[MOC] The X-Wing Strikes Back

[dmaclego]

53 minutes ago, cehnot said:

no idea how he kept it together without drilling a hole into the wheel wells where the hub cap is

 

Now this borders a personal insult (just kidding ;) ) so let me explain:

 

X-wing gun recipe by Maciej Szymański, on Flickr

 

Note: Technic 8 tooth gears are available in two versions - some with stubby teeth and some with slender teeth. Only the first ones fit into the wheel rims; slender teeth are too big! Also, in case anyone is wondering how the guns are connected with wings, please, notice the square holes in the rims - short pieces of flex tube (hose rigid) fit there nicely or must be slightly squashed (if you happen to have thinner flex tubes).

That's all, I guess. Good luck perfecting your model!

 

[roadstermatt]

that's a great looking X-Wing

 

[cehnot]

The progress photos show what I am finalizing right now. 
 

In order to attach the new panels, I modified this section inside the main fuselage of the ship. What I discovered is that these ball joints I used in the LDD did not bend the right way like they needed. I replaced the 2 ball joints closer to the cockpit with the hinge you see. I also modified the side panels hulls to accommodate this. What I found was the whole structure became much stronger and the side panels are now 3 times as durable. The ball joints you see on the center have a modified hinge connector. I had to dremel out the side a bit to allow the joints to arch upward more. The LDD file did this without an issue meaning I had no clue this didn't work until I built this section. Now that I added the 2x2 hinge top on the right, I found you really do not need those ball joints anymore. So you model will hold up just fine without it. I kept them because they do keep the structure aligned a slight bit better and for me, I already modified the LEGO parts so I am going to keep them in my model to reinforce my side panel connections. 

The side panels now are much thicker since I got rid of the interior cross section concept. The great part about this project is you can modify your interior, or swap out parts to include a "half" cross section view. This panel can be taken off, revealing the inside and you can mod it to show only 1 side with an exposed cross section, that way it keeps the structure, but fakes the idea. 

You can see there is a 1x2 plate modified with clip pushing up the plates to maintain the shape of the panel. This was a simple, yet highly effective use of LEGO parts. The plate hinge on the top creates the perfect angle with this clip, and maintains a correct profile design to the actual x-wing. 

The 2 corner plates you see reinforce the panel and help guide the 2x2 hinge top into place. This works especially well when you watch how it slides into place and maintains the shape. What I also found out is these 2 corners act as an reinforced structure to keep the hinge plate from sliding out. The friction on both sides maintain the side panels from wanting to push out from the stud connection. Without them the side panels do maintain the shape, but surprisingly, they make it hold together even more stronger than i anticipated. 

Another crazy yet highly effective addition was discovered as I was trying to make an accurate cockpit. The 1x2 hinge top you see here connects to the 1x2x2 corner brick wedge. This whole connection makes the entire panel stay on in the back. The ball joints I have in the rear keep it aligned, but this locks the whole thing together. Thus, another way this keeps the side panels to stay on. 

When you add the corner were bricks with slopes, you can see how the cockpit stays intact. The side panels connect to the shop in the rear at the top, and bottom now. 

As you look at the flexible ribbed hose, I chose to cut this to fit inside the cockpit. After I redesigned the internal shape of the cockpit, you can now attach the scope for the pilot. I also love how the 1x2 decorated tiles on the panels solve my angled cockpit idea because the whole side panels are connected at a slight angle anyways. The 2x3 light bluish gray tile on top of the 1x2 slope will have a replica sticker from the UCS x-wing. Since the stickers for that set are very expensive I found an eBay replica with really great detail and highly professional printing. If you want their info, I am sure you can find him on eBay since he sells a ton of replica and replacement stickers for toys. 

R2D2 does fit inside the compartment you see. I came up with this idea while reconfiguring the panels. He can easily be taken out with a removal of one of those side slopes. The awesome part is they rest right next to R@ legs and hides his fat feet. This was my largest issue with my last design. I either wanted to display him for play factor, or just simply a permanent structure. This solves both. 

My attempt to working out dmaclego ion cannons. I cut a hole into the bent hose to be able to slip the bars/3mm hose through it. This locks them into place and hold up nicely on the wings. You can see i am demonstrating how I drilled holes into these wheel wells to reinforce the tube concept. They easily slide onto the hose and now maintains that cylinder form. 

