[MOC] RZ-1 A-Wing Starfighter - Alternate Build of 75402 ARC-170

[Wurger49]

After finishing my triple gunship alternate builds, I decided to switch back to starfighters. It had the right windscreen and a couple of 4x4 cylinder pieces, but hardly any slopes and curved wedges, could lead to some challenges. The dark red and white pieces points to the famous A-Wing, the wedge shaped strike fighter manufactured by Kuat Systems Engineering.
 
The A-Wing was essentially a cockpit with two engines and a hyperdrive, it was faster and more maneuverable compared to the X-Wing. The iconic dark red centre stripe down the wedge nose was 4 studs wide, ideally I would have preferred a 6 studs wide red stripe. The lack of curved wedges really showed up on the white flanks that connected the laser cannons, some non-continuous corners stuck out, I tried to soften the look by layering wedge plates and tiles to create the sloped hull.
 
There were two laser cannons flanking the A-Wing hull, my technic connections allowed for a 360° rotation, I even managed to build the targeting lasers on top of the cannons as there were plenty of technic pieces inside the 75402.
 
The 4x4 cylinder pieces were perfect for engines, even though I wished there were 6 instead of 4 inside the set, the difference in length was filled in using 3x3 barrels with the 4x4 red round brick as the engine outlet with pink exhausts.
 
The stabilizer fins were easily connected to the holes on the cylinders, I was really pleased to say that I locked down the angle of each fin with 2 slopes, that had to be done as there were no friction on the engine axle connections.
 
The model was one of my most solid builds, thus great for playing and swooshing around.
 
I didn’t have to make too many changes to the stand I made for the Z-95, with the A-Wing being a more compact ship, the stand can display the model in 4 different angles. For my preferred angle of display, I placed red tiles on the port side and green tiles on the starboard side stand.
 
So yeah, I had to break up my Z-95 to make this as the A-Wing had a much smaller footprint to display, and easier on the hand to swoosh around. One might be surprised that the piece count of both models was nearly identical as the A-Wing was a solid wedge at the front. This A-Wing alternate build will make a fine addition to any LEGO Star Wars collection.

Instructions are on Rebrickable: https://reb.li/m/209923

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2 by Wurger49

[Mandalorianknight]

Could've fooled me into thinking this was an official set at first glance, very well done.

[Wurger49]

3 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Could've fooled me into thinking this was an official set at first glance, very well done.

thank you! It really could have needed some more slopes and curved wedges, but that's the fun of the challenge.