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On Christmas I reconstructed a Galaxy Explorer from my 25 year old Lego
collection and had some fun with it.
------------------------------------
In the Classic Space era, thousands of Galaxy Explorer ships were produced and
dispatched into the far reaches of space. This was not without consequences...
Space is an ecosystem, with its own checks and balances.
It had long been theorized that non-intelligent space inhabiting animals might
exist, feeding on gas clouds, asteroids, comets, perhaps even other such animals
lower on the food chain. In the Classic Space era, another food source increased
in abundance, rich in complex organic compounds, refined metals and radioactive
elements, a candy-like treat.
Many Galaxy Explorers were lost on their missions, in fact, an alarming number
of them, information which has been suppressed for political reasons. Space
development is big business.
Recent losses of ships in the spacelanes that have been attributed to piracy may
indeed have been caused something else entirely. Consider the data: grey
unmarked, unregistered ships feigning distress and then attacking, leaving their
victims thoroughly gutted, if any remains are found at all...
------------------------------------
<http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=110082>
The Explorovore drifts inert until it detects the emissions of a radar scan. Its
body is a metal shell grown in the shape of its prey, roughly matching its radar
and visual signature. Aroused from a hibernation state, it extends its lure, a
protrusion evolved to mimic an astronaut, which bobs and waves as if in
distress.
When the prey is close enough, the Explorovore unfolds its grappling arms and
opens its maw. A burst of plasma from its belly thrusters gives it a sudden
acceleration and it crashes into the hapless ship.
Once the prey is subdued, the feeding begins. Depending on the duration of its
prior hibernation, the Explorovore will either consume the ship entirely, or
nibble merely enough to sustain itself, preserving the rest for another purpose.
Reproduction is important for all animals. The Explorovore deposits an egg on
the partially eaten carcass. Once hatched, the newborn will consume the ship
from the inside out and adopt its shape, continuing the cycle of life.
One can only wonder what might happen if an Explorovore egg hatched in a
battleship, space station or moonbase module. Beware all things grey and
featureless. Beware the red spaceman. Beware.
K
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In lugnet.space, Brian Cooper wrote:
> On Christmas I reconstructed a Galaxy Explorer from my 25 year old Lego
> collection and had some fun with it.
> ------------------------------------
>
> In the Classic Space era, thousands of Galaxy Explorer ships were produced and
> dispatched into the far reaches of space. This was not without consequences...
>
> Space is an ecosystem, with its own checks and balances.
>
> It had long been theorized that non-intelligent space inhabiting animals might
> exist, feeding on gas clouds, asteroids, comets, perhaps even other such animals
> lower on the food chain. In the Classic Space era, another food source increased
> in abundance, rich in complex organic compounds, refined metals and radioactive
> elements, a candy-like treat.
>
> Many Galaxy Explorers were lost on their missions, in fact, an alarming number
> of them, information which has been suppressed for political reasons. Space
> development is big business.
>
> Recent losses of ships in the spacelanes that have been attributed to piracy may
> indeed have been caused something else entirely. Consider the data: grey
> unmarked, unregistered ships feigning distress and then attacking, leaving their
> victims thoroughly gutted, if any remains are found at all...
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> <http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=110082>
Augh, in space no one can hear you scream "Leave my classic Galaxy Explorer
alone!".
Great idea and implementation, Brian, thanks!
George
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In lugnet.space, Brian Cooper wrote:
There’s something wrong with you. Or something very right.
I can’t tell.
Awesome concept, creepy backstory, excellent execution. MORE!
Soren
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> One can only wonder what might happen if an Explorovore egg hatched in a
> battleship, space station or moonbase module. Beware all things grey and
> featureless. Beware the red spaceman. Beware.
?!? "battleship, space station or moonbase module" !?! Ok, what are you up
to...?
Dear God, I love you. I'm sort of imagining Classic-Space meets Starship
Troopers. Sick and wrong. Keep it up.
Mark
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In lugnet.space, Brian Cooper wrote:
> On Christmas I reconstructed a Galaxy Explorer from my 25 year old Lego
> collection and had some fun with it.
I'll say! This totally rocks, Nik and I were laughing our heads off...
Little Shop of Horrors meets Spaceman Spiff!
Is it just me or:
- Am I the only one that thinks this whole sequence would make a great stop
motion or LDraw animation?
