[MOC] Minifig Scale Clone Wars LAAT/i Republic Gunship

[IcarusBuilds]

Hey everyone, today I bring you my take on a minifig scale LAAT/i or Republic Gunship.

Firstly, this thing is complicated... I started working on this early last year, but took a break from it because trying to figure out how to translate the complex shape of this thing was driving my crazy.

While there are a lot of really nice gunships out there, I really wanted to see if I could match the narrow profile of the front of the ship, as well as get the flare out to the back that it has. Needless to say, accomplishing that in Lego is not easy, but I think I came up with a decent solution.

 

The entire upper part of the gunship actually tapers from 6 studs wide in the back, down to 4 in the front. The "floor" of the gunship also tapers, which is one of the most common things people seem to avoid in other MOCs, probably because it's a major pain to do and it messes with the door alignment. The doors utilize technic fig hands and mixel joints to achieve the sloping from the front to back of the gunship. The doors were a real challenge due to the angles, and my first go at it didn't have enough head room to allow for a fig to stand inside, so I had to take another go at it, but this version seems to hold up.

 

As usual a pic with my Delta-7B for scale.

And some other colour variants.

 

I've also done some test building to make sure that this thing actually works, I was worried that with all the angles it would be extremely brittle, but it holds together better then I thought it would.

 

Inspiration notes: 
Under wing supports as well as some frontal structure inspired by Caleb Ricks.
Front nose roundness inspired by Maelven.
Engine build inspired by Chef Aslopert.
Engine cones inspired by Kit Bricksto.
Flood/Search lights inspired by David Buchholz.

Edited March 4, 2020 by IcarusBuilds

[tfcrafter]

I really like this. Great work!

[Kristof]

How many more great Laat mocs are coming down the pipe :D There has been like 3 in last month! Wonderful rendition for sure, your execution of the rounded/tapered shape of the front fuselage is the best I have seen! I love it pretty much unconditionally, except two details - the tile work on the back edge of the sliding door makes for a nasty stepped edge. I would easily prefer studs over that minecrafty look :) Second, despite the slopes being decent approximation fo the rounded bodies of the top canons, it still looks kind of blocky. Both these places I think stand out quite a lot in comparison with everything else being wonderfully rounded and smooth. But anyway, great model, at least aesthetically :)

[Graupensuppe]

I hope the UCS set is going to look this good!

[Kit Bricksto]

Every now and then someone posts a MOC of something that you had considered (or even started already) to build and it's so good that you just want to give up your own attempt.. this is definitely one of those models! You just captured the shapes and profiles so perfectly. I really look forward to seeing the finished model in real bricks.

I do have two little nitpicks though. I feel like the proportions of the doors in comparison to each other don't quite match the source material yet. The front doors seem to be a bit too long to me.
And maybe you can find a way to make the engines look a bit smoother? The rest of the ship has such well built curves and angles that the engines look a bit crude in comparison. I know how hard it is to get round objects with a diameter of three studs. I think the part that's bothering me is mostly the tapered parts in the front.
You've probably already put a lot of time and effort into the engines but if you can bear to work on them any more that might be something you could improve this already excellent model even more with.

[Cylo]

Whoa this looks amazing! I really like how you made go wider throughout the ship, I really like it!

[Brick-Wombat]

The overall shaping and proportions of this is the best I've seen! Admittedly, the blockiness of the two canons is a little jarring considering how smooth and curvy the rest of the model is. Regardless, my jaw is on the floor. Well done!! The bar has been set very high for the upcoming Lego UCS version.

[IcarusBuilds]

I'm glad everyone likes it! Although I have to admit, I'm a little disheartened to hear that no one seems to like the engine/cannon design. I was really proud that I was able to get the slight variations in diameter with a 3 stud round base.

If anyone knows of a way to get a rounder 3 stud wide cylinder that doesn't rely on the 30360, I'd be more then happy to try and incorporate it into the design.

18 hours ago, Kit Bricksto said:

I feel like the proportions of the doors in comparison to each other don't quite match the source material yet. The front doors seem to be a bit too long to me.

