atlas

[WIP][MOC] red 5 X-wing

Recommended Posts

hello! At the start of last month I began work on by next project, which is a minifig-scaled model of the "red 5" x-wing that Luke flies in the death star assault. So far I've completed most of the wings and have also done some of the rear fuselage.

project album on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlaser/sets/72157676216434583

stage 1: https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlaser/31819163993/in/dateposted/

Anotha one

 

 

stage 2: https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlaser/32763745095/in/photostream/

Problem.jpg

description from flickr:

 

Problem. I am trying my best to make this as proportionally accurate as is possible with lego. Fortunately, using my scale (4 studs = metre, meaning a projected length of 50 studs), the 4-wide cylinder intake piece and 4-wide half cylinder are basicall the perfect size for the engines.

Using a top down image of the ILM red 3 studio model the engine width is about 8% of the total length of the model, from nosetip to exhaust. So that is a good basis for the size of the rest of the wings : 6 studs wide from front to back at the laser cannon mounts, and it's already been established by other builders that the 4x2 wedge plate is also almost perfect for the angle of the back of the wings.

My main issue with this currently is that the distance between the interior edges of the engine half cylinders is too great. As shown in the photo it is currently a 9 stud gap between them, and if I built a fuselage to fill this gap, it would be much too wide. Using other reference that I've been gathering, the distance between the interior edges of the engines seems to be close to 2 times the diameter of the engines. Meaning it needs to be 8 studs wide. This is really difficult to achieve because the scissor mechanism I have built (which is derivative of mike psiaki's click-hinge scissor but more compact, and using finger hinges so that each wing shuts flush instead of 0.5 studs apart) is based on a central shaft which is 1 stud wide, with the arms of each scissor measuring 4 studs from that shaft to the edge of the engines. Somehow I am going to have to reduce the gap by 0.5 studs on either side. I don't think using a 1x2 technic brick with a centre hole is an option so I will try shifting each engine assembly 0.5 studs inward with jumpers first.

 

stage 3: https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlaser/32839077375/in/photostream/

xwing 3

description from flickr:

 

two steps forward and two steps backward. I fixed the proportions issue from the last shot, but at the cost of the strong scissor mechanism i had before that forced a 9 or 7 stud gap. The new scissor is made out of technic liftarms, but the impossible problem is that to have a gap of 0 LDU between each wing when closed, i had to use part 32530. I just can't figure out how to make a strong connection between that part (on its sides so that the antistuds point directly toward the cannons) and the wing assemblies. I can't lock it in, at the moment they are just attached with snot bricks. It's strong enough to stay attached with minimal drooping, but nowhere near as tough as the previous one. I'm not sure whether to persevere with the old one and make it 8 wide somehow, or move onto the fuselage and concede some fragility. This is the third major overhaul of the wings (first: made 6 long at the tips instead of 5, second: finger hinge scissor mech, third: this technic iteration.

You can see the old mechanism in the background with the orange hose through it. I really liked that, simple, compact and strong but egh, it's too wide.

The bottom engines have open landing gear doors. I have one set of parts to have the doors open and gear down, and another set of parts (identical to the coverings on the top two wings) for flight mode. I didn't bother with having them retract, and as dmaclego pointed out having the gear fold into the engines does't really make sense.

 

stage 4: https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlaser/32469801403/in/photostream/ t65 004

 

description from flickr:

 

I have started on the fuselage. Before that, I decided that I wanted to include a gearbox and gear mechanism for the wings to open and close. Doing it manually is easier but i thought what the hell.

I probably have less technic skills than a 5 year old so I decided to reverse engineer dmaclego's creation (see herehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/dmaclego/27832343200/in/album-72157669369597202/For the fuselage, I'm trying to see if it's possible for me to have all 9 surfaces included on my model, at the rear. Currently I have the top 5 attached, the main headache is figuring out how to get the bottom 2 surfaces attached (see here http://www.modelermagic.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/kg-lucasfilm_archived-red3-reference-029.jpg).

 

for the greebling, it's not reall proportioned properly, but I'm trying to include the main details. The rectangular box thing with the circular greebly thing is there, but is a bit too wide. (i also realised after I had already built that section that the circular greebly thing should have the edge part pointing down - i believe this was a unique feature of the red 5 ilm model, but i can't see a way to fix that.

you can also see that I got some new parts in so the overall look has improved. I'm quite pleased with how the small "used-universe" colour details have turned out. I think the sand blue, dark orange and other colours adds a lot of character to what would otherwise be a boring, gray mass. (as an aside, those parts also arrived with the final pieces needed to finish the T-70 x-wing, so hopefully I wll be able to properly photograph that soon).

And i'm satisfied with the choice to make it gray now - under strong lighting, the LBG plastic has that off white look that the film models did. Still a little bit too dark, but much better than lego-white in my opinion.

another thing - for anyone reading this and looking at my photostream - do you like seeing WIP images like this while I'm building something? if you do, please let me know and I'll be glad to post more frequent updates!

as always, comments, critique, etc. are very welcome!

 

--------------

as I said, comments, criticism, suggestions, questions, etc. etc. are always welcome. As a make progress i'll continue posting updates to the project until it's finished!