- did anyone else think of Goldman during the egg laying sequence? It was
vaguely erotic in a sort of sick, alien way.
Spotlighted.
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Scary.... it has something of Alien. The way the egg is droped on the rest of
the ship, this red and confined interior, these arms... it is just missing some
kind of slime, yerk! I promise I won’t get close to any red space man!
Awesome MOC, the realisation is plain perfect, simply perfect. Thanks for
sharing Brian! Back to shivering....
JP.
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> Augh, in space no one can hear you scream "Leave my classic Galaxy Explorer
> alone!".
>
> Great idea and implementation, Brian, thanks!
>
> George
Thanks.
And I think they can hear you scream in the realm in Classic Space, as long as
you use your walkie talkie... Hmm, wait a minute, how can you use a walkie
talkie with a space helmet on. That's right, they have no helmet visors. Wait,
how can their space suits be pressurized without a visor? Ok, the visors are
imaginary, giving imaginary pressurization. And the walkie talkie?
It picks up vibrations when pressed against that imaginary faceplate,
transmitted by the imaginary pressurization. (I just had to clarify that for
myself before the concept of Classic Space unraveled from pulling on a string.)
K
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In lugnet.space, Soren Roberts wrote:
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In lugnet.space, Brian Cooper wrote:
There’s something wrong with you. Or something very right.
I can’t tell.
Awesome concept, creepy backstory, excellent execution. MORE!
Soren
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The backstory adds a plausible scientific logic to the wrongness and makes it
seem almost right. :-)
Ah, the beauty of science fiction.
K
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In lugnet.space, Mark Neumann wrote:
> ?!? "battleship, space station or moonbase module" !?! Ok, what are you up
> to...?
> Dear God, I love you. I'm sort of imagining Classic-Space meets Starship
> Troopers. Sick and wrong. Keep it up.
>
> Mark
I started thinking about monstrous things while creating the Explorovore.
Imagine a moonbase module that seemed like a plain, featureless connecting
corridor, but which from time to time would divert people into the red meaty
oblivion of a space creature's digestive system. Who would notice a few missing
moonbase personnel. Eventually there would be no-one left to notice. Well, there
would be slightly odd looking red spacemen peeking out of windows and airlocks,
waving, making the base seem occupied as more people arrived from Earth. :-)
K
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> I'll say! This totally rocks, Nik and I were laughing our heads off...
>
> Little Shop of Horrors meets Spaceman Spiff!
>
> Is it just me or:
> - Am I the only one that thinks this whole sequence would make a great stop
> motion or LDraw animation?
> - did anyone else think of Goldman during the egg laying sequence? It was
> vaguely erotic in a sort of sick, alien way.
Glad you liked it. Actually I wasn't sure people would get it, so I had to bulk
up the backstory to explain (the true horror of) what was really going on.
Your imagination can provide the animation. :-)
Egg laying is always erotic to life forms. (Robots get excited when they see a
chassis rolling off an assembly line.)
K
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In lugnet.space, Jean-Pascal Rignault wrote:
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Scary.... it has something of Alien. The way the egg is droped on the rest of
the ship, this red and confined interior, these arms... it is just missing
some kind of slime, yerk! I promise I won’t get close to any red space man!
Awesome MOC, the realisation is plain perfect, simply perfect. Thanks for
sharing Brian! Back to shivering....
JP.
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Thanks.
To make it seem like a living thing, I wanted to give the sense that inside its
grey metal shell the Explorovore was packed with red, meaty substance. The
spaceman lure is enclosed in folds of red, meaty tissue. The egg comes out of a
red, meaty womb. The disturbing tendril arms with knobby joints have red, meaty
muscle. This might make sense if the tissue had a high iron content. Iron is
common in asteroids, a potential food source for space creatures.
K
ps. Red and Meaty. I just like saying that.
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In lugnet.space, Brian Cooper wrote:
> One can only wonder what might happen if an Explorovore egg hatched in a
> battleship, space station or moonbase module. Beware all things grey and
> featureless. Beware the red spaceman. Beware.
Wow, that was delightfully creepy. I've never felt uneasy looking at Lego
creations before. Nicely done!
Calum
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That's great! The whole concept is imaginative and original. I really like the
"ovipositor" apparatus. But what makes the concept really work is the lighting
- the stark, angular effect screams "space!" Well done, you sicko!
