Jerac

[MOC] Star Wars: The X-Wing Story

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I also thought a minifig wouldn’t fit in with the new helmet. It turned out you have to push the minifig down in the cockpit quite forcefully. I bet it will click into place that way, and the cockpit will close fully. 

Plus, you might also want to check that you have pushed the pieces right under the windscreen all the way down, tightly between the gaps. 

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18 minutes ago, Kalekko said:

I also thought a minifig wouldn’t fit in with the new helmet. It turned out you have to push the minifig down in the cockpit quite forcefully. I bet it will click into place that way, and the cockpit will close fully. 

Plus, you might also want to check that you have pushed the pieces right under the windscreen all the way down, tightly between the gaps. 

Note that if you push down too hard, you'll explode the nose into a bunch of pieces.

Getting the new helmets into most MOCs seems to be a bit of a challenge.

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NOT THIS AGAIN.

I heard that every creator passes some of his traits or soul into his creations, whatever the medium. I think it is sentimental... thing* but in this case it is all true: I am a short guy and the pilots for my ships have to be short as well. First, the TIEs, where I fixed it finally with the First Order design. Then the Bomber, which had a major redesign. Then Vader also wouldn't fit initially, As for X-Wing, we tested this with BrickVault. I specifically removed one tile from the seat to add that one plate height required to fit the new helmet. It was all right. 

AND IT IS LIKE THAT AGAIN.

But I strongly believe it should fit, because by that time we usually had way more reports of issues with the helmets... try checking all the parts, especially the submodule with the seat piece.

*do you know Eurobricks forum autofixes offensive words, in this case the droppings of a male cow, into "megabloks" word? :D

Edited by Jerac

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It's okay. I fixed it. 

The problem was I jumped the gun and put the pilot in before construction was finished. I figured this would be easier but it turns out until you install the technical t-shaped piece at the rear the seat module has a tendency to bend upwards and thusly a pilot won't fit. 

So really it was never an issue. 

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Thanks! Yeah, the build really gets its final stiffness very late when all the parts are attached. This is a side effect of external submodules being the load-bearing ones.

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Jerac, I'm absolutely intrigued by your gearbox solution. Do you see any obvious flaws in trying to adapt it for T-70's split S-foil design? I have Inthert's T-70 sitting just across the room and love it to bits except everything about the S-foils is ridiculously brittle. Your solution, on the other hand, looks remarkably solid.

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Well the T-70 is in pipeline later this year, altough most likely it won't be finished in 2018. I intend to use the very same solution for wings, unless their smaller width causes issues warranting developing a different solution. 

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Here is my progress on a white and red Red Five.

Made some modifications to the wings to allow me to use the printed pieces that came with the older sets.

Added lots of changed colour panels to the model work, including a mod to the side of the nose so that the red striping would be a consistent height on the model. 

I've also modded the top engines so that I could get the dark tan into the right one. 

For the most part this is as screen accurate as I can make it so far, though I am going to Bricklink some more pieces and make the nose in white. 

Any thoughts or suggestions? 

 

44469217245_60ca2ccd91_k.jpg

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Can you show a 3/4 shot, top-side-front? Certainly it looks interesting!

I totally did not get that idea of using printed tiles... damn!

Edited by Jerac

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1 hour ago, Jerac said:

Can you show a 3/4 shot, top-side-front? Certainly it looks interesting!

I totally did not get that idea of using printed tiles... damn!

Here you go.

The biggest change that wasn't just a colour swap is the engine, which I built in reverse practically so that the dark tan curved bricks could be at the front. I built the other engine to match too. 

30445498937_eee25e753c_o.jpg

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Right. I see what you did with the strip near the cockpit. As you can see, it is already showing a gap. It really needs to be 1x4 plate instead of pair of 1x2s.
Since this change affects structural integrity, this will definitely void the warranty :D
On a more serious note, this is okay for display purposes but it means the nose is now very weakly connected and can snap off during moving the ship. 

If I can recommend something, use a white 1x4 under the hinge piece and make the strip with a red sticker.

As for the engines it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

Edited by Jerac

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So... yeah. About that warranty? Since mine was well and truly voided, I thought I might as well crack on.

I got it finished last weekend. I made a lot of subtle changes, which I won't bore you all with until I've taken better pictures.

The biggest change is an upgraded cannon design, based on @dmaclego's amazing work. All credit to him.

43576056370_56ef6e7215_z.jpg

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43576063800_d592b12a72_z.jpg

31518680858_7f2ed53ba1_z.jpg

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This design differs from Dmac's original in that it uses wheels with a larger diameter. This doesn't require a rare variant on an old cog to hold it together, and I believe it is a better fit for the scale.

