dmaclego

Really good points, Tommy, but I can't say I agree 100% :) . Having my own AT-AT sleeping peacefully in a trunk, I keep wondering, from time to time, if making such a huge beast mobile is possible at all. Initially I thought: no, absolutely not. Of course, LiLmeFromDaFuture , just like any of us, would have to start his project all over (parallel linkages are just one of many reasons). But let me go quickly through your other suggestions. - About arcs on top of the feet - in my opinion, you don't need to provide power there. They could just hang there - on an axle, for instance - and be "self-levelling". It is a four legged machine so it cannot topple forward or backwards if all other joints are rigid (controlled mechanically). If you look closely at AT-AT stride, you'll find that at least three feet ALWAYS stay on the ground. And a big LEGO AT-AT actually may stand on three legs, as it was proven by my model, when I (acccidentaly, of course) missed the axle hole as I was attaching one of the legs ;) . - About upper hip joints - you are right, they would require tremendous power if they were to swing powered through an axle or turntable. But please note that most of the large AT-AT designs (not mine, however) utilize vertical beams that connect outer ends of hips with vehicle's main body. Now, imagine an actuator instead of those beams. That could work :) . - About synchronization - very true. An adder mechanism would be necessary to sum up power of several XL motors and only then, from a single shaft, you could distribute power to four legs, carefully setting gears or levers. Complicated, I admit, but this method solves the problem of (lack of) synchronization. - About steering - even more true :) . I virtually can't see how this could be done. Not with a model that weighs 6 or 7 kilograms. - Generally: builder of such a beast would have to forget about providing power to upper hips, lower hips and knees any other way than simple mechanical levers. No gears. No pneumatics. Nothing fancy. Currently, I'm trying to construct a skeleton of such a leg where I could only move the upper hip joint, and power of that movement would be transfered (in the same time) to lower hip joint an knee joint. The good news is that amplitude of movement does not have to be large - several degrees, maybe ten. But everything else is bad news :) . For instance, two liftarm beams connected together take up two studs of space, which is the entire thickness of the leg - it's not possible to hide them. Not to mention the fact that even pins with friction are terribly loose when long beams and serious forces are involved.... So, theoretically, anything is possible but today I'd only say: maybe, maybe. Time will tell. But maybe the host of this topic is a better engineer :) . I hope so!

Thank you, guys. About weird parts: true, I used some, but you have no idea how weird are the parts I considered using (but didn't) :) . These include a huge sand blue Bionicle mask, some small copper masks and some giant flat silver Hero Factory claws. By the way, I didn't throw them out as unusable; they're still in my "greebling bin", for future use :) . About Technic axles 32: well, it wasn't the easiest buy even here, in Europe - took 4 Bricklink orders to complete. But if I may have a suggestion for you: ask the sellers about the condition of used axles. I'm not sure if they were perfectly straight when brand new but now most of them just aren't, which is not a big surprise considering what they have been through as parts of a LEGO hockey set ;) . And it may pose a problem, since you don't want your Y-wing engines askew, right? ;)

Hello again! Y-wing - Just parking by Maciej Szymański, on Flickr After slightly over 2 months of work I'm proud to present my rendition of the famous rebel fighter: the Y-wing. It's big: over 1,900 elements. It's long: 51 cm (but still much smaller than the UCS version). Is it minifig scale? I say: yes - but that's because minifig's height is NOT the most important parameter to me. The only non-LEGO stuff I used is the electric installation - 6 LEDs, a switch and some wires. Please, take a look at the gallery. As usual, I'll gladly answer your questions.

Thank you all; it is a pleasure to read such positive responses. Either that or they were inspired by the Gold 2 studio model, which had a little bit longer struts connecting the engines with steering vanes ;) . But seriously: I never follow the standards set by UCS series because, as I said, TLG designers are making toys and stick to strict business rules while I'm just interested in nice looking models :) . Absolutely. There is a glimmer of hope that MLCad could handle some of these illegal connections but it's a moot point, since I just don't have that much time (or skill, for that matter) to even think about creating instructions. On the other side, I published a "behind the scenes" photo of engine nacelle technique and the rest (cockpit aside, maybe) is pretty straightforward, I guess :) . So true about the cockpit! To be honest, I started building the Y-wing from the cockpit and for a very long time I was "happy" having virtually no vertical tapering on it - the nose was just as thick, as the rear part of the cockpit and cabin's roof was horizontal. ("Happy" means "I gave up hope of doing it better" ;) .) It was only when the model was almost finished that I finally found a solution. Thank goodness! :) But the truth is, there is some room for improvement: the bulge on the bottom of the cockpit (where landing gear is connected) should also be slightly slanted, just like the cabin's roof. And I know how to do it, just couldn't bring myself to rip the guts of the cockpit once again, when I finally assembled all the flex tubes around the cabin :D . The thickness of the body is a tricky matter. Each studio model is VERY different in this area. But I liked very much the bent tubes that go under the "neck" of Gold Leader model and they actually set the thickness of the rest. Actually, there were four such tubes under the studio model but I found room only for two. But still I'm glad :) . About the long Technic axles - I'm surprised myself how sturdy they are; the model is very, very swooshable. There are three crucial things about them that I luckily managed to re-create in my model. One: they go all the way from front domes, not just from the pneumatic T-joints you mentioned. Two: they are not braced in any way - they are supposed to look like glued to the engines (and they were, in the studio models ;) ) . And three: the cross-section of the original struts was "T" shaped, not round (like in the UCS model) or flat (like in previous fan-made models) so I thought that Technic axle cross-section ("+" shaped) is the closest solution. About other rebel ships... The answer is: no. I'm going back to my Endor Project for a while. Also, the unfinished model of the old Soviet backhoe "Bialorus" craves my attention ;) .

