Papaglop on Beyond-the-brick again!

In October I attended the "Sommet de la brique" Lego exhibition near Montreal.

The Hanlon brothers from Beyond the brick were here to cover the event and I gave them a tour of the MoCs I was presenting.

 

You can watch the full video here.

Update about my Minifigscale Trailblazer

Hello there,

I am excited to unveil the Trailblazer V2, a major update for my minifigure-scale version of the iconic starship from Star Wars Outlaws.

When I launched the Trailblazer, last year I knew I had something special, but with your feedback and many more hours playing this fantastic game, I felt it could be even better.

To this day, there is no other version of that size and with that level of detail but I wanted to push it further.

What's New with Trailblazer V2?

1. Landing Gear: I received a lot of feedback asking for this. It took time to design something that is accurate and that can also withstand the weight of the ship (almost 6kg)
   
   
2. Redesigned Forward and Aft Hoods: To make them more detailed and easier to open
   
   
3. Exterior Detailing: A wealth of new elements on the hull that I gathered while playing
   
   
4. Interior Detailing: Including a better engine and a ceiling that I designed last winter while working on this 3d video.
   
   
5. Many little fixes and improvements: To ensure robustness and ease of building.

Your Questions, Answered

I anticipate you might have some questions about this upgrade:

Q: I own the original Trailblazer V1. Do I need to purchase V2 separately?

A: Absolutely not. If you acquired your V1 through Rebrickable, simply download the V2 files directly from here.

If you purchased directly from me, please reach out, and I will send you the V2.

Q: Is there a simple way to upgrade my V1 model to V2?

A: Not really… There are some significant changes that are interwoven throughout the entire design. Some modules could remain compatible between V1 and V2 but would not recommend trying to mix both.

Q: Is the V2 the same size as the V1?

A: Due to the landing gear, the V2 is taller, but the piece-count jumped from 4462 to 5195.

 

Q: Do the landing gears retract into the ship?

A: The landing gears are designed for stability and ease of display. While they don't fully retract, they are designed for simple removal when you prefer a flight-ready aesthetic.

Q: Any more photos ?
A: Sure !

A 3D/VR/4K virtual tour of the interior of my Minifigscale Trailblazer

When I released the first images of my Trailblazer in the summer of 2024, I was contacted by Digital artist Roly from the Netherlands who wanted to make a virtual tour of the ship.

We worked together for weeks on adjusting the Lego model to allow more details and better lights.

Here is the result after hundreds of hours of work and thousands of hours of rendering.
Make sure you turn the 4K on and enjoy !
 

Orders for my Minifig-scale UCS-style Trailblazer are open ! - And what I think of StarWars Outlaws

While playing Skyrim (a lot) in 2011/2012, I was often thinking "a game like that in the Star Wars universe would be so awesome"
Fast forward to 2024, and we have SW Outlaws.

I played over 100hours of it since August, so needless to say, I love it.

I'm lucky enough to have a PC that runs it smoothly. (100fps on a ultra wide screen)
It is beautiful. Sometimes it's not the side quests who keep me away from the main story, it's just looking at the jaw dropping landscapes.
I did experience a couple couple of bugs, but nothing too serious.

I'm lucky enough to be the kind of Star Wars fan who has seen all the shows, movies, animated series and has read novels like Aftermath, so I enjoyed the appearance of Temmin and Qira and many smaller details and easter eggs.

I'm lucky enough to not think every woman should be a bimbo. And find Kay to be a great protagonist.

I'm lucky enough to understand Ubisoft decision to not accept the 30% shakedown from Steam and release the game on their own platform.

I'm lucky enough to have the patience and skill to play a stealth game. I found the game a bit too easy on the default difficulty. I'll probably do another run with all difficulty maxed during the winter.

Also...
Nix and ND5. :D


Which leads us to the Trailblazer.

For me, it was love at first sight, as it was with the Razorcrest back in 2019.

The general shape seems simple but it's full of Star Wars goodness, shapes angles and details.
I knew I was going to spend a lot of time on it. And I did.

It is now mid October and here it is. 

Kay Vess Speeder bike lego MoC

As I am decorating the interior of my Trailblazer, I could not not have the speeder.
So here it is !


 

The instructions are free on my Rebrickable page.

The Trailblazer from Star Wars Outlaws - A Lego minifigscale MoC by papaglop

Here it is !

