Byron Madsen's Red Slave: a modified Byblos K-110
About this creation
Introduction
This is my contest entry for the FBTB MOC Madness 2011 Building Tournament. It is also the first ship I have built since a decade or two.
Byron Madsen - The Bounty Hunter
Byron Madsen is a former Imperial TIE pilot who realised that hunting down bounties was commercially and economically more profitable than hunting down rebels. Therefore, once his term was over, he decided not to sign up again and instead went on buying his own ship. For some reasons, maybe even because of nostalgia, he decided to keep his Imperial helmet.

This Star Wars bounty hunter minifig is composed of an Imperial TIE pilot torso and hands, red legs and arms, and black belt. The head comes from the Mandalorian soldiers pack while the hair comes from an old Quinn-Gon minifig. The gun is custom made and set up to fit in both hands.



Byblos K-110 "Red Slave" - The Ship
My model is clearly inspired by the Byblos G-1a but also by some WWII planes like the Marauder, some night fighters from the Luftwaffe, and the C-119 Flying Boxcar.

Owning only bricks from the 80's and early 90's (with a couple of exceptions for some printed parts), there are many shapes that are forbidden to me. Besides, I did not want to cannibalise my few original Star Wars Lego sets. So I used what I had: roof tiles, red bricks, plates, and even a canopy made of some airport tower (not sure in fact, I thought the airport ones were transparent and not blue-ish). Using a combination of red and black bricks is also a choice i made hoping to provide an original colour scheme. Finally, the red color inspired the ship's name: the Red Slave.

I also wanted the main body to be 4 studs wide. That would make the overall design more aggressive. Finally, i wanted the model to be playable. this means: easy to take into your hands, not too fragile, easy to access the various compartments (weapons, prison, cockpit).


Secure Enough to Accommodate a Wookiee - The Prison
A prison is a prison, not a tank or closed cabinet. This one, located in the main part of the ship is strong and secure enough to accommodate a Wookiee. Lateral panels open to allow access. Space inside is clearly designed for a minifig (or two ?) in standing or seated position. Air recycling is available from the cell root.



Comfortable and Functional - The Cockpit
Making a Star Wars ship without any Star Wars canopy brick available is a challenge. This being said, I am quite happy with the final solution. Opening (removing) and closing (re-adding) the canopy is extremely easy and everything slides in and out perfectly. The seat is well designed so that the minifig is simply put on flat tiles.

The piloting console is made out of 3 computers that fit nicely close to each other providing a neat and complete piloting interface.

Finally, thanks to the computer moving over the minifig legs and the canopy coming very close to the pilot's head, the pilot is well maintained in his seat even when going crazy about loopings and inverted flights.




Always Two They Are - The Engines
Rounded bricks from the 70's combined with some medieval inn's corners are my winning solution for the engines. I really like the result. It provides an original shape with a wonderful black and red colours mix.


Playability
To me, playability is important. Here, the ship is easy to take into your hands, using any part of the main body: below, front, around the wings connection ... The cockpit, the weaponry and the prison are easily accessible and still look up-to-scale.
Technicalities
Most of the ship is "standard build". But there are some exceptions and some SNOT: the noose, the cockpit, and the engines. I also had to modify my design to shorten the rear part of the ship for balance purpose and add some support under the wings otherwise the flat plates would not resist to the weight of the wings.
The ship is quite heavy once in your hands but it is also quite robust.
More Pictures – Just enjoy