The wings are my last design flaw people asked about. Some people decided to go with a 1x12x3 wedge plate. This is too short of an angle to fit the actual x-wing models. People mentioned they gave up on the wings I designed because they fell apart way to easily. The new designs hold up nicely, not as well as your 12 stud long plate, but they connect to the x-wing and hold the ion cannons without sagging. What I love is the awesome 2017 LEGO parts. I have used 2x3 tiles all over the ship because they look way better than the 2x2 and 1x2 tiles. 

2x2 corner plate. Awesome 2017 addition to our LEGO parts inventory. These work perfectly to shape the inside debs grooves seen on the actual model. I cut the hinges off the 2x2 and 1x2 hinge tops to shape this beveled groove. I kept some of the hinge pattern on them and sanded them down to have some sort of tenure for my model. 

To do the red 5 markings I am using the white parts of lego brand stickers to cut off and stick on the tiles and wedge plate. I wanted a stronger wing, this is my only choice. 

Air intake and engine compartments. Redesigned with new 2017 parts. I also used brick arms clips to slide into those 4x4 technic cylinders. If you cut some hose and slide them into the side technic holes that hols the brick arms clips in place. Awesome sause. I did cut the LEGO clips down a bit to fit them into the hole and slide them into the stud axle you see in front of the 3x3 technique dish. 

Once i figure out a solution for the 4mm pneumatic hose to go onto my ion cannons, figure out what to use as a curved ion cannon piece like dmaclego used (he used a white hockey mask), I thought of using another lego mask he asked about on his flickr. Waiting for that part to arrive. 

 

Once I get these parts in place, the ship will be done. I am reworking the wings a bit where the gears are attached, but for the most part. Everything is done. 

Custom canopy. I did some early tests months ago, have a solution in the works. I plan on doing that after I upload high quality photos of the finished X-wing. I still need to build a nice stand. 

Edited September 18, 2017 by cehnot

[Boba-Fett-13]

This is superr nice and looks accurate. I really want to make a minifig scale acurrate x-wing now to go with ucs skave 1 and millennium falcon.

[cehnot]

20 hours ago, Boba-Fett-13 said:

This is superr nice and looks accurate. I really want to make a minifig scale acurrate x-wing now to go with ucs skave 1 and millennium falcon.

Thank you. Hold out for a bit longer. I am finalizing my design and will go back to my LDD file and update it to the current model. The new model is stronger and I figured out how to solve so many complicated issues with the wings, side panels and front nose issue. The new design holds all of these effortlessly. 

Edited September 19, 2017 by cehnot

[Boba-Fett-13]

49 minutes ago, cehnot said:

Thank you. Hold out for a bit longer. I am finalizing my design and will go back to my LDD file and update it to the current model. The new model is stronger and I figured out how to solve so many complicated issues with he wings, side panels and front nose issue. The new design holds all of these effortlessly. 

Legend. 

[cehnot]

While I wait for my last 2 brick link orders I wanted to share with you a few photos of my current design. At this point I am working on my ion cannons. I still need to add stickers, but waiting to do that at the end.

 

Don't worry, those black technic axles are suppose to be inside the barrels. The Brick link orders I am waiting for include 4 black Technic, Gear 8 tooth type 1. These gears will slide down inside the barrels to simulate finned exhaust pipes. You can also see the gray technic axle that turns the wins to an open position. The design also features a bottom axle. I will include that into the LDD as an option for a stand so you can make the wings open via the stand. I will also include the alternative rear design so the axle in that option isn't shown. 

The landing gear is way too tall. I need to shorten them by almost 1 brick in height. The great part about this shot is you can see how my modified panel allows a magnitude of options for you to customize the rogue squadron colors. This is of course Red 5. The landing gear in the back is easy to change out for flight mode. Each engine pops off quickly and the half cylinders come out and and you connect the rear engines onto a 2x4 technic plate. I will show more details when the ship is complete. 

This is a great angle to show R2D2 and how close the LEGO brand canopy fits in the model. I truly wish LEGO would design a canopy with a 3 wide top, but a 2 wide front. Either way, I plan on doing my own canopy. The belly has a small cargo compartment for equipment and such. There is a simple plate hinge and clips holding it together so you can open and close it. 