Edited by atlas

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Looking good, I for one love seeing progress pics, not least because I'm still a novice at this stuff so seeing others solutions is very enlightening.

Edited by Flandy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello, atlas!

Amazing so far, I definitely prefer LBG X-Wings, I cannot wait to see the finished product! I love the engines especially the touches of orange and brown.

Good luck!

Ellis.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
14 hours ago, Flandy said:

Looking good, I for one love seeing progress pics, not least because I'm still a novice at this stuff so seeing others solutions is very enlightening.

thank you!

7 hours ago, Ellisss_2 said:

Hello, atlas!

Amazing so far, I definitely prefer LBG X-Wings, I cannot wait to see the finished product! I love the engines especially the touches of orange and brown.

Good luck!

Ellis.

thanks very much. I much prefer LBG as well. I'm glad you like the use of other colours to simulate dirt, rust, etc.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

thank you! unfortunately, I'm finding less time for building lately, but i'll try my best to keep posting updates regularly.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

part five of red five:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlaser/33140235420/in/photostream/

xwing 005

from flickr:

some more progress on the body. I figured out a way to attach all 9 surfaces on the rear, but it borders on cheating (i.e, i went as far as I would go), and the connections are not as robust as I would like. I'm pleased enough with the result though.

Here you can see the bits I've put on to burrow out an astromech socket. my goal was to have a square 2x2 area for the body to enter into, and have two small cutouts on either side to accomodate a half-thickness small technic liftarm. What i have come up with means there's a bigger gap between the legs and the socket than I would like, but i couldn't figure out a way to attach a 1xX tile inbetween the technic liftarm-leg and the side of the socket. That that's not a big deal for me though

the next big challenge is attaching the missing panels on the upper sides of the fuselage (i put a note pointing them out) in a clean way. After that I'll have to tackle the cockpit, deciding how I'm going to build the angled in sides of the nose, and create an internal spine between the gearbox area and what will become the nose, so that the model will at least have a small degree of durability. hopefully.

some other notes: I have also drafted a preliminary version of the laser cannons. the design for that is mostly finished, it's just that I only have the parts to attach 1/2 of the 4 cannons to the wings at the moment (plus, they get in the way so it's easier to leave them off when building)

please, comment, critique, etc. away!

 

Edited by atlas

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Again i havent had much time to do more work on this but here is another update:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlaser/34072021335/in/photostream/

xwing 6

from flickr:

this photo is completely rubbish but here is some of the minor additions since the last post. The fuselage is now basically 100% complete up to the front of the astromech socket. Now is going to be the hardest part: first, making the fuselage, then having it fit together with some strength, then finding a way to attach it to the part I have already built so that it forms one mass rather than two unstable sections.

I have built a sketch of a nosecone (pictured) and am thinking about how I am going to create the two angled upper and lower parts of each side of the fuselage. At the moment I'm working off an assembly that is derivative of dmaclego 's idea: have a lane of 1xX panels to make the distinctive red squadron stripe. Just looking at the source material there is no way I am going to be able to nail the forward fuselage without making some compromises. I just have to figure out which features I need to make dominant in the design.

I'm not really satisfied with my S-foil mechanism but i honestly cannot be bothered going back and trying to fix all of that up. The main issue with that is that with the wings opened, the engines don't quite make a perfect square as they should because the wings can only open almost as much as they need to. (see notes)

comment and critique away!

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I like how the underside comes altogether - very true to reference material. Do landing gear retract inside the engines and is their design final or just a WIP? Anyway great job, keep up the good work!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
20 hours ago, BrickShady said:

I like how the underside comes altogether - very true to reference material. Do landing gear retract inside the engines and is their design final or just a WIP? Anyway great job, keep up the good work!

thanks, that's extremely rewarding to hear because I'm trying my best to be as faithful to the reference material and original models as is possible in this medium. That 8x6 section on the very bottom isn't as close as I would like, but to include a gearbox that's the way it had to turn out, and it blends in better than I expected so I am happy with it.

 

about the landing gear: they don't retract unfortunately. The legs themselves attach to a click hinge plate which is placed inside the engine. (See pic related.) when I want to convert the engines from landing gear down to flight-mode, I take away the legs, as well as the hinge bricks with the 2x2 curved slopes which represent the opened doors, as well as the brick-built 2x4 section of the half cylinder at the back. Then, I can simply pop on one of the one-piece half cylinders (as in the top pair of engines) and then it's as if the landing gear has retracted and the doors closed.

y2Zzuh.jpg

 

from the beginning I wanted to make each engine identical, so to have functional retracting gears would contradict this. Plus, on the models, it doesn't really seem feasible for the gears to retract inside the engines as implied, so it was never a big priority. 

 

The  landing gear legs themselves are the same as when I first built them. I might revisit them when the rest of the model is done but I think it's a reasonable approximation, and despite the fact that the ship is only half completed, it's quite heavy already. So it's important for them to have some rigidity and when I get really involved with the details on my builds, structural integrity seems to suffer.

