ADU Locust Dropship

[Tim_AZ]

This is my LDD prototype for a medium dropship/gunship for the ADU forces. It can hold up to 12 regular infantry or 8 assault troops. This is the first thing I have worked on in LDD so it is a pretty basic design. It still needs some tweaking but that will be worked out during the actual build. I plan to start building this as soon as I can acquire the necessary parts. Comments and especially critiques are welcome.

[vynsane]

Nicely done, I dig it a LOT.

[Faefrost]

Very nicely done. I love how the central body and crew compartment is shaped. My only critique is how the flow of the design feels like there should be something broadening the profile right around those forward engines. Some sort of forward wing or control surfaces. Just something to bring it out to roughly even with the rear stabilizers. Or maybe angle the tail fins down a hair more to narrow them? Otherwise the flow of the ship feels a little tail heavy when viewed from above.

That is a truly spectacular ship. And nicely done with LDD ( I am a complete LDD newb who can't get the thing to stop resetting the brick colors every time I blink.)

Edited May 28, 2012 by Faefrost

[Tim_AZ]

Very nicely done. I love how the central body and crew compartment is shaped. My only critique is how the flow of the design feels like there should be something broadening the profile right around those forward engines. Some sort of forward wing or control surfaces. Just something to bring it out to roughly even with the rear stabilizers. Or maybe angle the tail fins down a hair more to narrow them? Otherwise the flow of the ship feels a little tail heavy when viewed from above.

That is a truly spectacular ship. And nicely done with LDD ( I am a complete LDD newb who can't get the thing to stop resetting the brick colors every time I blink.)

I had toyed with a large forward wing, but I couldn’t come up with anything I liked. If you look at the ship from the side there really isn’t much bulk in the tail section. Originally the aft control surfaces were angled at 45 degrees but I had to bump them up to 22.5 due to an interference. That is one of the things I may change when I actually build it.

[Si-MOCs]

Very nice.

It totally evokes the Alien Drop ship feel. Yet ADU! Nice combo.

Do the landing gears fold up into the ship? that would be pretty nifty.

Though it feels it needs some sort of vertical thrusters, either something that rotates, or some engines pointed down to make it 'dropable' if you catch my drift. Maybe add another bank of engines just under the current ones that can rotate?

Oh another thing I would do is extend that yellow line a bit further out into the cockpit section, so the stripe goes straight through the ship.

Can't wait to see this built in real life with your other ADU expanded builds

[ETAV8R]

Effing cool!

I want it and may have most of the parts to build a copy but not sure I want to open up my second EDHQ just yet. I don't know how to use LDD well enough to build cool stuff let alone in real life.

It totally has the Aliens feel. Well done.

[DraikNova]

Nice! Looks kinda like some sort of bulky helicopter or submarine.

[Tim_AZ]

Very nice.

It totally evokes the Alien Drop ship feel. Yet ADU! Nice combo.

Do the landing gears fold up into the ship? that would be pretty nifty.

Though it feels it needs some sort of vertical thrusters, either something that rotates, or some engines pointed down to make it 'dropable' if you catch my drift. Maybe add another bank of engines just under the current ones that can rotate?

Oh another thing I would do is extend that yellow line a bit further out into the cockpit section, so the stripe goes straight through the ship.

Can't wait to see this built in real life with your other ADU expanded builds

I added some Harrier style thrusters which is what I had intended all along but it just now hit me how to make them. Unfortunately they don’t rotate.

As you can see the landing gear do retract. It isn’t very elegant but it is functional. They simply rotate up and lock in.

As for the stripe, I took a stab at it but it is too high to continue up to the cockpit. Additionally the two sides are built differently which complicates things somewhat. The far side has handholds built into it for climbing on to the top.

It is funny that you mention the Cheyenne from Aliens as it along with the Battlestar Galactica Raptor shuttle were the inspiration for this build.

[soccerkid6]

This is pretty cool! I would love to own one The shape works nicely and the working landing gears are excellent

[Laura Beinbrech]

Very nice.

It totally evokes the Alien Drop ship feel. Yet ADU! Nice combo.

That was kind of my impression, but it also kind of evokes the Republic Gunships from Star Wars as well. I definitely like the design, though.

[gotoAndLego]

I like the wings in the rear, but think the should have some kind if thickening or details. Otherwise they just feel kind of basic. I like that they have the same angle as the two main engines. The missile pods should be open in the rear.

There is a Star Wars imperial troop carrier that had rear wings as well.

Cheers

Edited May 28, 2012 by gotoAndLego

[K-Nut]

Really nicely done! Love the shaping and use of that cockpit piece. Excellent job!

[Scorpion]

Excellent design! One of the best offerings in a while! Like others have said, it readily evokes the Cheyene dropship from Aliens! 5 out of 5!

[Tim_AZ]

I like the wings in the rear, but think the should have some kind if thickening or details. Otherwise they just feel kind of basic. I like that they have the same angle as the two main engines. The missile pods should be open in the rear.

There is a Star Wars imperial troop carrier that had rear wings as well.

Cheers

Excellent call on the wings. Adding just a bit of detail improved the look significantly. I added a corresponding dark grey piece to the bottom as well.

I want to thank everyone for their comments and suggestions. I mainly got back into Lego to help reduce stress and this and my other ADU projects have been a ton of fun.

[The Joker1]

Great work I will be eager to see it in the brick.

Edited May 28, 2012 by The Joker1

[Scorpion]

After much consideration, I will offer the following sugestions:

- Switch the place of the rocket launcher with the engines and make the engine mount rotating (A little VTOL action...);

- Shorten the hull by 4-6 studs, with the wings so far back it looks a bit unbvalanced, front-heavy;

- Delete the front "floats" (the things beneath the engines) and replace them with weapon pods, to give a little more "bite" to the dropship.

These are just my humble suggestions that would make an excellent model into a perfect one! Regardless, carry on MOCing! Earth must be protected!

[Tim_AZ]

Well the parts have finally all been ordered. I ran into some interesting problems due to parts not being available in the colors I needed so some minor changes have been made. Being an LDD rookie, I didn’t realize it generated a parts list for you so I was just guessing at quantities at first. I’ll have plenty of spares! I’m sure there will be something that I forgot to get but with any luck I’ll have this thing built in about two or three weeks.

Here's one last shot before the build begins.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Tim_AZ

[TheSwampCreature]

Really good! I'm working on a bunch of customs myself.