nano-Snowspeeder, 2020 edition

[anothergol]

The last 2 years brought us 1x1 brackets, 1x2 rounded plates and recolors that should have helped improving my old nano-Snowspeeder, so I gave it a try, only I'm not sure which one is better:

-while the new 2x4 wedge plate is only to be released in LBG in the next AT-AT, I don't think it makes better wings. But perhaps a good old 2x3+a tile does? Looks a bit chibi, but it's a closer match to the angle of the "real" wings.

-I'm only happy with the cockpit & front section, lots of ways to craft the back, with pro's & con's

-6. is a new approach that the recent 1x2 slopes with flat top made possible. But while it's more accurate, it doesn't look as good to me

[TeddytheSpoon]

Wow, these are great! I think the technic liftarms on the wings work really well. I'd say 1 is the best, but 3 and 4 are probably more accurate with the sizing of the grille on the back.

Is the piece on the front a custom print?

[BEAVeR]

Hehe, building these micro scale vehicles really is a lot of thinking about every single piece, right? To my feeling no. 4 looks the most "right". You call it chiby, but if you look at it, so is the original model I would say. I also really like that rounded 1x2 plate behind the cockpit that beefs it up a bit.

A couple of years ago, I was also trying to work something out with those small Technic wing panels, have they have that cut angle which matches the nose shape of the snowspeeder. It didn't work out for the scale I was going for (just a bit smaller than you here), but maybe it's a part you might be interested in checking out to, just to give you some more options . As for the back, maybe it is possible to take two of those 1x1 round plates with bar, put those bars in a couple of studs, turn them out and use some 1x1 round plates to crate the grill effect. I have my doubts the geometry would work out, but the advantage would be that you would have some studs on the side to attach some cheese slopes to fill up the space between the grill and the wings. And as a final thought, can you shift those 1x1 plates with clip light one stud forward and do the wing attachment using a 1x2 plate with technic pin hole? That would create a really nice gradient in radius to replicate the cannons more. Plenty of ideas to go to version 12 and beyond But even if none of it would work out, the versions you have look amazing already and would give wonderful life to any diorama!

[anothergol]

3 hours ago, TeddytheSpoon said:

Wow, these are great! I think the technic liftarms on the wings work really well. I'd say 1 is the best, but 3 and 4 are probably more accurate with the sizing of the grille on the back.

Is the piece on the front a custom print?

Yeah, for this render (part of the decals for my nano-scaled AT-AT, which no one seems to be able to print very accurately)

 

53 minutes ago, BEAVeR said:

Hehe, building these micro scale vehicles really is a lot of thinking about every single piece, right? To my feeling no. 4 looks the most "right". You call it chiby, but if you look at it, so is the original model I would say. I also really like that rounded 1x2 plate behind the cockpit that beefs it up a bit.

A couple of years ago, I was also trying to work something out with those small Technic wing panels, have they have that cut angle which matches the nose shape of the snowspeeder. It didn't work out for the scale I was going for (just a bit smaller than you here), but maybe it's a part you might be interested in checking out to, just to give you some more options . As for the back, maybe it is possible to take two of those 1x1 round plates with bar, put those bars in a couple of studs, turn them out and use some 1x1 round plates to crate the grill effect. I have my doubts the geometry would work out, but the advantage would be that you would have some studs on the side to attach some cheese slopes to fill up the space between the grill and the wings. And as a final thought, can you shift those 1x1 plates with clip light one stud forward and do the wing attachment using a 1x2 plate with technic pin hole? That would create a really nice gradient in radius to replicate the cannons more. Plenty of ideas to go to version 12 and beyond But even if none of it would work out, the versions you have look amazing already and would give wonderful life to any diorama!

Yeah I think 4 works the best.

I know which panels you're talking about, and these too now exist in LBG, only I kinda dislike most technic panels because of the ugly molding mark they expose - maybe Lego doesn't care because they're generally covered in stickers, but at this scale, they stand out :(
But I believe I've seen them used on a micro snowspeeder already.

