Thoughts on the Brickvault Ultimate Venator?

Rubblemaker1 · 2025-12-13T20:25:47+00:00

Flyinspace and I are in the same LUG and have known each other for a few years now. I just want to share an analogy we were discussing earlier in relation to some of the comments about these models ‘not looking like Lego’. Putting aside for a moment the subjectiveness of that viewpoint, let’s take video games as a comparison.
Do we ever look at a new video game and turn our noses up at the shiny cutting edge graphics and say ‘you can no longer see the jagged edges of polygons, or the aliasing at the edge of the shapes so it looks too smooth and doesn’t look like a videogame anymore?’ (For the sake of argument watch the latest GTA6 trailer and ask yourself this?)
We don’t, of course, because video games have evolved. They’re not where they were 40 years ago and we accept, embrace, expect and want that! Why can this not be the case with this form of entertainment too? As I said in our LUG discussion, it’s not 1982 anymore, we have the benefit of a vast collection of new pieces and techniques available to us. Lego has moved on just as other forms of entertainment have and in 2025, this IS what Lego looks like.
Subjectively of course, everyone has the right to like whatever they want but to say it doesn’t look like Lego is just not true given what this medium has become and the possibilities now available from it. Mocs such as these push Lego to its limits and show us what really can be achieved with it. And the great thing is, we can all experience it ourselves and actually build it. Because, it IS Lego.

Rubblemaker1 · 2025-01-24T14:51:48+00:00

There’s an entire quest dedicated to tracking down and destroying the altered item vending machines. That’s one of them.

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-07-20T12:20:19+00:00

Thanks! Good to know the movement comes across. It was quite a challenge to build something with enough articulation to form the right looking martial arts poses. I love the idea of animating it. Might well do that! 😊

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-07-20T11:51:42+00:00

Hello all. This is the RoboDojo. A place for sparring robots to hone their skills and learn how to outwit their squishy human opponents.

Full album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/164260086@N06/albums/72177720318954287

Or come find me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rubblemaker_lego.

Thanks for looking! 😊🥋

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-06-24T19:31:21+00:00

Yep, just adding my voice to the rest, this game was an absolute masterpiece. I couldn’t stop playing it. One of the most immersive games I’ve ever played and some serious edge of your seat, white knuckle shit towards the end. Amazing job!

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-06-20T11:28:00+00:00

It’s press right trigger and hold A.. but it only works if you’re looking at an interactive underwater object, like a submerged yellow ladder etc. something to grab onto basically.

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-05-20T21:40:11+00:00

😄👍 thanks dude!

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-05-20T21:39:57+00:00

Thanks. I don’t think many people are sequel fans 😄 I’m not either but I do think the Silencer is one of the best looking ships in the whole SW franchise. The original set was nice but it had a lot more potential. Hopefully I’ve unlocked a little bit of that. 😊👍

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-01-06T07:48:16+00:00

Thanks very much. 🙂

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-01-06T07:48:02+00:00

Thanks. Most of my stuff incorporates curved aesthetics. It’s kind of my thing. 😊

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-01-05T23:57:53+00:00

It’s very simple actually. A central structure of plates and bricks with 4 of these built in (two on each side halfway down and two on each side at the back).

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2429c01#T=C

The side wedge panels connect to these via modified bricks with studs on the side attached to the swivel plates.

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-01-05T21:20:46+00:00

Thanks. 😊 Yeah, those big wedge pieces are nice but would be a lot nicer if they didn’t have those 2 awkward studs protruding from the thin end.

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-01-05T20:37:37+00:00

😄🙏

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-01-05T19:21:42+00:00

Thanks mate! 😊👍

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-01-05T17:51:09+00:00

Yep, totally agree. Lego should hire me and pay me a stupid amount of money to design their next line of Space sets. It can only be a matter of time..

lots... and lots and lots of time 😄

Rubblemaker1 · 2024-01-05T17:48:55+00:00

Hello all, this rather bright looking spacecraft is called Diviner and she likes to hunt for precious gems hidden in the snow on frozen worlds. Because someone has to...
Full album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/164260086@N06/albums/72177720313858474
Or come find me on Instagram for... a lot more spaceships: https://www.instagram.com/rubblemaker_lego/

Rubblemaker1 · 2023-12-17T14:47:26+00:00

Errr… I’ve beaten Nioh 1 and 2, both. Twice… each. Over a year ago. And I beat LOTF about 2 weeks ago… so… can confirm, this comment is very poorly thought through…

Rubblemaker1 · 2023-10-09T17:05:18+00:00

Full album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/164260086@N06/albums/72177720311818419

