AT-AT Troop Capacity upgrade (MOD: 4483)

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

One of the disappointing things about 4483 is that, as built, it only has spots for five troopers and a pilot (although there are two places that you can fit additional troopers that were definitely not designer-intended). So I decided to change that, and currently have come up with something that does the trick with fairly minor modifications.

First, here's a shot of one of the pair of unintended spots I was talking about:

Next up is part one of the mod:

By inserting a pair of axle-pins into the chassis, I'm able to insert and remove a 4x6 plate, and that's seating for three additional troopers.

And now the final part of the mod:

Here I could just drop in a 4x6 plate (this one with a 2x4 plate on the underside so it would slot in), letting me seat another three troopers. I also built some simple weapon racks.

With minimal effort, I was able to increase the capacity to twelve troopers (which, as it happens, is all I have currently. And it can be plainly seen that I don't give a rat's behind about mixing new troops with old). The downside, as you can see, is that doing it the way I did here means sacrificing the speeder bike storage. I'm going to see how much I can do just with modding the side trays so that I don't have to give that up (Say goodbye to the comfy chairs, troopers), but this is what I've got for now.

Edited August 21, 2016 by ZeldaTheSwordsman

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

UPDATE BUMP:

I have drastically revised how I've modified the set.

By dispensing with the brick-built armchairs, I was able to make the side trays accommodate five troopers (four seated, one standing) each. And by making the side panels hinged at the top for more access (which required making them stick out an extra plate), I was able to add an upper deck comprised of a pair of 2x10 plates. Each side seats four troopers, although snowtroopers in the rearmost spot have to stand because of the backpack.

With the revamped seating arrangements, I am once again able to store the speeder bike (which itself is something I'd like to replace considering)

The central tray I added to provide more troop seating has now been converted to a weapon storage tray.

This isn't to do with troop capacity, but I did this at the same time. I cured the floppiness of the head sides by replacing the 1x2 hinge bricks with 2x2 tops, using instead a combination of hinge plates. It holds much more solidly.

Bonus shot:

Here's another unintended place you can put a trooper.

The revamped modifications have brought the troop capacity up by seven. One trooper on the speeder bike, eighteen in the middle. Plus the pilot. Not the full in-universe complement of forty troopers plus cockpit crew, but not bad.

[Corydoras]

Ugh... You should clean your bricks, mate. I haven't seen this much filth since I lived in a flat with some college kids...

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Some of those bricks are hand-me-downs that were played with outside a lot (like the yellow 4x6 plate). Most of what you see is either sun-discoloration or shelf dust. And fighting shelf dust is kind of a losing battle for me at present. But I will spot-clean what I can before I put the set away again.

What do you think of the modifications themselves, though??

[ecmo47]

If you had fun making your modifications and enjoy the new features it doesn't really matter what we think.

Also, it's a little hard to take you seriously when your signature says what it says. You most certainly do not deserve abuse. Why kids people think this an acceptable way to get attention is beyond me.

Edited August 23, 2016 by ecmo47

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Perhaps, but critique and comments are still appreciated.

Also, it's a little hard to take you seriously when your signature says what it says. You most certainly do not deserve abuse. Why kids people think this an acceptable way to get attention is beyond me.

Oh, that. I don't do messages like that for attention, it's more castigation to try and keep my ego and behavior in check; I've got a bad habit of getting hyperdefensive about shoddy work and for posting stuff that's out of line.

EDIT: Changed my signature. And a bit of an update: I splurged the last little bit of my spending money on an 8084 Snowtrooper Battle Pack (sans minifigs), so that means this set is getting an upgraded speeder bike.

Edited September 1, 2016 by ZeldaTheSwordsman

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

More updates on this (hm, maybe the thread title needs an update, considering)

The blaster rifles that were stored in the rear have been relocated, mainly to this tray that tucks into the undercarriage:

I had difficulty getting all four stud-shooting blasters onto the tray, so two of them are currently stored in the middle of the walker on either side of one of the seating trays.

The figureless battle pack arrived yesterday, so as stated the speeder bike from that has replaced the original one from this set:

Looks better and is more space-efficient. You can also see the reason I moved the blaster rifles: to make room for storing an E-Web Heavy Repeating Blaster (based on the one from 75049).

I'm fairly happy with these mods, but I would value others' input. Would any of you consider using these mods yourselves? Can you suggest improvements?

Edited September 1, 2016 by ZeldaTheSwordsman

[brobert]

I don't know, for me, it's not that important how many fit inside, since I've placed my snowtroopers into a nice little diorama along with other Hoth sets that I have. The space inside is pretty confined, so there's only so much you can do with it,but I don't see why you would want to cram even more troopers in.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Well, for me it's important to have a major transport craft that I can actually use as a transport while playing, and also as a storage space for troops. For the Rebel Alliance I have the 2004 Falcon, for the Republic I have the 2013 Republic Gunship, for the CIS I have a custom PAC I made, and for the Empire I have this AT-AT.