75217 Conveyex Mod - full length train

[Daddy_Stardust]

Well I finished this around 6 months ago, but I've been just so lazy at getting round to photographing it. So finally here it is, our modified 75217 Conveyex with 6 carriages and 2 locomotives, gave it a windscreen, bulked up the greebling, gave it more detail:

 

Filled out the empty interiors with a simple engine block (admittedly really just to fill it out and remove the interior holes that could be seen all the way through than to give it any major interior detail):

 

Removed the gun turrets, added red-vented hatches, smoothed out the carriages and doorways:

 

Each locomotive has a Conveyex driver in one side and a combat driver in the other side:

 

First carriage - officer's mess with dejarik table (includes Iden Versio in her stormtrooper dress uniform):

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Second carriage - cargo hold designed to hold the Imperial cargo containers from 75141 Kanan's Speeder Bike:

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Third carriage - following the death of Dryden Vos, Grand Admiral Thrawn has laid claim to his collection of ancient artefacts, which are being transported to him under elite guard (includes a holocron, a kalikori, ancient Mandalorian armour, the statue of The Dancing Goddess and Xim's Death Head (along with numerous jewels):

 

Fourth carriage - Stormtrooper barracks:

 

Fifth and sixth carriages - infantry, guards, technical crew and rebel prisoners:

 

Full length in all her glory:

 

Edited September 29, 2019 by Daddy_Stardust

[Farseer Petriel]

This train is very cool! I like the interior, especially officers playing dejarik, Dryden Vos' collection and stormtroopers having fun. This gives the Empire more life and soul which they lack in films as they're supposed to be flat villains.

[Cylo]

That looks great! I like how you made all the interiors different instead of just the same!

[darththeling]

Totally love this, was thinking of something similar or at least buying one additional kit and having them displayed back-to-back. Did you buy a bunch of kits on sale or just Bricklink each middle carriage/car individually? 

75217 never gets enough love so it's nice to see a moc like this. Thanks for sharing!

[Daddy_Stardust]

5 hours ago, darththeling said:

Totally love this, was thinking of something similar or at least buying one additional kit and having them displayed back-to-back. Did you buy a bunch of kits on sale or just Bricklink each middle carriage/car individually? 

75217 never gets enough love so it's nice to see a moc like this. Thanks for sharing!

Many thanks, the retail set was always really ugly looking with nothing but a locomotive and single carriage, so it never screamed "train", looked like a weird steam iron with a trailer or something. However as per mine above, even if they'd just greebled up the front and put on the simple cockpit effect, I think that alone already looks way better and would have hardly affected the cost of the set. But once you start adding carriages and turn it into a real train, that's when it truly comes to life. Obviously there's some incredible MOCs out there, mine's just a modded simplistic retail set, and my variant would be way too expensive to justify on the System market, but I do thoroughly love it now (I can't MOC to save my life, but I do love toying around with a good aesthetic makeover).

I bought 3 retail sets off Amazon for £48 each, Bricklinked one carriage for about £34, then checked Ebay and made an offer and got a complete set with no box or minifigures for £30 (+£5.00 shipping) and then another set I bidded on and won for £29.95, free shipping, again no minifigures. Bricklinking it was a pain as no single store had everything (domestically) so just in shopping Ebay for figureless sets was way more cost-effective and indeed cheaper in the second case from Ebay (all the bricks from the additional locomotives alone can then be utilised as good value spares).

God knows what I spent on parts after that though... the fact that it's containing 39 minifigures, I can't imagine how much that would cost on the retail market if it was a real set haha.

Edited September 30, 2019 by Daddy_Stardust

[Mylenium]

I concur with the others - nice to get a "real" Conveyex. It's really too bad that the commercial set doesn't even contain a second and third carriage. If it did I'm sure more people would have bought it...

Mylenium

[Flieger]

The idea is certainly very cool, the train being a microcosm of the Empire. I love all the details. Reminds me a bit of snowpiercer.

As others have said, the official Lego set suffered from not being recognisable as a train set. The scene in the movie was also a bit too short to generate huge interest. I mean the Rangetroopers are cool and all, but they are seen for a few seconds. Lego should have gone all in: add at least another carriage, add a speeder from the Marauders, add a Viper droid, and add a more minifigs. Yes, that would have been far more expensive but I do not think a train set can work without carriages and additional 'stuff'. It needs to be part of a bigger world, and unless there is a Star Wars Trains subtheme, that means a big set.

 

[Sucram]

Now this is what I call a great mod. Excellent job and love the interior spaces

[Cjd223]

Great mod to this set/model! Definitely perks up interest in this set now, especially since it is currently on Sale (At least in the U.S. it is)

[Seb84]

?

Edited March 30, 2020 by Seb84

[Jerry McGlade]

Great MOD

[KevinYoung]

Very cool I like it.

[MAVERICK26]

Nice