Frame Kits 2

We've talked about this before.  Now someone else has stepped up.  Micheal Raichelson is accepting pre-orders for kits of five Chubs.  For $50 USD you get three Direct Fire, one Artillery, and one Melee Chub, in a combination of one base color and one accent color.  They're only available until June 14, 2014 so get in on this while you can.

Purity 3: TMOH (Part 2)

As I mentioned previously I built a Chub from Kre-O and Lego parts.  I did this the day after I built the "hybrid" Crab Mech.

I used +David Bradford's set up for the hips on this one as I don't have enough Taps in Light Bley.  I think it turned out pretty well.

Here is a picture showing what Lego pieces I used.  If I pick up another Transformers set, I can replace the chest piece and the piece the head clips to with Kre-O.

Now I was tired and hungry after class that night so it seemed as if the I had to fight to get the Kre-O parts in place.  After a couple of days, a clear head and full stomach, I think I'm going to have to agree with +Malcolm Craig that Kre-O parts just don't have the same clutch as Lego parts.  Even though they say they're compatible.

If you look closely at the clips holding the legs to the hips you can see the difference in diameters between the two company's parts.

I broke two Clip Tiles because the pieces I'm using as swords were just slightly too large and did damage over time.

Here's the rest of the pictures in the Brickshelf gallery.

Purity

There are members of the Lego community who feel that building with another other type of connecting block is heretical.  Lego was the first and we must remain pure.  This includes use of third party creations such as Brickarms.

There have been a few people lately in the MFZ community who are testing that orthodoxy.

The first was the ST-57k Sumu by milt69466.  It's made mostly from Kreo.

Then the A2b Angelus Type 2 by Rasann/Kastor the Chinchilla.

milt69466 strikes again with the ST-61k Yellow Tiger and others.

This modified Chub with MegaBloks parts -- called the ST-28I Paladin -- by LowestFormofWit looks really sharp.

And finally, combining MegaBloks and Kreo, LowestFormOfWit's NR-31 Vassal.

Makes you think, no?

The Chub, Revisited

Since my post about building the Chub seems to be the most popular one on my blog -- it has 900+ views, 200 more than the nearest other topic -- I figured I'd take a look at more of the ways people have been customizing this frame.

Wilson Industries Chub Company by Carbonbass.  He's actually added knees to the design!

"Purity" Ijad Chub by True Mortality.  This one has a great use of color.

ST-07 SLC "Fat Snake" by MittenNinja.  A change of the feet and a slight reskin really changes the look of this Chub mod.

ST-07 Xyston Custom by XGundam05.  I really like that shield.

ST07 Chub, X Variant by Ced23Ric.  Look at those rocket launchers!

ST-19 "Reaver" by LowestFormOfWit.  A great use of color really sets this pair apart.

Aqua Chub by gatlinggouf927.  Look at those Trans-Green pieces!

ST-XO "Pizazz" by LowestFormOfWit.  A great use of Friends parts to make this Chub.

31st Orion Militia Salvaged Chubs by MittenNinja.  Another good looking set of Chubs by MittenNinja.

"Ares" by KyanosMoros.  A lot of Gundam influence here.

The Black Comet by me.  Hey, you can't expect me to pass up an opportunity to toot my own horn!

Building: The Chub

The first thing people generally do for Mobile Frame Zero is build mechs, even before reading the rules :-).  If you're not used to building with Lego putting the small parts together in an attractive and functional manner can be frustrating.  I'll try and help by looking at breakdowns of the official frames, naming some parts, and walking through the assembly process.

Here's the breakdown of the Chub that Soren sent me.

The thing that confused me the most was how the arms attached to the body.  The Bar 1L w/Clip Mechanical Claw which attaches to the Tap 1x1 inside the torso is a little hard to see in the photos of the assembled mech.  It drove me nuts for the longest time. Before I received the assembly instructions I even came up with an alternate attachment device using Minifig Utensil Handlebars.

Here's a look at the base model that I assembled.

Can everyone see how that goes together?

Here's a few variations on the theme.

UMFL 4th (Syrene) Brigade, Recon Commandos by Jed September.  As always this shows good use of color, main and accents, and additional parts to change the look from the base model.  If you take a close look at the head, you can see it's attached a little differently than the standard model.

Blue Squad by Viro-M.  An excellent variation on the head along with a unified color scheme.

Red Unit "Kingfisher" by Ironsniper.  And here we can see where Viro-M got the inspiration for the heads on his mechs.

Salvage Chub by Ross Varn.  This shows good use of putting together a mech with the parts that you have on hand.

ST07W-WACKY by SchoonPine.  This shows how adding parts to a basic Chub frame can change the look of the frame.

Commander Foss' Custom ST-10 by Joshua A.C. Newman.  Here we see one of the first Chub mods by one of the creators of Mobile Frame Zero.  It uses additional parts and a unified color scheme to set it apart from the base model.

Legionnaire Koenig's ST-07 by Joshua A.C. Newman.  Another Chub mod by J.  Not that heavily modified, just a variant chest piece and an altered head.  An extra weapon and a unified color scheme help to make it different.

Hopefully this gives everyone a good look at how the Chub frame is assembled and some ideas on how to modify it to make your frames more unique.