[MOC][INSTRUCTIONS] Ebon Hawk MIDI-scale

[Palajava]

The model has gone through a long design process and has finally ended up looking like what can be seen in the above rendered image.

The most current version of the model is available on Rebrickable:

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-63664/Palajava/ebon-hawk-midi/#details

 

Original post:

Spoiler

One of my primary goals was to keep this build roughly midi-scaled (whatever that means) because I believe this scale can allow for a good balance on size and detail. It also has the benefit of possibly not being extremely expensive. The end-result is a fairly compact build at exactly 550 pieces + 85 pieces for the stand (which, I should note, was inspired by the stand Inthert used for their X-Wing). For the most part I’m happy with how it turned out, but I’d love to hear any thoughts others might have.

I’ve recently built the ship from actual LEGO and everything works out exactly as I had expected. The digital version is slightly idealized in that not all the parts currently exist in the right colors, but those that don’t can easily be substituted with similar parts. 

Oh, and my thanks to everyone who has built their own versions of Ebon Hawk for the inspiration.

 

Edited March 6, 2024 by Palajava

[TemjinStrife]

Do you have the LDD/Stud.io file? Would love to build this, looks amazing.

[stormtroopercaptain]

This is awesome I’ve recenty been replaying the game. I would love to have one. About how big is it in real bricks?

 I’ve really been in love with “midi” scale ships lately. They are nice because you get great detail and like you said not to expensive. Plus I can have lots on display at one time. 

[Jerac]

Looks super good!

Two questions:
- do all the pieces exist in these colours and are reasonably easy to get? It is a common pitfall for digital building.
- would it be possible to make bottom side smooth as detailed as well? It seems there is plenty of space inside to reverse building direction. This would really take this model from very good to awesome!

[NathanR]

Wow, this is awesome! I loved the game and always wanted some Lego models from it.  

I would also love to have an LDD file, is there one available?

[Palajava]

On 3/5/2018 at 3:33 AM, stormtroopercaptain said:

This is awesome I’ve recenty been replaying the game. I would love to have one. About how big is it in real bricks?

It is 21 studs wide and 22 studs long so about 16.5cm x 17cm. For reference it is about the same size as LiLmeFromDaFuture's snowspeeder. Perfect for display, as you said!

On 3/5/2018 at 10:20 AM, Jerac said:

Looks super good!

Two questions:
- do all the pieces exist in these colours and are reasonably easy to get? It is a common pitfall for digital building.
- would it be possible to make bottom side smooth as detailed as well? It seems there is plenty of space inside to reverse building direction. This would really take this model from very good to awesome!

Easily the most expensive bricks in this build are the two 4286 1x3 reverse slopes in dark red. The good thing is that you can just use regular 1x3 slopes in dark red instead. It all works out just as well with those. Other than that, the four 24201 in dark bluish grey are still quite rare as are the dark red 11477’s. There are also two light bluish grey turn plate bases that seem to be exceedingly rare, but I just covered the small bits that are visible with pieces of stickers of the right color.

There is a small technic frame inside that has two 32531 bricks. Thanks to the empty space inside those two pieces there is plenty of room for any number of SNOT techniques. I did do a quick test, but since I haven’t had a chance to try it out with real bricks yet and because my solution relied too much on parts that do not currently exist, I didn’t include it.

No, not all of the parts exist in the correct colors, but since I wanted to build one from real bricks I tried to keep this in mind while I was designing it. The most important parts are available in the right colors, however, and those that aren't can easily be replaced one way or another. For example, there are two dark red 2x2 wing pieces at the front edges of the ship. You can replace those with dark bluish gray pieces or, as I did, cut a dark red 51739 in half. It’s certainly easier than painting. I have done a version in LDD that to my knowledge only uses currently available bricks and I only had to replace 16 bricks in total. Really, the changes are hardly noticeable, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.

And I also recommend cutting small pieces of cable to connect the transparent orange dishes to the black dishes for extra stability.

[OLD FILES REDACTED]

If there are any problems with the files I can also look into uploading them to Bricksafe. I would also ask that, if possible, any improvements to my design be shared likewise.

Edited January 12, 2019 by Palajava

[stormtroopercaptain]

Thanks for the files I’m gonna dig around my collection to see how many parts I already have. Also again it looks awesome. 

[NathanR]

Woohoo! Many thanks for the LDD file! Now I have to go rummaging through my parts collection... 

[Palajava]

No problem at all. If you do end up building this thing I would love to see pictures.

I do wish I had figured out a way to close that gap between the two wing pieces on both sides of the ship. No matter what solution I would try either the angles would come out wrong or I would have to compromise on other areas too much. I suppose there is always the option of using stickers to make only the visible top areas of the 3x3 angle pieces bley, but obviously that still wouldn’t solve the issue of having the gap there.

[TemjinStrife]

I just ordered parts for a "repaint" version of this, in white, blue, and yellow (easier to get parts in that color). Should be a fun build!

 

EDIT: For anyone who is curious, however, there are a good number of of new/hard to get parts. Double jumpers, studs with handles, inverted curved slopes . . .

Edited March 6, 2018 by TemjinStrife

[Palajava]

That color combination sounds very cool!

You’re right, a good number of the outwardly visible parts are recent or new. There are even two new dark red pieces from the new Hulkbuster sets that are used in this build (though I originally had them replaced with different slopes). Still, I was able get all but three parts without too much trouble. Here’s hoping they become more available as they make their way into more official sets.

