Gaps in Spaceships

[Rook]

So my big "hate" question is: Why has TLC decided it was "ok" to make the Twilight & Dooku's Solar Sailor, without a windshield and huge gaps in the cockpit, respectively?

Thanks Rook

PS: This might have been answered in the old forum but I just got the Solar Sailor today so it's a valid issue for me today.

[Solo]

I'm going to venture a guess and say their test audiences were OK with it... but I too would like to hear anything Steve may have to share on the particular design choice in question.

[Jake]

Thing is, in the solar sailor, I don't know how they could've fixed it, except by using half-stud offsets, which could look messy. And given that LEGO desingers have to work to a tight budget, maybe they just had to leave it be...

[Flynn]

Because they didn't want the hassle of molding an entirely new windshield which would probably never be used again.

I know plenty of MOCs (My own Delorean comes to mind) use the open windshield technique as well, it's not that bad.

[Iare Tosevite]

Gaps is still better than old MF's escape ship Basically it's more of escape from life than enemy ships...

[Emperor]

A certain Greg Hyland comic comes to mind when you mention that Iare

But I too find gaps in structures semi-annoying, I prefer a good solid model.

[Rook]

I don't mind little spaces but when you can put your finger(s) in the hole past your 2nd and 3rd knuckle it seems to me that you could use another brick or two.

[thepatient]

Someone in the old forums came up with their own modifications in the Solar Sail discussions.The name escapes me at the moment, but they were (in my opinion) quite ingenius. If I remember correctly, all of the modifications were done still using the same pieces from within the set. I'm sure if we did a contest where 100 members did their own versions of a ship. We would have 100 different designs of the same craft.

One of the things that I've learned since coming to this site is the way TLG designers have parameters that they have to work within; these include piece count and price point. I think most of us who have been in here for a while are aware of that basic proccess. You might want to challenge yourself to design in the same manner; give yourself a number of pieces to stay below or base a design on what the retail cost would be. It might give a whole new appreciation to the developement proccesses used by LEGO and why official sets turn out the way they do. A lot of extra decisions and compromise would have to go in to the design proccess. What ship to make at a certain price point would be one to start with. Think about it. Could a decent Millinium Falcon be designed at minifig scale for less than $50.00?

I don't think I've ever seen a single Star Wars LEGO set that didn't get some sort of complaint made about it. I'm not that picky, and lack the imagination to do modifications. If it looks close enough to what it represents- I'm basically happy with the official set, but that me. All of this does bring a question to my mind. To expand a bit on Rook's original question; do TLG designers put in "flaws" that they know will cause people to want to make modifications, with the intent of forcing one to further their imaginative skills?

[speaknspell]

Every set designed only has a specific budget to work with. This budget includes every element in teh set, stickers, instructions, minifigs, licensing fees etc. When a designer work through a set they do their best to achieve the best representation of a set with the most value. for the twilight they most likely had to achieve that shape and putting a windscreen on it would have required a brand new piece or too many pieces to stay under budget. the rest of the model would have suffered for that aspect to be realized so they chose to leave more bricks in.

This rule can generally be applied to any set. one feature may be left out so the overall integrity of the model will stay together. especially in oddly shapen models where no natrual piece already exists.

Steve

[Solo]

And in defense of the designers of the Twilight, nothing they could have done would have made that a "good" set, because it's simply a terrible ship.

[Jettbacca]

agreed Don

[BigBenKenobi]

And in defense of the designers of the Twilight, nothing they could have done would have made that a "good" set, because it's simply a terrible ship.

True that. I mean seriously, I don't get the ship at all, but that's just me. However, there are other ships that lego could have done more to prevent gaps other than the Twilight, but I don't have that many complaints. I respect them immensely for there creativity and designs.

[darthsantkuyl]

This isn't the first instance of it though the ISD didn't have any windshield so o well

[Rook]

Every set designed only has a specific budget to work with. This budget includes every element in teh set, stickers, instructions, minifigs, licensing fees etc. When a designer work through a set they do their best to achieve the best representation of a set with the most value. for the twilight they most likely had to achieve that shape and putting a windscreen on it would have required a brand new piece or too many pieces to stay under budget. the rest of the model would have suffered for that aspect to be realized so they chose to leave more bricks in.

This rule can generally be applied to any set. one feature may be left out so the overall integrity of the model will stay together. especially in oddly shapen models where no natrual piece already exists.

Steve

Thanks Steve I was sure it was probably the budget. Having sold several of my own paintings and being contacted to do art work before, I just find it hard to believe that a designer/artist would even offer a design/art piece that had a major issue with it. It's just very weird to have a "Space Ship" without windshield. About modifying it. I have 2 areas for my Lego one that just official SWU Lego sets. The other where I build MOCs. I just wouldn't modify an official set and put it on display. It's like having a M.C. Escher painting adding a few dots of paint because his shading was off on something.