[MOC] [LDD] Star Wars Rebels Interdictor Class Cruiser

[Tommy Styrvoky]

After seeing the Star Wars Rebels season 3 finale, I wanted to make something from the SW universe as I haven't built anything SW for a few years, and now since the Interdictor Cruiser is canon, this was a model I have wanted to build for a long time. As the interesting sleek shape of the ship and being one of my favorite units from Star Wars Empire At War for supporting capital ships. 

Reference images of the Interdictor

The finished MOC

Lego Star Wars Interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

Lego Star Wars Interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

Lego Star Wars Interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

Lego Star Wars Interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

Lego Star Wars interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

 

 

 

I initially scaled the model too small, as I was using old blueprints of the old version, it was rather difficult to find an exact length of the ship, I found lengths ranging from 600m to 1600m ( the same scale as the ISD). Though the rendered images of the ship used for the series included the reuse of the hangar model from the ISD, so I used the UCS model for scale, and found that the hangar should be approximately 12 studs long, thus I was able to roughly determine the length of the model to ≈5 hangars long or 60 studs (≈850m).

I am first starting on the external hull armor, and will build the internal structure next. The red parts are ones that I need to still mirror to the other side, though I want some input, I think I need to move the gravity well generators forwards a stud or two.

WIP SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

I plan to create some Renders of this model with Blender's Cycles engine.

Edited May 3, 2017 by Tommy Styrvoky

[darththeling]

A promising start - and clever approach to the shapes of the distinctive gravity well domes.
Good on ya mate - keep on keepin' on!

[Ellisss_2]

Great start! I would advise that create a strong frame as solid brick hulls are heavy compared to plates! Pause work on the hulls and start with the frame and work outwards it will be much easier that way!

Good luck, Ellis.

[Swan Dutchman]

Ah, good to see you are making a brick build hull as well! I am looking forward to see the progress you are making.

2 hours ago, Ellisss_2 said:

Great start! I would advise that create a strong frame as solid brick hulls are heavy compared to plates! Pause work on the hulls and start with the frame and work outwards it will be much easier that way!

Good luck, Ellis.

Yes indeed. Building a strong frame was one of the most important things for my Harrower Dreadnought with a brick hull. You can use panels like these to make the hull less heavy.

[Moppo]

Looking great so far!

[atlas]

very promising start! I like the scale you decided to go with. To me it looks perfectly sized. Not too small, not enormously large, plenty of room for some nice detailing.

[Sarles]

Pretty slick looking. One of my favorite Star Destroyer variants, probably because it's such an impossible technology in my mind.

[Raskolnikov]

I think your decision on scaling makes a great deal of sense (i.e., about 850 meters).  The rebels variant definitely does seem to be a bit bigger than than the 600 meter EU version. 

Anyway, packing such a powerful gravity generating ability into a 600-meter-long ship -- i.e., just one 19th of the volume of a 1600-meter ISD (which seems to be the Empire's standard battleship class)--strikes me as a bit silly.  Like, if they can afford to build thousands of Star Destroyers, why not put some of those resources into making the Interdictors bigger or more durable?  Or, if so much power can be crammed into an Interdictor, what do they use all the space in the bigger ships for?  And since a Death Star has at least a million times the volume of an ISD, why...nevermind, not a good idea to think too hard about Star Wars.

Anyway, looking good so far.  Are you sure the angle using 2x4 wedge plates is going to be wide enough?  When the panels are attached to the ship, they'll be tilted toward the centerline, which will narrow the overall V-shape a bit.

[Tommy Styrvoky]

1 hour ago, Raskolnikov said:

Anyway, looking good so far.  Are you sure the angle using 2x4 wedge plates is going to be wide enough?  When the panels are attached to the ship, they'll be tilted toward the centerline, which will narrow the overall V-shape a bit.

I know it works for the bottom, as I found a 30° angle works well, though it should be a 28° for best fit with the wedges. 

