Dino Attack Headquarters

[PeabodySam]

The year is 2010. In April, scores of Mutant Dinosaurs mysterious attacked LEGO City, leaving the city in a state of post-apocalyptic ruins. In response, Minifig soldiers, scientists, and civilians caught up in the action banded together to form a team that would strike back at the dinosaurs and retake LEGO City... a team known as D.I.N.O. Attack.

D.I.N.O. Attack has all the latest technology and impressive vehicles to use in the battlefield against the Mutant Dinosaurs. From the compact Street Sprinter hunting down Mutant Lizards to the impressive T-1 Typhoon battling against Pteranodons and T-Rexes, they are more than a match for the Mutant Dinosaur threat. But where do they keep these vehicles when they are not in use? Where do they design all their new dinosaur-fighting technology? Where do the Dino Attack agents sleep at night?

Dino Attack Headquarters, of course.



Modeled in the style of LEGO's Dino Attack and Dino 2010 themes from 2005, Dino Attack Headquarters is a minifigure-scale building fully assembled in LEGO Digital Designer. I started off by building a miniature model consisting of 347 bricks, which was a little smaller than micro-scale, but gave me a clear idea of where I wanted to go with this project. After that, I scaled it up to 4126 bricks, over ten times as large as the original model. I refer to this model as the façade because it has a complete exterior but nothing inside except for squeaky-clean light-gray tile floors. With the façade complete, to populate the interior with characters and scenes from the now-seven-years-old Dino Attack RPG, stirring an anachronism stew while filling the area with mythology gags and subtle references only RPG players would catch.



And once the interior was fully populated, the finished model came out to a whopping 6024 bricks. Luckily, although it lagged terribly as the building process went on, the LEGO Digital Designer software was strong enough to support the Dino Attack Headquarters without crashing.

So, welcome to Dino Attack Headquarters! Care to go on a tour? We'll start with the first five floors of the... erm, "central tower", for the lack of a better term. Dang it, Jim, I'm a LEGO builder, not a skyscraper architect!

Upon entering Dino Attack Headquarters, we find ourselves in the lobby. Please take a seat next to Ben Gunn or Coral while waiting. Over there at the desk is D.I.N.O. Attack's receptionist, Elizabeth Wilma, and it looks like Alpha Team agent Frozeen is currently checking in.

Our next stop is the mess hall. Can't see? Try another view. You're in luck, because Mama and Papa Brickolini are serving their world-famous pizzas! Over at the table, Septimus and Minerva Fabello have already sat sat down to eat their pizzas, Zachary Virchaus is grabbing a seat right now, and Raider is looking for a spot to sit down and drink. But what is A5T3R-01D doing here? Everyone knows that Builder Droids don't eat or drink.

Over here, we have the detention block for Dino Attack agents who have been... err, misbehaving. Ex-lawyer Rockford peers into the complex while the Brickster takes a stroll down memory lane. Over to your left, our psychiatrist Dr. Nicholas Saran is talking to Carl Lutsky, who seems to be going on a rant about someone named "Dust" apparently standing in the corner. Over to your right, Demoman has been locked up for his own safety.

Here, we can unwind in the lounge. Want to riff bad movies with Andrew and Laxus? Or would you prefer to join in Helm and Tracer's game of pool? The choice is yours!

Ah, this next room is very important: the briefing room. Here, the founding members of D.I.N.O. Attack hold conferences and give mission briefs to Dino Attack agents going on missions across the globe. At the head of the table, three of the four founders stand: Digger, Shadow, and Viper. Those sitting at the table include elite agents Gary Moffat, Magma, Cobra, and Voltage, as well as infamous villains Evil Ogel (and two of his Guard Drones) and Lord Sam Sinister, with Lord Vladek grabbing a seat as well.

Up this staircase, and we'll cover the next four floors. Here, we have the secret room of the now-defunct Portal Operations Team, which experimented with portals and teleportation. One of their Teleport Pads still stands, it appears. The room is now occupied by Ronald E. Army and Scout, who are being lectured by Spy about something important, it seems.

Oh, dear. Who knows what this room was for? Because now it's on fire! Pyro has gone completely mad and has trapped herself in a burning room. Luckily, Holly Vinyaya arrives at the scene in her heat-proof Space Police armor, while Hotwire is the only one sensible enough to grab a fire extinguisher.

"What if we need to mail a letter?" was a question once proposed by Return. Our answer is the post room. Check your P.O. box to see if you have any letters, or give letters to Ed Mail so he may deliver them. The apocalypse itself cannot stop LEGO Island's greatest mailman.

Behind these crates, we can find the sniping post. Sniper and Shotgun are hard at work, but sniping is a good job, as either of them will tell you.

And now, we ascend to the top four floors of the headquarters. In the communications room, our communications team is hard at work monitoring the team's PDA and radio communications. Even with a broken arm and a wheelchair handicap, Hertz and Gromtin continue to do their jobs. But I wonder, what is Ata doing with that briefcase?

Not much to see here, just some security cameras. These installments are part of Engineer's latest security system, and he is busy over there making a few last-minute adjustments to that camera. Of course, that won't stop Adventure from posing for pictures in front of an operational camera.

Why don't we take a peak inside an elite agent's room? Here, elite agent Rex sits on his bed, with his trusty wheelchair beside him, while Amanda Claw finishes writing a letter at her desk.