I can go into more detail on how to build this if anyone is interested.

Edited by ScottishDave
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6 hours ago, ScottishDave said:

This design differs from Dmac's original in that it uses wheels with a larger diameter. This doesn't require a rare variant on an old cog to hold it together, and I believe it is a better fit for the scale.

I can go into more detail on how to build this if anyone is interested.

Of course we want to see this. 

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17 hours ago, cehnot said:

Of course we want to see this. 

Well, nobody seems to be contradicting you, so here goes. I hate this part... as a programmer, documentation is my Kryptonite.

Parts

To make a set of four cannons, you will need the following parts from Jerac’s original design:

  • Four grey round hollow studs
  • Four spoked wheels
  • Four 16L 3mm rigid hoses.
  • Twenty Technic half pins: six of them blue, the rest grey.

Plus the following new parts:

To rebuild the wingtips to accommodate the new cannons, you'll need the following, either in white or grey depending on the colour of the rest of your X-Wing. Consult the photo in the post above for placement.

Part Notes

The thin cogs and timing wheels are optional but I do think that they add something accuracy-wise: especially the thin cog which neatly mimics the 14-spoke part used in the X-wing studio model.

45364632812_e9f257d5e6_z.jpg

Before anyone asks, the door rails pictured in my first post on the cannons are completely optional - they are there to reproduce a detail from the studio model. You can use the original 1 x 4 plates without issue.

Certain parts can be either white or grey as you prefer. The 14mm wheels, spoked wheels, rigid hoses, technic half pins and round hollow studs are available in white, and would look good on a white X-Wing: but the pins and rigid hoses much rarer and more expensive than the light bluish grey ones that I used.

Building

The cannon tip is a train axle, with 2.5 cm (or 1 inch) showing. The rest is shoved into the rigid hose for strength. There are another two train axles per cannon: one immediately behind the first, to combat sagging between the technic pins and the tip of the cannon, and the other joining the original 16L hose to another 6L length to make a total of 22L, which passes through the centre of the cannon body.

Here are the parts, before I threaded the axles into the hoses. The axles are shown in their final positions within the hose:

45363823662_4243539b37_c.jpg

And here is the finished reinforced hose, with cannon tip:

45363825012_e3e582e4bb_c.jpg

You then simply thread the parts onto the reinforced rigid hose in order. There should be enough friction to hold everything in place. Some parts will be looser than others. The important parts are the technic pins and the motor pulleys, as these keep everything else together. The end of the reinforced hose should be flush with the end of the motor pulley:

45416299871_a27bd065c4_z.jpg

The “splashback” - the curved part just behind the tip of the cannon - is made of a hockey mask and a hollow round stud. It takes a bit of effort to get the hockey mask over the end of the hose, but it will go.

45364631872_5f26b7ca28_z.jpg

Cannon Supports

As in the original studio model, the cannons are attached to the wing using three supports. These are very accurate, and therefore also the weakest, dodgiest part of the build.

The supports consist of three short lengths of rigid hose, slightly squashed at one end to fit into slots in the wheels. To repeat the photo, in context:

45393959971_51a9a814e8_c.jpg

The outer two supports are 1cm long. The middle one is 8mm. It is shorter than the outer two because it attaches to a jumper plate instead of to round hollow studs.

Use a pair of pliers and very gentle pressure to squash half the length of the support hoses to about half the original diameter. Do not overdo it,or they won’t grip the wheels properly. Then push them into the slots in the wheels. In this photo I've put two in, and you can see the slot in the last wheel before the pulley:

45364630722_64f5fd8274_z.jpg

If done correctly the join is strong enough for display purposes: but don’t hold the model by a cannon or your X-wing will crash into the Death Star.

I hope that's clear enough, but please shout if I've missed something.

 

 

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Now I know how people designing cars feel when they see their creation with crazy aftermarket parts. Amazing, in a good honest way! 

I love all the little changes people do. Please keep them coming! I'd like to do a compilation of every non-stock ship one day.

Edited by Jerac

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Is there some trick to preventing the entire body from being loose against the wings? It rocks side to side on my model and often pings off the engine intakes. 

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Hey, a quick question (and bear with me for having troubles explaining, I'm doing this out of memory since I'm at work right now - plus not having english as my first language).