The x-wing mechanical gears work nicely. They open and stay open. 

I will use my SLR camera when I do my final photo shoot. I have not decided what for of base plate design to do. I thought of a Yavin 4 base design. I also need a stand for the flight mode. 

I also thought about doing an x-wing entirely in gray parts and modify this one to become Red 2 or Red 4. 

Edited September 19, 2017 by cehnot

[Tyutyu]

Hi Cehnot,

Saw your reply here and on Flickr. Thank you for your kind words. Don't worry about me. You don't owe me anything. It is the other way around. I am grateful for everything you have done. Without your work and passion with this model, I would not have started work on making modifications to your original version. Even now that I am stuck with my version, it was a nice experience working with your model.  If you updated the LDD file with the changes you made, I would like to check it, if you plan to share it. Keep it up and thank you for your effort.

Cheers,

Tyutyu

[cehnot]

5 hours ago, Tyutyu said:

Hi Cehnot,

Saw your reply here and on Flickr. Thank you for your kind words. Don't worry about me. You don't owe me anything. It is the other way around. I am grateful for everything you have done. Without your work and passion with this model, I would not have started work on making modifications to your original version. Even now that I am stuck with my version, it was a nice experience working with your model.  If you updated the LDD file with the changes you made, I would like to check it, if you plan to share it. Keep it up and thank you for your effort.

Cheers,

Tyutyu

Once I finish the model I plan on making an updated LDD file. I wish they would release a new one with 2017 parts. I have scattered those parts throughout my model, but I may include photos showing what new parts to use to replace the older parts. The building process showed me what I did wrong in the LDD. This whole experience led me to understanding what happens when you only follow the LDD and do not add gravity and stress or pressure into the equation. I think I definitely will do a second x-wing in gray since I have most these parts. 

[wookieejedi]

On 9/20/2017 at 10:48 AM, cehnot said:

Once I finish the model I plan on making an updated LDD file. I wish they would release a new one with 2017 parts. I have scattered those parts throughout my model, but I may include photos showing what new parts to use to replace the older parts. The building process showed me what I did wrong in the LDD. This whole experience led me to understanding what happens when you only follow the LDD and do not add gravity and stress or pressure into the equation. I think I definitely will do a second x-wing in gray since I have most these parts. 

I have been searching the internet for the best minifigure Lego X-wings and my search has lead me here, to what I would consider, the best mix between structure/swoosh-ability and model accuracy l have found. I am eagerly awaiting the updated LDD file and wish you the best of luck in your continued improvements! What you and others have done is truly impressive! 

[Thomty]

New updated LDD file now after your changes with the cockpit etc?:)

[cehnot]

UPDATE: 01/10/18
I have successfully updated my X-Wing on the new version of LDD (Version 4.3.11). I am pleased to announce that this is my final version of the file. I will be uploading all the final photos tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon so I can move onto my other builds. 

After many different attempts to designing the x-wing to my personal liking, I am proud to achieved my main goal, keeping the original shape and design as close to the same proportions as the ILM models. 

New Parts:
New parts kept popping up in 2017 and I adjusted my design accordingly. One of the greatest elements to come to my table was the 2x3 tile and the 1x3 plate jumper. My third favorite element was the 2x2 plate wedge, which I hid nicely inside the wings. 

The Design:
The Fuselage design was an undertaking I never imagined. I added and subtracted parts to get the bulk and strength right. I also deleted my earlier custom parts inside the body. I am sure there is a better way, but I am happy with how it turned out. I kept the ion canons the same as before since I brought back my internal structure. I will go into further details tomorrow once I upload final photos. 

Cross Section Interior:
As you can see in the render I installed an cross section interior. Detailed photos coming Thursday. I also left room for rubber bands for wires and such. I redesigned the interior to make room for the needed strength and was surprised how strong it was even when i took away stuff inside. If you want the whole project stronger I recommend removing the interior and using bricks and plates to reinforce it. 

I will share my review of it as well tomorrow. 

The X-Wing Strikes Back Final LDD Dated 011018

Feel free to share your thoughts on this file and have fun building. 

Edited January 11, 2018 by cehnot

[Tyutyu]

Can't wait. I just finished 2 mech projects so I am free to concentrate on this again. Will you be adding the pictures to your Flickr account?

