Walter Kovacs

UCS Scale Nebulon B-2

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Hello all.

I have been working on this model off and on for the better part of 3 years now. I have finally finished the design phase, and am almost ready to go into parts acquisition (at least, I will once finances allow me to start that phase :hmpf_bad: ).

I know MLCad models generally get poor reception on these boards, and believe me, if I had the pieces to build this in real bricks, I would. In a heartbeat. Alas, the virtual world is all I can afford at the moment.

It is a far sight better than my first attempt at the Nebulon B-2, the Technicolor Yawn. In fact, I started designing this version shortly after building the first version and seeing the problems.

First of all, I wanted the connection joint between the "wings" and the foreward hull to be much cleaner. Revision 1 was very awkward at this point, and I knew I could improve it a lot.

The second thing I wanted to improve was the engine section. I wanted them to look more like this image, with the engines staggered in levels.

I didn't like the way the foreward section or the wings looked on the Wookiepedia page, so I kept the very greeb-friendly Nebulon B wing design, and tried to keep the foreward section somewhat curved like a non-modified Neb B. I did, however, keep that small superstructure the sits on top of the bridge section between the engines and the foreward section. I have no idea what it's there for, but it helps break up some of the monotany.

The one thing I do like about that wookiepedia image is the big, open hanger bay on the foreward section. That was a must on my design.

3/4 View

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Side View

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Front View

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Top View

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Back View

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Engines Close-Up

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Wing Close-Up 1

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Wing Close-Up 2

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Hanger

neb_b-2_rev_2_hanger.jpg

I used yellow for any part that isn't color specific, so if you see it peeking out through gaps in one of the sections, that's what it is. Most likely, those parts will end up black (almost all are technic liftarms or bricks, and black is usually the cheapest and most plentiful option).

There are still a few things that bother me about the design. I really, REALLY struggled getting the curvature on the foreward section, while still maintaining an open hanger. That portion is what took me most of the 3 years to get right. It's still not great, but it is good enough for now. And honestly, I don't think I can get it much better. The greebling around the engines looks really good, at least to me. But it makes the rest of the model look a little plain. I could greeble the engines section, but the foreward section is mostly slopes, so there isn't much chance for greebs there, and I felt the contrast would be too great. I have fallen in love with the hanger. I don't think it could have come out better.

As much as I want to build it in real bricks, it is very cost prohibitive for me right now. It came i at 4180 pieces, only 40% of which I actually own. A Bricklink order of ~$300 is just too much for my budget to handle right now. Now if someone wanted to donate the pieces to me... Just kidding. Sorta.

Comments and Criticisms are begged for. View the entire Gallery here.

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Holy crap-ola that is awesome! I really hope you decide to build it for real.

Oh, I've already decided to build it. I just need the cash flow for the many, many Bricklink orders it's going to take.

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It is impressive. To build it you may have use advanced technics and work a lot.

Nevertheless, I don't like it. The ship himself is ugly, imho.

Great job anyway. And if it appeals to you, it's the essential. ;)

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Fantastic work! Three years well spent in the pre-production trenches...

You're right about the hanger. It provides opportunity for some fine internal detailing and adds much interest for your viewing audience. Did your work on the 'Technicolour Yawn' test the strength of the connecting hub in the front section of the inverted 'V' enough for your present design? The dual weapon/sensor pods look pretty heavy especially when placed at that angle.

... but building your Neb II is a must! It should provide ample target practice for your TIEs! :laugh:

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I have never liked this ship, the shape and overall appearance always seemed unappealing to me.

But I have to say I'm impressed with your MOC. :)

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surprised to see lot of you who dont like this ship. i personally like this and i've been wondering why there hasnt been a MOC for this ship. good work!

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Huge!

When you build it I want to see that!

3 years designing, that´s a lot.

Excellent

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Fantastic work! Three years well spent in the pre-production trenches...

You're right about the hanger. It provides opportunity for some fine internal detailing and adds much interest for your viewing audience. Did your work on the 'Technicolour Yawn' test the strength of the connecting hub in the front section of the inverted 'V' enough for your present design? The dual weapon/sensor pods look pretty heavy especially when placed at that angle.

... but building your Neb II is a must! It should provide ample target practice for your TIEs! :laugh:

The Technicolor Yawn used a different method for getting the angle. In that model, the center of the wing was a technic liftarm, and the attachment were technic bricks (a 1 x 12 and a 1 x 14) pinned to the first and third holes down. While this held the angle very well, it offset one of the cross members an odd number of plates. I think it was a half plate low, which is difficult to work around.

When I started the current revision, the first thing I wanted to do was come up with a better support system for the wings. This revision, I only used one technic brick to hold the wings on. I am using a wall of 2 x 2 45 Inverted Slopes, backed by a large web of technic bricks (mostly 4 x 6 and 6 x 8, strong but light). My only concern is that there will be a vertical moment on this wall of slopes, but I think it should hold together pretty well.

As for the weight of the wings, they should be significantly lighter than the previous incarnation. Most of the upper section is hollow, and the lower greebs are pretty light. The plates on the outside are only 2 plates thick in most places, so that shouldn't be too bad.