Here's more progress on the model, it is rather interesting that the bottom hull is flat, so this worked out rather nicely. This is a rough mockup, though it needs a lot more to make sure it could be solid enough to be built in real life.

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

There is still a small overhang at the back, I am unsure to make the ship longer, as it would be easier to do that, than move the rear support forwards.

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

[Forresto]

It looks great so far! If you ever need more reference look up the armada model of an interdictor. Its very accurate and of course is a model.

[Ellisss_2]

The frame looks pretty solid to me but there is definitely room for improvement. For example: put plates over all the technic beams and also sacrifice having an open hanger bay and put technic beams through the center. If I were you, I would definitely lengthen the ship it will make your life so much easier. Making frames correctly and accurately in LDD is near impossible I got very lucky with my Venator that everything fitted together in reality. But you are making fast progress!

But you are making fast progress and it looks excellent so far!

Good luck, Ellis!

 

[legofives]

Once you're done, make a minifigure with likeness to Konstantine to display next to it; it will look great!

[Tommy Styrvoky]

More progress, I am having a lot of fun making this. I have mated the upper hull armor to the internal structure. I think now I need to further scale up the gravity well generators, and place them at a shallower angle, as they appear flatter on the version from Rebels. I have made the bottom armor attached to the edge of the ship's frame, and there are pieces attached in the center of the hull that will provide most of the support. This is the main reason I chose SNOT over plates, as this will further hold the ship together and prevent bending, even though it comes with the extra cost of being heavier.

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

 

[Tommy Styrvoky]

I finished the bridge and the most of the stand for the model. Also the internal frame was greatly strengthened for attachment and removal from the stand. I think this model would be practically be swooshable given how many internal supports have been mounted to the model.

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

Edited April 22, 2017 by Tommy Styrvoky

[atlas]

Moving at a lightning pace, do you plan on making this in real bricks ?

[Tommy Styrvoky]

17 minutes ago, atlas said:

Moving at a lightning pace, do you plan on making this in real bricks ?

No, I am rather busy finding time for models that I want to build in real life, also I am not one to keep mocs assembled for a long time, and to have 3000+ parts tied up in the model would be limiting for me as I couldn't build too much else, and to Bricklink this would be probably in the range of $500-$800. This is just something fun that I want to be possible to be built in real life, maybe in the future, or for someone else to add to their collection. Though my real plan is to make some space renders of this with Blender's cycles engine as I find building a stress reliever in college, and with finals coming up, I thought this would be a fun project I could make over the course of a week.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Tommy Styrvoky

[Ellisss_2]

I can't believe how quickly you have created this! You should definitely build this, I doubt it would be near $500-$800 it's not large enough.

[Tommy Styrvoky]

I spent a decent amount of time working on finishing most of the external hull armor. The keel section of the ship proved to be a challenge, as it is angled and sloped outwards. Half of the challenge for this was obtaining a rigid structure by creating triangles with technic beams. I am pleased with the result I was able to obtain, though there are some minor gaps, and I believe the triangle structure used to angle the plates outwards will be strong enough, as I have used this in the past, though this would be the only major questionable part for strength in real life, as there may be some lash in the parts, thus causing potential sagging.

Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

The internal frame has been slightly updated, and is all interlocked via technic bricks. I find it rather interesting how roughly 1000 parts or 1/3 of the build is tied into the internal supports, though my design may be a little overkill, as I am used to working with moving models, rather than static ones.

Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

A front reference, as I found using this rather useful when comparing to this image though keep in mind it appears much wider, though I think this could be caused by distortion due to a shallow depth of field, as with the Armada model I found a roughly top down shot of it here and I would consider my proportions acceptable in comparison.

Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

Another image of the back, It is still missing the engines, though this angle was compared with the concept art for the Interdictor cruiser.

Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

The underside, I can't wait to see if it will be possible to add lots of detail the hangar, this part will be fun to light up in Blender for rendering. 

Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

So next to add the engines, and then greeble the sides and center of the hull, I am not sure If I will add lots of detail to the back and hull, as this doesn't seem to match up with the model from Rebels. Though the Armada model appears to have much more detail on the hull, I am not sure If I want to replicate that, as the way the model is constructed, I think it would make the armor look even thicker than it currently is.

Reference photos of the Armada Interdictor ( not mine).

Edited April 23, 2017 by Tommy Styrvoky

[atlas]

regarding the shallow greebling details on the hull that you chose to omit, perhaps you could replace some of your regular smooth bricks with the following:

 

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=98283#T=S&C=86&O={"color":86}

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4216#T=S&C=86&O={"color":86}

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2877#T=S&C=86&O={"color":86}

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=30136#T=S&C=86&O={"color":86}

as well as headlight bricks, arranged both without anything attached as well as with smooth tiles (or grille tiles) on top for variation in elevation in the greebled areas.

[Veynom]

Nice work. This has been one of my favorite ships since quite over a decade.

Will you share the ldd once completed? I could attend a built at it.

Regarding greebling, I suggest you not to over-greeble. The Armada version is a bit too much when compared to Rebels or Legends materials.

 

Keep on the nice MOCs !

[Raskolnikov]

Yeah, I'd be interested in seeing you build it as well, Veynom, since OP said he's not planning on building it with bricks.  It's the first Interdictor that I know of that attempts to recreate the difficult angles on the ventral side of the Rebels ship, so I'd definitely love to see that in brick form.

[Tommy Styrvoky]

9 hours ago, Veynom said:

Will you share the ldd once completed? I could attend a built at it.

Keep on the nice MOCs !

Yes I will, It will be free on Rebrickable.

I added most of the greebling to the sides and the upper hull plates, A UCS plate has been added, and I have started designing some of that. The engines have been added, and they look ok, but I am not sure what to change, I guess it is just the way the ship is designed. The model is almost at 4000 pieces, and will easily reach that amount, when I begin detailing the underside. The details on the underside won't be as protruding as the top face, as it appears to just be more of a texture than raised bits.

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

Edited April 25, 2017 by Tommy Styrvoky

[Tommy Styrvoky]

I finished the hangar, it even includes some of the details for the TIE launch bays.

WIP Lego SW Interdictor Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

[Tommy Styrvoky]

I would consider the model finished. Here is my first render of it, I still have yet to do more post processing on it, though I am pleased with the results, there are more renders to come, though they take about 4 hours each for 4K at 400 samples. I also finished the UCS style sticker for it, some of the information is made up, but more technical acronyms seem to make it more interesting, and it is based off of some of the stuff that TLG used for the SSD and ISD. Also I uploaded the stud.io model to Sketchfab, you can view it here. I guess it would also work with VR too, it is a rather low poly model consisting of 1.5 million faces, as opposed to the 13 million that I am using in Blender. I will see about uploading the model to Rebrickable later this week, after I get some more renders of it, so hopefully I can do a render or two every night.

Lego Interdictor Class Cruiser render 1 by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

UCS Interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

 

Edited April 29, 2017 by Tommy Styrvoky

[Tommy Styrvoky]

A couple more renders, I am working on a shot of it above Mustafar, though the biggest issue is figuring out the planet material, it either appears too black, or too red. Also working on a bluprint of all views.

A Rebrickable link should be up in the next day or to, I hope it is up tomorrow, as it is may the forth.

All of these renders are in 4K, at 400 samples, so there is some noise under close inspection, though Each one took approximately 2-4 hours each.

Lego Star Wars Interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

The previous render with some post processing.

Lego Star Wars Interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

Lego Star Wars interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

A rather simple design for the Rebrickable page, I will have more shots of it a softbox setting like the one used for this with the stand and UCS sticker.

Lego Star Wars Interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

Lego Star Wars Interdictor Class Cruiser by Tommy Styrvoky, on Flickr

 

 

Edited May 3, 2017 by Tommy Styrvoky