Mini Human Vehicles

Some of my latest Halo customs, these were posted 11/6/2005. In the LEGO world, any model that is too small to be to scale with a LEGO minifig is called "microfig scale." However, after the release of the LEGO Star Wars "Minis" sets, "minis" became an official term for them. It can make things rather confusing at times. Anyway, just think of these as Micro Machines compared to Matchbox cars. Oh wait, do they still sell Micro Machines? Or even Matchbox? Or is it only Hot Wheels now? Hot Wheels stinks compared to Matchbox. Stupid Mattel. Bah, what am I talking about anyway? Just check out the models...

The Longsword Fighter (or Bomber, according to some) was a ship I really wanted to build in regular minifig-scale like my other customs, but it was a bigger project than I expected and I never completed it. So here it is in microfig-scale form, anyway.

These guys can be seen escorting the Autumn in the beginning of the game, and Master Chief later makes his escape in one after destroying Halo. They were supposed to make an appearance in Halo 2 by bombing a Covenant gun emplacement on the surface of Earth, but this whole level was apparently scrapped (for some retarded reason). Now they can only be seen briefly in space, such as when Master Chief is jumping out of Cairo Station while clinging to a goofy amoeba-shaped bomb in another scene that was far cooler in the teaser trailers than in the actual game...

It is disputed whether the Longsword should be black or dark grey. Most people agree it should be black. In fact, the only person I've ever met that thinks it should be dark grey is myself. Yes, that's right, I think it would look more accurate in dark grey, since it was certainly not dark enough to be black in the game. So why the L did I make my model black then? Just because everyone else thinks so? No, silly. I don't care what other people think. I only made it black because I didn't have those little wing-tip pieces in dark grey!

I find the Longsword's design to be rather boring and unoriginal, actually. It looks pretty cool, but then, so does the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber. Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

Here's the rear of the ship, the ONLY STINKING ANGLE that you can find PICTURES of on the INTERNET! It just about drove me crazy. In the end I had to base the front/top of the fighter on the model that was made for the Halogen Total Conversion for Command and Conquer: Generals. I hope it was accurate.

While I'm here, I'd like to fuss and fume a bit about Microsoft, Bungie, Ensemble Studios, and whoever else may have been behind the cancellation of the Halogen mod for C&C: Generals. Apparently the mod-making guys were sent a cease-and-desist by one of those big companies. Way to appreciate your fans, guys! Sheesh, like it really would have been able to "compete" with Halo Wars anyway.

I'm much more satisfied with this miniature rendition of the Pelican Dropship than I am with my larger vesion. I just love the way it turned out.

As always, the wings and engines still rotate! Okay, so it's just one stud holding the wings on and you twist it... but that's good enough for a mini.

I don't think the front end is perfect, but it's okay. Actually, the thing that bothers me the most about this model is the use of bley (bluish grey, or "new grey") which doesn't match the other regular dark grey pieces. And old dark grey is definitely closer to the Pelican's actual color than bley.

There's the troop compartment! Just imagine some little soldiers, each less than half a stud wide, jumping out of the back, and the model is complete!

I would have used trans-neon-green on the engines to make it match my minifig-scale version, but I'm aware that that color was never accurate at all. In Halo 1, the booster fire is more of a very light shade of yellow. In Halo 2, however, it's a light shade of blue. I compromised and went with trans-white ("clear").

Carrying the 'Hog.

Carrying the Scorpion. Yes, the Pelican really could carry the Scorpion in the game... even in Halo 1. Of course, it had the convenience of having the turrets on both the Warthog and Scorpion being able to "meld" up into the polygons of the Pelican's underside. This made it much more space-efficient... but quite unrealistic. Tsk, tsk, tsk... Bungie cheated.

The Warthog is not just "mini," it's MINI! you might think I went a bit extreme here, but I did this so that it would fit under the Pelican. Besides, you can still tell what it is, right? I tried making a slightly bigger one, but it actually looked less like the Warthog than this one... A lot of people fuss at me about this one, but personally I really like the cute little guy. He really is almost the same scale as a Micro Machines car!

The Scorpion Tank. Pretty sweet, huh? I think so.

Those microscopic Grunts and Elites don't stand a chance against the inch-long UNSC attack squad of doom!

UPDATE:

In case I never get around to finishing an entire set of Covenant minis, here are a mini Banshee and Ghost I made shortly after completing the human vehicles above...