[MOC] Jakku Quadjumper Alternative Build

[Retro]

When you go on holiday, it's nice to take Lego with you to tinker with. So I packed 75178 to see what else could be made out of it. A Y-Wing jumped out at me and here it is, on a suitably vacation coloured background.

 

 

 

 

[kylendm]

That's actually really cool. Good job!

[Littleworlds]

I agree. This turned out really cool. Like a Y-Wing if it came from the TOS-universe! 

[BEAVeR]

That's amazing! In fact, one of my fondest early Lego memories was playing just with the bricks from the original Y-wing and TIE advanced set, my first Star Wars set. That set had a lot of alternate models shown in the instruction booklet which was just such a great point for jumping off. Ever since I have loved both Y-wings and the creativity of alternate models, so this model is an absolute gem to me!

You know that an alternate model is really successful if you look at it and wouldn't tell at first sight that it is one, if it would look just the same way if you didn't have the restriction of working only with parts from a single set. And that totally happened to me here. When I looked at your picture, my first thought was that I was just looking at a MOC built to represent the original Y-wing concept art by Ralph McQuarrie with its rounded head and more pronounced cockpit. The final model just looks so clean!

An often overlooked challenge in building an alternative model is the color scheme. It's hard to create a decent color scheme when the pieces that fit a certain challenge only come in a single color. Still, you managed to pull off some really interesting patterns that look like they were meant to be there. I just love what yu did with the U-shaped stripe wrapping around the head of the craft, leading into the guns of the same color. And you resisted the temptation to put the orange pieces in random places to simulate some kind of rust or something like that, which wouldn't have been the best idea since the dominance of the shear amount of the color makes it read as an inherent part of the ship rather than a detail for weathering. I just wander if it ould be possible to make the connection between the fuselage and the engine nacelles a bit more coherent by aligning the dark orange curved slope with the 4x4 round plates of the same color.

Another thing that contributes to the clean look of your model is the overall smoothness of the shape. It was a clever move to use the curved slopes on the main body to make for a gradual transition between the cockpit and the engines. If there are any gaps, you manage to make them look like intentional details rather than unwanted artefacts. For example, you could have opted to make the studs in the nacelles point in the other way so the gap between the wheel rim part and the 4x4 round brick would be in the back of the model and the front would be a smoother connection. That would indeed be smoother, but the way you built it now puts the gap front and center and really shows off the unique texture it has, looking like some kind of mechanical detail or a truss structure supporting the intakes. In general, you use gaps to make the build more interesting, like offsetting the 2x2 brick with grooves by half a stud in the front side of the main body to give it some extra depth. That's really using everything you've got!

If there would be one thing that I'd maybe look at again, it would be the connection between the head and the body. Now it is stuck on (amazing that you managed to pull of that SNOT work by the way) rather squarely without much of a transition. Maybe it would have been possible to put a bit more distance between those two parts of the ship by for example using some of the rounded parts from the engines (which look a tad too long for a Y-wing of your proportions), although that would involve more crazy SNOT work. In any case, I think it would have been interesting to use the wing parts in that section. You could (relatively) easy attach them to the brackets like you did with those curved slopes on the sides of the cockpit and orient them such that they form a sloping transition from the cockpit to the engines. That would really result in a sleek shape and would give some intake-like details. Maybe it would be a bit too different from the original Y-wing shape, but the fact that you put them in the back of the model as a new design feature and the fact that you put the guns behind the astromech droid rather than in front of it tell me that's not really what you're going for.

Congratulations on building such a fine model from such a small set. I think you really pulled everything out of it that you could, making one of the best Star Wars alternative models that I know off. you've defenitely given me the itch to have a crack at it myself once more, just like in the goold old days! And before I go, thank for having fun with those minifigs. That totally made me chuckle

[Kit Bricksto]

I must say that I didn't click on this with much enthusiasm. Most alternative builds are rather forced and you can clearly see where parts were missing. 

This model really took me by surprise though. It looks really solid and all the parts look 'purposefull'. Sure, there are areas you might have done differently if you had all the parts you needed but the overall aesthetic is very cohesive and the colour scheme is quite cool for a Y-Wing too! Great job! You might have convinced me that good alternative builds are not impossible. ;) 

[Retro]

On 8/11/2019 at 1:50 AM, kylendm said:

That's actually really cool. Good job!

 

On 8/11/2019 at 1:58 AM, Littleworlds said:

I agree. This turned out really cool. Like a Y-Wing if it came from the TOS-universe! 

Thanks for your kind words.

 

9 hours ago, Kit Bricksto said:

I must say that I didn't click on this with much enthusiasm.

I'll try to use a less depressing title next time.  But thanks for your appreciation, Kit.

[Retro]

21 hours ago, BEAVeR said:

That's amazing!

