it's easier to just have each bug carry a stinger gun underneath. As always, gray stinger cannons are tipped with transparent pink.











Next time I'll show the modifications I did to the CLS-89 Eradicator Mech.

This one has a split function like the rest of the Galaxy Squad vehicles. The front cabin detaches to become a little spaceship. Flip the back down, turn it around, flip up the arms, and it becomes a new Mech Robot. Kinda like a Transformer. When the cabin is attached, the robot sidekick in the back is facing down (he's a robot; he doesn't mind).

It's kind of hard to see in on the box picture, but the cylindrical parts on the legs and feet are gray. I replaced those with white parts. Most of the modifications made here were aimed toward making the vehicle more consistently white. There was a bit of gray on the back of the cabin as well, and some small hodge-podge areas on the two bodies of the mech that just looked odd, with misplaced gray and dark gray here and there. I understand the designers want to provide a variety of colors and shapes in these sets, and that's fine. But I like my models to have consistent color schemes.

My sister hates it when there's a clear glass window canopy with nothing behind it. The robot sidekick's mech is another of those where the canopy just sits there in mid-air. So I modified the back wall and placed an angled piece that comes out to meet the window. A final modification, cannons tipped with orange bulbs on that one arm. The other Galaxy Squad vehicles all have yellow cones or bulbs on their laser cannons (except for the tiny hand-guns that are too small for that). That big black gatling gun just looks out of place. I think the orange bulbs were a nice modification.

The Insectoids have a nicely sized vehicle, the Crater Creeper. In addition to the normal color scheme modifications, I did two variations on this vehicle: Ant and Scorpion. First, the Ant. As always with Insectoid vehicles, the dark red parts had to go. I don't have anything against dark red; just don't like it combined with bright green. That transparent piece in the back was interesting. They don't even make that style of part in trans-green, so I had to do it another way. The green dome turned out to be a nice addition to the look of the Crater Creeper. I also moved the flick missiles outward a bit so that they're not right next to the driver's head, and added a quad-stinger cannon up front. The forward pincers are connected by a rubber band (easily seen on the box). It forces them together. Take away the rubber band, and I can pose them any way I like. Replacing some red parts, I was able to use some pretty trans-green pieces on the sides.

I did not do any modifications to the Green Team's little hovercraft.









Next time I'll show this vehicle's true potential: Scorpion Mode!