[MOC] Harrower Class Dreadnought

[Brick-Wombat]

I don't have any experience with the games, but I saw a picture of the Harrower and was inspired. Aesthetically, I love the aggressive shape of the ship. The engine design is quite different from typical ISD style designs and I really like how the ship is absolutely covered with quad laser and quad turbo emplacements. Strategically speaking, this ship makes a lot more sense than "newer" Republic or Imperial style destroyer designs.

A few retro improvements (in my opinion at least):

- Command  bridge is less exposed compared to Acclamator, Venator, Imperator

- Engines are recessed and less exposed compared to Acclamator and Venator

-Quad laser turrets are placed on the top and bottom sides of the hull which provides better coverage than if placed in the trenches.

-The front and side hangar entrances are recessed which would give ingress and egress of fighters more protection

 

Time will tell if I make this IRL. Either way, it was a fun little build.

 

 

More views in the spoiler.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference Image:

Spoiler

 

Edited May 21, 2019 by K_W

[Cylo]

Very nice build! I like how you built the engines, it looks great! It would definitly be interesting to see it built in real life.

[Brick-Wombat]

Thanks @Reaper. Ironically, in one of my WiP builds, I had originally built the engines incorrectly. It wasn't until Ryan Olsen told me of my mistake on Flickr that I made the change. Would highly recommend checking his stuff out if you like SNOT build space ships! 

Spoiler

 

 

[Ellisss_2]

Awesome build, my favourite Dreadnaught, I like the little details! The engines are correct on both, different types were shown: the circular typical variant in the “Return” cinematic and the wedge shaped engines in the game. The render you used is from the cinematic, so I suspect you were correct the first time.

[ProvenceTristram]

Love it. And the game is actually pretty fun, if you're bored. I can't recommend the Sith Inquisitor and Agent storylines highly enough.

[Brick-Wombat]

@Ellisss_2 Thanks for enlightening me! Goes to show how little I know about the ship. =/ 

@ProvenceTristram Noted. What type of game is it? The only games I've played recently are SC2, BFV, and TW:WH, so I'm a bit out of touch with the gaming world. 

[ProvenceTristram]

2 hours ago, K_W said:

@Ellisss_2 Thanks for enlightening me! Goes to show how little I know about the ship. =/ 

@ProvenceTristram Noted. What type of game is it? The only games I've played recently are SC2, BFV, and TW:WH, so I'm a bit out of touch with the gaming world. 

It's a weird MMORPG that you can essentially play solo. The endgame is meh, which is why it is regarded as a flop. On the other hand, it's free to play, so you don't have to pony up a red cent if you don't want to.

https://www.swtor.com/

Edited May 22, 2019 by ProvenceTristram

[BEAVeR]

I must say I was never a big fan of how the Harrower-class Dreadnought looked in those otherwise awesome cinematic game trailers. The design looked weird and confusing, not very readable with all the different notches and extra planes desparately thrown in in hopes of making it look unique and sophisticated. It felt like a couple of shapes haphazardly glued together and cut into. Or maybe it's just that prevalent low angle shot that really didn't do the design justice. Whatever is the case Swan Dutchman's amazing MOC of it finally made me appreciate the design of the ship. He made it slimmer and the shapes just felt right. It kind of became the new official version of the ship in my mind. Until I saw your creation.

Design wise, your version seems to do the opposite of what Swan Dutchman did, but I only love it more because of it. Your design ended up shorter and wider. The central triangle shape on your MOC also doesn't jut up as a single block from the body of the ship, but grows in different steps, with different layers just like on the ISD. The rows of cannons with the cheese slopes in between it literally tie the central triangle to the body, with the two parallellogram protrusions serving as extra anchor points. The "wings" protruding from the side of the ship are better proportioned and angled than in the reference: they give a more interesting profile to the ship without detracting from the main shape. Those large "ears" attached to the bridge have a nice heft and don't look fragile like on the original, and your hard work to align them perfectly with the other faces of the ship pays off wonderfully. And finally, I love the decision to go with the diamond shaped engines rather than the round ones: the round shapes really don't appear anywhere else on the ship (I also find them to be the weakest part of the design of the ISD), but those facets shapes are both a perfect complement to the rest of the ship and a believable engine, although it might not look as big because it is just one big surface.

Translating a model from a reference into a Lego creation is a complex series of decision. For every feature, you only have a handful of fundamental options: "am I going to make this 2 plates thick or one brick wide?" "am I going to make it five or six studs long?" "will I work with 2x3 or 2x4 plates?" "will I work with tiles or with SNOT?". It's a series of approximations, of rounding up or rounding down. And you seem to have mastered making the right decisions, to accumulate all that wiggle room to get a beautiful creation. To on one hand stay close enough to the original to keep it recognisable and accurate, but on the other hand improve on it by making consistent choices such that everything lines op nicely together. Perhaps you didn't use some fancy SNOT technique to perfectly replicate the angle of the ship, but instead you opted for techniques that look consistent throughout the ship and give a very clean finish. It results in a ship that looks plausible and solid, not with all random parts thrown together but one block of power coming your way. Squat but mean. A great balance.