The project I have been keeping semi-secret for almost a year now.

The Trailblazer, Kay Vess's ship from Star Wars Outlaws

I love that ship and I can't wait to play the game in just two weeks.

There is still a LOT of work to do, in fact this photo is not even the latest version.

List of current features :
 - Turret can rotate and can be removed
 - Escape pod can be removed
 - Smaller Reactors can rotate around the bigger ones like in the game

 - Part of the roof can be removed
 - other parts of the roof can be opened
 - detailed exterior

 - detailed minifigscale interior, all the rooms and main furniture are here

The next steps :
 - Finish the design of the bigger reactors
 - Finish the Canopy of the cockpit (the biggest challenge of the whole ship)
 - Exposing it at "Brick Summit" in Montreal on September 14th 2024
 - Design the instructions and make them available.

F-A-Q :

Is this minifigscale ?
YES

How many pieces ?

No idea yet, I'll have to design it in stud.io to know

Weight and dimensions ?
Not final yet

Is there an interior ?
Yes, all rooms with the maximum of details

Do the Reactors rotate like in the game ?
YES 

Are instructions available ?
Not yet, but they should be in October.

What did you base yourself on, since the game isn't out yet ?
Youtube videos and trailers

Once available will the instructions be on Rebrickable ?
Probably at some point but I may start with an early presale for real fans.

Update on my Lego MoC of the CX Dagger from Bad Batch

My wife knows me well, when we watch anything Star Wars, she can tell from my face when my brain goes into "I need to build this out of Lego".

After giving up on a full minifigscale Havoc Marauder, I wasn’t sure I’d find a ship I love from the Bad Batch.

I worked on Asaj Ventress’s ship for a bit in stud.io, but I had limited footage and zero shot of its interior, so I’ll wait for more content.

However, for the CX Dagger, it was love at first sight and I have plenty of footage, from outside and inside and even a concept art page.

So I dived into it. And of course, I wanted it to be as detailed as possible and as minifig-scale as possible. All while keeping it buildable with pieces that are easy to find (I learned from my success with the Razorcrest)

I got some good reviews on Instagram for the V1
And now just finished V1.1 just in time to show it next Weekend at an exhibition near Montreal.

Note : The instructions are not ready yet.
So far designing the instructions for this ship in Stud.io has presented difficulties, particularly due to the wing assembly and attachment process. It's crazy how the wings just satisfyingly clip into place in real life but, stud.io makes it seem impossible.

I don’t know yet if I will just put the instructions on Rebrickable or if I’ll apply the same formula as with my Razorcrest in 2020. I will update the product page next week.

CX Dagger, from the Bad Batch a Lego MoC by papaglop

 This last season of Bad Batch has its ups and downs, but I enjoy it a lot.

In terms of inspiration for Mocs there have been two ships that caught my attention :

 - Asaj Ventress' new ship,

 - The Clone X ship called CX Dagger.

1/ Asaj Ventress' new ship

 

I spent a couple of nights working on this one, but it bugs me to have no idea where the door is or what the interior looks like, plus the cockpit has a shape that is pretty complicated.
Fun fact the rear windshield is very similar to the Razorcrest's.

There are only a couple of shots where we can see this ship and it is not enough to recreate a good enough MoC but here is where I am at with it..

 

2/ The Clone X ship called CX Dagger

For this one, we have a lot of footage of the exterior, some interior shots, AND my favorite thing : a Concept-art board from the Official Star Wars website.

These angles look good !
But it is a pain to recreate...

I hesitated between Black and DBG, bit I went for a mix of both. (the photo is to bright)
There is LOT of work still to be done, but here is a sneak-peek at the reactors.
I am also waiting on a couple of Bricklink orders to be able to continue.

Finished or not, I will bring it at my next exhibit in May. :)
If you're in the Montreal Area, come see me ! 

Papaglop's new lab

Hello there, it has been a while.

I've been far from Social Media, my bricks and Stud.io these last couple of months.

Why you ask ?
Well instead of building with Lego bricks, I was spending all my weekends renovating the basement of my house.

I finally got rid of that old carpeting from the 60s and dismantled this big, decommissioned fireplace.


My wife asked, "What color have you chosen for your Lego room ?
And I replied, mostly LBG and DBG for the walls and the floor is going to be Dark tan tiles.

