[MOC] Project: Endor

[anothergol]

Talking about the AT-AT, I'm finishing assembling Bandai's AT-AT snapkit (detail is stunning), and I would advise it to anyone who's building/has built a LEGO one, because it's a great reference, and most importantly, it shows how the legs articulation works.
I learnt things, for ex, I don't know if you knew that, but the pivot point for the leg isn't in the center, it's just where you put the small parabola in the back, that is the pivot. It also shows how the disks & bars move along with the leg motion, I don't think that can be safely replicated, but it's quite interesting.
I was also surprised that the head only pivots at the end of the neck, the base of the neck only articulates upwards weirdly, and most likely they did it so that the "collapsed" pose can be achieved.

Edited September 5, 2018 by anothergol

[dmaclego]

3 hours ago, anothergol said:

 I'm finishing assembling Bandai's AT-AT snapkit

Is it the one in 1:144 scale? I wondered more than once, so maybe you can tell me: how tall is it? Did they calculate the scale according to formerly official numbers (15 m), currently official numbers (20 m) or used even more realistic appraisal (some 22-23 meters)?

About leg pivot point - yes, fortunately I knew that and in my model it's exactly as it should be. Plus, the bigger parabolas are NOT attached to the belly. Only the smaller ones.

Didn't know about the neck though (if that's a faithful copy of studio model, that is). In my model the whole neck is somewhat flexible, both vertically and horizontally.

 

[anothergol]

9 hours ago, dmaclego said:

Is it the one in 1:144 scale? I wondered more than once, so maybe you can tell me: how tall is it? Did they calculate the scale according to formerly official numbers (15 m), currently official numbers (20 m) or used even more realistic appraisal (some 22-23 meters)?

 

Around 16cm tall, thus 23m (with legs apart & hips at the top, thus it can easily be 24m).
They even provide a tiny 13mm dude(tte) for scale.

The same thing struck me for their AT-AT & AT-ST, it's very narrow, like weirdly narrow.

Edited September 6, 2018 by anothergol

[atlas]

Nailed that cockpit like I said. Have you considered putting the 3x3 quarter domes on the back in place of the opaque white canopies? Seems like it wouldn't be too complicated of a change.

[dmaclego]

2 hours ago, atlas said:

 putting the 3x3 quarter domes  (...) wouldn't be too complicated

Two quarter domes are 6 studs tall and my shuttle's hull is only 5 studs tall (and still a bit too thick, by the way). So yeah, it's a neat solution but for a bigger model - like the official 10212 or Marshal Banana's Tydirium.

 

[atlas]

1 hour ago, dmaclego said:

Two quarter domes are 6 studs tall and my shuttle's hull is only 5 studs tall (and still a bit too thick, by the way). So yeah, it's a neat solution but for a bigger model - like the official 10212 or Marshal Banana's Tydirium.

 

I didn't even notice. That makes sense.

[Jerac]

The Lambda is ever-evolving, isn't it? I don't like writing comments like "cool" without any kind of precise feedback, but here I can only say: "cool!" because there is almost nothing to improve left. 

[danielwerner]

I fricking love it! Would absolutely LOVE to see some AT-AT instructions at some point. Would be willing to pay for it too.

[dmaclego]

Thanks, Jarek. And yes, it is evolving all the time - if not in real bricks, then only in my head, but yest, it is :) . However, implementing changes gets more and more difficult, since with each improvement there is less and less space for another. And I mean it quite literally. With each overhaul more and more parts are becoming "essential" for proper work of mechanisms and cannot be moved/removed/miniaturised. But new ideas keep coming, so... no, it's never over :) .

 

Daniel - sorry, but no chance for instructions. Unless you're absurdly rich and willing to support me and my family for several months, of course :D . Thanks for your kind words, anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2018 by dmaclego

[danielwerner]

16 minutes ago, dmaclego said:

Daniel - sorry, but no chance for instructions. Unless you're absurdly rich and willing to support me and my family for several months, of course :D . Thanks for your kind words, anyway.

As a matter of fact I am the son of a wealthy industrialist, philanthropist, bicyclist... Nah. Darn it. ^^ Very impressive MOC still. :)

PS. You could always outsource the instruction-making to a third party, like Legolijntje (he's done the instructions for the Onecase Exectutor among other things) for the share of the profits or something. Would really love to build this, it's by far the most accurate AT-AT I've seen. <3

Edited September 9, 2018 by danielwerner

[dmaclego]

Project: Endor visited Skaerbaek Fan Weekend in the last days of September. The crew of Beyond the Brick were there as well and I was asked to talk a bit about my work.