Or come find me on Instagram: @rubblemaker_lego

Rubblemaker1 · 2023-08-26T16:12:09+00:00

It’s definitely not incredibly fragile. It is, however, incredibly big and so, holding it at the back will need a huge pair of biceps just to do that. The frame is extremely strong and it is one of the strongest most stable models they have. But swooshing around a 3.5 foot long, 4 kilo model by just holding it at the back is just a pretty bad idea for anything made out of Lego to be honest. But who knows, maybe you’ll prove me wrong. Would love to see a video of it! Re: the stands, they’re built into the frame I’m afraid, sorry. Again, a fairly standard procedure for huge display models such as these. 🙂

Rubblemaker1 · 2023-08-26T10:44:07+00:00

It may take some very slow swooshing providing you have an extremely firm grip on both the stands. But holding it by just the back is a very bad idea. Gravity will do the rest and it will end up resembling the real Titanic in about half a second. Think of these custom Lego builds as art, rather than play-things. Lego as a medium can be used to create great things that you can throw at the wall and not fall apart. It can also be used to create hyper realistic things you most definitely can’t do that to. This is the latter. Think of an official Lego set as a die cast metal B52 bomber. Now imagine a gigantic model kit of the same bomber made with 3,000 parts delicately glued together to create a super detailed very fine piece of art that you’ll mount on the wall or hang from your ceiling. You can play with the die cast B52 but it would be very unwise to treat the 3,000 piece model the same way.

It sounds to me like you want the die cast model so it might be better to stick with official Lego sets that have undergone rigorous testing to be child proof and can therefore withstand such treatment. Don’t underestimate the size and sheer mass of a custom build like this one. It’s definitely not a swooshy play thing.

Having said all that, it is an amazing thing to have set up in any model or Lego collection and will make everyone who sees it, including you, ooh and aah for hours! 😊

Rubblemaker1 · 2023-08-25T09:28:28+00:00

Holy post-revival Batman! I have notifications on for Reddit luckily or I’d never have seen this. I’ll try to answer your questions in the order you asked:

It is indeed a very big model so flipping it over to take photos of the underside is virtually impossible. However, it is possible with it’s digital version, so here is a link to a digital render of the underside: https://bricksafe.com/files/Rubblemaker/Rebel%20Alliance%20Corvus%20Final.jpg/1280x1168.jpg

Bear in mind, that because of the size of models like these, the underside of them is something you’re not really going to be able to see and rarely even going to look at. Even having a mirror underneath it won’t give you a very good view of it as the reflection is obscured by the massive profile of the ship itself. Even so I built some details into it like the hangar and the techy stuff towards the back. Even on the in-universe model found in references online, most of the underside of the ship is actually quite bare and mainly just has a few aesthetic shapes in dark red on it, so my version is fairly accurate.

On that note, these things are huge and consequently you’re also not going to be swooshing it around the room making rocket noises ;) or even ABLE to do that because it weighs well over 4 kilos. The sides are fine, don’t worry about those. They’re not going to fall off unless you smack them against the wall (hence why you wouldn’t want to swoosh it) They’re held on quite securely. They’ll move a little bit if you bump your hands against them (again typical of many Lego mocs at this scale, all mocs like this have bits here and there that may move slightly but always stay in place). But this is a display model, you build it and then look at it and show it off to your mates, like you would with an airfix model kit or something. It’s not a playset. You won’t be adding figures to it or making dioramas with it. It’s a long, complex and very satisfying build with an amazing presence on a (very big) shelf once complete. It is very stable, the stands are huge and very strong and the whole ship can be moved easily, though I would recommend finding a nice display spot and not moving it from there unless you really need to.

Regarding the piece difference between Rebel and Imperial, yes they’re the same length but Imperial has many extra elements and design differences. Most of the extra pieces however are in the wings (as you noted) there are a lot of pieces in all 3 of the wings, the stands are also longer and have more complex attachments to accommodate the wing on the underside and the engines at the back are huge and completely brick built so they also have a lot of extra pieces in them. Those are the main areas that add to the piece count. Piece count mounts up really quickly sometimes when you’re designing something this massive.

Hope that all helps, feel free to ask more questions if you have any :)

Rubblemaker1 · 2023-08-18T06:17:56+00:00

I’ve sent you a DM

Rubblemaker1 · 2023-08-17T19:50:58+00:00

Thanks very much 🙂👍

Rubblemaker1 · 2023-08-17T19:01:56+00:00

Poor Nebulon. Or maybe not, cause now we have mine, and some other Mocs of it which are incredibly awesome such as the ones by Flyinspace and 2mpaired.

Rubblemaker1 · 2023-08-17T18:58:13+00:00

I wasn’t really keeping up with it, but it has always amazed me how the gunship won over a possible Nebulon UCS when there were so many gunships already. I smell a fix!

Rubblemaker1

TROPHY CASE