Comments
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I like it |
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August 23, 2012 |
I think that the shape & colour scheme of the ship are excellent. I particularly like the inclusion of the half-timbered castle parts. Nice playability too, with the cockpit and prison. I like the way that you've achieved interest (and a sort of greebling) without using all the usual Lego parts. Very creative! |
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December 19, 2011 |
'tain je le connaissais pas celui la !!! trop top !! |
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I made it |
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December 1, 2011 |
Quoting Andrew AKA Hump-Free
Hey Man, Thanks For Joining The Group. Areas that could use improving, let's see, let's see... The only aspects that I felt could be improved on is the back and forth between the SNOT and NonSNOT portions of the design, I feel like if you could make this more SNOT it would add to the visual appeal of the MOC to some degree. Another aspect I felt like that could be improved is the cockpit , you should make it some it's hinged, it makes it more functional and more like an actual ship, that would add to the value of the MOC. Also, if you could find a different colored canopy that would help as well, the blue feels rather out of place, or you could make it feel more at home by adding details such as lights on various portions of the ship to tie that color into the scheme. Another aspect that I felt could be improved upon was the prison, at least the way you secure it. Having the same door that opens the prison and equipment locker would be a grave error, personally I would secondary hatch over the prison to make sure my prizes don't escape when I needed something, or from what I can see, you have two side hatches, I would make one have multiple prisons that can be opened individually, while the other side would contain the equipment. Other than that, I see no major issues with the design, I think that the unique shape of the ship would rub people the wrong way but it's nice to see branching out. Nice work.
Wow, awesome review. Thank you so much, Hump-Free. I will try to include your precious comments into my next builds. Maybe one day I will even build a variant of the Red Slave while applying all of your comments. |
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Andrew AKA Hump-Free November 29, 2011 |
Hey Man, Thanks For Joining The Group. Areas that could use improving, let's see, let's see... The only aspects that I felt could be improved on is the back and forth between the SNOT and NonSNOT portions of the design, I feel like if you could make this more SNOT it would add to the visual appeal of the MOC to some degree. Another aspect I felt like that could be improved is the cockpit , you should make it some it's hinged, it makes it more functional and more like an actual ship, that would add to the value of the MOC. Also, if you could find a different colored canopy that would help as well, the blue feels rather out of place, or you could make it feel more at home by adding details such as lights on various portions of the ship to tie that color into the scheme. Another aspect that I felt could be improved upon was the prison, at least the way you secure it. Having the same door that opens the prison and equipment locker would be a grave error, personally I would secondary hatch over the prison to make sure my prizes don't escape when I needed something, or from what I can see, you have two side hatches, I would make one have multiple prisons that can be opened individually, while the other side would contain the equipment. Other than that, I see no major issues with the design, I think that the unique shape of the ship would rub people the wrong way but it's nice to see branching out. Nice work. |
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I like it |
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November 28, 2011 |
woah that's a knockout! |
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I like it |
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November 24, 2011 |
Nice spacecraft, but the fig design and the landing pad make it awesome :) |
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I like it |
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November 5, 2011 |
Awesome colours and I like the figures |
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I like it |
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October 18, 2011 |
Very cool. I like the engines and the colour scheme. Nice to see playable builds. |
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I like it |
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October 14, 2011 |
Wicked! Great mix of designs! |
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I like it |
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October 14, 2011 |
Wow nice design!
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I like it |
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October 12, 2011 |
Nice design |
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I like it |
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October 10, 2011 |
Very creative design and just great all around ship! |
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I made it |
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October 10, 2011 |
Thank you all for the very nice and kind comments. :) |
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I like it |
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October 10, 2011 |
Nifty design and cool color combo! |
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I like it |
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October 10, 2011 |
I really like the playability and the color scheme you chose for this build. The overall shape of the ship is also cool. |
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I like it |
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October 10, 2011 |
I really like the playability and the color scheme you chose for this build. The overall shape of the ship is also cool. |
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I like it |
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October 10, 2011 |
It's a pretty cool ship overall, but I especially like the look of the engines and all the thought you put into making it playable. Nice work! |
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I like it |
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October 10, 2011 |
Very cool entry! The whole time I was scrolling down the pics, I kept wondering how you did the engine covers/black and red stripe design. Great idea and awesome looking ship! |
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I like it |
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October 10, 2011 |
Looks great! |
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