[Find] Edelweiss Tank

[ShrikeArghast]

So, I recently finished Valkyria Chronicles (best RPG I've played in a decade, hands down), and I was left with a strong desire to put together an Edelweiss Tank. Sadly, I flat out suck using LDD - it just feels unnatural to me, and I wind up falling into ruts. Added to this, the Edelweiss is a really odd beast - it has elements of a Panzer III and an M41 Bulldog, and I simply do not feel up to the task of replicating it believably.

Thankfully, the internet is a wonderful place to dig up other people's excellent MOCs, and a quick Google Images search produced this single photo:

https://www.flickr.c...N07/19164324879

Unfortunately, it's creator, C.Ngoc hasn't been active, best I can tell, in 6+ months. But he was an absolutely prolific tank designer, and his version of the Edelweiss is just spot-on. Does anyone know C.Ngoc, or ever encountered the LDD he used to create that image? I'm be happy to reimburse him for the right to build that little tank, if only I could locate him.

Edited April 22, 2016 by ShrikeArghast

[ShrikeArghast]

Well, I actually embarked on building my own (albeit very similar to this one, though I had to guestimate the back portion, and I'm also making an effort to upgrade where I can [such as - I hope - adding some kind of interior space]). However, I have a request - can anyone tell me what the part he used to make the treads in that picture is? It appears to be a single stud-wide piece used to make two loops per side. Is this an actual lego part, and, if so, what number is it?

Nevermind - I figured it out. Better question : How do I wrap tank treads around a wheel using LDD?

Edited April 27, 2016 by ShrikeArghast

[ShrikeArghast]

Okay, after roughly 10 hours of work, here is my best effort. Note that I intentionally enlarged the turret slightly from the one in the photo in order to incorporate a functioning hatch, since Welkin spends so much time up there in the game/anime. Also, some of the colors (particularly the fins for the ragnite drive) are wrong due to the limitations of LDD - those will be trans blue when the project is built. And, of course, the tank is lacking treads. I'm *pretty* happy with what I produced here, especially since I was basically flying blind on the turret and the rear portions.

And some prototype shots:

I plan to use a few stickers (license plate, white strip on the sides of the turret), but hope to keep it to a minimum. One nice thing about this model as compared to the original is that it has playability features - the cockpit is modeled and accessible via a series of hatches, and the turret is designed to be easily slid from its socket to further open the tank's interior.

I'm kind of unsatisfied with the radio antennae, so if anyone has any suggestions to more closely match the original, I am very open to advice.

Edited April 27, 2016 by ShrikeArghast

[ShrikeArghast]

I went back at it this morning... added some doodads I have overlooked, raised the entire hull by one plate level to assure the tracks would actually work, introduced a more uniform wheel system, added the outside tracks (not going to bother with the inside ones for the purposes of LDD), redid the antennae, and completely redesigned the back portion, which had been bothering me.

[ShrikeArghast]

Parts to make the minifigures began arriving first, and the initial one I could complete was Isara Gunther.

Isara wears a wool-like Darcsen knit shawl in the game/anime, which (along with her hair) identifies her with an ethnic subgroup essentially analogous to Eastern European Jews in WWII (no, I am not making this up - its an enormous part of the plot). I chose to use some more traditional, heavy fabric to represent the outerwear, rather than utilizing Lego cape cloth, because I felt like the latter looked too stiff for this piece. Her hair is from Lego friends, she sports a blue-eyed, fleshy head piece, her top is borrowed from a Lego policewoman's chest (not that you can see it, but I used the pencil eraser method to remove the back lettering - though I might have not bothered, since you can't really tell), and her legs are taken off a doctor minifig.

All the Gallian female soldiers feature the 'skirt/leggings and boots' combo, which I realized early-on was going to be really hard to copy. I'd either have to do extensive painting on flesh-colored legs, employ a cloth skirt, or find a piece to substitute. This leg option is the best compromise I could come up with - it looks flowing, matches the tunic well, and seems feminine enough.

Finally, I should note that the characters sport a significantly darker uniform in the anime than they do in the game. Neither is quite a pastel, but the Sega version is a few strong shades lighter than the series incarnation posted above. So while I didn't match it perfectly with any of the figs (male or female), they are closer to the spirit of the game than the cartoon.

Edited May 3, 2016 by ShrikeArghast