James Wilson
Dallas, TX
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In lugnet.space, Brian Cooper wrote:
> On Christmas I reconstructed a Galaxy Explorer from my 25 year old Lego
> collection and had some fun with it.
> ------------------------------------
>
> In the Classic Space era, thousands of Galaxy Explorer ships were produced and
> dispatched into the far reaches of space. This was not without consequences...
Heh, evil. I just want to add a comment about how nice the teeth look and how
well any moving parts are hidden. Very well done.
Kenn
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I am deeply disturbed. The entire scenario is quite grotesque. I love the
whole thing! .Space needed some natural inhabitants, stands to reason it should
be something large and carnivorous. I applaud a very successful effort, and
hope we can see some more creatures lurking the spaceways.
Chris McNamee
P.S. The first thing I thought of was a Starcraft Zerg creature when I saw this
thing. A mutalisk I think it's called.
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Totally awesome! Something tells me you've created a whole new sub-theme!
The unfolding of the creature is superb!
Dave
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In lugnet.space, James Wilson wrote:
> That's great! The whole concept is imaginative and original. I really like the
> "ovipositor" apparatus. But what makes the concept really work is the lighting
> - the stark, angular effect screams "space!" Well done, you sicko!
>
> James Wilson
> Dallas, TX
Thanks. The word "ovipositor" also popped into my head when I was taking the
pictures. I was thinking that it would require an elaborate apparatus like a
space shuttle manipulator arm to place an egg in zero g. It moves very slowly
and gently releases the egg when it is sure it has adhered to the surface. The
Explorovore only lays one egg and if it shot it like a projectile, it might not
adhere. Evolution favors successful reproductive mechanisms.
(The zero g thing is also why I gave the creature big grappling pincer arms. It
wouldn't be able to bite and tear at its prey without being firmly attached.)
K
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In lugnet.space, Brian Cooper wrote:
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On Christmas I reconstructed a Galaxy Explorer from my 25 year old Lego
collection and had some fun with it.
|
-snip-
That is awesome Brian!
I do not usually post here on Lugnet, am more of a big time lurking member...
but after seeing *this* I just had to post a reply ;-)
Your dark, creepy scenario reminds me of early 80’s motion pictures like
Moontrap and the Thing, brrrr!
I’m a big fan of sci-fi horror myself and have once tried to create a somewhat
vicious looking, bio-mechanical mini-creature from outer space.
Anyway, I can relate to the way you feel and think about ‘dark’ and ‘space’.
This creation of yours really hits me in the face and is giving me bad, bad
thoughts and ideas... Guess that makes me kind of a sick person too! LOL
Highlighted; keep up the good work!
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One can only wonder what might happen if an Explorovore egg hatched in a
battleship, space station or moonbase module. Beware all things grey and
featureless. Beware the red spaceman. Beware.
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I wonder what would happen if an Explorovore egg hatched in a 3VIL, Eastern
Block, PCS, Iron Reich MOC, in a Mech Bay Moonbase module or in one of the other
known, ‘fiery’ .space MOCs... ...IF an Explororove vessel can lure one of these
that is of course!
Greetings, Erik Boons
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Hillarious idea, excellent performed and great pictures. I especially like this
one as the red reflex gives the picture an extra bloody look.
I guess we just have to shoot red spacemen on sight from now on...
BTW, isn’t it a great evolutionary weakness that the ‘vore haven’t been able to
attain the proper coloursheme? It can’t be due dietary lack...
Cheers
-NB
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SNIPPY
HI Brian,
I must confess that when I first saw this post, I just did what a lot of people
do- scroll down to the brickshelf gallery, and check out the pics. Add to this
the fact I have the attention span of a doughnut and... well. I saw an all grey
version of the classic spaceship, and thought 'meh- next please' but after it
got spotlighted, and saw the replies praising you, I decided to read the story,
and see the pics.
I am a changed man. this is the most original Space MOC I've seen, after Tim
Mcsweeney's Mobile party palace. so hat's of to you. those classic space figs
are so dumb! to think they could be lured by a lure like that :-P perhaps you
can put a rotting-corpse-lure-made-into-vampire-by-the-'vore instead. And
greeblies would be nice too- though I'm not exactly sure what greeblies for a
living thing would look like.
