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UNSC Forces Minifigs Halo Reach The Halo Reach Marines have their own page, here:
Halo 3 NOTE: The decals (stickers) shown here can be purchased through my website. The weapons are available from BrickArms - if you decide to place an order there, be sure to let him know Saber-Scorpion sent ya!
Here are my new LEGO Halo 3 Marines (5/2/2008), as represented by the Firefly/Serenity characters who voiced some of them in the game. Unfortunately, LEGO came out with some new Indiana Jones sets that include the officer hat in sand green (the perfect color) RIGHT after I took this picture. Gah! Well, I'll switch to the new color if/when I ever get around to making that Hornet I'm always talking about...
And here are my improved Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST "Helljumpers") for Halo 3. The one with the red shoulders, I assume to be the squad leaders.
And here they are alongside my personal Halo fan fiction character, Dustin Echoes (the one with the ONI emblem on his chest). I made some minifigs of Dustin a while back for the LEGO comic sign-up topics on my forums. Here he is in his two outfits:
Master Chief
When I first started making my Halo LEGO creations in 2003 or so, I knew I had to do some minifigs. I had already made some using decals for Metal Gear Solid, so I saw no reason to deny Halo the same tribute. The first fig to make, of course, was the Master Chief. I began by taking a chrome gold astronaut visor from one of the older sets and cutting the top off to give it more of a cool, sleek look like in the game. Since I did not, at the time, have any solid green helmets, I was forced to use my green helmet with the flame design on top from the old Xtreme Team sets. I took the flame design off the top by scraping it of with a fingernail file (on my pocket knife). I then painted a small design over the visor to give it a bit more detail, and used the fingernail file again to flatten the front of the bottom of the helmet, to make it match the game better. The result, after adding my custom decal, was a simple but recognizable and effective LEGO Master Chief.
Halo 2 came out soon after that, so in 2004, it was time for a new Master Chief. Due to abundant online competition, I heavily decaled this little guy, tossing in as much detail as possible. I also cut him a new visor that was less dented and a brighter golden color. At first I thought I had perhaps tried to put too much detail, but he has been extremely popular, so I guess I did a good job.
Three years later, in 2007, it was time to improve the Master Chief again, so I made this version for Halo 3! I've beefed up my Chief considerably using a modified set of green knight plate mail from the Knights Kingdom 2 line. I've also modified my decals considerably to fit this new body, as well as to make the design look more in tune with Halo 3. Credit goes to Brian Kescenovitz (Mondaynoodle?) for originally having the idea of cutting up a LEGO vent for use as a "belt" to make the fig look taller.
A scale comparison showing the Chief next to a Marine, to prove that he is about the right size to scale with regular LEGO minifigs.
A female SPARTAN (Kelly? Linda? Nicole?) showing off how the armor and helmet are modified. The Marines My original design for the Marines from early 2003 was simple: a green minifig wearing dark grey Samurai armor and a Rock Raiders helmet or dark grey hat.
Later that year, a website reader named Doyle Nelson suggested I change to a more Olive Drab shade of dark green, but LEGO did not make any at the time. Luckily, this guy had the answer: a Chinese LEGO knock-off brand produced a line of military sets that matched perfectly and featured OD-colored minifigs. He even had a few extra ones he was willing to send to me. Thanks, Doyle!
This shot shows a head I *finally* found that matched Sergeant Johnson in a satisfactory manner. So the guy in front with the mustache is supposed to be Sgt. Johnson, the constantly-resurrected Sarge NPC from Halo who became a full-fledged character in the sequel. Before you fuss at me for using a yellow instead of a brown minifig: it's my policy. If I ever started using brown-skinned figs, I'd start using peach-skin figs too. But since I prefer classic yellow, I take the old-fashioned LEGO approach and make EVERYONE yellow.
When I started making my Halo 2 creations in 2004, I used the same old marines at first. The only new creations were these Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs or "Helljumpers"). I made the ODST helmets out of the same piece as Master Chief's visor, except in chrome blue instead of gold. Luckily LEGO made some chrome blue visors for the "Life on Mars" line, so this option was available. The helmets I used are from the old LEGO "Explorien" series.
