15 replies to this topic

[Walter Kovacs]

Hello again.  It's been a while since I finished a design in my never-ending quest to have a UCS scale model of all the TIE variants.  I have two more in the can, so to speak, but I need a Bricklink order or three before I can construct them, so this one got pushed to the front.  

The TIE Hunter looks a lot like a cross between an X-Wing and a TIE Fighter.  It has S-foils like the X-Wing, but with the standard TIE windscreen.  According to the Wookiepedia page, it also was equipped with shields and a hyperdrive.

There wasn't a whole lot of source material for this model.  Aside from the picture on wookiepedia, the only other image I found was this one.

The front and sides are pretty well defined, but the back end is hard to see.  It looks to me that the cockpit ball is extended, sloping down to the ion engines in the back.  At the same time, the sides of the ship curve down to the wing attacments.  

So here's what I came up with:

Front:


Side:


Back:


After watching the video by cavegod (find it in his post below), I made a few changes to the back and engines.



I'm not really enamored with the TIE Hunter itself.  The hull has a lot of sloping, curving walls.  These always give me fits in my designs, and don't leave any room for greebling.  The only place I can really let my mind wander is in the cockpit, shown here:



The model itself is very stable; nothing is going to fall apart on it.  The stand probably needs a little tweak, to push the center of gravity farther back, but that's a minor consideration.  

Overall, the model is just sort of meh.  I blame the source material.  Once the basic shape is captured, there really isn't much more to it.  

Comments and Criticisms are most definitely appreciated.  

Brickshelf Gallery, when public.

EDIT: Added new picture of the back.

Edited by KimT, 19 May 2010 - 08:30 PM.

[LegoGalactus]

Another awesome Ucs tie by Walter Kovacs.
How did you do make the wings in a x form?
Nice job.

[commdr_neyo]

Looks really nice and detailled! I like the X shape and the cockpit interior.
One thing, you haven't edited your sig yet

[pedro]

Great work Walter, your coverage of all things TIE knows no bounds! I haven't actually seen this version of the TIE before.... and I'd consider myself down with Star Wars!

It's maybe not the most distinctive of the/your series, but it's a really nicely built, superbly detailed model.

[Walter Kovacs]

LegoGalactus, on Mar 16 2010, 12:36 PM, said:

Another awesome Ucs tie by Walter Kovacs.
How did you do make the wings in a x form?
Nice job.

Thanks, LG.  To answer your question, Hinges.  Lots and lots of Hinges.  

In actuality, this was my second attempt at the TIE Hunter.  my first try used a technic solution, with some bevelled gears and a worm gear, much like the UCS X-Wing.  But things got way too wide in order to make the wings open in opposite directions.  The engines would have been a full 8 studs farther back, which wouldn't have looked good at all.  Plus, the grey portion of the wings would have been wider (13 studs instead of 7).  So I settled on the hinge method, which worked out much better.

commdr_neyo, on Mar 16 2010, 01:14 PM, said:

Looks really nice and detailled! I like the X shape and the cockpit interior.
One thing, you haven't edited your sig yet

Consider it updated.  

pedro, on Mar 16 2010, 01:18 PM, said:

Great work Walter, your coverage of all things TIE knows no bounds! I haven't actually seen this version of the TIE before.... and I'd consider myself down with Star Wars!

It's maybe not the most distinctive of the/your series, but it's a really nicely built, superbly detailed model.

Thanks, Pedro.

[Big Cam]

Very cool, I love seeing different versions of ships, especially a ship you don't see pretty much ever.  I think (judging from your pictures) that the stand looks good, but I can't say for structural integrity.

Awesome work, keep it up man!!

[cavegod]

back in the fold!!

when i built mine i used the game cube as reference!, they had the engines at the back of the sfoil hub.

[sigpro]

I had heard about this model, I had read that it existed, but your MOC makes us see that it was something special.
You created "the dream" of many of us, a mix between a Tie and an X-wing.

The details of the cockpit -the piolets used as control joysticks is a good idea- and the rest -the back of the cockpit with the engines- are excellent.

good job!

