[TMOH] A Chorus of Bullfrogs

A while back I created my first all Kre-O frame called the Bullfrog.  There were some minor problems with it, like the Clip Tiles that held the legs on being very loose on the Bar Plate they attached to.  While it was nice that the initial frame design was a 99% SSC in the long run I wanted something I could field in a game.  I also wanted to maintain its pure Kre-O nature.  Over time I collected more sets and pieces and was able to replace the Clip Tiles with better versions.  I tweaked the design a little and made a squad of them.

In the front is the Close Combat model (2Rh+d8/Gd8/2Y/2W).

On the sides are two copies of the Dual Ranged Hitter model (2Rd/2Ra/1Y/2W).

In the back is the Heavy Hitter model (2Rd+d8/1Y/2W).

I also have another Bullfrog partially assembled.

I'm not sure what range I'm going to assign it to.

If you look closely at the group picture you'll notice
that the squad is equipped with a full set of SSRs.

I also have a full set of Stations for

this squad, which are pure Kre-O.

Hopefully I'll have the chance to put them through their paces at PAX East this year.

Single Set Challenge: 31145 Transformers Mirage Set

I had more fun with this one than the last two.  So much so that I've been trying to track down more copies of this set.

"Mirage Flier".  Stats: 2Rd+d8/1G/2W.

"Number One Frame".  A bit basic but it can

be built at the same time as the Mirage Flier.
Brickshelf gallery.

"Mirage Frigate".  A fun build, very swooshable.  I'd like to have a squadron of these for a Kre-O Intercept Orbit fleet.  Stats: 2Rd+d8/1Y/2W.
Brickshelf gallery.

"Communications Center" Station.  A lot better

than my previous attempts at Station building.
Brickshelf gallery.

"Mirage Walker".  I wanted something a little different for this build and the idea to use Kreon legs as "fingers" was a great bit of inspiration.  It can be built at the same time as the Communications Center.  Stats: 2Rd/2Rh+d8/1G/2W.
Brickshelf gallery.

Single Set Challenge: A3371 Star Trek Jellyfish Set

 I've been meaning to post these for a while.  Most of them were in my review of this set and they've all appeared in my Flickr stream.

"Death Drone".  I cheated a bit here with the flight stand.  MFZ Stats: 2Rh+d8 (blades & claws) / 1Y (sensor dome) / 1Gd8/2W
Brickshelf gallery.

"Stalking Horse".  A simple base quadruped frame with plenty of room for attachments.  Brickshelf gallery.

"Micro-Frigate".  of course this is only five studs long so it may be a bit tiny for the normal IO scale.  It might work better as "terrain" or a HVA.







Station.  All three of these builds can be assembled at the same time.


This is a fun set.  I should have picked up more when they were on sale at 50% off.

Single Set Challenge: 31144 Transformers Bumblebee Set

Here's a compilation of all the builds I did as part of my SSC for the Kre-O 31144 Transformers Bumblebee Set.

This is the one I started with and prefer out of all the builds from this set.
MFZ Stats: 2Rh+d8 (big fists) / 2B (armored panels) / 2W
Brickshelf gallery.

I call this guy "Skinny", 'cause he is.  It looks like a good place to start but nothing really special.

Brickshelf gallery.

An attempt at a Station.  Yeah, it's pitiful.

The fourth, and last, build from this set is called "Laser Hands".  Yeah, the name's silly but I like this build better then the "Skinny".

MFZ Stats: 2Rd+d8 (laser hands) / 2B (shoulder armor) / 2W.

Brickshelf gallery.

Most of these have appeared in my review of this set and all have been featured in my Flickr stream.

Frame Fascination

Once in a while certain frames will grab your attention. It happened first to me with the Classic, and then with my Crab Mecha, and also with my Hecaton frame.  Now it's happening again with my Drache Ei frame.  It's not just the build, even though I'm having fun building using only Kre-O pieces.  I'm developing a background for these frames and that is weaving its way into tiny details in how I build each one.  I'm having a lot of fun building these and thinking about how each design comes together.  I've actually put together a full squad.

As you can see there are now four different variations.  There's the base model, the "C" variant, the "A" variant, and the "S" variant.  Each one has minor variations in the build that sets them apart beyond the attachments.

The base model is 2Rd+d8 (twin machineguns) /1B (armored body) /1G (wheeled feet) /2W.  Flickr page.

The "C" -- for Close Combat -- Variant is 2Rh+d8 (flamethrowers) /1B (armored body) /1G+d8 (wheeled feet + rocket boosters) /2W.  Flickr page.

The "A" -- for Artillery -- Variant is 2Ra+d8 (twin cannons) /1B (armored body) /1G (wheeld feet) /2W.  Flickr page.

The "S" -- for Scout -- Variant is 1B (armored body) /1G+d8 (wheeled feet + rocket boosters) /2Y (expanded comms + scanners) /2W.  Flickr page.












The only thing I really need for these are more 1x2 plates in different colors to tell the difference between the unmodified versions, and Single Shot Rockets.  Although I have an idea of what I'm going to use for SSRs.

Kre-O Frame

As I mentioned elsewhere, I built a frame from pieces in the Land Defense Battle Pack set.

I'm calling it the Bullfrog.

I'm thinking it's a standard soldier loadout (2Rd/1B/1Y/1G/2W).  It has a gun, an armored cockpit, a comm antenna, and those funky legs for attachments.

Back in May of last year I proposed the Single Set Challenge.  This design almost qualifies.  I had to use one extra piece from a second Land Defense Battle Pack.

Here's the Flickr page.
And the Brickshelf gallery.
ipernity page.
Mobile Frame Hangar discussion topic.

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 3: TMOH (Part 1)

I've decided to hop on the non-Lego parts bandwagon by building one of my Crab Mechs with a combination Kre-O and Lego parts.

The set I decided to buy is Ocean Attack from the Battleship line.  It has a number of printed parts that are similar to the parts I normally use for the legs on Crab Mechs.  I picked up two sets for $3.50 each at Walmart.

Well, I thought they were printed parts and they turned out to be stickers.  The color of the parts on the box differed from the color in real life as well.



Here you can see the two packages the parts came in.

As mentioned above, I built a Crab Mech.  Here's a shot of all the Lego pieces I used in the build

This is the fully assembled frame.  Here's the Brickshelf gallery.  I'm not too thrilled with the outcome.  Although it's more from lack of parts in the proper colors than anything else.  I ended up running to five separate colors instead of the three I would have preferred.  This is also the first time I've used stickers in a build.  I think they'd look better on a lighter color brick.  Which is more temptation to get more of these sets.

I also built a Chub from a mix of some of the remaining parts and Lego parts.  That'll be another post.