I actually was going to build one of those crazy new Brute vehicles that
have been announced... the Brute Chopper, etc., but I got sidetracked with
this little guy. I saw that piece that you see being used for the hood
(it's from the giant squid in the Aqua Raiders sets) and just HAD to make
a Ghost with it. This is the result.

Of course, many of you are probably already noticing the cons of the
model. These are obviously the main two:

- The hood is too small. It should go up in front of the driver's face.

- The color is wrong (it's STILL not purple).

However, take a step back for a moment and you may notice a few pros:

- It's sleek, smooth, and compact. It's got style! At least, I think so.

- It's unique. I certainly didn't steal this design from anybody.

- It's cute. That's a good thing in a LEGO, I think.

- Dark blue is way, WAY cooler than purple anyway.

- Do you really want to drive a vehicle where the hood goes up in front of
your face?

Here's a comparison shot so you can see just how much more awesome this
new LEGO Ghost is than my old Version 2. In fact, it hardly looks like a
LEGO anymore! Studless designs tend to do that. Okay, so there are
actually two studs showing on the new Ghost, but I think they look better
than it did with an ugly tile sticking up right there. Besides, you need
some studs there so you can stick on a minifig for boarding action.
Playability is always something I strive for.

Next to my Warthog. Yes, the same old Warthog. The new Elites can't sit in
it. In fact, the only things different about it are:

- I finally gave it silver tusks instead of white ones, which is rad.

- The suspension is starting to sag because the rubber bands need
replacing. Hey, they've only been on there FOUR YEARS!

The unassuming little red dots from my previous models have been replaced
with more accurate decals (plus a couple more). Some of you may, like me,
see these as an improvement. Others may not. Oh well, can't please
everyone.

Of course, here it is seating its intended pilot: my new Elite design! And
unlike regular minifigs, his legs actually go around the sides of the
vehicle like a real bike. Speaking of which, how is it that 4-foot-tall
grunts, 6-foot-tall humans, 7-foot tall Spartans and Elites, and 8-foot
tall Brutes can ALL reach the same exact pedals to control this thing? It
must have some great adjustability! Which is good, since this LEGO is
adjustable as well. I remove one of the 1x1 bricks that connects the front
to the back when seating a regular minifig, and add it back in when
seating a Brute or Elite.

Personally, I love this model. Have you ever had those moments where
you're building a LEGO model and everything just somehow works out right?
You find all these great ideas and they actually work perfectly, as if
through the magic of LEGO? This
entire model was like that (save maybe one idea that I scrapped). It all
just... came together. I can't help but like it as a result. In fact, I'd
be willing to say this model has a more ingenious construction than
anything I've built so far. Maybe I'm finally starting to be able to even
touch the bar set by other, far more professional adult LEGO builders? I'd
like to think so.

And finally, here it is with a Brute at the helm. He actually fits in the
vehicle the best, as his feet actually reach all the way to the pedals (as
you can see in the next image). By the way, my Grunts can also drive the
vehicle but I forgot to take a picture...

EDIT: Okay, here's one...

In the original Halo, the Ghost had this great hovery-ness to it that made
it a thrill to drive. It bobbed up and down and often flew everywhere when
you went over a jump! But in Halo 2 that entire hover feeling was lost on
all the Covenant vehicles. They had this traction to them, sticking to the
terrain, as visualized by the purple glow under the bottom. Not nearly as
fun! Here's hoping in Halo 3 things will be more like the old way.

By the way, here's the belly. Not much to see here, but hey, it's still
smooth. I could have put some
purple lights along the back of those flaps there to represent the
thrusters that you can ignite in the game with the secondary fire button,
but there was one obstacle to that plan: I couldn't find any purple
lights.

The Ghost in battle! By the way, the purple dishes I keep using to make
the vehicle hover is really just a little stand I built, not part of the
vehicle itself. Although, I suppose it could have been...

ZOMG BATTLE DAMAGE ABILITY!!!!1

Seriously though, is that cool or what? This was another of those things
that just jumped out at me while I was building the vehicle. I suddenly
realized I could put a little greebling under the hood and make a great
easy battle damage feature!

Honestly, if this battle damage playability feature doesn't endear you to
my little Ghost at least a bit then there's just something wrong with you,
and you shouldn't even be playing with toys. Anyway, here's another thing to note about the battle damage
feature: you can easily rotate the cannons to make them crooked. Did you
know the cannons become bent in the game when your Ghost gets damaged,
which even causes them to fire off-center? Well yeah, they do. Next time
you get your Ghost beat up in Halo 2, try firing off into the distance.

And just for fun, I thought I'd finish off the page with my favorite photo
of the whole bunch. Enjoy!

UPDATE: If you're interested, here's what the Ghost would look like in
dark red...

Some people use red for their Covenant LEGO vehicles instead of blue
(besides those who actually use purple), but personally I don't think it
looks as close. For some reason, blue just looks closer than red to
purple, in my eyes, and a red Covenant vehicle looks strange...
But hey, in the color spectrum, purple is between red and blue... so I
guess either way is equally accurate or inaccurate. The only correct color
would be purple. True, some of the vehicles look more reddish purple and
some more bluish, with the Spectre being the most red and the Wraith being
the most blue... but the Ghost is pretty much in the middle if you ask me.
And besides, I like to stick to one color so that my Covvie vehicles match
each other. Since I started with blue, that's what I'm sticking with for
now.

Still, red IS my favorite color, and I just happened to have the right
pieces to make my ghost in dark red, so here ya go!

As you can see, I didn't make
decals for this version, so you also get to see what it looks like without
decals. Also note that while I wasn't able to find the 1x1 slopes on the
wingtips in dark red, I WAS able to find a piece I wanted to use for the
nose from the very start, but was unable to find in dark BLUE! Ah well,
you win some you lose some.

Another wild idea:

Old Versions

The Ghost was the very first Halo LEGO creation I made. It was posted on
the website, along with the Banshee, on 10/27/2003. This sloppy
original was the most basic creation imaginable, as you can see below...

Needless to say, this was not adequate for long. So when Halo 2 came out,
I built this... It was posted on the website about a year later, on
September 19, 2004:

A pretty big improvement, at least until everyone else started coming out
with better ones... again.

Please note, by the way, that the pinkish dots on the wings are actually
red; my camera just made them look weird.

Again, here's what the vehicle would look like IF it were purple. Which,
it isn't. Sorry.