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Hi! This Q4 Build Challenge is Vic Viper Starfighters.
* So What’s a Vic Viper? I’ve never heard of this.
The Vic Viper is the iconic starfighter from the Gradius line of video games. There were several Vic Vipers in the line, and this is a video of one of the models, complete with some turnaround looks from varying angles: Vic Viper II Multiple View Intro . Details begin at 0:34 seconds.
LEGO Vic Vipers are MUCH different than this, but this is the inspiration.* Where can I find Viper builds to get ideas from?
Over the past ten years, every year, flickr hosts an event beginning in called NNoVVember in its Vic Vipers group, and this is their 10th anniversary. This is the group that hosts pictures of these craft, and should be an inspiration to you, containing over a THOUSAND builds to tickle your creativity: Flickr Vic Vipers
Yearly entries begin around Halloween, because some builders spend months on their craft and just can’t wait. 🙂 I’m posting this now because of the time a really impressive Vic can take.* How do I get creative?
The ONLY requirements for a genuine Vic are:
* Two and only two major wings; smaller winglets are okay.
* One and only one major tail fin; smaller, secondary tail fins are okay.
* Two and only two forward prongs; instead of a nose, Vic Vipers have two long fuselage portions that fork around the cockpit and poke forward as two prongs.
The shaping of these craft can be WILDLY different in proportion, size, colors, weaponry, cockpit, engines, thrusters, and themes. Only the core architecture is fixed: two wings, one tail, two prongs.JUDGING CRITERIA
This is a bit more organized than other build challenges, because of a long tradition in this genre, so I’m going to tell you how I’m going to judge this:MICROSCALE / MINIFIG SCALE: These are two different categories entirely, and should be judged differently.
Within those categories are these criteria:STRUCTURE: Does this craft have one major tail fin, two lateral wings, and two forward prongs as the primary structure of the craft? These things are required for a Vic to be a Vic.
ICONIC/FUN: Is this craft worthy of appearing in a AAA video game, OR, is this a fun, wacky, or unique take on the craft? Or both?
As Frost has posted, the shaping of the Vic is basically a silhouette that can hold a wide array of craft built from any material or from any age you could think of. It doesn’t have to be Space at all.COLOR BLOCKING: How well distributed are the colors around the craft? Is the craft bold or subdued? Heroic or purposefully drab in subdued bleys? How well do the color choices work together?
Some Vics use core colors in a purist way to achieve an iconic look. Some Vics use rare or elegant color combinations or complex patterns as a touch of class. Some Vics are colored front to back. Some are colored wing to wing. Some are colored from the cockpit outward. Some are camouflaged. Some are colored by section so that each assembly has a role marked by color.PILOT/OPERATOR: While a pilot is not necessary, adding one that matches the craft is a bonus. If this craft is a drone, who or what operates it?
Aliens of all kinds, humanoid or otherwise, are valid, and may affect how the craft is constructed and loaded. It could even be a mechanical AI, a mystical creature, or an energy form. It could be Friends. It could be a CMF. Who knows?TRANSITION/DETAILING: How smooth is the transition between sections of the craft? How well are the colors organized within and between sections?
This is often tricky, especially where the shaping changes angle, thickness, or direction. Shaping the brick in specific colors as one section becomes the next can be difficult. Train and vehicle builders also encounter this.WEAPONRY/SYSTEMS/OPTIONS: What are the capabilities of the craft, and how well are they depicted? Do they mold into the role of the craft, or do they purposefully stick out to draw attention and intimidate? This includes weapons, engines, thrusters, secondary fins, sensors, shields, and general greebles that evoke imagination.
No one has to know everything the craft does, and exciting the viewer’s imagination is good too.NPU: Short for “Nice Part Usage”, is there a part on the craft that’s usually not associated with Space that’s used cleverly as part of the shaping?
NPU appears on Vics rarely, but are appreciated by that community.PLAY FEATURES: Optionally, are there play features beyond the craft or interacting with the craft?
Most Vics have no play features, so those that do are cooler.SWOOSHABLE: Could someone playing the craft pick it up and swoosh it around while making engine and pew pew sounds without fear of it falling apart?
Some legit Vics are swooshable, some are not.BACKSTORY: The finest craft usually have a backstory to go with them. Does it have a name? A model number? What is the craft’s role? Why was it built this way?
If you haven’t started building or designing yet, any one of these categories can be the springboard for creativity. No one has to fill any category beyond the basic structure, but the other categories are what add up toward making a craft super cool.