Things are going well and I started adding some SW details to the decoration, some of them inspired by this glorious Facebook page called SW Room builders. 


Most of my Lego collection was hidden away during the work, but some sets still received a lot of dust, luckily, my daughter finds it satisfying to dust them with a light brush.

It's not 100% finished, but will it ever be?
I just need to get some details out of my mind and into the room.

Then I will have space mentally and physically to go back to bricking.

Here are some "before" shots:

Fun fact, during all this I found one of my oldest MOCS, from over 10 years ago.
It was this R2D2.
And just today, I received the new one. :)

Star Wars Galaxy of Lego Heroes - 2022

Who else is a Star Wars Lego and SWGOH fan ? :)

These are some of my old teams from 2021 / 2022

Since then, my roster has changed, the meta has changed and my minifig collection has grown.
I will update the teams and make new ones once I'll have full access to my Lego room.

StaCrates - Modular display crates for Star Wars minifigs

As you probably know by now, I love designing minifig-scale Star Wars scenes and ships.

But building large dioramas and full starships is demanding in terms of time, money, and over time it requires more and more space/volume to display.

Time and money:

I have MANY unfinished designs : The Bad Batch's Marauder, Ahsoka's T6 as seen in the show, The Mantis from Fallen Order, The Windfall from Vader Immortal VR game, The Halo from Clone wars and Aftermath books, Slave1 with the rotating interior like in the Mandalorian show.

All these I started and gave up on, because I started with the detailed interior, build around it, and then give up because it becomes too big and too time consuming.

Also, I have older and bigger Mocs for which I never found the time to design the instructions. (Cantina from 2017 / Carbonite Chamber from 2017)

So now I want to focus on smaller, more achievable things for me to design and for people to build.

Display:

As a lot of you, I enjoy collecting minifigs and I am fortunate enough to have a room dedicated to my Lego, but I am aware that this is not the case for everyone.
I no longer want to keep them hidden in drawers or displayed on basic shelves or in costly display cases. (Let's say I prefer to buy Lego pieces rather than furniture to showcase them).

Also, I now regularly participate in conventions, and moving bigger Mocs is not always easy.
I wanted to take all this into account.

User feedback:

After more than 10 years looking at Lego builds and showing my designs on Social Media and after 2 years of participating in conventions and exhibitions, I noted some recurring questions :

 - Is it minifigscale ?

 - Does it have an interior ?

 - Does it open to see the interior ?

And I figured : why not focus on just that ?

So, here is my new project :

STACRATES

A series of modular and stackable display crates for minifigs, each representing a specific scene, location and moment of our favorite saga.

This project was born from a conversation with the renowned French YouTuber Pepito SWGoH who, in addition to being an expert in SW Galaxy of Heroes is a big Lego enthusiast and minifig collector.

Each crate is a detailed scene, based on bigger Mocs that I have already designed and refined over time, or some brand new deisgns of iconic scenes. They are all of the same size and can be attached vertically and horizontally to create a full wall.

I already have over a dozen of them in the works and I will post them on my Instagram page as often as possible.

You can arrange them by Planet, by chronological order (timeline or release) , by character journeys, by color. However you like !

You can modify and multiply them, and create your own !
If you share photos online, please use #stacrates and @papaglop in your posts ;)

You can find all the Stacrates here.

Thank you and may the stackable Force be with you.

The Mandalorian - Season 3 recap

I loved this 3rd season of the Mandalorian. Loved the links to Rebels, the Prequels, the Sequels, even to Resistance.

Dave Filoni is a bridge builder.
Clone wars and Rebels were a bridge between the Prequels and the OT.
Mandalorian and Ahsoka are a bridge between the OT and the Sequels.

But sadly, no new ship has really caught my eye in this season.

Sure, Bo Katan's Kom'rk-Class Fighter Transport is pretty cool, but I am not planning to do my own version of it. (And my friend Lee already nailed it)

The pirate fighters from Chapter 21 were OK, but Lego announced and launched their official minifigscale version super fast.

And that big Pirate ship, it had interesting angles and patterns, but it is too big for the minifig-scale maniac I am.

But there are still some scenes that have ignited my Lego brain during this season!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 21

Zeb :
"I like your attitude, Good luck, you're gonna need it"

The Top Gun vibe was fun in this New Republic pilot lounge bar on the planet Adelphi.

