MC75 "Profundity" star cruiser UCS MOC

[JorstadDesigns]

Introducing the MC75 Profundity, fresh out of the shipyards! Although there are a few different variants of the ship that showed up in Rise of Skywalker, this is the base design as seen on-screen in Rogue One, commanded by Admiral Raddus during the Battle of Scarif. Although Rogue One and some online images were used occasionally for scale/size reference, I mostly used the MC75 model from the board game Star Wars Armada for the design (a fantastic board game for anyone interested in strategy games).

Part count: 3,368 LEGO bricks

Dimensions: 32 in. L x 7 in. W x 15 in. H

It took about six months of off-and-on design work to finish in LDD. Stud.Io was resisting while the PDF instructions manual was generating, but it got there eventually. The Profundity is designed to-scale with LEGO's new ISD (#75252) as well as most other JD MOCs, including the MC80a Home One, MC80b Liberty, and MC30c. The height of the ship was a bit of a challenge, but in the end the tall stand turned out to be an advantage for mounting other Rebel ships. Although it could have been designed to rest on solely the rear stand arm, the risk was that over time this would place too much stress on the inner support structure, so in the end the translucent technic liftarms were added for structural support. Both the Tantive IV and the Ghost are designs by LEGO (the Tantive from the new ISD, and the Ghost from the Star Wars advent calendar) modded only for attaching to the model. The Tantive can be placed docked inside the hangar bay, escaping the Profundity, or on it's own independent stand. Unfortunately the UCS plaque sticker hasn't arrived yet, but you can bet it'll be applied as soon as it does!

The MC75 star cruiser is a Mon Calamari city ship repurposed for combat with battleship-grade heavy armor and a large weapons collar encircling the main body of the ship. The most well-known MC75 was the Profundity, commanded by Admiral Raddus during the pivotal Battle of Scarif. Boasting twenty point-defense laser cannons, twelve broadside turbolasers, four heavy ion cannons, twelve proton torpedo launchers, and six tractor beam projectors, the MC75 was more versatile than the MC80 and easily adapted to varying engagement styles.

The most notable feature of the MC75 is an armored outrigger fin extending the bridge command pod below the ship, a design choice intended to evoke the appearance of predatory fish feared among the Mon Calamari. A smaller fin above the ship housed the transmission array and primary sensor clusters. The large docking bay within the ship's nose was capable of docking ships up to the size of small corvettes (notably the Tantive IV). Although the MC75 lacked prominently displayed engine housings, twelve Kuat Drive Yards Gemon-15 sublight ion drives hidden beneath the rear armor plating allowed the MC75 to match the cruising speed of starfighter escorts.

Tried to be as accurate as possible to the on-screen appearance of the MC75, but decided to sacrifice the grills in the sides of the forward weapons collar. Unfortunately the scale also prohibited adding the 8 smaller sublight engines in the rear of the ship. Clearly the model isn't a 'swoosher,' but overall it's remarkably sturdy! Honestly the test build went much smoother than expected, given the complex angles and the continued presence of gravity (haha).

Unfortunately a few parts were missing from the Bricklink orders so substitutes had to be added, but nothing major - just a few sand blue and greebling elements. The picture pretty much show what the manual would have ya build. Took about twelve hours to assemble using Stud.Io and making corrections/fixing errors; should be significantly less using the manual.

Thanks for looking - hope you like the design!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul11283652]

Impressive, most impressive.

[Stuartn]

That is incredible. It is my favourite ship in the SW universe and you've done it extremely well. You've captured the smooth angles perfectly.

The detail is fabulous, and while it isn't part of the ship, that is a very nice display stand too!

I took a look at some of your other designs, they are fabulous as well. I was intrigued to see what the MC80a and b you mentioned in your post looked like and they are equally fantastic.

Edited January 30, 2021 by Stuartn

[sandtrooper]

Amazing!  The curves and smooth hull are outstanding due to Lego parts not making it easy to achieve.  Also the way the stand compliments the shape of the ship is well thought out.  Thank you for sharing this.  How will the instructions be made available?

[JorstadDesigns]

11 hours ago, Stuartn said:

That is incredible. It is my favourite ship in the SW universe and you've done it extremely well. You've captured the smooth angles perfectly.

The detail is fabulous, and while it isn't part of the ship, that is a very nice display stand too!

I took a look at some of your other designs, they are fabulous as well. I was intrigued to see what the MC80a and b you mentioned in your post looked like and they are equally fantastic.

Thank you! Both the Profundity and the Liberty were a lot of fun to design thanks to the angles of MC ships. The MC80a Home One exterior is mostly the work of another designer, I did the interior/frame/instructions.

7 minutes ago, sandtrooper said:

Amazing!  The curves and smooth hull are outstanding due to Lego parts not making it easy to achieve.  Also the way the stand compliments the shape of the ship is well thought out.  Thank you for sharing this.  How will the instructions be made available?

Honestly spent a lot of time considering how to work the stand so that the ship was balanced and well-supported, but the lower fin wasn't blocked from view... may revisit that eventually, but pleased for now, so thank you for the compliment! The instructions are posted here: www.jorstad-designs.com

[Mandalorianknight]

Wow! This is an incredible design, you've captured the ship in immense detail and accuracy. I visited your website, and you have so many great designs! I especially like the starbird symbol and your other mon cala cruisers.

[karmajay]

Looks great! Excellent job!

[Cygma]

Looks really great.  How long is it?

[Stuartn]

11 hours ago, Cygma said:

Looks really great.  How long is it?

32 in (81.28cm)

[Kristof]

Impressive model! I like the smooth paneling, especially around the tail and the DBG band in the middle. The greebles are very tasteful (I particularly like the underside of the tail - some of the sequences of clip plates attached to the bars look very appropriate) and overall the impression is great... with the exception of these trans clear technic crutches :D Oh how I wish these weren't necessary. But I get it, the ship is large and the cantilever from that big stand post would be too great. Anyway, very solid MOC!

[JorstadDesigns]

3 hours ago, Kristof said:

Impressive model! I like the smooth paneling, especially around the tail and the DBG band in the middle. The greebles are very tasteful (I particularly like the underside of the tail - some of the sequences of clip plates attached to the bars look very appropriate) and overall the impression is great... with the exception of these trans clear technic crutches :D Oh how I wish these weren't necessary. But I get it, the ship is large and the cantilever from that big stand post would be too great. Anyway, very solid MOC!

Glad you like it! Yes, unfortunately the stand options were limited thanks to the lower fin... a few other MOCs have used the lower fin as a 'stand' leg itself to support some of the weight, but that also diminishes the sleek appearance of the fin which was essential for this approach. In the end I valued the ship/command pod floating above the stand, rather than the elimination of the crutches; an unfortunate compromise. One day may revisit!