In regards to the doors, I scaled mine off of the concept art of the LAAT from the show. Of which the front doors measure out to 9.8 studs in length, with the rear doors coming out to 15.5 studs. Mine are 10 and 15, so the rear door is technically a bit short, but the front door is actually fairly close. I think it looks long because most builds including LEGO's have it as being quite short, and the rear door length on the movie version is actually longer which would make the front door shorter if it had one. But it's probably also a matter of preference, I was trying hard to make mine as close to the Clone Wars version as I could.

Regardless, thank you for the feedback.

[Brick-Wombat]

@IcarusBuilds If your goal is to avoid using 30360, then I can't think of many alternatives. Why do you have an aversion to that piece? Thomas Jenkins' approach for the canons (below) is the best I've seen at this scale, and I think it would work very nicely on your build. 

 

 

[Kit Bricksto]

Oh please don't get me wrong! I do like the engine design, after all it is similar to my approach a few years ago and I think you got that transition as smooth as it can be with this technique. I just think that the rest of the model is so fantastic that this "merely very good" part sticks out a bit. 

I see what you mean about the doors. I never realized how far they extend to the front in the CW version. I always thought they had the same overall cargo bay length and just a second door to fill the gap but it appears that there is quite a difference. Forget I ever said anything about it! :D 

[Brick fulcrum]

One annoying thing about the gunships TLG made, was that they were always full of gaps. It wasn’t smooth like this one, and I think they should have tried to put an All Terrain Recon Transport in the back, rather than a small speeder bike. I have been modifying 75021 for a few years now, putting the extra doors on, moving the ball turrets out of the way and making the rear door bigger to the extent I thought it looked quite accurate, but this is so much better! This is a really good moc, and if TLG started making sets like this, they would profit so much more!

 

[IcarusBuilds]

Thank you for the kind words!

I've actually been taking another stab at my LAAT design. The main goal being to get rid of the central trans-clear brick support, but also some other minor touch-ups and fixes. After a fair bit of restructuring I've finally been able to achieve my main goal as well as being able to get rid of some of the additional supports that ran along the rear door. I did my testing in real bricks but wanted to update my render to show it off in the proper colours. The change also allows for more room to stand figures, and significantly less twisting in the body of the gunship.

[NanoRex]

This is the most amazing republic gunship I have ever seen. I absolutely love the tapered shaping; it makes the model look super accurate. The upgrade to remove the clear pillar looks great as well.

I hope it's not rude to ask, but do you plan on distributing instructions for your builds? I would be willing to pay a significant amount for instructions for this one :)

[belkor]

Lovely! I'd certainly buy the instructions if they were available. The front profile with the tapering is fabulous.

[Senna0202]

Great design!

[Bluedevil24]

Your designs are incredible! Is there any way I can buy some of your designs so that I can build them?

[Morgan Drake]

This is the by far the best Clone Wars-style LAAT moc I have ever seen! Like some comments before me, I am very curious about the possibility of instructions for this beautiful creation!

[n1majneb]

The tapering and overall build are fantastically well done. Compared to the source material you're pretty much going for gold!

Love this design, if i had to find one issue i'd say the top cannons are perhaps a stud too long to the rear but the trade off with the detail makes this more than worth it!

I also love the little Delta-7B

[MasterBuilder98]

The LAAT is one of those physics defying ship designs that makes structural support a nightmare. The really heavy section with the engines and wings are directly over the gaping troop bay, leaving that section cantilevered between the front section and the rear ramp frame. Most of the solutions I've seen involved putting stress on parts to support the weight. Is there stress on any of the supporting parts in this build?

[macaron35]

clearly the best MOC of gunship so far

but for the cannons/engines, a bit too bricky/angular

if you could mod them like brickvault, the ship would be awesome

are the instructions available somewhere ?

Edited October 20, 2020 by macaron35

[baciccia78]

I hope you distribute the instructions or files of this fantastic project ... I would like to have one hanging from the ceiling in the room ?

[Jimbo57]

Really nice build! Is there any Instructions Planned for this beauty?

[MAVERICK26]

This is amazing. Will you do instructions?

[LDigital]

+1 for instructions. I want to build this. It’s the nicest one I have seen anywhere. Well done :)

[littlegreenfriend]

I was about to buy a set that I thought was the best I have ever seen, then I found this gem. The shape of the hull and the way the missiles are fed into the launder is amazing! I am NOT buying any other gunship design because they have nothing on this one! Will you ever make the instructions available? Thanks!

Edited June 13, 2021 by littlegreenfriend