If I would change anything in the design, it would only be small things to make the shape even more coherent. For example at the backside, the sharp corners at the outside of the engines. Right now, it looks like you wanted to still represent the chamfer of the engines there but didn't have enough space for a 45° slope, so instead selected a cheese slope to still suggest the angle. However, in my eye this disrupts the flow more, introducing new levels and new angles, such that it isn't as clean anymore and really looks like a builder's compromise. It might be better to just have a hard edge there and even live with the gap it causes. Maybe you could also embrace the gap and use it to put some detail there, maybe with some minifig utensil hammers sticking out or something like that. Another area is the underside of the ship with those pentagonal Nexoknight tiles used to simulate a sharp edge. Again, they only introduce new textures and angles which really makes them jump out instead of blend in. I would just replace them with those 4x3 plates with wedges on both sides and a cutout in the middle to get the same angles going as in the rest of the ship. Accepting the blunt nose it creates only echoes the decisions you already made for the triangle on top of the ship and the two prongs of the ship. A final thing would be some details. For example, now you've alternated those hinge plates in the 'trench' in the side of the ship I guess to give it a more even texture. But it only breaks the flow by adding all of these angles that are close to each other but not quite the same. I would just attach all hinge plates on the same side and it will become a lot cleaner. Maybe also more monotonic, but then you could add some other elements in between, like those simple plates you used for instance in the 'wing' portion of the side or maybe even technic bricks with a hollow stud that attach to those pins of the hinge plates. Plenty of options. And maybe also think about some more interesting things you could do with the detailing in the central cut-out of the hull, where now you just have some plane plates, a grill tile and a 2x2 jumper plate. Maybe those 1x2 plates with a triangular part with either a ball or cup attached to them would fit perfectly? On the other hand, I must say I love the fact that you chose 1x4 transparent tiles for the hangars instead of 1x1 or 1x2 tiles. The pins give some really nice dimension and detail to them, suggesting other ships in the hanger. Great touch!

Thanks for your awesome creation. In my head, the Dreadnought looks a lot better now. And I learned a lot from your model as well. I do hope you get to make it for real some day!

[ProvenceTristram]

K_W if you sell instructions for this at some point, I'll definitely buy. It would make an excellent display model for my computer desk.

[Brick-Wombat]

@BEAVeR Wow! Thank you for such a thorough assessment! Your suggested improvements are especially insightful, and I'll certainly consider them. You highlighted some of the key things I would like to change or improve in the future. The left/right engine tips don't look very clean at the moment, the hangar build is a bit bland, the trench could use some more variety than just the hinge plates, and my attempt to cover up the gap in the nose with the tiles doesn't blend very well with the angular shape. 

I'll be sure to post any updates here. And thanks again!

@ProvenceTristram Will keep you posted. There are a couple subtle things I need to clean up on the inside, but, if I make this public, I'll probably just share the 3D file on Rebrickable. 

 

[Xelveki]

That's awesome. I look forward to the files.

I've got most of an Imperial Fleet. I'm looking to get myself a Sith Empire fleet going if possible. :)

[Brick-Wombat]

Apologies for not seeing your comment earlier @Xelveki. And thank you! However, I'm not going to make instructions, so if you'd like the 3D files, please feel free to PM me.

Edited September 3, 2019 by K_W

[suruq]

Are the instructions or 3d file available?

I'd like to build that beauty!

[Mandalorianknight]

This design looks amazing! I love both the engine designs, and the shaping is done really well.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Mandalorianknight

[Davy Jones]

I am a huge Fan of the Sith-Empire and its ships. I have waited a log time for this. Do ypu mind to give me the files of this project? 

Absolutely awesome

-Davy Jones

Also I want to inspire you for another Sith-Empire project. The Picture is given below

Edited April 11, 2020 by Davy Jones

[BST5821]

Are there instructions for this?

[unknownp4radox]

hey mate can you send the ldd file

 

[mrstrafeman]

Hi. Can I get somehow the 3D file for this build. I really want to make it IRL. I'm new on this website, and idk how we can communicate, if not here, but if its possible, I would be really happy if can get it.

[Mandalorianknight]

4 hours ago, mrstrafeman said:

Hi. Can I get somehow the 3D file for this build. I really want to make it IRL. I'm new on this website, and idk how we can communicate, if not here, but if its possible, I would be really happy if can get it.

Unfortunately, since he hasn't been on in 4 months (and since the last posts on this thread are similar requests from years ago) I don't think you're gonna be able to get the file.

[mrstrafeman]

4 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Unfortunately, since he hasn't been on in 4 months (and since the last posts on this thread are similar requests from years ago) I don't think you're gonna be able to get the file.

Aaah, yeah, I see. That is sad. It is a really good looking build. I try to build it in Studio 2.0, but i don't know how he make the inside connections and the engines, so... I that is why I need his help, or the file.