[MOD] V-wing with room for an astromech [WIP]

[Glassjaw]

So, I recently picked up the Imperial version of the V-wing, 7915. The first thing that struck me about it, as well as the other versions about this ship (apart from it being gorgeous and a little odd) was that none of them have room to fit the whole astromech in. So I thought I'd change that.

https://imgur.com/a/PeDdZ

I also made a few further changes; extending the lower fins by two studs with some smooth pieces to give them a little more mass and stability, slight changes to the side of the cockpit so that the canopy is closed and changes to the cockpit itself so the pilot has a console.

I've also beefed up the blasters, they don't fall of as easily and the awkward exposed studs are covered.

The mechanism to have the wings rotate in tandem is gone to fit the droid, but I've still put a technic pin in, this provides some friction to the wings, so they still rotate but not spin freely, and gives them some security. I think they also sit a good distance from the fuselage.

The deflector shield heat sinks I think could be longer? Pictures of the ship have them covering the engine exhausts a bit more than I have here, I might go back and change this, maybe 2 studs longer? Not sure if anything more than this would take them out of proportion (Lego proportions that is) and I don't want them being too bulky.

I'm happy-ish with the top of the rear, I wanted to keep detailing to a minimum because it's a Republic era design, but made in the rise of the empire so vents, grills, details would be more prevalent. I've used the gun tower power vent from the Attack on Hoth set, mainly because it was the right shape, but I think the print helps.

The engines themselves I'm not too happy with and will definitely go back and play around with these, as well as the underside of the rear fuselage. I don't like the flat bottom, but it's supporting the rest of the rear. It's here you can see I've only added a few studs to the overall length.

I'm a little concerned the ship as a whole is now too long for how big it should be, I may see about shortening the nose.

I'm also considering trying to get more of a slope to the nose, without making the whole thing too thick, thoughts?

Any ideas or constructive feedback much appreciated, there will be updates as I play around with it. Anyone else doing something similar?

Edited February 3, 2018 by Glassjaw

[Moppo]

Pretty impressive, it looks to be as compact as you can make it and still fit the whole droid in there.

It's not just the Lego version that had issues with fitting the droid in there. I don't know how it stands in current canon, but it used to be that there wasn't enough room for a standard astromech, so they used Q-Series astromechs instead, which are spherical, and have repulsors. :P