Two MOCs: Planetary Miner and Planet Base

[kcirbfilms]

Hey there! Been looking on this site (and the older one, of course) for about a year now, and I have finally decided to join and upload something!

First up: Small Planetary Miner.

Folder: (when public) http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=443317

As is implied, this is a small planetary miner, but can travel to other nearby planets if necessary. It does not carry the materials out, only mines passages so workers and/or other machines can mine for a specific material.


Second: Planet Base

Folder: (when public) http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=443207

A small base that could exist on almost any planet; large, to accommodate any standard sized ship. Comes complete with laboratory in the corner. I built this on purpose with little detail because it is to be used in a brickfilm, and I didn't want too much detail to detract from the ships and story itself. Computers and other devices (any ideas?) will line the outer desk areas. The red and green studs are a futuristic design that demolecularizes matter and stores it the main computer, to be brought back when necessary; this allows for several ships to be present, but not seen.

Any ideas on how to improve on either of these designs would be greatly appreciated. Also if I am violating any of the rules (ex. picture size too big), please let me know.

[Alyosha]

Welcome, kcirb! Only the base folder is public so far, but here are a few thoughts:

First, photography. Sadly, the old tutorial thread is gone and I don't know if it will be coming back. I'm rubbish at photos, but I'm pretty sure that the yellow tint to your pictures is because of incandescent light. Fluorescent or full-spectrum lighting will help, I think. So might an image editing program. My camera has settings to adjust for different types of light, which also helps reduce yellow. Eurobricks has a thread on taking photos of mocs here:

Second, the models themselves. The driller looks like a neat little background vehicle and it looks like it has a bit of greebling in the back (hard to tell since the folder isn't public yet), which seems appropriate for a hefty little machine. The base might be a good 'set' for a film, since it won't distract from whatever you are filming, but I'm not really feeling it. I think my problem with it is that it doesn't seem to have a particular purpose. It has a lab (neat sliding door, by the way), but the lab is right next to some kind of advanced hangar bay? And this is a mining base? I think it would benefit from a few more details - something that indicates what is going with this space and gives it some kind of character. I look at it and I see a pre-fab'd courtyard or some kind of large interior room, not an advanced matter transporter.

That said, I look forward to seeing what else you do with it and what kind of brickfilm you make.

[kcirbfilms]

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah I wasn't able to take pictures in my normal light-controlled environment, unfortunately, but I could've fiddled around with my camera's settings... But I'll check out that link!
Yes, I attempted to put slight greebling on the back of my miner... it's more apparent in other photos.
As for the base, I'll attempt to give you a background on the story: Basically, several galactic powers (people of Earth not included) are at war, as they have been for the past several thousand years. This base is sort of like a hangar, in a sense, but with the creation of matter decomposition and rearrangement, it also has the effect of a small port. The lab doubles as a prison, in case of hostility from other peoples coming from ships. Thinking of it as more of a prison makes it easier to understand. The base itself is for the most part a stand-alone building. Once again due to the matter decomposition and rearrangement, hovercrafts can take people from this base to a city on the planet. The matter decomposition and rearrangement allows the molecular information and the pure elements to be stored within the computer of the base. Computers and other things will line around on the shelf areas that run all along the inside (difficult to see because I didn't take many close-up shots). The ships cannot be transported, only stored; sorta like an unseen garage. That being said, the computer can "create" anything that has been stored into it; a table, a chair, a Roman statue; anything not alive can be stored. I hope that this hasn't confused you even more! It's rather complex, for something that looks simple. I would be glad to clarify anything that doesn't make sense to you or anyone else.
When I am finished with the brickfilm, I will be sure to post it in an appropriate area of this site, but don't expect it too soon.