Not sure if you've seen {Space Pirate Captain Herlock: The endless odyessy
outside legend}, but this kinda reminds me of that: spooky aliens, grim
atmosphere, and all the 'consuming'. muhahahha.
Legoswami Samarth
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<Snip>
> Recent losses of ships in the spacelanes that have been attributed to piracy may
> indeed have been caused something else entirely. Consider the data: grey
> unmarked, unregistered ships feigning distress and then attacking, leaving their
> victims thoroughly gutted, if any remains are found at all...
Spotlighted! Your excellent storyboard presentation method makes this MOC all
too cool!!!
I wonder if this creature has already taken over an ISD? A being of that size
would truly make it the "Mother Ship".
"Big Daddy" Nelson
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*quarantines all red spacemen*
This thing had me laughin’ before I saw your post. Man, so very cool. It’s an
amazing combo of creative building and a oddball sense of humor! LOVE IT.
Something needed fer us spaceheads!! All grey spaceships are now to be fired on
on site. spotlighted!
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after some snippage...
In lugnet.space, Chris Giddens wrote:
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(this creation has) oddball sense of humor!
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Something needed fer us spaceheads!!
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Wait! Spaceheads are lacking in an oddball sense of humor? I did not know that.
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BTW, isn’t it a great evolutionary weakness that the ‘vore haven’t been able
to attain the proper coloursheme? It can’t be due dietary lack...
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I would have to conclude that up to this point a color scheme wasn’t
significantly beneficial to survival. Now if people start shooting grey ships on
sight, Explororvores with tinges of blue might be spared and evolution can work
its magic. Hmm, maybe Cobalt might make them blue, so those with a taste for
munching Cobalt would survive and pass that trait on to their offspring.
K
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In lugnet.space, Samarth Moray wrote:
> I am a changed man. this is the most original Space MOC I've seen, after Tim
> Mcsweeney's Mobile party palace.
Thanks. I like it when MOCs stick in your mind and are elaborated by your
imagination (like that fantastic MPP) - toys for the mind.
K
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In lugnet.space, Brian Cooper wrote:
> On Christmas I reconstructed a Galaxy Explorer from my 25 year old Lego
> collection and had some fun with it.
> ------------------------------------
>
> In the Classic Space era, thousands of Galaxy Explorer ships were produced and
> dispatched into the far reaches of space. This was not without consequences...
>
> Space is an ecosystem, with its own checks and balances.
>
> It had long been theorized that non-intelligent space inhabiting animals might
> exist, feeding on gas clouds, asteroids, comets, perhaps even other such animals
> lower on the food chain. In the Classic Space era, another food source increased
> in abundance, rich in complex organic compounds, refined metals and radioactive
> elements, a candy-like treat.
>
> Many Galaxy Explorers were lost on their missions, in fact, an alarming number
> of them, information which has been suppressed for political reasons. Space
> development is big business.
>
> Recent losses of ships in the spacelanes that have been attributed to piracy may
> indeed have been caused something else entirely. Consider the data: grey
> unmarked, unregistered ships feigning distress and then attacking, leaving their
> victims thoroughly gutted, if any remains are found at all...
I love it--the story and the MOC are great!
My only concern...does the Explorovore go for light and dark stone grey?
My assumption is that the Explorovore has only feasted on Galaxy Explorers, so
it may dislike the taste of a "better" color...
So, if it doesn't like light stone grey, does that mean new Galaxy Explorers
could be protected if made in light and dark stone grey? (you color folks,
don't be bringing serious color issue talk here--keep it over in .color--I'm
just having a little fun and making a joke...and poking fun at those who'd like
to see the Galaxy Explorer as a Legend set...)
-Scott Lyttle
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In lugnet.space, Brian Cooper wrote:
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BTW, isn’t it a great evolutionary weakness that the ‘vore haven’t been able
to attain the proper coloursheme? It can’t be due dietary lack...
|
I would have to conclude that up to this point a color scheme wasn’t
significantly beneficial to survival. Now if people start shooting grey ships
on sight, Explororvores with tinges of blue might be spared and evolution can
work its magic. Hmm, maybe Cobalt might make them blue, so those with a taste
for munching Cobalt would survive and pass that trait on to their offspring.
K
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Lets just hope that evolution works fast enough to save those cuties -
extinction is forever!
But I suspect that the Reich is giving them a helping hand as we speak.
-NB
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