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Bobsy

[MOC] Manta Speeder

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The Old Republic - Manta Speeder by bobsy26, on Flickr

This is a Manta, a common form of airspeeder in The Old Republic. They're used by both the Republic and the Sith Empire as taxis (in New York Yellow and London Black, respectively) but can be seen scattered around the galaxy in private hands. Swish and sporty, they're a decent looking speeder, but at present players can't privately own these fancy fancy future-toys. But being so ubiquotous, I thought it a good idea to render in Lego.

I think I did a pretty accurate job. You can see images of the original here (in blue) and here (red). I chose dark red as the primary colours simply because I knew the cockpit piece has definately been produced in this colour. I could possibly have done black to match the Imperial taxis instead, but models done all in black just look dull.

As with pretty much everything I do in LDD it took something like 10 tries to get right. The curved fuselage was a real challenge, but the breakthough came in turning the pieces on the left and right of the bonnet 90 degrees to the way they are now. It managed to kick things off, and the rest of the speeder came together eventually. The other big difficulty came with the cockpit. I knew it had to hold two passengers, but didn't want it more than 6 studs wide. I tried lots of different techniques, but kept coming back to the single-piece seat from the Pharoah's Quest vehicles. It's not entirely ideal, as it tries to taper to 4-wide too early, but I found that putting plates in the same colour underneath it helped give the illusion that it didn't taper at all.

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That is a very nice and sleek looking speeder Bobsy, great job! :thumbup:

I am wondering though, why restrict yourself to only 6 studs wide? From what i remember the speeder looked quite a bit more spacious in the game, so you could've easily gone for an 8 studs wide hull i think.

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This looks really good! I'm not familiar with the game, but I really like the design and the way you've made it into Legos. Great job!

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As soon as I saw that someone made a model from TOR, I just had to see it.

It looks fantastic, I can picture my lego Sith Warrior just riding one of these through Dromund Kaas. xD

Mind if I bug you to have the instructions? Cause I've been keen to make one of these for a while, along with pretty much any other vehicle in SWTOR.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2eeyhq0.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/1y3f5x.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/ziu686.jpg

Three shots I took in-game of different angles, just in case anyone wanted a better look at the reference model.

**Sorry for poor quality graphics, my computer isn't powerful enough to load SWTOR with high graphic settings.

Edited by -sigma-

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Fantastic work Bobsy :thumbup:

This with Darth Malgus minifigure are perfect for Kaas City :classic:

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That is a very nice and sleek looking speeder Bobsy, great job! :thumbup:

I am wondering though, why restrict yourself to only 6 studs wide? From what i remember the speeder looked quite a bit more spacious in the game, so you could've easily gone for an 8 studs wide hull i think.

It's a matter of Lego scale. Any larger and the minifigs would just get lost in an oversized-looking vehicle. Plus, it's important to keep the size down when compared to ships. It helps to clearly show the difference between the two different types of vehicle.

Mind if I bug you to have the instructions? Cause I've been keen to make one of these for a while, along with pretty much any other vehicle in SWTOR.

I'll have a look into it. We'll see.

Fantastic work Bobsy :thumbup:

This with Darth Malgus minifigure are perfect for Kaas City :classic:

Screw Malgus. He's an ascended piece of concept art for the idea of a Sith Warrior. I think I had him assembled for about two days before swapping his head out for Savage Opress's to make my own Sith Warrior for the game. Happily, that armour goes with practically anything.

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It's a matter of Lego scale. Any larger and the minifigs would just get lost in an oversized-looking vehicle. Plus, it's important to keep the size down when compared to ships. It helps to clearly show the difference between the two different types of vehicle. (...)

You got a fair point there about keeping a clear distinction between the two types of vehicles. With that in mind i think you did a superb job with the given restrictions, it looks very accurate indeed. I can almost see my minifigs hopping in there to take a taxi ride to their next destination! :laugh:

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I recieved the pieces from Bricklink today... except there's a whole load missing so I had to put on a grumpy face. Sadly, the tailfins can't be built at the moment, so I'm afraid photos will have to wait.

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This looks really good! I'm not familiar with the game, but I really like the design and the way you've made it into Legos. Great job!

I've researched this ship before, and I have to say, I agree with the others in saying you have done a great build!

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I actually got the second lot of pieces the other day, but I'm exceptionally lazy when it comes to photography, so I've only just uploaded the pictures of the finished speeder. And here it is:

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The Old Republic Manta Speeder by bobsy26, on Flickr

Neither minifig is really cut out for this. Setele had to tie her hair back, as her usual long ponytail doesn't fit in the cockpit. The trooper is all grumpy because he had to leave his beloved cannon behind. It doesn't fit in the boot.

In the boot? Yes indeed, something I'd not mentioned before is that the back section opens up to fit lightsabers, blasters and the like. Just not Sasha.

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The Old Republic Manta Speeder by bobsy26, on Flickr

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The Old Republic Manta Speeder by bobsy26, on Flickr

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It absolutely thrills me when people go through with brick-building their LDD projects. :sweet: So thank you! It looks great. :thumbup: I might want one of these for myself...

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Instuuuuuuuuctions plz.

Looks absolutely sweet, and after getting the Fury just yesterday, I'm overly keen to start my SWTOR Lego binge.

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It looks great in the brick! And it has a storage space too, you didn't mention that before! That makes it even better :sweet:

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It looks great in the brick! And it has a storage space too, you didn't mention that before! That makes it even better :sweet:

The storage space became an obvious addition, otherwise the back would have been boring, solid brick. Of course, it makes little sense to have it at the back, because that whole bit is supposed to be the engine. Strictly speaking, the bonnet should open up, but this wasn't physically possible.

Speaking of the engine, there are no actual exhaust nozzles, which is a pretty big ommision. It will be possible to add them, but I've not worked out a way of making them in the right size. Using wheel hubs would be too big, and stop the boot opening.

There are other things I'd like to alter. There isn't strictly room for those cylinders to be there at the front of the cockpit, and that's putting a bit of strain on the cockpit piece, hence the gap between the grey cheese slope and the flat panel. Also, the bottom of the speeder's pretty flat at the moment. It should have more mass underneath, but that would require another Bricklink order. There's always more to do...

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