[lightningtiger]

Wow, 'Walter Kovacs' I hadn't heard of one of these before and it's AWESOME !
Giant wing span and fully decked out cockpit - it's very nice !
But does it only carry two low temp. lasers or something also on the wing tips like a real X-Wing (though I doubt it the wing sections usually carried the solar panels only.
Did they finally include landing gear or not in this tie ?
Excellent design and build 'Walter Kovacs' ............keep on bricking !

[Walter Kovacs]

Big Cam, on Mar 16 2010, 01:34 PM, said:

Very cool, I love seeing different versions of ships, especially a ship you don't see pretty much ever.  I think (judging from your pictures) that the stand looks good, but I can't say for structural integrity.

Awesome work, keep it up man!!

Very structurally sound.  The stand is based off of the stands used in TLC's UCS TIE Interceptor and UCS X-Wing models, modified a bit where they interact with the model itself.  I can take some photos if you want, but it isn't very exciting.  

The only problem is that the wing tips cause the center of gravity to be out in front of the cockpit, which makes the stand want to lean forward.  Still, the models been together for 2 days, and hasn't taken a tumble yet.  

cavegod, on Mar 16 2010, 01:37 PM, said:

back in the fold!!

when i built mine i used the game cube as reference!, they had the engines at the back of the sfoil hub.

Well, that's good to know.  I never played this particular game (Rogue Squadron III, I think.  It was on the Wookiepedia page).  I'll have to move them.

sigpro, on Mar 16 2010, 01:53 PM, said:

I had heard about this model, I had read that it existed, but your MOC makes us see that it was something special.
You created "the dream" of many of us, a mix between a Tie and an X-wing.

The details of the cockpit -the piolets used as control joysticks is a good idea- and the rest -the back of the cockpit with the engines- are excellent.

good job!

I've tried many different control stick configurations in my UCS TIEs.  This is the one I like best.  So far  

lightningtiger, on Mar 16 2010, 04:48 PM, said:

Wow, 'Walter Kovacs' I hadn't heard of one of these before and it's AWESOME !
Giant wing span and fully decked out cockpit - it's very nice !
But does it only carry two low temp. lasers or something also on the wing tips like a real X-Wing (though I doubt it the wing sections usually carried the solar panels only.
Did they finally include landing gear or not in this tie ?
Excellent design and build 'Walter Kovacs' ............keep on bricking !

Actually, according to Wookiepedia, it carries two laser cannons (under the windscreen), two ion cannons (out where the wings connect to the hull), and two photon torpedo launchers (I'd imagine those would be in the black area next to the windscreen.  That's where I'd house them, anyway).  

Thanks all for the comments.

[cavegod]

here you go

[Brickus]

Awesome, great work Walter.

[Legostein]

Hello Walter!

Glad to see you back in business! I have always liked the TIE Hunter because it's a relatively unknown and only rarely seen type. That's what gives these models something particular interesting.   Your representation is very good with the sharp and menacing looking triangular solar panels.

Cheers,

~ Christopher

[ACPin]

Walter Kovacs, on Mar 16 2010, 01:32 PM, said:

Overall, the model is just sort of meh.  I blame the source material.  Once the basic shape is captured, there really isn't much more to it.

Spoken like a true AFOL MOCer.   Now you know how I felt after I was done with the TIE/D.

AC

[Walter Kovacs]

cavegod, on Mar 16 2010, 05:39 PM, said:

here you go

Thanks a bunch for the video, cavegod.  I've made a change or two to the back of the model.  Check out the first post again.

Brickus, on Mar 16 2010, 06:22 PM, said:

Awesome, great work Walter.

Legostein, on Mar 16 2010, 07:48 PM, said:

Hello Walter!

Glad to see you back in business! I have always liked the TIE Hunter because it's a relatively unknown and only rarely seen type. That's what gives these models something particular interesting.   Your representation is very good with the sharp and menacing looking triangular solar panels.

Cheers,

~ Christopher

Thanks gentlemen.

ACPin, on Mar 17 2010, 03:36 PM, said:

Spoken like a true AFOL MOCer.   Now you know how I felt after I was done with the TIE/D.

AC

[CommanderFox]

Another lovely fighter Walter!   
I think you have done a great job capturing it from the tiny amount of pics you had for reference.
The greebled cockpit, and the back of the fighter look Great!
The wings look alittle flimsy, but are okay.
nice job, looking forward to seeing the last few TIEs that you make!

CommanderFox