Up here is a very important room: Specs's office. Seeing as Specs is our team leader, you better have good reason for coming in here. Here, Specs sits behind his desk, watching a holographic message from an unknown sender.

Our tour takes us to another section of Dino Attack Headquarters, the west wing. Or is it the east wing? Which direction is north? Argh, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that most of D.I.N.O. Attack's scientific activities takes place in this three-story area. It's also got a nice glass roof, so how can you argue with that?

The wing's first floor is occupied by the technology center. Here, D.I.N.O. Attack produces all its latest technology. Off to the left, we have 2B and Bluetooth monitoring the computers. Weapon experts such as Raptor, Louis "Dryptosaurus", Zorikk, Claymore, and Axel look for new ways to defeat the Mutant Dinosaurs. Our representatives from UlTech Industries, including Dr. Cyborg, Kara Wise, and an Infiltrator, repair a high-tech hover-chair stolen from XERRD. Mur experiments with portal technology, but has not yet made progress. One of our greatest technicians, Kotua, is currently washing his hands, attracting suspicious stares from Zero and Kai.

Pray that you never have to wake up in the hospital wing. If you do, don't worry, because we have some of the greatest doctors on the planet, including Dr. Marco Martinet and Dr. Clickitt. While Medic operates on Heavy, Semick and Sam Throramebi have a moment of reconciliation. Zenna and Giovanni Wade bring a wounded Kat in on a stretcher. There's no time for nonsense here... but with Enter and Return, there sure is plenty around.

Directly underneath that wonderful glass roof is our science laboratory. Here, scientists such as Frank Einstein, David Norman, Roger Remous, and Strangebrick study the Mutant Dinosaurs in an effort to find a cure for their mutation. If all else fails, Reptile is conducting research on the Green Goo brought in by a Barrel Pusher Drone.

Now, for the final area of our tour, let's open that giant door and step inside the garage, where Dino Attack vehicles are manufactured, maintained, and repaired. Down below, a sparring match takes place between Zelda Frodongan and Kareem Nazareno, attracting an audience including Nick Lightning, Fullmetal, Zyra, and Aravis. Of course, not everyone is interested in the match, as we have Kuru playing with his laptop and Trigger sulking by himself. Old LEGO Racers such as Sam Race, King Joseph Race, and Greybeard take interest in the Dino Attack vehicles. On the catwalks above, mechanics such as Databoard, Bill Ding, and PBB unload spare parts for Urban Avenger and Fire Hammer repairs, while helicopter pilots Palmer, Rotor, and Cabin make their way to the T-1 Typhoon landing pads.

After all, while the garage might not be big enough to host a T-1 Typhoon, the impressive helicopters can make a safe landing on the helicopter landing pad atop the Dino Attack Headquarters roof.



And so, that concludes our tour of Dino Attack Headquarters. I hope you enjoyed your time, and feel free to leave comments, criticisms, and suggestions in this BZPower topic. As you exit the lobby and step out onto the streets of LEGO City, just be careful and don't let the Mutant Lizards get you.

Edited January 27, 2014 by PeabodySam

[Jacks]

This is pure magnificence. The details are mind-blowing, and the anachronisms and odd references are incredibly entertaining...except for the billiards game between Helm and Tracer. That's just straight up bittersweet.And once again I must grumble about the fact that LDD doesn't allow minifigs to have a peg leg on the left. <_<But yeah, overall this kinda made my day.

Edited July 14, 2012 by Jackson Lake

[BrickPharaoh]

Wow. Simply wow. From the looks of it this project must have taken a huge deal of patience and effort, something only worth commending and applauding. IMHO, though, I don't like "facades" and prefer to build the whole thing in LDD, and creating piece groups and hiding them to show the interior of the building. That aside, it would be a shame if you wasted your skills and didn't get into architecture as a university major. Two more things I'm not quite a fan of are:1) The distance between the ceiling and the floor for every floor (with the exception of the garage of course) seems a bit too low... It would've worked better with higher ceilings.2) The helicopter landing pad area is too small to provide proper access to the helicopter.But other than that, I absolutely love the creative piece utilization along with the sheer size of the building. And the devotion to naming and enlisting all of those characters and assigning roles to them is also incredibly impressive.And my, that awesome glass roof!!!Overall, a well-earned 9.75/10, because the things I mentioned do not compare to how awesome the rest of the Headquarters is. Awesome work, man!

[Andrewnuva199]

Oh wow, that's awesome. Great design, great cameos from the characters, a glass roof, every type of room I can think of...This is fantastic! If LDD still had the option, and I won the lottery, I would buy this! At the least, maybe I could download the model and save the instructions for another day when I had the time and money...

[~garnira returns~]

Amazing! Just wondering, why is a shark in the medical bay?

[Jacks]

That would be thanks to the efforts of Enter and Return, who have made multiple appearances in the DARPG.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Jackson Lake

[avmatoran]

I like it. I don't know much about older characters in the RPG, but it is still good.You know, I really oughta provide my picture of X1 and X2. I don't know why I don't.

[jamesster]

Great to see this finished! I love all the characters and scenes in here, really feels alive. Even if I know next to nothing about the RPG it's based on.

[Liopleurodon]

I don't know anything about the RPG, but I love that there are so many rooms and the building is so tall.