Edited by atlas

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Loving your design! I'm building one myself but I can't seem to get around the "engine problem". Having difficulties attaching the round front engines to the rest of the wing..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

hey thanks! Here's a mini breakdown of how the faux-intakes attach to the rest of the wing. Note that the 2x1 black plate furthest to the right attaches either to a 2x1 snot brick or a 1x1 snot brick, depending on which wing you look at (each one is constructed uniquely out of necessity). Credit to inthert for coming up with the tires-inside-cylinders idea.

g3Oo5p.jpg

 

 

Edited by atlas

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks very much, that's my main aim, i'm really glad to see that people appreciate it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Here's another update.

Potato quality again, sorry. Got back working on this today and things are looking good. Recently I extended the fuselage 1 stud at the rear so it was long enough, today I reduced the width of the middle fuselage you see in the foreground. Before it was simply too fat and so leaving it as it was would have meant that the angle of the nose would be too steep. (I still think it's a little bit too wide, but it's not as bad so i'm ok with it.) Some of the insides were rebuilt to allow for this, unfortunately it's come at the cost of the astromech socket. R2 used to have some tiles attached around him that evoked the astromech-shaped hole on the top of the fuselage, now he's just got a rectangle shaped hole. I might try and add those back somehow but for now it's more important to have a better shaped fuselage than that particular detail. I have a rough idea of how I will make the rest of the front fuselage and cockpit area, so I'm looking forward to doing that and having a whole ship instead of just two thirds. The bottom will probably happen last. Some parts are placeholders obviously.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlaser/28274382439/in/album-72157676216434583/

x-wing 007

 

Edited by atlas

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks people. I got the side fuselage pieces attached this evening. All that's left to do is the top and bottom fuselage and the cockpit. Hopefully the rest will be a breeze. I'm liking how this is turning out, not everything is completely bang on but most parts are pretty close, which was my goal.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This. This how you build an X-wing. It's really coming along great!

My question is will you be trying to get a working targeting computer in? It's a small detail that might just be too fiddly to get in but your attention to detail is astounding. Keep up the good work!

Stay on target

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
6 hours ago, Glassjaw said:

This. This how you build an X-wing. It's really coming along great!

My question is will you be trying to get a working targeting computer in? It's a small detail that might just be too fiddly to get in but your attention to detail is astounding. Keep up the good work!

Stay on target

Thanks. I might, depends on the space I end up having, but I’ll try. Made some more progress today:

https://flic.kr/p/242W8N5

x-wing 008

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlaser/40550061321/in/photostream/

x-wing 009

Not a very pretty photo, try and ignore the messy background. I'm now shooting with an actual camera and am still very much a novice photographer.

Some new developments since the last update: Nose is now actually attached, it was floating before. Top of the fuselage is completely filled in. Attached the cockpit. Started filling in the bottom of the fuselage. Other than the hole you see on the bottom, the interior, and the guns, there's not much else left to do. I will think about landing gear in the front but I think that is a very long shot. Also going to revisit the bottom engines and see if gear is possible there. I'm considering whether to try 3 wide engine nozzles, I think 2x2 is not thick enough.

You can see that the seam on the side of the fuselage and the bottom is not continuous (see note). On the studio model it is, but I haven't figured out an elegant way to fill that in so at the moment it's staggered a little bit. Not the end of the world but it would have been nice to get that to wrap all the way around.

One thing that is bothering me a little bit is that the fuselage is too fat. To accomodate the gears inside, I think the back of the fuselage is 1 or 2 plates too tall fom top to bottom. That's not a big deal, but I think the width is more significant. I'd say it's almost 1 stud too wide. It's not too obvious with the wings open so I'm going to save myself the trouble and ignore it, I would have to rebuild the entire fuselage from the inside out to make that change.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

https://www.flickr.com/photos/atlaser/40633596621/in/dateposted/

012 - top assembly

I'm at the stage where everything has been built, but I haven't really revised anything yet. There are a handful of things I am considering fiddling with, the top of the nose pictured here is one of them - dmaclego suggested road signs and I want to try that. Also thinking about bigger nozzles and maybe a cleaner bottom.

This was a pretty difficult one to crack. It would have been much more straightforward to just rest tiles on top of the side walls, but that would have created a new set of problems - fuselage too tall, appearing slightly too wide, and eliminating the jump at the nosecone. So I decided that I had to fill it in instead. As a result there are some thin gaps. The insides are very crammed, so that's why the assembly had to be so thin, and also is why I wasn't able to put in extra pieces to plug the holes. (I had another set of hinge tops that I wanted to fit in, and they improved the look a lot, but no room for them unforunately. To me it was crucial that the fuselage didn't get any higher than the top of the side walls. I tried otherwise and it didn't look right.

The reason why there is that really weak connection from the technic brick underneath the tan pieces to the section with tiles facing up is that there was a very small gap inside the fuselage that really only allows for a piece the size of a bar to get through. It is stronger than it looks, but not ideal.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 11/03/2018 at 4:33 AM, All in the Reflexes said:

Thats stunning mate, absolutely love the detail!

Thanks mate. It's been in the works for ages, and I'm very close to having it done. I'm looking forward to showing it in its finished state

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.