Bricklinking Cavegod's UCS AT-AT

[Cjd223]

Hello all, I have decided to resurrect this project from my archive of many unfinished builds. The only problem with this unfinished build is that I do not have any, and I mean any of the pieces ready to start this project. After a failed attempt last winter, I sold my pieces and as I thought back then, I would one day regret that. Today is that day.

After the destruction of 6200 pieces all over my floor, I impulsively sold the pieces, as I was frustrated and did not want to rebuild every part of the AT-AT that took me weeks to make. This feeling of not satisfying my crave to build this AT-AT has recently emerged up again, and I am ready to tackle this project once again. Of course this time, I am better prepared. This time around, I must mention that I will use the updated body rather than the original for obvious cost reasons.

As for my bricklink process, I am not going to follow the generic style of ordering all pieces and building once I have them all. In fact, what I am going to do this time around is order all the parts for one section (neck, body, or legs, etc.) and build that section once those pieces are in. Now why this may seem like a bad way to minimize cost, which it is, the reason I am doing this is because if I encounter any issues with the build of one section, I can immediately make modifications and focus purely on that section alone while my wallet restocks itself for the next section. I believe that this method will have its benefits that will cancel out its cons, and thus give me a stabler product. Another reason why I am choosing to do this is just in case Cavegod modifies one of his sections. A while back, around February-ish, he stated on the brick set forums (at least I think brickset), that he will be modifying the legs to make them sturdier. Now whether he did this or not is unknown, so I reached out to him and am awaiting his response.

As of right now, there are no pieces in my hand that I can use for this MOC. However, I just placed a total of 7 bricklink orders totaling a bit over 700 pieces that will cover all pieces needed for the beast's head. I have decided to start with this because from what I've both heard and experienced, it is the trickiest to get right. This way I have plenty of time to make any adjustments if I notice a weakness that seems repairable, or even just a detail to the head that I want to be included, although there doesn't seem to be anything missing detail wise, credit to Cavegod!

I will update as often as possible, mainly when I reach a breakthrough with the process, or when I place orders. I plan on this project taking quite some time to complete as I am going to try, and likely fail, to simply add this to my collection without giving up a current UCS set, although my Imperial Shuttle is a tempting sell for what it's worth! That being said, I am going to put a lot more effort into the AT-AT this time around as I now know that it will be much harder than just looking at LDD and putting the sections together.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Cjd223

[cavegod]

The force is strong with you young Padawan!

I'll email you soon :-)

[leongsteven]

Yes, don't give up. I rebuilt the AT-AT at least three times because my kids & my mom accidentally knocked it (came crashing down) in separate occasions.

In the end, i managed to find time to move the AT-AT inside the display cabinet.

[Soul]

Will follow this with interest. I'm sort of tempted to do this at some point (but currently doing the MF so it will have to wait a while!)

[hattedsandwich]

cavegod would it be possible to get a copy of your ldd file? I want to design my own AT-AT to fit the scale of my AT-ST but I just don't understand how your ankles support the weight xD I'd love to pick apart your build, you really have a talented mind. My email is kingnothing9764@gmail.com

[Cjd223]

A quick question as I am not nearly close to start collecting pieces for the sides, but I had a major issue with them last time. What has anyone done in the past to make the hinge portions stronger so that they don't keep falling off of the main side?

Edited September 24, 2015 by Cjd223

[ecmo47]

I have built (and re-built) this model many times. Can you be a little more clear on your question?

DSC01211 by Scott Roys, on Flickr

[Soul]

That looks so goddamned awesome

[Cjd223]

I have built (and re-built) this model many times. Can you be a little more clear on your question?

Okay, so I should first clarify that I am talking about the LDD files that are labeled as Left Side and Right Side. In the sides of the AT-AT, there are 3 "sections", the part that hinges towards the head and neck, the middle that covers the body, and the back that hinges toward the rear of the AT-AT (All visible in your photo). So what I am talking about is that the part that hinge towards the neck, and the one that hinges towards the rear, are very difficult to keep connected to the "middle" section. Have you ever made a modification to make these sides more sturdy? The reason I ask is because I had a huge problem with them when I first attempted the project.

