VX-212 Myralux Oceanic
The VX-212 Myralux was concieved of as a space-capable aquatic craft, perhaps piloted by an advanced species whose planet is primarily oceanic. Under water propulsion is via a magneto-dynamic syphon system (no moving parts). Water is taken in via the tubes on either side of the canopy and expelled out the nozzles in the back. It also features foldable landing gear with closing landing gear bays. Its only weaponry is an array of four harpoons mounted ventrally.
Design Notes:
This one’s been under construction since late June, 2003, and I still consider it a work in progress (in particular, the engines and the space on top near the canopy and flags still need some polish). There are several changes in the process I used to design and build the Myralux. In the past, I’ve shot for just form and then fixed the colors in LDraw. That worked for simpler models, but I’ve found it’s very difficult to build a good form when the off colors are driving me crazy. This is the first model since my Apollo fighter that I’ve built in the actual colors which helped a lot during the design phase.
This is also my first design-from-idea since my Scythe tansport. Usually, I let the ships build themselves by putting parts together and hoping they lead me somewhere, but the idea for the general form for Myralux (the curved surfaces with a cabin set towards the back and weapons underneath) came all at once in a flash. The details such as engines, landing gear, and weapons came from experimentation. The building progress followed this pattern too; it went quickly right up to the engine design at which point everything broke down. After several experiments and a little luck, it’s pretty much presentable though I’m not completely happy with it.
Finally, this is my first shot at semi-studless design. The idea to make it studless came a bit late (keep in mind “studless design” was just becoming popular in 2003) and if I were going to do it over again, I probably would have made the wings from horizontal bricks instead of the standard studs-up plates. The 2×2 flags are actually mounted to Technic flexible tubing which is held in place via clip plates and clip tiles (see the yellow pieces in the ldraw model). There are some gaps in the interior where the wings would be mounted–I plan to redesign the wing mounting so they’ll be a bit more sturdy while requiring less space to mount, perhaps using technic locking connectors as I did with the Apollo. For now, I haven’t bothered to include the parts for the wing mounting though they’re just more 1×2 hinge plates.
Propulsion
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Armament
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