I might be able to do a proof of concept mock-up, building an off color wing and half of the hull. That should allay most of my fears. I am pretty sure I have the parts to do that, at least. I'll post some WIP pictures when I do it.

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Hello Walter!

I know this ship from several older computer games, and it's definitely among the more unusual designs. But you did a great job making a virtual model for it, and I am looking forward to see it on real photos. I especially like the engine details. :classic:

Cheers,

~ Christopher

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Hello Walter!

I know this ship from several older computer games, and it's definitely among the more unusual designs. But you did a great job making a virtual model for it, and I am looking forward to see it on real photos. I especially like the engine details. :classic:

Cheers,

~ Christopher

Coming from you, Chris, that's a huge compliment. Your Minis are impeccable.

And I, too am looking forward to seeing it in real photos.

do you have instructions

I'm working on them. I found a few steps that were out of place last time I flipped through the images, and I need to make a fix in the engines section. I could have sworn that this hinge had hollow studs. :blush:

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Thats amazing Walter! *huh*:wub:

The desing is incredible!

I can't wait to see it if you end up finding the money to buy and build it.

Great job though so far!

CommanderFox

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while waiting for the instructions, how will this be supported? i hope it's not supported by two wings and a tail. some sort of supporting legs will be awesome.

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while waiting for the instructions, how will this be supported? i hope it's not supported by two wings and a tail. some sort of supporting legs will be awesome.

What, you don't think tose thin wings can support the entire weight?

Actually, I have two specially designed stands for the model to rest on, one under each section. I didn't show them in the renders because they detract from the model itself. The model can be removed from the stands, although I doubt anyone would want to swoosh this behemoth.

BTW, I should be able to upload instructions later today to my Brickshelf page. You'll have to wait for the gallery to go public again, unfortunately. Should be four .PDFs long (930 .jpgs make for huge .pdf files. I wish I could get LPub working on my computer.)

That is going to take an insane amount of bricks.

The design is great though.

I'm glad you like it. It's only 4183 parts. Less than the UCS Millenium Falcon. Still the largest MOC I've designed. And the only capital ship. And considering how long it took me to get a design I like, it will probably be my last capital ship.

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What, you don't think tose thin wings can support the entire weight?

Actually, I have two specially designed stands for the model to rest on, one under each section. I didn't show them in the renders because they detract from the model itself. The model can be removed from the stands, although I doubt anyone would want to swoosh this behemoth.

BTW, I should be able to upload instructions later today to my Brickshelf page. You'll have to wait for the gallery to go public again, unfortunately. Should be four .PDFs long (930 .jpgs make for huge .pdf files. I wish I could get LPub working on my computer.)

I'm glad you like it. It's only 4183 parts. Less than the UCS Millenium Falcon. Still the largest MOC I've designed. And the only capital ship. And considering how long it took me to get a design I like, it will probably be my last capital ship.

out of interest is it in scale with the midi Falcon?

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out of interest is it in scale with the midi Falcon?

If it is, it is purely by accident. The scale was set long before anyone had ever heard of Midi-scale.

It looks to me like the Midi Falcon is about 32 studs long. The engines section on the Neb B-2 is around 38 studs. Looks like the Midi Falcon is way oversized. I think the original MINI Falcon set would be a lot closer to the right size.

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awesome! looking forward to pdf files!

i may have missed this but is this model purely for looks or are there some movements? (vertical movement of wings, etc)

kind of ridiculous to ask this but is this in scale compared to what we've seen in movies, etc? i know it hasn't been built so it cant be made in perfect scale but just wondering. thanks

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awesome! looking forward to pdf files!

i may have missed this but is this model purely for looks or are there some movements? (vertical movement of wings, etc)

kind of ridiculous to ask this but is this in scale compared to what we've seen in movies, etc? i know it hasn't been built so it cant be made in perfect scale but just wondering. thanks

There are no moving parts, everything is pretty much rigid.

If I remember correctly, the key element that the entire model is scaled off of is the engines, of all things. I used a schematic of a regular Nebulon for the scaling, and used the model team wheel to set the scale. Keep in mind, that was over 4 years ago, so my memory may be faulty. It's not to scale with any other set (nor was it intended to be). And the Neb B-2 never appeared in any film, making it's first appearance in the TIE Fighter video game.

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I hate bumping a topic of mine that is sliding towards obscurity, but I felt it necessary to let those waiting for the instructions upload know what is going on.

I have tried several times to get the instructions uploaded to Brickshelf. I'm not sure if it's a size issue (the first file is large, but the others are "small"), or if Brickshelf doesn't allow the .pdf extension anymore, but I haven't been able to get them to upload at all.

If anyone has an alternate file upload solution, feel free to let me know. I'd like to get them out there for anyone to look at. They are definitely too large to be e-mailing around, so some sort of net based arrangement is required.

Sorry I haven't been able to get this done.

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Flikr? photobucket? i've also noticed your defender rev 3 don't work either.

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Flikr? photobucket? i've also noticed your defender rev 3 don't work either.

Neither Flickr or Photobucket allow .pdf file uploads :hmpf_bad:

Yeah, I need to do some re-thinking on the TIE Defender. Overall it looks good, but the pylons aren't working at all. I'm just going to crank out a couple more TIEs, then come back to the Defender. I'll get a working design eventually.

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