[cehnot]

I am cleaning up the photos and should be uploading them later this evening on Flickr. I'll post a few glory photoshopped shots on here and link out for the rest. 

[cehnot]

For more photos please feel free to visit 
My X-Wing Flickr Page

I am quite Proud to present my final T-65 X-Wing. I look forward to building a hanger and a mounting stand to display it. Personally, I think it needs more stickers. 

Custom Parts: 
1. Took hinge tops and cut off the hinge part and kept the flat panels with studs. Used the 1x2 and 2x2 panels inside the wings to show off a lower panel. The LDD file has other LEGO parts replacing this as an alternative. I used a 1x2 hinge plate cut part inside the nose as well to fill a gap. 
2. Ion Cannons. I used dmaclego design and modified it. I found that the mounting area was fragile due to its length and weight. I cheated and drilled holes side all those wheel hubs to allow the 3mm rigid hose to slide through. I used his method of installing train metal rods inside the rigid tube to maintain the shape and keep the cannons straight.
3. The Ion Cannons have half circle magnetic flashback suppressors. I made these by drilling out a 2x2 round brick and polishing the inside walls. I then cut them in half and drilled out a hole at the center. This allowed me to attach the 1x1 round plate with hole inside the part. I then cut off the stick end of the antenna and slid it down the rigid 3mm hose. I kept the round tips because it felt more LEGO rather than sanding off the end at a straight end. Frankly it looks better without the ball tip, but there are no other parts this diameter with a blocked end that long. I would love to see LEGo build a part like this, or at least the suppressor part I did. That would be quite helpful. 
4. 2x2 gray square tile with a hole in the center. The non working gears have a 2x2 square place holding a 2x2 round tile. I wanted the same effect with my gears. I drilled out a hole in the center like the 2x2 round tiles LEGo produces. I polished the hole and looks like a LEGO part. 
5. 4mm hose. I cut off a black host to fit inside the cockpit. I have seen this done before and looks nice. 
6. Gray and Black Hoses were cut down to fit in and around the engines.

Stickers: Waiting for a few custom stickers to be made, to enhance the ship and add to the Red 5 markings, but for now I have only added official LEGO brand stickers. I cut down the UCS x-wing sticker with diagonal gray and yellow lines for the 2x3 tan part in front of the canopy. I needed the proportions much smaller so I cut it almost into a 1/3 the size. 

Non LEGO Brand Parts: I cannot thank Brickarms enough. I used their mono clips and u-clips to hold the hoses inside the engines. You can see them sticking out of the front engines. I love how small they are and fit with LEGO parts.   

Why the LDD file took so long to arrive. I have been using 2017 parts on my build for quite some time and heard months ago that LEGO was updating the program. I am glad I waited because every new part I used was included in the program so you guys can enjoy the build I intended it to be. 

The final LDD file contains Grey Mouser's ion cannons. I felt this was a good way to keep the purists happy. I made several changes to accommodate this request and happy that people can build or modify their own versions. 

You can download the LDD file for free:
T-65 X-Wing LDD File (Download Link Dated 01/10/2018) for LDD Version 4.3.11

 

 

Edited January 24, 2018 by cehnot

[Tyutyu]

The link to the album does not seem to work, however I was able to locate the pics on Flickr. Great stuff. I hope I can add my brick built canopy and my prefered nose design to this :)

[cehnot]

On January 12, 2018 at 5:28 AM, Tyutyu said:

The link to the album does not seem to work, however I was able to locate the pics on Flickr. Great stuff. I hope I can add my brick built canopy and my prefered nose design to this :)

UPDATED: January 24, 2018
The LDD file link has been corrected. 

Looks like the photos and my update wasn't loaded yet. The images should be visible in the post above yours. I am guessing that the uploading process took a bit longer than normal. The brick build canopy should be easy to add. What nose design are you referring to? Your file had a few designs. I forgot about those. I may look into it, but for now I am moving onto the maintenance bridge and hanger equipment. 

Edited January 24, 2018 by cehnot

[blbills]

Very impressive stuff!  I may have to update my Inthert variant.

