A few months ago, I took part in a build challenge hosted by my LUG. The theme was space. As it happens, one of my favourite Minifigures is space themed. Consequently, I decided to build a UFO MOC for the Vidiyo Alien DJ. Yes, I know, Vidiyo was not the most popular theme. But, I love this Minifigure. In fact, I cleared out my local Walmart when they liquidated Vidiyo. Additionally, one of my 2023 MOCs featured a habitat for a few of my DJs. I was eager to build more for my favourite alien. This was a fun project and I enjoyed sharing it at the LUG meeting… but then I brought it home and kind of forgot about it. I recently rediscovered the build as I was cleaning my LEGO® room. Realizing I never wrote about my UFO MOC here, I figured there’s no better time than now.
Some of the Monkie Kid fans out there probably recognize the elements I used for the saucer. They hail from the Spider Queen’s Arachnoid Base, stickers and all. The Alien DJ needed a brightly coloured ship. While I would have preferred the same shade of blue we see on the minifig, I didn’t have those curved elements in that colour. It was black, grey, tan, or purple. I chose purple. But the stickers worked out really well. It’s one of the few times I’ve reused an element with the stickers left on. I generally take them off.
A Monkie Kid set provided the saucer elements for my UFO.
The centre ring between saucer elements is another application of the awesome waterfall technique I wrote about last year. I used two different colours, both transparent. Originally, I wanted to include light bricks inside the saucer to light the whole thing up. But I ran out of time for the LUG challenge. That’s part of the reason I forgot about this build. I set it aside so I could eventually add the lights. I just never got around to it.
The challenging part of the build was flipping the direction of the studs. The structure of the upper and lower halves is almost the same, so I needed a way to connect the anti-studs underneath each half with the centre ring. For most of the length of the centre ring, I used tiles (see “B” in image below) instead of plates on the top row. I used plates in four locations that lined up with the joint between the round corner bricks that make up the top half of the saucer (“A” in the image below). This allowed me to curve the centre ring without the anti-studs of the saucer interfering with the ring. It also allowed me to attach the centre ring to the top saucer in four places. The centre ring is not attached to the bottom half of the saucer. It merely sits on top of it.
I used brackets and tiles in order to connect anti-stud surfaces.
I built the chassis for the cockpit using rectangular bricks with open centres. They are spaced apart using plates so that 1×2 – 2×2 brackets meet from the bottom up and top down on all four sides (letter “C” in the image above). 2×4 tiles connect the brackets, allowing anti-studs to meet and hold together. The rounded corner elements provide additional support for the direction reversal. Each of the larger, dark purple corner bricks features a slot for a cross axle (“D” in the image above, and seen in the images below). I pushed an Technic axle through all four of those spaces around the saucer. I filled the empty space between the saucer elements with axle compatible bricks (see below).
The cockpit sits in the central chassis using those z-shaped brackets as a platform support. I added as many buttons, screens, and other controls as I could to the space. I also opted for joystick controls as opposed to a steering wheel. It’s all topped off with a clear dome. I planned this vehicle as a scout ship that needs to dock with a mothership of some sort. As such, the UFO only has room for a pilot.
I imagined this as a scout ship for galaxy roaming Alien DJs.
Along with my initial plan to have the centre ring light up, I also wanted the opening on the bottom side to light up. This is where I imagine the tractor beam for abducting Minifigures comes from. I also imagined functional landing gear. That’s why you see a fair amount of unused space between the main saucer elements in the image above. Who knows, I might add them someday. But, I took an image of the underside of the ship along with a terrified Minifigure and some 4 x 4 x 6 quarter cylinder windows to give you an idea of my vision. I Photoshopped it for effect.
As with most projects, I grossly underestimated how long it would take me to build this MOC and I ran out of time. While I got the overall look of the ship to a point I was happy with, some of the planned features did not make it in. Lights and landing gear may come someday if I feel inspired. However, I’m content with current state of my UFO MOC, and will find somewhere to put it on display in my LEGO® room. Plus, I’ve moved onto a different, larger MOC project at this point. More on that to come 😉
Until next time,
-Tom
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