I'm still determined to create my own film presentation of Project: Endor but in the meantime - here's what BtB guys recorded:

 

 

 

[Sucram]

This is bloody amazing. Fantastic job

[okumam]

Wow. very impressive.

[jelockwood]

@dmaclego

You mentioned (quite a while ago) in this thread that making your AT-AT in this diorama able to walk would be 'silly'. Whilst your unbelievably excellent set is already beyond compare you could look at the official Lego 10178 AT-AT set as inspiration for making your AT-AT able to walk.

I have to say that your AT-AT is far, far more realistic than any of the many different AT-AT versions released so far by Lego and this is even ignoring your models lighting and animated head. Indeed I would say your AT-AT model should be considered inspiration for a future Lego UCS AT-AT model just as your Imperial Shuttle was for the Lego 10212 set.

I have no hope of building a diorama equivalent to your stupendous creation but I am considering trying to achieve something similar based on the MOC instructions being sold on eBay. As per

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lego-Imperial-Shuttle-Landing-Platform-Star-Wars-Instructions-Custom-Endor/

With regards to this could you provide some tips by answering the following.

• What is the lego baseplate you would suggest using?
• How did you make the deck of the landing pad? Not the entire instructions but just how did you create the smooth surface along with the rest of the 'sandwich'. This might not be adaptable to the smaller scale of the MOC instructions being sold.
• What part do you use for the tree leaves?
• Of the (many) different AT-AT models Lego have sold which would best match the scale of the eBay MOC instructions above? Or do you have any recommendation for a MOC build AT-AT of matching scale?
• Also the same for an AT-ST?

[dmaclego]

First of all - thank you, I'm glad you like my Endor.

As for making my AT-AT walk, I will stick to my opinion: it is not possible (yet) :) . I have given it a lot of thought over the years and while I know very well how to build a mechanism that would emulate quite faithfully the walk of the "real" AT-AT, the actual problem with model of this size and weight are legs, which are only 2 stud thick (and, honestly, should be even thinner). They almost crumble when the model is standing still and would never survive walking. Making them stronger with Technic bricks or liftarms would be an obvious solution but I refuse to compromise the looks of my model. Thus, it won't neither walk nor run in forseeable future :) .

 

And now more bad news ;) :

- I do not own any of the LEGO AT-AT sets, so I cannot help you match the scale. Also, as far as I know, fan-made AT-AT's available on the market (as sets of instructions) are too big for the diorama you linked. My knowledge about these is rather limited, though (having my own AT-AT, I wasn't really looking for alternatives. And it's exactly the same with AT-ST. However, generally speaking, AT-ST's issued by LEGO are minifig scale, so they would be too big for your diorama.

 

- The diorama you linked is much, much smaller than mine so I'm pretty sure the technique I used for the landing pad will be useless for you. My landing pad is 4 studs thick and I think you should look for something closer to 2 studs. But maybe my solution will inspire you to find your own, so here it goes. Please, take a look at this picture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dmaclego/12454307043/in/album-72157629127778577/

Most of the surface, both top and bottom, consists of 6x5 panels, which are light and reasonably rigid. Vertically, they are connected with assortment of plates (4 long) and Technic bricks 1x4 - all in grey. Horizontally, the Technic bricks are pinned together with longer Technic bricks (1x16 and similar), which is a nightmare to assemble but gives you a fairly light and rigid structure. The problem is, you cannot make the landing pad any thinner with this method so if you really wish to have it smooth on both sides, maybe you should use horizontally stacked bricks with studs on both sides, connect them with large plates on both sides and then use tiles to connect the plates. This would result with landing pad a bit over 2 stud thick - and a host of completely new problems ;) . But you won't know if it's worth your effort until you try.

 

- My tree branches consist of black plates 1x6, 1x8 and 1x10 connected with toothed hinge plates, which gives them nice, arched shape. These are covered with a kind of "lace" made mostly of dark green leaves 6x5 and green leaves 4x3. Mind you, this technique, although effective, requires large amounts of leaves. I used over 5,500 altogether.

 

- About the baseplate - as you may have noticed, my landing platform pillars are rooted in massive hills and I strongly advise you to go the same route.  It essentially does not matter which baseplates you use but if you have two 48x48 baseplates, start with these and use as many bricks as you can to strengthen them. You want your "land" as rigid and as well connected with the pillars (possibly with Technic bricks) as possible.

 

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you good luck and a lot of patience!

dmac

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2020 by dmaclego

[titelive]

WOW, it's just insane. Bravo.