I feel that the Vic Viper group is a prime example of the broad creativity that this LEGO has. I’ve seen craft with a lot of different backstories and styles too: made of stone or other materials, coming out of cloak and partly invisible, wildly colored for a unique faction, modular, oversized sections, interesting weapons, piloted by strange species, overly large, microscale, transforming into robots, or completely iconic with floating Options in formation and built as if straight from the game… You name it. Build a Castle Viper. An Emergency themed Viper. A Train Viper. A racing Viper. There are a TON of possibilities, including imagining your own video game and building its iconic star craft, or building a fun one around a fig of your choice. What would your favorite fig fly?
This is the reason I came out of my Dark Age and joined this LUG, and I’m very proud and excited to host this Challenge as a Space builder and shmup fan of thirty years. I will post some of my insights on building these craft over time.
@tfdesigns: since both of us have appeared in the NNoVVember event for multiple years, I feel that we should both be disqualified from entering, and that we both should judge it on categories of architecture, originality/creativity, and “shmupworthy”, meaning that it could be pixelated and fly in a video game. Is this good, Frost? Should we fly in squadrons for Q3 to show? Finally, I’m going to consider building a Vic specifically for this challenge, to be unveiled and given to the winner only after the judging is complete. I am also considering building maybe 6-8 different cockpit boxes in different types and orientations and passing them around at Q3 so no one has to reinvent the wheel in building one of the hardest parts of a craft to get right: the cockpit and canopy. Builders could even take them home if they want to use them as a base.Thoughts? Do ask; I’d be glad to help. Could YOU design a model fit for a video game?
SHOOT THE CORE!
>> * So What’s a Vic Viper? I’ve never heard of this.
I’ve always found this one to be really helpful:
>> * So What’s a Vic Viper? I’ve never heard of this.
I’ve always found this one to be really helpful:
Yes. This. Otherwise, warp it and shape it to your liking. Some Vics have their prongs, fins or wings pulled forward or pushed back, grown or shrunk, but they’re always there as the primary shaping.
>> The ONLY requirements for a genuine Vic are:
I’m pretty sure that sometime, somewhere, I read that VV are always single-occupancy vehicles. Unfortunately, I don’t remember where I saw that. The discussions on the Flickr group are pretty extensive and of course, unorganized. (It also doesn’t help that the guy who came up with VV as a Lego theme passed away in 2009.)
I am also wondering if it’s worth it to split the judging into two categories – minifig scale and microscale. It may be my own personal bias, I still think of minifig as the standard scale, but for VV, microscale makes up an unusually high percentage of examples that I’ve seen, compared to other themes that are most commonly minifig scale.
Double seated Vics are okay. First logical reason: training craft. Second logical reason: the F-14 Tomcat two pilot US fighter popular at the time.
Microscale sits right alongside minifig scale in terms of craft. Reason: the awesome detail density that can be achieved in microscale. So maybe there should be a minimum size overall to avoid the NPU types at the lowest end, but we don’t want to make this too complicated.
Thoughts?
>> Microscale sits right alongside minifig scale in terms of craft.
Yes, that’s why I was thinking you might want two categories for judging, they’re both good ways to build, but it’s often an apples and oranges thing when you’re comparing them.
On further thought, I think @bengood921 is right: microscale Vics and minifig scale Vics should be judged separately.
I’m heavily considering bringing some parts to just give out for those who want them; I’ve been collecting spares for a long while, so I can give out key parts I commonly use to those who want to participate. Basically canopies, curved slopes, some fins, that kind of thing.
This is one example of a top end LEGO Vic: Gradius II Vic Viper
This is LEGO’s official entry, in memorial of one of the most dedicated builders of the genre: The ‘official’ LEGO Vic Viper
LEGO did at least one other semi-official (at least, done knowingly/deliberately) Vic viper: set 5981 – space police “Raid VPR”. As in ViPeR.
And yes, the VV form is a great creativity exercise. I’ve made a few in years past that I’m rather proud of.
So what is the maximum number of occupants that a Vic Viper can have? If so, can the cockpit or occupancy area accommodate many dozens in multiple structures inside this area?
Can the cockpit be taller than the single dorsal tail?
Can the cockpit area exceed the boundaries of the dual forward prongs?
So what is the maximum number of occupants that a Vic Viper can have? If so, can the cockpit or occupancy area accommodate many dozens in multiple structures inside this area?
Can the cockpit be taller than the single dorsal tail?
Can the cockpit area exceed the boundaries of the dual forward prongs?
Hopefully I could help –
I don’t think there’s officially a maximum number of occupants, but given it’s a ‘starfighter’ that generally implies 1-2 minifigs.
