Brickdoctor

MOC T-47 Snowspeeder, 2016 Edition

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Uh...surprise? It's been, what...three, four years since my last proper MOC? :blush: Well, now that I know I'll be renting the same room for the rest of my time at university, I moved a good chunk of my collection in with me. And then I had to go on a Bricklink spree after I saw all the new parts (Seriously, you guys are spoiled. :tongue: ) and minifigs that have come out in the past couple years. I had the AT-ST on display, so I was planning to rebuild and update my T-47 to go alongside it.

Then I had a quick conversation with LilMeFromDaFuture, and he was looking into different combinations of slopes to minimize the stepped effect of SNOT wings. I figured, well, if you really want to get rid of that stepped edge, it's just like building a Star Destroyer: you flip the thing around and put the flat edge on the outside, right? So I did that.

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The last time I built a Snowspeeder, I was a teen with no income, so there were some workarounds required whenever I didn't have the right part or didn't have enough of a part. This time, I had no such limitations, and I think that's a big reason why this iteration is so much cleaner.

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I opted for the regular orange instead of the Rogue Leader grey this time. I like the extra color, and since I did the repulsorlift housings entirely in tiles instead of SNOTed slopes, all the pieces I needed existed in orange.

I'm not sure how obvious it is in the pictures; the entire wing assembly is ever so slightly inclined inwards towards the front.

Some other general angles:

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The front portion of the guns are pneumatic tubing stiffened by two train axles apiece. (You can just barely see the divot in the middle where the two axles meet.) The exposed ends of the axles are fed into flex tubing to be clipped or inserted into a Technic pin. So smooth...

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I'm not entirely happy with how the radiator is integrated, but the 'real' one goes through the trailing edge of the wings, and I don't have that luxury.

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Comfortably seats two!

As usual, reference material is Toromodel and the venerable Starship Modeler. And you can still see some of the influence of Larry Lars's speeder, especially in the canopy.

Up next: The next batch of BL orders coming have a bunch of white curves, the new Hoth Rebels, and some transparent Technic liftarms, so I can build a proper stand and a display base to match the one I built for the AT-ST (or, well, an updated version of the AT-ST; I've made some minor changes to smooth out the head and strengthen the legs).

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EDIT: ...and base complete:

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As this is a display base meant to showcase the Snowspeeder, I kept it clean and simple, rather than adding a bunch of trenches and gun emplacements, as was my original plan.

Comments and criticism are welcome! Thanks for looking. :classic:

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Welcome back to building: and what a fantastic model to start with. I love the nose - the angles are perfect. The smoothness of those wings... :wub:

What does the underside look like? Is it fit to photograph?

Congratulations on getting a budget and some space of your own - I hope you get to build many more models.

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I'm only bugged by the bulge on the roof.

Same feeling here! I know there's a price for having the canopy hinged but... The bulge takes away quite a lot from a generally very pleasing silhouette.

The overall shape is great though and so are the guns. Lots of tasty details. Congratulations!

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Very nice and innovative work. I especially love how you flipped the side canopy bricks and plates on their sides to create thin canopy frames. I gotta see if such a design will work on mine. Well done, sir.

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Very detailed, yet very clean!

At first, I thought it was Larry Lars' version - which I have a copy of next to my AT-AT, but then I saw the excellent, smooth brick built wings.

I looks pretty sturdy, the question is - how sturdy is it? :)

The problem with the, otherwise excellent, Larry Lars version is that it is a bit flimsy, but you seem to have captured approximately the same level of detail without compromising structural integrity. Top job! :)

Regarding the radiator - you could have a look at the LL version. I do not know if it will fit, but that has more width.

Do you happen to have an LDD? ;)

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Thanks, everyone! :classic:

Looks great, do you have a comparison picture with your old one?

Other than putting two photos next to each other, no. The old one was taken apart years ago.

What does the underside look like? Is it fit to photograph?

More or less. it's just plates arranged to vaguely look like the 'real' underside. Nothing notable to look at, but at the same time, nothing ugly.

Same feeling here! I know there's a price for having the canopy hinged but... The bulge takes away quite a lot from a generally very pleasing silhouette.

The alternative is to just leave it stepped or flat, which you can definitely do, but the 'real' canopy slopes downwards towards the front, and my personal preference is to trade a bulge for a proper slope.

By the way, how sturdy are the wings on yours?

I looks pretty sturdy, the question is - how sturdy is it? :)

Reasonably swooshable. The front and back halves are sturdy enough separately, and even though the old finger hinge is their only actual connection, they're braced by brackets near the nose and there's a rubber band (Either a red Technic rubber band or one of the rubber rings from the Emerald Night's flanged drivers.) pulling the two halves of each wing towards each other. It's pretty flimsy when you're building it, but it gets stronger once it's all together.

Regarding the radiator - you could have a look at the LL version. I do not know if it will fit, but that has more width.

Off to the top of my head, is that the one made of 1-high panels? There really isn't room for more width, because you run into the wing. If I could run the fins through the wing, I could make it a fin wider on each side and move the outer fins upwards, and that'd be perfect.

Do you happen to have an LDD? ;)

I didn't build it in LDD first, no. I have an older wing prototype; I'll see about updating it.

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The alternative is to just leave it stepped or flat

I think I have another idea but it'll have to wait until I try it :) .

I have one more question about your model: what are the round, toothed parts that you put inside Technic Driving Ring Extensions, on the very end of guns?

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I have one more question about your model: what are the round, toothed parts that you put inside Technic Driving Ring Extensions, on the very end of guns?

[snip] (4265a).

Indeed, and make sure to use the four-toothed 'a' variant, not the two-toothed 'b'; the two-toothed one will be almost impossible to center around the flex tubing.

the roof seems flat on the studio model:

[snip]

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Oh man! all those slopes fit so perfect. Like they were meant to or something. Seriously incredible, my favorite part is the engines, as they were far less complex than I initially thought but am still impressed how simple it is. Cockpit is impressive, with the window breaks you managed to fit in.

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Nice. I've been playing around with a similar design for a while (the wedge plates). Can you please show the bottom and how the 4x4 wedge plates are attached at that angle?

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This looks great! I really like how you accomplished the SNOT wings, as well as the angles on the front. Your AT-ST looks fantastic as well, I guess going by what you said about this being your first MOC in years that it's an older MOC?

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Wow!! It's amazing that expert builders keep coming up with new ways to skin the same cat. Is it better than LiLmeFromDaFuture? No, but it is certainly on par and explores some very interesting techniques to solve angle issues. Well Done!!

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