[ecmo47]

Oddly enough, that has not been a major problem for me so I have not bothered to make changes. I have never had the model up more than 24 hours so dont know if they separate over time. The thing I did beef up was the technic frame so that the top beam was study enough to be a handle that would hold the weight of most of the model. The part that helped the most was 32555 (Technic, Brick 5 x 5 Right Angle (1 x 4 - 1 x 4) which you can just barley see behind the red 3x5 Technic "L".

DSC01169 by Scott Roys, on Flickr

[cavegod]

A few people have had problems with the hinges. I never have had they are a good tight fit. I'm wondering if its newer hinges that are the problem as all mine were older than 2010.

[Cjd223]

A few people have had problems with the hinges. I never have had they are a good tight fit. I'm wondering if its newer hinges that are the problem as all mine were older than 2010.

Maybe I will do that when I buy my hinges if possible via bricklink. I may just have to substitute light bluish gray with light gray for the hinges

[Cjd223]

Quick update for everyone here at eurobricks. I have ordered all parts to complete the head and neck sections, a piece count that totals 1029 pieces for both sections, which marks me about 1/6 of the way to the massive total piece count. As for the price for these bricks, the head reached a total of $157.36. Now, while that price may seem rather high for 717 bricks, $34.74 of that was for shipping and handling, leaving $122.62 as the cost of the bricks, about 17.1 cents per piece in the U.S. As for the neck, the 312 pieces contributed a grand total of $46.99. Exactly $12.25 was spent on shipping and handling, which leaves 34.74 as the brick cost, about 11.1 cents per piece.

Clearly the neck was much cheaper and ideal than the head, but the total cost still leaves me at about 15.3 cents per piece without shipping and about 19.9 cents per piece with shipping. Since my price per piece cost seems to be too high, I will have to make it up in another section, perhaps the legs considering they are full of 2x6 plates, which should not be a challenge to get a hold of at a cheap cost. In the meantime, I am receiving some packages and will get started building some time early next week (as long as none of the sellers mess up an order).

[LiLmeFromDaFuture]

I can't get over how you sold all those pieces from the first attempt—I would bite my thumb off regretting such of waste of investment. Well, I admire your tenacity to redo such a daunting task again—persevere with progress!

[deanorth]

Quick update for everyone here at eurobricks. I have ordered all parts to complete the head and neck sections, a piece count that totals 1029 pieces for both sections, which marks me about 1/6 of the way to the massive total piece count. As for the price for these bricks, the head reached a total of $157.36. Now, while that price may seem rather high for 717 bricks, $34.74 of that was for shipping and handling, leaving $122.62 as the cost of the bricks, about 17.1 cents per piece in the U.S. As for the neck, the 312 pieces contributed a grand total of $46.99. Exactly $12.25 was spent on shipping and handling, which leaves 34.74 as the brick cost, about 11.1 cents per piece.

Clearly the neck was much cheaper and ideal than the head, but the total cost still leaves me at about 15.3 cents per piece without shipping and about 19.9 cents per piece with shipping. Since my price per piece cost seems to be too high, I will have to make it up in another section, perhaps the legs considering they are full of 2x6 plates, which should not be a challenge to get a hold of at a cheap cost. In the meantime, I am receiving some packages and will get started building some time early next week (as long as none of the sellers mess up an order).

How have you managed to get such a low price, considering the high price of the light bluish grey dish 6x6? :/

[Cjd223]

How have you managed to get such a low price, considering the high price of the light bluish grey dish 6x6? :/

Well to answer that statement, I am simply using Light Gray 8 x 8 dishes until I can find some LBG ones for a cheaper price.