Next year, in 2005, I made these guys while building my Spectre: the Halo 2 Marines. I used decals for my Marines this time, and packed in the detail. The most inaccurate part of them are the helmets, since Halo 2's helmets were not nearly as cool, advanced, and sci-fi looking as the ones the Marines wore in Halo 1. But then, nothing was. I just used the old helmets because I like them better. In fact, I like the original Halo's marines SO much better that later, the NEXT year (2006), I built THESE guys:
These are, as you can see, the Halo 1 marines... but this time they are made with decals and packed with detail. I even made face decals with communicators and those awesome little holographic HUD "eyepatches" they had. Everything about the Halo 1 marines was just so much cooler and more futuristic than Halo 2's that I couldn't resist making these eventually.
Here's a comparison shot... without the face decal. I chose to make the Halo 1 marines "sand green" in color instead of Olive Drab (dark green) simply because it's more accurate to the original game. The color they wear is somewhere between grey and green, so sand green is the obvious choice. Besides, it goes nicely with my Scorpion Tank.
I also built a few more guys, like this Marine in fatigues. You see these boys running around sometimes in Halo 1 without their armor.
And then there's also these guys, which were noticeably absent from Halo 2: the navy crewmen of the Pillar of Autumn. They come in various assorted candy colors and run around with their pistols shouting "Help me! Help me help you!" like Jerry Maguire.
Oh, and here's a pilot... as seen briefly in Halo 1 before crashing your Lifeboat into the surface of Halo. I'm not sure if the ones flying the Pelican in Halo 2 look the same or not. The Guns
Here's MC showing off my array of Covenant weapons. I was very satisfied with my Plasma Pistol design, although the Plasma Rifle could use a bit more work. The Fuel Rod Gun, while not a playable weapon in Halo 1 for the Xbox, was available for use in multiplayer mode on the PC version, along with...
The Flamethrower! I remember when I first used this online in Halo PC. My PC wasn't all that great at the time, so I had to really crank down the graphics settings in order to play the game. One of the special effects that went away entirely with the low settings... was the flame being shot out of the flamethrower! So I ran around torching people with invisible flame. The thing was, it worked out quite well for me. I could still see quite clearly with no flames in the way, but people were still dying just as fast. And let me tell you, it's a great short-range weapon...
Here's the Spanker (SPNKr) ... the rocket launcher, also known as the inevitable Bazooka, a game found in just about every FPS game. I tried to build it detailed but compact, since it's really not that big a weapon in the game when the Master Chief is holding it. The way it's built, the tubes can be removed for reloading just like in the game.
And here's the sniper rifle. Not my best work, but meh.
The energy sword was one weapon I simply could NOT think of a good way to make. I tried every method I could imagine, including the popular method of sticking blue lightsaber blades in the eye-holes of a pair of binoculars, but none of them satisfied me. Then, I finally thought of a method, though it was risky. But it turned out so good that I decided not to reveal the method on my site, to keep people guessing. Many did guess it. Others BEGGED me to tell them what it was. It's probably the number one question I STILL get asked about over e-mail. Well, you guys have worn out my resolve now, so here's the answer: I cut it out of the back of a LEGO windshield using my pocket knife. This is the type of windshield I used: http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/2483 I noticed that a minifig could hold the bumpy part on the back in their hand, so I took out my knife and just started sawing. Eventually, after much cutting and sculpting by shaving off piece after little piece, I came up with the right shape. I then finished the job by etching the right design on the surface of the sword with the tip of my knife blade. So there's your answer. Be careful if you try it at home though.
I wasn't going to limit myself to one color of SPARTAN super-soldier this time! So here's my blue Spartan (NOTE: the Needler is digitally edited to look purple... it was actually red)...
... and of course a red Spartan!
Now it is possible to reenact that classic conflict of video gaming... the eternal war of RED VERSUS BLUE!
In this case, it is inevitable that red should win. After all, it's my favorite color. GO RED!
Of course, red and blue are actually good buddies. Because in this case they are me and Ryan. Notice the arm-patches, if you can make them out (an R and a scorpion). Together, we are unstoppable.
And thanks to the Knights Kingdom 2 line, which featured light blue and purple knight minifigs, it is possible make these colors as well!
"Men, we led those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep 'em from
gettin' their filthy claws on Earth... but we stumbled onto somethin'
they're so hot for, that they're scramblin' over each other to get it!
Well, I don't care if it's God's own personal anti-S.O.B. machine,
or a giant hoola hoop, we're not gonna let 'em have it! What we WILL let 'em
have is a belly full of lead, and a pool of their own blood to drown in!
Am... I... RIGHT, Marines?!" - Sergeant Johnson (Halo, if you're man
enough to play on Legendary) |
