UCS Rebel Transport Gr-75

[cavegod]

I thought I would post a few pics of my lastest MOC Wip for some constructive criticism as moc'ers out there know that you become blind to flaws and faults in your own mocs.

So a few Progress shots in order.

This is the subject in question.

Anyway there's a few to be studying!

Ideas for the command pod at the rear are greatly appreciated!

[Brickdoctor]

Looks great so far.

What are you basing the weathering on? I know the white-tan-bley color scheme is typical for MOCs of this ship, but it looks a little... chaotic, maybe, is the word? I think there might be a bit too much of the weathering. As much as this should be a dirty, 'used universe' ship, I think I'd like to see one of the secondary colors in the weather (bleys or tans) be used more than the other, with the remaining color used a little more sparingly. So there aren't two secondary colors competing to draw my eye to themselves when I'm looking at the model. (I'd go with tan as the dominant secondary color for the extra amount of color it adds compared to bley.) And at the same time, the two colors take some of my attention away from the white, which makes it harder to see the overall shape of the craft.

[cavegod]

Yeah I agree, but the Iphone changes the tone of colour and brightens them up, in RL it's a lot more subdued than these pics show. When I get the underside finished I shall get some pics of the top with a plain background. The weathering is totally random and not based on anything nut maybe a cross between the transport on Tatooine and Hoth.

Maybe switch a few LBG plates tiles for white as you say and maybe a few less drk tan.

[Lobot]

This is looking very promising cavegod! :wub:

You've got the overall shape spot-on and the rear 'spine' is beautiful but as Doc says, the hull looks a bit too colourful to me. The majority of images I've seen of it are 90-95% white, with just the occasional hint of dark and light grey.

Also, if you look at the photo there are vertical 'bands' of plates around the hull, but the majority of yours seem to be running in a horizontal direction? Are you going to add some greebling along the split between the top and bottom hull sections? It looks like there's quite a lot of detail that could be added.

Can you add a photo of the rear/engines, I'd like to see how you've built it.

I hope that this helps; I'm really looking forward to seeing it finished!

[Brickdoctor]

Ah, I see. Yeah, I would do less dark tan. If the ship is normally white, then the tan is probably spots where the paint is dirty, and grey is probably the spots where the paint has worn away. So I would minimize the use of large grey areas.

Oh, and studs: I don't know how many studs you've covered up, but it looks like there are plates in there that could be replaced by tiles. Studs should definitely be used for detailing, but I think there are too many of them right now, and the Gallorfree is a bunch of panels with some smaller bumps scattered around. There're a lot of those bumps on the 'real' craft, but not as many as there are studs on your model. I think the use of tiles will both make the hull look more like its a lot of panels and help with what Lobot mentioned, in making the bands more evident.

[cavegod]

Yeah the vertical bands are had to do, ive used white grills for them but they don't show up.

All the studs visible are either on wedge plates door rails or modified tiles so very difficult to eliminate, and I think tiles ontop of these would look wrong overall in a few select places it would work well but then you start to change the curvature illusion of the stepped plate null.

Lobot, The trenches on the side are greebled up I've just not posted pics of it

[mortesv]

Great progress!

I think this bridge could be useful:

Also more obvious vertical bands would add a lot, and give the model a better sense of scale.

Tiling everything over sound interesting, but I wouldn't go overboard. With my recent moc I wanted a section to look more dirty and I tiled it about 50% in random patches.

Your proportions, spine and engines are all spot on

Edited June 30, 2013 by mortesv

[Brickdoctor]

Oh, definitely don't tile over on top of the studs; I was only wondering if you could replace plates with tiles, because in the case of the Gallorfree there is actually a detail (those bumps) that the studs could represent if they were used sparingly.

As for the bands, maybe it could be as simple as orienting the differently colored patches vertically. (I think that's what Lobot was suggesting.) Tiling over in bands would be too high and mess up the curvature, as you say... I can think of ways to do half-plate off sets, but they all involve a SNOT support structure beneath the hull and brackets or headlight bricks, which will definitely not be as strong or as thin as the plates you're using now.

[Bob De Quatre]

It looks very nice.

Maybe the space between the lower side and the "top" is a little too wide.

And the cones you used for the engines seems too large at the end. But I know the isn't so much choices...

For the vertical bands I first tought of using half-stud interval, but as Brickdoctor stated, it would not be as strong or as thin as the two layers of plates.

The different colors used don't bother me, it gives the ship the "mon calamarish" look of the MC80.

[Mr Man]

Well I don't have anything in the way of constructive criticism here, but I can't wait to see it finished.

[BEAVeR]

As said, your model captures the shape of the ship perfectly, but the vertical layer-structure on the hull is lacking.

I'm also a big fan of the ragged ends near the trench, although they don't show up everywhere (but that's impossible due to the wedge plates...)

Concerning the cockpit, I would suggest using some Bionicle/Hero Factory pieces to get a nice shaped and ragged look.

