[MOD] UCS Sandcrawler 75059, the snot project

[Adamskii]

I got the UCS Sandcrawler for Christmas, and although a moderately nice to look at set, it has simply compromised alot of accuracy for playability. The studded sides are just a deal breaker for me. The proportions are reasonable, but I decided I needed to at least attempt to correct the vehicle, while still maintaining the structural dimension of the original kit.

I can't find pictures of anyone else who has attempted this mod. I am trying to use the real studio model prop as reference not the awesome Randy Cooper interpretation resin kit.

I will post a very detailed article soon but I thought I might drop some Work In Progress shots - nothing finished - ALOT of changes to come...

Hope you see my vision from these.

Adam

I cannot find blueprints So I drew my own using as many reference pics as I could.

The Randy cooper resin model, My WIP attempt, The real studio model, and the Lego UCS Interpretation.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Adamskii

[ISDAvenger]

Looks awesome! I've thought about doing the same. Look forward to your updates.

[Reputator]

The greebling on the back is simply exemplary.

[Markalus]

Stunning. Just stunning. There is some really creative greebling going on there. I can't wait to see more!

[sparkart]

Looks a million times better. GREAT JOB! It's more a faithful scale model than a child's toy. Really would love to see more of this magic, thank you for sharing it!

[Anio]

Note that the new 2x2 wing released soon might be very useful to do a sleeker design on the side panels of the cockpit.

[Kristof]

Although I usually like visible studs (I'm that 'It's Lego, not Revel'-kind of guy) I must admitt that this really looks cool... and much better than the original. I'd just suggest using some more dark brown / dark orange / dark tan pieces here and there to get a bit of contrast into that plain brown surface.

[Ellisss_]

This is amazing! So much more accurate than TLG's. Will you be adding an interior?

[Fuppylodders]

I'm loving the sleek look of this! It is like, you've modded it just how it should have been done. I may have to take notes for mine when I build it...

[Adamskii]

This is amazing! So much more accurate than TLG's. Will you be adding an interior?

Thankyou for the comments. An interior (while always desirable) is not planned. The interior of the real thing apparently has many many levels, and is like a refinery or foundry with furnaces and forges. To be in scale I doubt Lego could be used to accurately reproduce the intricate details? also, unless minifig scale why bother ! I think perhaps I might build the bridge though in minifig scale to display next to the finished product. The pic below shows what I mean.

And this is sort of how I break down the sub assemblies to make sense of the greebles. I guess greebles is not really the right term because what I am doing is replicating something and not making it up creatively; where as the studio model "busy" areas are greebles becaue they are creatively filling voids / adding details without restraint to a plan. (early WIP pic)

Adam

[Kristof]

^ Of course that building full in-scale interior is impossible, still I think this is big enough to accomodate some 2 stage decent interior, with at least some of those details.

[neoconagenda]

Obviously it is amazing what you have done. I really enjoy the colored rectangles for the comparison pic, its always neat when people can illustrate their design process.

[hallonsylt]

This is truely worthy the UCS-stamp. Man, so many models lately that the community has made TLG look like fools.

[Ellisss_]

Thankyou for the comments. An interior (while always desirable) is not planned. The interior of the real thing apparently has many many levels, and is like a refinery or foundry with furnaces and forges. To be in scale I doubt Lego could be used to accurately reproduce the intricate details? also, unless minifig scale why bother ! I think perhaps I might build the bridge though in minifig scale to display next to the finished product. The pic below shows what I mean.

And this is sort of how I break down the sub assemblies to make sense of the greebles. I guess greebles is not really the right term because what I am doing is replicating something and not making it up creatively; where as the studio model "busy" areas are greebles becaue they are creatively filling voids / adding details without restraint to a plan. (early WIP pic)

Adam

Ahhh. I have never seen a scale interior of a Sandcrawler, I should maybe have looked first. The bridge sounds cool though. I agree with @krisandkris12 though you could make a nice interior. That scale cockpit sounds good man! Good luck with your build,

Ellis.

[Only Sinner]

Wow, this looks great! I want to build it like this, too! Good job with such a wondeful piece.

[Schneeds]

I didn't even notice the muskets at first, excellent use of those! I love what you did the top of the Crawler, that looks amazing.

I am most curious to see what you come up with for the bridge window section.

[Blitzismydog]

I'm impressed by how much better SNOT makes this look. Great job, and I can't wait to see more.

[L E G O]

I really like what you've done. I built a second level with conveyor belt and furnace into mine but it made it essentially useless as a play set and didn't really add much as a 'scale model'. I've just left a few parts to cover the awful red steering arms inside but otherwise put it back the way it was. I think I might SNOT mine up like yours though - it looks great!

[Forresto]

What an excellent mod! It makes me wish I had considered buying the Sandcrawler, aww well. At least i have pictures of your to enjoy : )

[Adamskii]

A few clearer pictures of the WIP. The back end almost finished other than fixing some misalignment, and Bricklink parts arriving. The Starport side is getting there but the main skeleton/ technic chassis has visible parts through the gaps and needs to be color corrected. There Vacuum tube and belly sponsoon are minor corrections. Can see there has been some experimentation with the idler wheels in the track assemblies. The chin plate is starting to be corrected, along with the cheek plates and cockpit sections. These front angles are mind boggling in their complexity - because they have to appear so simple!

The point of these pictures is to simply log progress.

Adamski

[Bricksnaps]

You rock thanks for sharing. I just bought the SC and plan to do similar thanks to your wonderful work.

Question for you, if you don't mind me asking- a lot of the plates, do they just sit on top of the regular structure or did you ah e to build a sub structure for it. Cheers

[Adamskii]

You rock thanks for sharing. I just bought the SC and plan to do similar thanks to your wonderful work.

Question for you, if you don't mind me asking- a lot of the plates, do they just sit on top of the regular structure or did you ah e to build a sub structure for it. Cheers

Thanks. ALot of the substructure has been removed as unnecessary, or in the way of the snot profile. Alot of stuff could of been corrected during the build and I would love to go back and redo especially the hidden bricks and elements that become exposed by snotting.

The original idea was to simply tile it out to be flatter and studless but I have gone way beyond that and built a rod for my back. The front end angles are such a mess that I am struggling to make sense of it and have ordered a number of parts to accommodate some ideas.

I will post a new thread when It is finished, and highlight as many common easy fixes as I can!

Adam

[Kristof]

'SNOT' is perhaps not the best word for this - this build already was SNOT before, you are just getting rid of exposed studs (plus dozens of great improvements of course). You meant 'studless' or 'stud-free' maybe. Or you could bring up some new abbreviation :D

[Hold0511]

This is amazing, I love it - it looks so much better than the out of the box set, fantastic job and thanks for sharing with us.

[Vegard]

Wow, so far it seems fantastic!