Wow, I never thought I would qualify for an official BEAVeR review! It's like finding yourself appearing in the New York Times. Thank you for the time and effort you took to praise little details that no-one else in their right mind would have spotted. And thank you for your insightful suggestions.

When I was growing up in the 80s, I only liked glossy photos from the films (ROTJ being 'my' film). Now that I'm older, I appreciate more the great quirky models and paintings done behind the scenes by Cantwell and McQuarrie et al, so thanks for making that comparison even though it was not consciously intended on my part!

One of my main inspirations for doing an alternative build was the fantastic house church that Alan Boar made using all the parts from 31026 (and which I did my best to reverse engineer once upon a time). Initially I therefore hoped to re-use all the parts from 75178 in one model. Buy as the y-wing materialised, I thought I would end up compromising the aesthetic by trying to shoe-horn all the parts in. But that's partly why the nacelles ended up so long - from initially trying to use as many parts as possible! 

The patterns I made using the sloping parts were deliberate, yes. And it was also nice to find the parts to make the offset engine intakes work.

I will see what I can do about making the orange on the nacelles line up with the body!

As for the connection between the cockpit and the body, I did wonder at length could I get some kind of extra transition to work, but I thought I might not have enough parts. Now that I have made one finished version that I like, you have inspired me to tinker again and see if I can come up with something new there. If I succeed, I will post it.

Also, thanks for checking out the figs. I'm not sure what the grey globe on the lady's head is doing ...perhaps it is a bun like Aunt Flo in Bod.

[HamdenKid]

Very nice!!

[Kit Bricksto]

13 hours ago, Retro said:

I'll try to use a less depressing title next time.  But thanks for your appreciation, Kit.

Haha that's not what I meant, the title is perfectly fine. I just meant that I wasn't looking forward to another mediocre alternative build but you absolutely defied my expectations there. :D 

[Retro]

Version 2. Having interpreted two of the suggestions made by@BEAVeR, I moved the fin pieces to the front to make a smoother (Clone Wars-ish?) transition between cockpit and body, and also shortened the nacelles. Still only using Quadjumper pieces. I may get around to a Version 3...

 

 

 

 

 

[m4st3rt3ch]

Much better!

[Retro]

On 8/14/2019 at 9:37 PM, HamdenKid said:

Very nice!!

 

On 8/16/2019 at 12:36 AM, m4st3rt3ch said:

Much better!

Thanks folks.

Well, since that was so much fun, I turned to the other set I brought with me (!), 75258, and using only parts from that I made another alternative build thing. I had one more day of the Pink Table before going home, so I took a few pictures of what I'm calling a Geonosian Creature. He also hopped onto the roof our car.

 

 

 

[BEAVeR]

I'm glad that my comments could inspire you, Retro, because I really dig how v2 looks! The front view is just great and I love how the gap between the tailfin parts plays off the inset 2x2 brick with groove to create a compelling amount of depth in your model. Another fun reveal in the front view is how clean the underside of the cockpit looks with those inverted tiles and the 4x4 double inverted slope plate, making that you can find beauty in your creation no matter in what orientation you look at it!

In the end, you made integrating the tail fin parts just so easy, cleverly making the transition with the engine intakes by capping the fins with those flat silver grill tiles. That doesn't just echo the material of the intakes, but the shape language as well. It makes me wonder whether you tried to flip the orientation of those grill tiles by 90 degrees so the grooves in the tiles directly match the grooves in the rim pieces and would also provide a bit more structural rigidity. Finally, I'm still wondering if it is possible to move the enitire head maybe a stud forward... You could already gain some space by placing the gun in front of the astromech, but if my experience in building alternate models has thought me anything, I'm guessing that you're probably out of nice plates to bridge the gap

Obviously, the creature you built is a bit less polished, but still looks nice enough with the great organic shaping of the back and the studs that kind of work as some kind of scale-like texture. But yet again, you manage to convince me you tried to built something else than what you describe, because to me it looks really close to the Opee Sea Killer we see in Episode I The shape of the feet is just perfect for that, as are the crazy eyes, and one could even go as far as to interpert those clips sticking out on the side as guills! O well, maybe I'm just going crazy...

Anyway, I'm glad that you brought just the right amount of bricks on your holiday. I'm sad to see the pink table go though

[Retro]

@BEAVeR Yep, I did try the flat silver grill tiles the other way around first and while that probably made more engineering sense, I felt they looked more streamlined the way I put them, certainly for the 'top' view of the ship.

Maybe one day I will move the cockpit one stud forward. But, to accommodate the orange fins in their V2 position, I already had to make the body one stud wider each side so I was really running on fumes as far as pieces were concerned! And I wanted it to still be stable enough to swoosh.

That's genius about the Opee Sea Killer. I shall re-name it thus on Flickr. 

The Pink Table (C) might return in summer 2020!