[Jerac]

I like how it looks in the end, but amount of cutting of pieces required is a bit.... high. Beauty of LEGO lies in the fact we have to work around medium's limitations. If you cut pieces, you move one tier up, to custom models. So while your model is relally nice, your competition now is this:

[cehnot]

I designed the ship in the file to not use custom parts because I know people frown on this stuff. If I entered this into a completion I would swap out the parts. The great part about this model is the easy ability to quickly replace the custom parts. The ion cannons are the only major visual difference and could be achieved without drilling or cutting parts (other than hoses). I would simply follow dmaclego's instructions and use a hockey mask and train axles for the end tip. Imostly did these changes for myself. I didn't mean to offend anybody. I thought that it should be posted in my topic what items were altered for clarification. If I knew more about casting parts I would design the cannon tips in a 3d program and have them professionally made as 1 part. I am not sure how that concept is taken by purists either.

My canopy design is something I will pursue in the future as well. I appreciate the criticism and was happy to make this version for people to see and build. I know a few people are already altering my file to accommodate a brick canopy structure and alternative squadron colors. That is what I am excited to see.

I'll be making 3 more x-wings to match the Hanger 7 diorama I plan on developing. The LDD file is beginning to take shape. I found the blue prints used for the full size hangar set for ESB and look forward to recreating it entirely to scale and accuracy with all the production photos and stills I collected. The Battlefront games help with details, but not scale. They left out a lot of detail and modified the size of the hangar in Battlefront two years ago and now included it in the newest Battlefront, but again made it twice as long as it should be. The one thing they did modify that made complete sense was extending the width of the hangar bay doors to allow the Falcon to fly through it. I think this will be a modular build set on 48x48 baseplates. The size I laid out fits 5 baseplates across x 3 down. That is roughly 6 ft by 3.75 feet. Of all the hangar I seen built nobody tried to recreate the hangar 7 with the rotunda cone above the Falcon. That would be a difficult challenge to figure out. I will start small and design Luke's xwing area first since it has a nice maintenance bridge. I designed the bridge and good lord this thing is huge. That bridge based on above shots has a 5stud wide by 31 stud long platform with about a 35 stud wide footprint. I will be sharing my progress soon as i can. I have not decided if i want to design a roof that lifts off. The Battlefront games are great reference as to how the mountain looks from outside. 

It also would allow me to design the adjacent hangers where they store the snowspeeders on one side and repair the swings on the other side. If I won the lottery I would move forward and design the entire echo base which would be about 15ft by 22 ft (not including the battlefield)

[Tyutyu]

I have also been toying around with a big diorama idea. I think having an open roof would make more sense for display.

Using non Lego parts is tricky subject. I hate non Lego parts, but if they improve this much, on a model, I accept it. I love your custom mods. And as you said, we can all modify the model to our own liking. Still don't have time to check your file, but just looking forward to working with it fills me with excitement :)

I like the fact that you uploaded to pics to flickr, as I'm there every day, hunting for pics to save.

Thank you again for your work and time invested in this.

[cehnot]

I appreciate the wait. I don't have a lot of time to build anymore. I'll start using Flickr for final photos and bricksafe for my WIP and LED files. 

 

I have 14,000 pieces waiting for me to build a firehouse on top of all the smaller models I designed. Now that the LDD had an update I been updating my files before I build them. 

[Gray_Mouser]

9 hours ago, cehnot said:

I didn't mean to offend anybody.

I don't think anyone has been (or should be) offended.

You used custom parts but you mentionned that fact clearly. What anyone thinks of it... well it is just a matter of personal preference.

Personnally I won't use custom parts (too lazy to make them), but if I ever buy bricks again I'll probably borrow some ideas from your file to improve my own x-wing (the nose, the "engine slopes" and a certain detail at the back of the wings are especially nice).

Anyway, it looks great. Thanks for sharing!

P.S. And Tyutyu, since you're here, thank you for sharing your brick canopy earlier. It made me realize mine was one stud too high. It's much better now.

[cehnot]

Thanks. I think this is the only ship I felt the need to design. There are so many wonderful T-47 snowspeeders and Y-wing designs. I think I need a snowspeeder with a body approximately 17 to 19 studs long to match re X-wing. I have been studying so many production set photos and taken a ton of still photos from Battlefront for Hangar 7 I believe that I should keep that proportion for the other ships. 

[Jerac]

I absolutely do not feel offended!
Sorry if you thought so.

I just mentioned this particular MOC is a little too far in modifying pieces to my liking, but this does not mean I am offended or anything.