[Challenge 2] [Category A] The SF-47 Tsurugi-G

[mccoyed]

Introducing the brand new Kawashita Aerospace Heavy Space Fighter: The SF-47 Tsurugi-G

We at the Kawashita Group are proud to present the glorious fruit of a decade's R&D which has resulted in the most superfluous of "Heavy" class space fighters. Our pilots will have the honor of piloting a multi-role, highly versatile, and long-range combat platform within the next few weeks as the product is rolled out to factories throughout Kawashita space. We've done our best to mitigate the design doc leak, so if you've seen it please refrain from telling me as I am too low-level a functionary to not report it to my superiors.

Observe the pleased expression of test pilot Hiroto Kasama-san who has spoken highly of the Tsurugi-G's defensive measures, manoeuvrability, and high-impact firepower. Very soon you will be able to see Kasama-san demoing the Tsurugi-G in aerospace combat trade shows throughout Sol and Andromeda. Watch especially for demonstrations of those "Bushi" dual Kinetic-cannons!

Marvel at the Tsurugi-G's next-level armored underbody. Here at Kawashita, we take the safety of our pilots most seriously. Shame at the failure of a product of Kawashita Aerospace is shame shared by all, and therefore we have included advanced shielding coils prominently in the underbody of the ship wherein the pilot is most vulnerable. Note also the gracefully folding undercarriage!

It cuts quite the imposing figure!

And oh my! Those "Kirin" engines! With limited FTL capability, the Kirin ensures that the Tsurugi-G is the most mobile and long-range Heavy fighter ever developed by Kawashita.

All this and bucket seats designed for maximum comfort by the couch potatoes ergonomics masters over at Octan!

We are so pleased to have shared the SF-47 Tsurugi-G Heavy Fighter with you today! So pleased that we have included the above alternate profile photo for you to admire with us the sleek lines and ridiculously armored hull of this exemplary craft.

Honor and Glory!

Builder's Notes:

-I totally stole the seat design from Bob's Crimson Pilgrim. Which remains my favorite Lego space ship. Period.

-The Tsurugi-G is probably one of my top 3 favorite things I've made with Lego and one of the ones of which I am most proud. I've never attempted a MOC fighter of this calibre, using SNOT and other advanced (for me) techniques to get the shape and feel I wanted. I really enjoyed tinkering with it and it was a build wherein I tried a lot of stuff before settling. I'm pretty happy with it but the photos probably reveal a few details or mistakes that could have used more work. Oh well, can't do this forever or I'll miss my weekly and never mind the other categories of the Challenge!

-Lots more pictures on my Flickr, of course.

-Thanks for looking, bring on the C&C since I still have a few days to fix anything huge. That said, I went the full deal on these photos so I'd be loathe to take a bunch more. Oh well, if you see anything point it out and I'll get to it. Probably!

Edited July 30, 2015 by mccoyed

[robuko]

Really really nice. Very industrial vibe. My only criticism is the rather restricted field of vision for the pilot, but I suppose it's all VR HUD anyway. Lovely use of studshooters, just worked that out!

Great entry!

Edited July 30, 2015 by robuko

[Commander Turtle]

This is fabulous. Really well-developed craft, loads of fancy techniques, the works. I particularly like how the cockpit sits snugly inline with the body.

[Jody Meyer]

I wouldn't change anything it is a beautiful looking fighter, great build and techniques shown.

[Bob De Quatre]

-I totally stole the seat design from Bob's Crimson Pilgrim. Which remains my favorite Lego space ship. Period.

Don't worry I don't own any copyright for it, I myself took it from Bob's RZ-2b prototype. Which is my favorite starfighter

[LittleJohn]

Awesome work, mccoyed! The shaping is just amazing and I love the greebles

[Aliencat]

Now that's a fighter. Really cool design and well built!

[soccerkid6]

Yup, that's a terrific starfighter Superb work implementing all the angles, and I really like the engine design

[pombe]

There's so much to love about the Tsurugi-G that I don't even know where to begin.

Let's start with just the "feel" of it. I love the shape and the lines. It feels armored and rugged, which is perfect for a heavy fighter. Also, you did a great job with the colors.

Then there are the techniques...wow, look at all those angles! And what a novel canopy design!

Then there's the NPU for using the stud launchers for the engine!

Of course, I love the folding landing gears.

And finally, there are the little details, like the "zero" emblems on the wings.

Great job!

[SpacerSteve]

This is beautiful . Great use of stickers. The Red paint on the cockpit is a neat touch. I also like the ant man bolts on the front. Awesome retractable landing gear! I also like how large the engines are compared to the rest of the ship.

[EpsilonEta]

Wow, fantastic fighter!

It reminds me of Battlestar galactica Vipers.

I like that the cocpit (kind of) slides forward instead of fliping up. And the angles of course. Tock me till the fifth picture to see it was stud shooters, nice.

Raven want one if she's doing space combat. I might make a mikro version for her.

[Graham Gidman]

Holy cow, this is awesome.

[Umbra-Manis]

Awesome!

[Blackhawk STX]

I WANT ONE!!! Seriously, this is awesome! Nearly took my breath away. The canopy hinge is downright inspired; a great solution for the "gap" problem I tend to run into. A beautiful build. I'd shake your hand if I could...

[Gideon]

Nice color scheme and shape

[LordDan]

Awesome ship! I love how the cockpit is set into the ship!

Edit: Also doesn't your sigfig have to be in the build? Hopefully that won't be too hard to fix if that's the case, you would just have to take a picture with Koro in it.

Edited August 1, 2015 by LordDan

[aeralure]

Really nice build Koro.

[shmails]

That is a badass fighter! It look fast but heavily armored and feels like it can really pack a punch. Great work!