Good idea with the round+bar parts, just gave it a quick try but they're kinda big to fit.
1x2 plate with pin hole can't really work, as you'd need something to attach them to in the body (unless they're only there for decoration, which I've also tried, but it was troubles)

Edited June 6, 2020 by anothergol

[Per_SW]

I also would go with number 4, to me it looks the best between shape, part usage and simplicity

[anothergol]

I expanded on 4, but reverted to the 2x4 wedge plates, because the 2x3 makes the slope start past the middle of the cockpit, while it should start near the back.

I also went for a stack of 3x 1x2 round plates, as 3 are only slightly larger than the previous 2 half-beams (which are slightly thicker than a plate).

 

(these new parts are great to angle such things btw)

Edited June 7, 2020 by anothergol

[BEAVeR]

Totally understandable that you already thought of all the things I suggested .

I really like your update, especially with how the canons now flow so nicely into the back of the ship! If you would flip the direction those 1x2 plates with rounded ends are facing and connect them to the clip light using a 1x1 round tile with bar, you would loose the gradual connection, but it would allow you to use a tile instead of the antistud we see now and it would get rid of the extra studs visible in the back. Not sure if it would really be an improvement. Finally, have you considered using a 1x2 ingot tile instead of a regular flat tile to cover the cockpit? It gives some nice shaping on the sides (although you will end up with a bit of a lip at the front of the cockpit. And as a bonus, the moulding of those parts is such that they have some rectangular dimples which almost exactly match the roof window of the cockpit, so you wouldn't even need custom stickers then.

And I will remember that posing stand technique! That Bionicle eye element makes for a really great foot too. Evokes ice and speed to me, perfect for this model!

[anothergol]

1 hour ago, BEAVeR said:

If you would flip the direction those 1x2 plates with rounded ends are facing and connect them to the clip light using a 1x1 round tile with bar, you would loose the gradual connection, but it would allow you to use a tile instead of the antistud we see now and it would get rid of the extra studs visible in the back.

Oh flipping them wouldn't require linking them, it's still the same (canon) bar through the whole thing, but the reason I made it this way (I don't like the stud either) is that the side things of the snowspeeder are kinda hollow (well they have a grille, and definitely appear dark).

Yes I was using an ingot in the first versions, and yeah for that reason that they match the roof of the snowspeeder, but the little indent right before the front canopy is kinda ugly. But yeah, it works too, hard to decide.

[BEAVeR]

Yes, the trade-offs are never-ending! The only solution I still see to get rid of the stud would be to use those amphitheater tiles (24246) to cap things off nicely. But you would have to give up that stud representing the end of the cannons. Unless you use part 4590, but that could be a bit too deep and I'm not sure how well it would line up. Anyway, thanks for indulging me thusfar!

[anothergol]

While I'm at it, I also tried to improve the AT-AT using today's parts.
I was hoping to make it more solid (those who have built it know how flimsy some sections are), but nothing helped.

I could however improve the front guns (used to be a T-bar with 2 clip+bar), the guns are still too short, but I still think it looks better.
Also used the new triangle roof tiles, not sure it's really better than the old ingot, it may be too big.

Also we now have the new version of the 1x4 plate with 2 studs, now with a groove. Because there's a stud inversion on the side plates, puting 2 together creates a nice indent that's required there.

 

[Mandalorianknight]

That looks really good, I think the guns especially are a big improvement. It looks super accurate, and I like the custom sticker renders. I do think the ingot works better than the triangle tiles, but it looks pretty good either way.

[mcphatty]

Your Snowspeeders are great, very nice job with all of them! I personally like 6 the best, despite the lack of colour stripe the ‘wings’ look better for being solid all the way to the back, and those pieces come in orange. Those pieces along with the slopes give the rear such a satisfying shape, the greebling at the back looks very nice and your connection method for the lasers all the way through to the rear is very smart.