[deanorth]

indeed it was the 8x8, sigh:)

ok, thanks for the reply, I'll be going that way, my at-at is in....not destroyed, but just the next and the body are still built, I went kinda frustrated:)

[ecmo47]

One note on the expensive and rare 8x8 LBG radar dishes. Just buy 2 for the head as the "bulge" is important for the style of the head. The four needed for the feet are not necessary. Substitute part #6177 (8x8 LBG round tile) as it is more accurate to the design of the foot. Best of all, they are plentiful and cheap!

[Kristof]

^ 8x8 round tile is missing the axle hole isn't it? The connection would only be with 4 studs which seems quite insufficient. Just my thought thoiugh, I have never built neither of these versions :)

edit: Nevermind, I was thinking of different element. In given context what I said is absolute nonsense :)

Edited October 4, 2015 by krisandkris12

[Kman860]

I have built (and re-built) this model many times. Can you be a little more clear on your question?

DSC01211 by Scott Roys, on Flickr

That's awesome, enough said

[Cjd223]

Here's an update! I built just my first section and there is already an improvement from my original attempt! The parts for the head came in today (Still waiting on 1 order for the neck), and I decided to take on a section that I was unable to do last time.

In my previous experience, I was unable to fully attach all sections without the front screen shattering. Well, I'm glad to state that I succeeded this time! I made a simple modification to make the front windscreen easier to attach. I shifted the 1 x 4 bracket down a plate and added a 1 x 4 plate on top to connect that front little piece to the Technic beams.

From there, I simply attached the sides, which wasn't all that difficult, it just made me super nervous at every little adjustment. Then I added the rubber band, which holds the sides up and keeps them from "sagging". All that was left was the pesky windscreen that gave me a world of trouble last December. After about three extremely nervous tries to attach it, I finally got the windscreen on. I then adjusted the side panels and the hinges below the main part of the head.

I am so glad that I took this project up again, I already am doing better than last time. As Dave stated in his Gimme Lego blog, the head does look GORGEOUS all by itself. If this AT-AT ends up giving me trouble, I may just leave the head up for display while I make modifications, it looks unbelievable in person. It also looks a lot bigger in person than it does in photos, I must admit.

The total build time took 2 hours, 50 minutes and 9 seconds (Pretty exact, I know). The LDD files generated a building guide that did not give me many issues with floating/unstable pieces. So to wrap this up, so far so good!

[Kristof]

Good job and good luck with further progress!

A bit off topic note - Is there anyone who has built this model with some decent interior? I'm alsways a bit disappointed seing these hollow rooms inside :)

[ecmo47]

Looking good even with using the light grey dishes! If I didn't already have them, I would not bother with changing them. Adds to the "weathered war machine" look.

Is the neck next? (Say that three times fast!) I did some mods that are detailed in this thread:

http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/11365/ucs-at-at-ready-for-duty#latest

One note of caution is that attaching the neck to the head is tricky and delicate. Refer the above thread for some advise on that.

Good job and good luck with further progress!

A bit off topic note - Is there anyone who has built this model with some decent interior? I'm alsways a bit disappointed seing these hollow rooms inside :)

Others have made AT-AT models that have interiors but this one is too darn fragile (and heavy) to waste time on that. You would have extreme difficultly opening any door or hatch to show it off what's inside. Too much man-handling will turn your pride of the Imperial fleet into Rebel victory very quickly!

Untitled by Scott Roys, on Flickr

[Kristof]

^Haha I like how you have picture for any kind of situation :) I don't want to drift this thread away from Cjd223's build to much, yet could you possibly PM me with some Interior equipped AT-AT's you know? From what I found it's either small (official set size) or outer shell only (like this one). Thanks!

Edited October 4, 2015 by krisandkris12

[LiLmeFromDaFuture]

^Haha I like how you have picture for any kind of situation :) I don't want to drift this thread away from Cjd223's build to much, yet could you possibly PM me with some Interior equipped AT-AT's you know? From what I found it's either small (official set size) or outer shell only (like this one). Thanks!

From what I have seen from scouring Eurobricks and general internet there is:

• Brickplumber's
  

• Fuppylodders' here, here, and here
  

• La Chupacabra's