After building the first "X-part" that the wings attach to, I noticed that the little gears in the middle (the gearbox that makes the wings fold) might not be perfectly set. This causes the middle part (the one with clips on the sides) to slant towards the left side (seen from the front). So it tilts more towards the left instead of equally much towards both sides. If I tilt it towards the right side it is horizontal with the rest of the ship - with no or very little force applied. So my question is: Did I screw up? Do I need to rebuild that part? I connected all four wings and the folding-mechanic seems to work as it should. I'm just worried that it could cause some trouble later on, or strain on the parts. Or is it supposed to be like this?

Sorry for the gibberish; hopefully someone understands what I mean here.

Edited by danielwerner

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10 hours ago, PriorMarcus said:

Is there some trick to preventing the entire body from being loose against the wings? It rocks side to side on my model and often pings off the engine intakes. 

Unfortunately this is the biggest issue I had, and despite all the work I put into it, I couldn't find a definite solution. This is also a problem studio models had. 

The gearbox is providing all the friction. However, please show me few photos of the rear area from different angles, with wings open and closed. I might find some issue.

 

 

52 minutes ago, danielwerner said:

Hey, a quick question (and bear with me for having troubles explaining, I'm doing this out of memory since I'm at work right now - plus not having english as my first language).

After building the first "X-part" that the wings attach to, I noticed that the little gears in the middle (the gearbox that makes the wings fold) might not be perfectly set. This causes the middle part (the one with clips on the sides) to slant towards the left side (seen from the front). So it tilts more towards the left instead of equally much towards both sides. If I tilt it towards the right side it is horizontal with the rest of the ship - with no or very little force applied. So my question is: Did I screw up? Do I need to rebuild that part? I connected all four wings and the folding-mechanic seems to work as it should. I'm just worried that it could cause some trouble later on, or strain on the parts. Or is it supposed to be like this?

Sorry for the gibberish; hopefully someone understands what I mean here.

I understand perfectly. Yes, you need to rebuild this section. There will be no straining pieces or no damage or anything, but the wings will be always slanted in relation to the fuselage. It is important to get the gears and axles straight in the first few steps of the build. 

Edited by Jerac

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8 minutes ago, Jerac said:

I understand perfectly. Yes, you need to rebuild this section. There will be no straining pieces or no damage or anything, but the wings will be always slanted in relation to the fuselage. It is important to get the gears and axles straight in the first few steps of the build. 

Thanks! :) So if the gear is set correctly that part should be able to tilt equally much in both directions, correct? Because right now it's like it tilts 2 cm down on the right side, and nothing on the left (it's horizontal only when pushed as much as possible to the right).

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Yes, exactly. If you do it right it will be perfectly level. Do you perhaps have an idea how to show it in the instructions?

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While I have seen about a million different x wings, yours is definitely one of the best. You're definitely one of the best builders in the business.

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22 hours ago, Jerac said:

Do you perhaps have an idea how to show it in the instructions?

Hmm, not sure. To be frank, I'm not even sure where I went wrong myself. The cogwheel was perfectly set in place in the two window bricks, and I tried to put it as close to the pictures as possible. Does it matter where it is placed inside the window "tracks"; how close to the edge on either side? Or should it just be in the middle? I may have screwed up by twisting the axles on both sides. Perhaps you know the exact part where I went wrong, that caused this kind of problem? I haven't had time to rebuild. :)

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Perhaps you twisted it. It doesn't matter where you put the cogs, just their rotation. They will self-right later on when you embed the gearbox in supporting structure.

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12 minutes ago, Jerac said:

Perhaps you twisted it. It doesn't matter where you put the cogs, just their rotation. They will self-right later on when you embed the gearbox in supporting structure.

Ah, so the the cogs and axles have to have the exact same rotation on both sides? I think that's the issue then. Maybe, if anything, that part needs some extra emphasis. But it might also just be that I didn't pay it enough attention. :)

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On 10/24/2018 at 11:01 AM, Jerac said:

Perhaps you twisted it. It doesn't matter where you put the cogs, just their rotation. They will self-right later on when you embed the gearbox in supporting structure.

Alright, now I've finally had the time to rebuild, and it looks a lot better. :) I was very careful with aligning the gears and axles at the exakt same rotation on both sides. Right now, when building as far as connecting the wings (page 31), everything is perfectly level as far as I can see. Might be some millimeters off but I can't imagine that would matter. However, the main fu tilt down to the right but not the left. I assume that's normal, it shouldn't tilt to both sides right? I put the key in and the tilting can no longer be done, the X-fold mechanic works fine and looks level to me.

xwing1.jpg.ac813657a055a33e9274bb455b3db6e4.jpg

xwing2.jpg.1b6900150ce3acde4c380fe65e68804d.jpg

Edited by danielwerner

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