Th cockpit I think has to be shorter than the dorsal fin, which is sometimes also called the BAF – big ass fin. as many people tend to make it really small 😉
The cockpit area definitely should not be longer than the forward prongs… otherwise they wouldn’t be forward prongs 😉
looking forward to seeing what you guys do 🙂
@si-mocs @zaximillian Could there be a “society of star fighters” that live in their Vic Viper?
I’m trying to determine the possibilities and limitations of the build challenge.
Most Vics are single seaters. Think “Top Gun” combined with wild video game-ish color combinations. So, double seaters are more than okay, as many fighter craft that inspired the space shoot-em-up genre were double seaters. The Monorail Vic @randomdan and I dreamed up would have had at least three pilots: one cockpit pilot and two wing pod gunners, but I’ve never seen a Vic with three or more pilots, as the size would remove the craft from the primary fighter role.
The cockpit canopy *could* be above the tail fin, shaped like a Concorde angled upward. I’ve never seen that, but it sounds like a cool idea. How would it rest? I dunno. It sounds like the tail fin would have to be pretty big to balance the raised cockpit. R-Type cockpits are angled, like @arcadiumsol’s Sparrow series, but still have that sleek, aggressive look that fits the genre.
The cockpit area can expand laterally of the forward prongs, and this might be very true if there are two canopies side by side. Nothing should extend beyond the front of the prongs in any way. The two forward prongs must be the primary forward identifiable structures. The more that the single primary tail fin, two primary wings, and two forward prongs dominate, the more “Vic”-y the craft is.
Finally, the Vic Viper flickr group link in the first post can give you an idea of how many wacked out variations the style can have in terms of structure.
@whitesidewjw, I like the idea of a Vic pilot who lives in the craft. I thought of a habitable space on very long term patrols, much like a trucker with an extended cab. Why not?Most Vics are single seaters. Think “Top Gun”
…dude, “Top Gun” is all about F-14 Tomcats, which are two-seaters. Lulz. ‘Member Goose?
Th cockpit I think has to be shorter than the dorsal fin, which is sometimes also called the BAF – big ass fin. as many people tend to make it really small
Lulz.
I’m going to add some basic structural terms I’ve seen around the forum:
COCKPIT: Where the pilot(s) sit.
CANOPY: The usually transparent covering that sometimes opens for the fig to get in.
FUSELAGE: The main body behind the cockpit. This is usually where everything else attaches. The cockpit is usually built on the forward end, the wings to its sides, the engine behind.
BAVS: Big a** vertical stabilizer. Tail fin.
DORSAL: The upper area of the craft.
VENTRAL: The underside of the craft.
THRUSTERS: These are secondary, smaller engines, sometimes clustered around the main engine, sometimes seperate, on the wings, prongs, on top or underneath the craft.
COLOR BLOCKING: This is the color set used and how it’s executed and paralleled around the craft.
TRANSITION: This refers to how sections of the craft are blended together and/or how colors flow through those transitions.And finally:
OPTIONS: These are tiny modules that fly with a Vic in varying formations, whether made of energy or matter, and fire the same weapon patterns that the Vic does. Options are space shooter staples, usually depicted as temporary wingmen, but Vic Vipers arguably had the most powerful versions as permanent upgrades per life. A Gradius Vic could have up to 4 options. I haven’t seen too many Vics feature Options, as they are difficult to incorporate, even though, in Gradius, Options were simply spheres of energy that spawned from the craft and floated alongside. This is an opportunity to do something uncommon among Vic builders.Thinking about structure, I’ve seen antennae for navigation, sensors, radar dishes, bombs, missiles, detachable engine boosters, every kind of weapon you could think of, both large and small, to form a total package for its functions, whether offensive, defensive, built for speed, or even as noncombat craft.
Hopefully this should spur some creative ideas.
Most Vics are single seaters. Think “Top Gun”
…dude, “Top Gun” is all about F-14 Tomcats, which are two-seaters. Lulz. ‘Member Goose?
Absolutely. I just haven’t seen many double seater Vics, as that doubles the size of the cockpit box, and that’s brick intensive.
SOMEbody is going to say “Challenge accepted.”
>> LEGO did at least one other semi-official (at least, done knowingly/deliberately) Vic viper: set 5981 – space police “Raid VPR”. As in ViPeR.
I remember that set, and the name, and I never made the connection. Nice.
Mark Stafford obviously got the connection (although he may have been the designer of the set), since he also made military, Atlantis, Mars Mission, Pharoah’s Quest, and McDonald’s versions of the ship:
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