The best of luck with your new masterpiece!

[TWP]

It looks very colorful! I don't know if that's a good point or not? The shape looks really good anyways.

I think it's not too colorfull, maybe it confuses people that the first pic is more WIP than the other ones, the edited picture seems balanced very good.

your Endor in the first pic isn't very scaled, may I suggest you make one with the same scale?

you've been working on this for quite some time, haven't you? keep up! just a few more bricks!

as for the cockpit, you're not a fan of putting a minifig in there, are you? maybe?

[Brickdoctor]

I think it's not too colorfull, maybe it confuses people that the first pic is more WIP than the other ones, the edited picture seems balanced very good.

That picture is sepia-toned. It's definitely not an accurate representation of the color.

[TWP]

That picture is sepia-toned. It's definitely not an accurate representation of the color.

I know, but you can see it has a tiny bit less grey. not sure too if it would make much difference overall.

[cavegod]

Two more WIP pics

The stands are now built!

[TWP]

Two more WIP pics

The stands are now built!

It looks even better! I now have certainly now problems with the colors. I'm looking forward seeing it with a neutral background.

It's almost done right? just the cockpit or more?

[Aeroeza]

Dude you've picked a tough one!

The top looks great but the profile isn't quite as slick- the nose troubles me ( it's too sudden a change in angle) but I guess Lego has limitations especially when used to capture art deco curves on a starship!! I'm also a little more fond of the greyscale image you posted than of the final mix of colours you currently have on the model (bring on those sepia toned bricks I say)...

That being said I've not seen a better Rebel Transporter in Lego (and not likely to I suspect) so this is one hell of a WIP CG!!

Edited July 2, 2013 by Aeroeza

[Another Brick In The Wall]

Dude you've picked a tough one!

That being said I've not seen a better Rebel Transporter in Lego (and not likely to I suspect) so this is one hell of a WIP CG!!

Yep. Hardest Star Wars ship to build.

Some other Eurobricker made a 6K model, iirc. I'll have a look.

[Brickdoctor]

As Aeroeza said, the nose does slightly interrupt the smooth curvature of the hull. It doesn't bother me that much, though. I do like the arrangement of tiles now with more of them running vertically; the bands are much easier to distinguish now. The amount of color looks better now, too, though I might go with even less.

I know it's hard to get the angles right with LEGO, but one thing I noticed is that the gap between the two hulls curves up and down, following the curve of the upper hull. Looking at the studio model, that's okay on the front end, but it should be straight the rest of the way back. I think that's interrupting the distinctive shape when viewed from the side.

[cavegod]

I've not altered the tiles on the hull lol, I've narrowed the gap slightly too, but still going for a larger than it should be gap so you can see the greebs in there.

[Brickdoctor]

I just realized that I think the tiles are different because these pictures show the other side of the model.

Definitely keep the gap at a size that makes the greebles visible. I love the greebles! I'm just say that the shape of the gape might need to be straightened out.

[cavegod]

yeah I've flattened the lower shells etc will post a pic to flickr later.

It's just that pesky cockpit!

[mortesv]

Any progress on the cockpit? I think the proportions and front of the design I suggested could be used, but the rest should be more curved, perhaps using some shallow arches

[Brickdoctor]

Does anyone have a good shot of the cockpit pod from a different angle? I checked the usual model-making websites I look at, nothing. I checked The Art of Empire Strikes back, but it only has one shot of the studio model, and that's the same one cavegod posted here. (Albeit much bigger, of course.) The other two pictures in there are a couple of Joe Johnston's sketches. Wookieepedia's best picture of the size of the pod is one of those drawings from one of the Essential Guides, and I don't trust those.

Anyways, I think a 4-wide pod would be too big. I think 3- or even 2-wide might be better. I'm looking at the studio model shot, and I think the pod should be at most 6- or 7-long for this model. From as much as I can tell from the one studio model shot, it looks like the width of the pod should be at least less than half of its length.

(In regards to reference sources, the Toromodel flickr stream had nothing, Starship Modeler had nothing, Modeler Magic had nothing, Forbidden Plastic appears to be down, and a Google search found nothing.)

---

Wait, never mind. I forgot to check Empire itself, and there's a perfect shot of the first transport flying past an ISD. The copy I have on my hard drive is the original theatrical version on DVD which was in turn taken from the LaserDisc releases, which means it's not the greatest picture quality, but the pod is clearly a bit skinnier than the gap between the sides of the main spine. cavegod used two of the 1x3x2 half-bows, with a plate separating them, which is a 9 plate- or 3.6 stud-wide gap. So I'd go with a 3-wide pod.

[mortesv]

On the SW, blu-ray the is a 360 camera turn of the entire ship. It is that I have used to get to the proportions of my suggestion. If the pod is only 7 long it would be 1/20 the ships length. That is too short as far as I can tell :)