[mccoyed]

Really really nice. Very industrial vibe. My only criticism is the rather restricted field of vision for the pilot, but I suppose it's all VR HUD anyway. Lovely use of studshooters, just worked that out!

Great entry!

Yes... VR HUD... :P

I'm not much of an expert on fighter design, contemporary or "futuristic" and this is pretty much my first attempt to do one that felt like it could be a thing. I've done shuttles for SfK and one with no interior for an earlier AG build, but this is my first real Lego fighter. I'll keep field of view in mind for next time!

This is fabulous. Really well-developed craft, loads of fancy techniques, the works. I particularly like how the cockpit sits snugly inline with the body.

That was where the build started. The cockpit design was sort of the first thing I tinkered with, and the thing that informed the rest of the build. Whatever the requirements of the cockpit's design were, I adjusted the rest to make it work.

I wouldn't change anything it is a beautiful looking fighter, great build and techniques shown.

Thanks Jody. That's a very nice compliment!

Don't worry I don't own any copyright for it, I myself took it from Bob's RZ-2b prototype. Which is my favorite starfighter

Haha fair enough. I figured emulation being the sincerest form of flattery would buy me the license to use the design! But hey, what did you think of this fighter Bob? As the resident spaceship master, I'm dying to know!

Awesome work, mccoyed! The shaping is just amazing and I love the greebles

Thanks LJ! Greebling is not my strong suit!

Now that's a fighter. Really cool design and well built!

Thanks AC. Means a lot because of how much I admire your vehicles!

Yup, that's a terrific starfighter Superb work implementing all the angles, and I really like the engine design

Thanks SK!

There's so much to love about the Tsurugi-G that I don't even know where to begin.

Let's start with just the "feel" of it. I love the shape and the lines. It feels armored and rugged, which is perfect for a heavy fighter. Also, you did a great job with the colors.

Then there are the techniques...wow, look at all those angles! And what a novel canopy design!

Then there's the NPU for using the stud launchers for the engine!

Of course, I love the folding landing gears.

And finally, there are the little details, like the "zero" emblems on the wings.

Great job!

Thanks, Pombe! You spoil me! I'm pretty proud of how the colors turned out. Other spaceships I made where I tried to do color (the blue and orange of the Kingfisher, which was an independent build of mine) were... not so good. :P

This is beautiful . Great use of stickers. The Red paint on the cockpit is a neat touch. I also like the ant man bolts on the front. Awesome retractable landing gear! I also like how large the engines are compared to the rest of the ship.

The red paint cockpit is from the Guardians of the Galaxy set. I knew I'd have to use them in a MOC someday because they're so cool! Thanks!

Wow, fantastic fighter!

It reminds me of Battlestar galactica Vipers.

I like that the cocpit (kind of) slides forward instead of fliping up. And the angles of course. Tock me till the fifth picture to see it was stud shooters, nice.

Raven want one if she's doing space combat. I might make a mikro version for her.

Yeah, It reminds me of the BSG fighters too, definitely one of my favorite fighter designs. The initial seed of the idea for this ship was a way to make the cockpit "slide forward" using conventional clip techniques since I wanted to use the GotG Sikaaran cockpits which have the clip bar. It turned out well, but required constant tinkering with the overall shape of the cockpit area.

Holy cow, this is awesome.

Thanks GG!

Awesome!

Thanks Umbra!

I WANT ONE!!! Seriously, this is awesome! Nearly took my breath away. The canopy hinge is downright inspired; a great solution for the "gap" problem I tend to run into. A beautiful build. I'd shake your hand if I could...

Aww thanks Blackhawk. That's an awesome compliment and I'd totally shake your hand right back! Solving gaps especially with the SNOT techniques was easily the most frustrating and rewarding part of the build. In the future, I'd develop that even more because I feel like the Tsurugi could hold together even better than it does with more practice!

Nice color scheme and shape

Thanks Gideon!

Awesome ship! I love how the cockpit is set into the ship!

Edit: Also doesn't your sigfig have to be in the build? Hopefully that won't be too hard to fix if that's the case, you would just have to take a picture with Koro in it.

I didn't realize that. Crap, it's August 2nd. Bob didn't say anything, but the ship is still built so I could fix it if I needed to?

Really nice build Koro.

Thanks Aeralure!

That is a badass fighter! It look fast but heavily armored and feels like it can really pack a punch. Great work!

Thanks Shmails!

[Big Sal]

This is incredible! I just want to pick it up and swoosh it around and pretend that I made it

[Garmadon]

Awesome fighter mccoyed, the shaping and texturing here is really superb! The SNOT work, engine, cockpit, wings, and front (essentially everything! ) are fantastic, and I'm loving the dark red stripe as well!

[mrcp6d]

This is one of my favorite Kawashita builds so far! I'm not sure I can really add anything to the praise above.

[Kodan Black]

I like the narration and the fighter has a great heavily armored feel to it.

[David FNJ]

Woah, that is an amazing fighter! Fantastic design, and the detail is top notch!

[mccoyed]

This is incredible! I just want to pick it up and swoosh it around and pretend that I made it

Haha. I'm pretty sure it would survive that. Very flattering, Sal. Thanks!

Awesome fighter mccoyed, the shaping and texturing here is really superb! The SNOT work, engine, cockpit, wings, and front (essentially everything! ) are fantastic, and I'm loving the dark red stripe as well!

Thanks Garmadon!

This is one of my favorite Kawashita builds so far! I'm not sure I can really add anything to the praise above.

Thanks mrcp6d. That's a great compliment to receive!

I like the narration and the fighter has a great heavily armored feel to it.

Thanks for noticing the text, Kodan! I tried to make it fun.

Woah, that is an amazing fighter! Fantastic design, and the detail is top notch!

Thanks David FNJ. I admire your builds a lot so that's nice to hear!