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Walter Kovacs

UCS Scale TIE Clutch

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I'm back, with my latest completed model, my UCS scale TIE Clutch. I first saw this ship on Dark Saber's X-Wing Alliance site (which is where I first saw images of a lot of TIE Variants). I only had the one image to work from, so I had to make some assumptions on the wing length, but it looks from the image that the TIE Clutch is a stubby little fighter. That's what I went with, anyway.

First, a 3/4 View:

clutch_3_4_view.jpg

As you can see, the ship is quite small, one of my smaller UCS models. It ended up being 750 pieces or so, including the display stand. The design of the display stand is complete crap, by the way. It works, but not in the way I had originally intended. I'll have to fix that in the near future.

You can see behind the cockpit ball the key to this model. The hexagonal shape is formed by six of these Bionicle parts, six of these connectors, and a few of these in the center. The reult is surprisingly stable, once a few axles are connected to the center.

Close up:

clutch_hull_greebles.jpg

The greebles on the sides of the hull really came out well. It is one of the areas I am most pleased with. Ths photo also shows the Bionicle pieces, about as well as your going to get without disassembling the model.

Back View:

img_1865.jpg

The back is pretty unremarkable overall. If you look closely at where the wings attach to the cockpit, you'll see a major interference that I found in my instructions. I had to remove one 2 x 2 plate with hole from each wing to avoid the interference. I'd be willing to bet you wouldn't even notice it if I hadn't told you.

Cockpit:

clutch_cockpit.jpg

The cockpit is my favorite part of this model. I think it is probably the best layout I've come up with for a cockpit ball, and really looks sharp. What you can't see are the two Inverted 2 x 2 slopes with computer screen patterns that are above that Light Gray 1 x 6 Arch. It might be the best cockpit I've done to date. (Though my Scimitar cockpit is very good, too. More on that in a few weeks.)

I have lots more photos to share in the gallery, which you will be able to see when moderated.

From what I've seen, the cockpit ball and hull of the TIE Shadow are almost identical to the TIE Clutch. So that will be the next model that I present.

As always, Constructive Comments and Criticism are welcomed and encouraged.

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Wow, that's really well done :wub:

Your UCS scaled MOCs are pretty awesome and I am glad you've skipped the digital versions and gone 'real' instead :tongue::wink:

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Wow, that's really well done :wub:

Your UCS scaled MOCs are pretty awesome and I am glad you've skipped the digital versions and gone 'real' instead :tongue::wink:

Oh, I still do all of my designing in the digital realm first. It's just that I finally have enough parts via Bricklink to actually build what I've designed. Besides, designing in MLCad first does allow me to buy intelligently from BL.

Although I do have to admit that it feels great to build in real bricks, and not those virtual ones :wink:

And thank you for the compliment.

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That looks amazing.

I especially like the greebling that you did. :wub:

This "TIE Clutch" looks pretty similar to the TIE Defender, except for the three extra panel thingies sticking out (wings?).

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Great work! Well done on the details :thumbup:

The use of bionicle parts is amazing, dont have them so wouldnt have thought it possible.

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That looks amazing.

I especially like the greebling that you did. :wub:

This "TIE Clutch" looks pretty similar to the TIE Defender, except for the three extra panel thingies sticking out (wings?).

Amazing attention to detail!

Thank you. One of the reasons I prefer UCS scale to minifig scale is due to the amount of surface area you have at your disposal for greebling. You can add a bunch of small elements and not disturb the overall shape of the model (too much).

The "wings" on all of the TIEs are actually solar panels. But most people, myself included, refer to them as wings. The TIE Defender is similar in that it has three sets of wings, but the TIE Ds panels are swept outward (sort of inverted from the TIE Interceptor) and are mounted at the end of three pylons. The Clutch, Shadow and Phantom are unique in that they have no pylons supporting the solar panels (the only other TIEs like this are the Lancet :wub: , and Raptor, off the top of my head).

Nice job! :thumbup: i really like the cockpit!

Thanks. It will become my basis for future TIE ball cockpits. The control stick might need a little tweaking, but overall I am very pleased with the way it came out. I wish I could have gotten a picture from the top of the cockpit so you could see everything well. Maybe when I photograph the TIE Shadow, as it will require some disassembling to get a good shot.

Someone on FBTB thought there were too many printed pieces. While I respect his opinion, I had to disagree with him.

Speaking of photography, does anyone have any tips on how to improve mine? I seem to be struggling to get the lighting correct. I have used Hinckley's photography topic to get to this point, but I could use a little extra boost.

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that's really an awesome UCS creation ^^ It just looks so cool, and I love your cockpit, the control thingy is very well done^^

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