I started "fig-bashing" the various characters:
- Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee)
- Zeb
- Trapper Wolf (Dave Filoni)
- Sash Ketter (Deborah Chow)
- Jib Dodger (Rick Famuyiwa)

and ended up doing the full scene :)

This place is also seen in the last chapter, it helped me add some more details.

I did not make a digital version, so no instructions for this one (yet?).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 23

Bo : "Come on. We're not leaving you behind!"
Paz : "Go. There are too many"
Bo : "No!"
Paz : "This is the way."

I think at some point they over-used the line :"This is the way".
But at that very moment, when Paz says it. It really stings...

When I was exposing this build in Montreal back in May of 2023, it was fun to see the 2 possibles reactions of the visitors.
I could instantly tell by the movement and size of their eyes if they had seen the show or not. :)

The instructions are available here.

Notes:
 - I hope Lego will release a version of these Commando troopers.
 - This scene can easily become the next one with the 3 Praetorians.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 24

Greef : "A cabin, just outside of town where you can lay low with your new family ir you choose so"

I made this one first with stud.io and the plans are available here. 

I hope we will see the interior in another season, and I will update this build if this would happen.

Here is what it looks like in real bricks next to my N1.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
IG 12

This was a fun part, but I am glad it was only temporary.
It's good to see IG11 back.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo

He was mentioned again ! 

Just as I was working on my very first Lego portrait.

Free instructions here

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't wait for the Ahsoka show now...

Official UCS LEGO Razorcrest

At last, here is the Official UCS LEGO Razorcrest set.

I was scared this official set would render my version obsolete. But the interior is far from being as accurate and detailed as mine.

Yet, I can't wait to receive it and build it.
(Oct 7th here in Canada, so 4 days after my Bday.)

Also I am glad they are bringing back the Trans-Clear piece from 1992 (6059), the same I used for the cockpit.

new facebook page

 My personnal facebook account has been hacked and blocked and has now been deleted, along with my papaglop page. :(

So I had to create a new one...

First time Exhibitor at a Lego Show !

I have been attending several Lego shows in the Montreal area over the last 8 years.

But, next week, for the first time, I will be one of the exhibitors !

I will be showing 3 full tables of my Mocs :

Cantina, Carbonite Chamber, Razorcrest, N1 Modified, My new Uwing, Imperial troop Transports, Hoth Shield Generator, among others...

If you happen to be in the area :

New Project : U-wingS

I have been working on these for a while, it is time to start showing it.
:)
More info on the Product page

Scorpenek Droid. Minifigscale Lego Moc by papaglop

 Hello there !

Here is my version of the Scorpenek droid from the final Chapter of tBoBF.

 - it has 335 pieces
 - it is in the Minifigscale range
 - it is Posable
 - it should cost under 40USD to build from brinklink.

The instructions are available on Rebrickable ! (3USD)
And soon on Buildamoc.com.



Animated Render:

Real life photo:

The Mandalorian new ship N-1 Naboo Starfighter

 When I saw what ship was going to replace the Razorcrest, I thought: "It is a small one and it is based on an existing set, there are going be millions of MoCs for it, why bother work on one."
But some friends, colleagues and followers insisted that I try. And I have to admit it is a good looking and interesting ship.

As I was the first to work on a minifigscale Razorcrest, I felt I had to try.

So I started working on it Friday !

- Is it based on an existing official sets ? No
- Is it minifigscale ? Yes, but in the higher tier.
- Is there room for Grogu in it ? Yes
- Is it Modular ? Yes, it makes it easier to work on for me and for the builders.
- Is it UCS ? I don't think a Moc this size deserves the label.
- Will there be instructions ? Most probably
- Is it going to require rare/expensive pieces ? I don't know yet, I am building it in Real Life first instead of starting with stud.io, so I go with what I have in stock.

Next steps:
 - Refine the build

 - Design the step by step instructions

 - have them reviewed by friends

 - make these instructions available on Rebrickable
 - make the build available on Buildamoc

Saturday update !

Here is an early version after a couple of hours :

Saturday update !

I imported it in stud.io and made a whole bunch of improvements.
Here is a rendering

Tuesday update !
It is getting there.
Got some good feedback from my wife and from my friend Gabriel.
 -Added a lot of details

 -Improved the general shape
 -made the structure stronger 
I am ready to do the proper instructions !