The three bley double jumpers can be replaced with four regular 1x2 jumper pieces.

Maybe it’s obvious, I don’t know, but I also recommend starting the build by putting the technic frame together and then building the bottom area connected to it first.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Palajava

[Palajava]

The two gaps on the back-half of the ship started to bother me when viewed from certain angles so I gave solving that issue another go. Some ultimately failed attempts later I went back to a solution that I had abandoned earlier.

 

 

Basically, I replaced the four 2450’s with four 30357’s and placed macaroni tiles on top of those. The good thing about this change is that it’s very simple and doesn’t require any structural changes to the model. I also think the change makes for a more uniform and clean look overall. The curve is still off and gaps are replaced with bumps but in the end, following the source material too closely doesn’t work always either. But I did reject this approach earlier so I’m not quite convinced yet.

Edited March 9, 2018 by Palajava

[Atheos]

Love this! Excellent work.

[Palajava]

Here’s my first attempt at making the underside smooth. It should work but I’ll have to try it out with real bricks first to be sure.

[atlas]

That new bottom is a massive improvement! Well done. I love to see attention to detail in all directions.

[TemjinStrife]

Interesting! I just finished my build of the initial model with a more Rebellion-esque color scheme. I'll have to post some pictures once I have a moment.

[Forresto]

The bottom looks glorious smooth! 

[Palajava]

On 16.3.2018 at 3:55 PM, TemjinStrife said:

Interesting! I just finished my build of the initial model with a more Rebellion-esque color scheme. I'll have to post some pictures once I have a moment.

Please do, I very much would like to see them.

The bottom design has proven to be quite a bit sturdier than I had initially thought. The stand also supports it so no worries there. Unfortunately the bottom design depends on corner tiles with cut corners and those aren’t available in dark red. There isn’t much I can do about that since I can’t use regular wing pieces with exposed studs either.

I also began designing a proper base to display the ship on but finding a suitable scene or scenery to portray has been a challenge. I did do a quick and rough build of the Jedi Enclave. There’s an amazing scene in KotOR2 that takes place there so I thought it might make for an appropriate backdrop. Still, I’m not sure if I will use it for the base.

Edited March 25, 2018 by Palajava

[atlas]

That is a beatiful little build

[Jerac]

I like the new underside a lot; it is huge improvement. I guess these exposed 2x3 plates are for stand attachment? 

[Palajava]

2 hours ago, Jerac said:

I like the new underside a lot; it is huge improvement. I guess these exposed 2x3 plates are for stand attachment? 

That’s right, though I have since replaced those with 2x2 jumper plates and regular 1x2 plates. Makes for a better look and the stand is also easier to detach. I also streamlined the bottom design slightly to replace a couple of hard-to-get parts with more common equivalents. Piece count is now 595.

Apparently there is quite a bit of variance in the dark red color. I didn’t know to take this into account so I may have to order a few replacements for the more off-color pieces that I happened to receive.

[Jerac]

Dkred is known for this, but I'd leave it as it is. This is a rugged-looking transport ship. I would even swap some LBG to old gray to make patched look.

 

Good call with jumper plates. They're good for such situations where you want detacheable modules, because of assymmetrical grip strength (double on the bottom, and single on top). There are even 2x2 jumpers with even higher difference in strengths.

[Palajava]

So, here’s another quick comparison image. The left-side version remains largely the same expect for the changes I made to the engine block/exhaust ports. I discarded the off-stud technique with jumper plates I had previously used because while I did like the four studs wide version initially, this updated version is more accurate to the source material. The engine block no longer overlaps with the curves and the transition from the angled red slopes to the engine block is smoother than before. And thanks to these changes I could now fit three studs’ width worth of slopes in the middle to match the three below. The 2x2 tile is also raised to match a similar detail in the source material.

However, after doing these changes I wanted to also solve another problem I had while designing this model. In the source material the engine block starts outside the main body of the ship. The problem is that the total length of the model is accurate in the left-side version and it would be difficult to make any changes without making the ship longer. But because this is a fairly significant detail and the lack of it has made the back-half of the ship appear a little too short, I did the right-side design as well.

Because of the changes in design the right-side version is exactly one plate studs included longer, though it seems more than that. I couldn’t find a way to avoid this, mainly because of the two 3x3 dish pieces. If only there were a 3x3 round plate. The very good secondary result of this change is that, with the engine block being one stud further out, the angled dark red sloped sections could be extended by one stud and they are closer together than before, which again is more accurate to the source material. I think the compromises made in accuracy in one area might be outweighed by the improvements in these other areas.

Edited April 8, 2018 by Palajava

[stormtroopercaptain]

I like the second version with the engine block sticking out from the main hull. I find with Lego building to a hard scale size can compromise proportion and other features that I think are more important than perfect scale. 

[Palajava]

At last, I got around to making a number of fairly significant improvements. The central Y-shaped red area has been raised by one plate, allowing for a more accurate look and additional details. The red side pillars have also been extended both up and down by one plate. Before they were too flat. Much of the inside structure has been reworked and there are a few additional changes here and there.

I also got rid of the round pieces with bars (32828) near the engines as they don't currently exist in dark bluish gray and proved to be a poor solution in any case. The 2x2 macaroni tiles were replaced with the new triangle tiles. Unfortunately, I find they only look better in digital builds. I think it's because the 4x4 macaroni tiles extend so close to the edge and the angle of the red curve is not accurate to the source material. These things makes those areas look off, which the 2x2 maraconi tiles helped mask a little bit.