Thanks, guys! Well, LEGO sets - even UCS sets - are toys and as such they must hold certain standards.They will never be as overloaded with detail, as complicated and as fragile as AFOL-made models. On the other hand, my Y-wing is a crappy toy - it has virtually no functions, heh, even placing a minifig in the cockpit is a royal pain!

Most impressive collection. Congratulations. You know what may prove more dangerous to your rebel fleet than the Imperials? Dust! :D Perhaps you should think of a large, plexi case for these treasures.

Thank you all for your kind opinions! Now, that is a bold statement :) . An ultimate praise for my model, being compared to Ralph The Great's work! Thanks, man :) .

Thank you very much, gentlemen. I'm glad you like my model. Indeed. Well, they fit precisely over three studs so... why not? It's the only LEGO part I know in this size. Plus, it's shiny metallic ;) . And they cost next to nothing, since I have a bunch of LEGO key rings waaaay too worn to be usable for anything else!

Hello again, X-wing - The Wallpaper by Maciej Szymański, on Flickr I'm proud to present the model I've been working on for a while - a minifig scale X-wing. (Actually, if you compare the ships length to fig's height, it turns out the pilot is 5 feet tall but hey - they are MINIfigs, aren't they? ;) ) The model is 100% LEGO except for lights (12 LEDs altogether) and 4 small decals (borrowed from old MPC/Ertl models). A section of Yavin hangar contains another 10 lights - they are original LEGO 9V light bricks. If you have any questions, I'll gladly answer. The full gallery is right here: Enjoy! X-wing - Yavin by night by Maciej Szymański, on Flickr

Thank you guys and sorry for the delay; I must have overlooked your posts (which is strange, since I visit this forum daily). Well, I daresay it's coming along nicely :) . At this very moment, I'm expecting the last two Bricklink orders (17 parts altogether) and I'm yet to finish maybe 5% of fairly generic greeblies. Oh, and maybe add a decal or two. After that - since due to budgetary constraints I decided to postpone creating a display stand and just use the one I built for the X-wing - the model should be ready for a photo session. Indeed, they are small wheel rims. They have small, rectangular holes into which you can squeeze a flex tube. And that's what I did.

Wow, guys, you make me feel VERY old ;) . My first LEGO set was All-terrain Vehicle 6927 (not Star Wars but close enough ;) ) back in 1982 :D . My dark age came in the 90's but I wisely kept my whole LEGO collection. Then in 1997 I bought my first LEGO set in years: Technic 8459. As you can see, I came back to the hobby quite a while before LEGO Star Wars era and when the first sets finally appeared, I started buying them for my sons. We built them together, of course, but now as I think of it.... no, I never bought a Star Wars set for myself :D . And finally, in 2004, disgusted with the official set 7166, I started working on my own Lambda-class Imperial shuttle, which eventually, years later, thanks to my friend and LEGO designer Adam, became the UCS set 10212. The rest is history :) .

Well, that's a bummer! I do not mean to lecture you but in my humble opinion lack of a VERY VISIBLE link on the front page of the Star Wars forum will, sooner or later, effectively kill the blog. Like Kalais, new users will just never find it. Do you think it would be possible to restore the link?

Well, I'm not really sure the concept is mine (or maybe I saw it somewhere and copied subconsciously) but it's nice of you to ask. So sure, just go ahead and use it :) .

Very nice. Two questions though: 1) The wall is thicker now. Isn't it going to cause problems with fitting the rear wall and, even more so, the roof? 2) Aren't you going to inset the DBG tiles somewhat deeper in the wall? They seem too thick, too obvious at the moment.

Most impressive. I particularly like details of the engines section. Very good proportions, too. I can't remember a better rendition of this ship in LEGO, so... congratulations! :) About the flags in the middle part - there is some room for improvement there but not with existing parts and not in this scale. All in all - great job, Mortesv!

Oh boy, I have a box of those right in front of me and it just didn't click in my mind :D . Thanks. Anyway, the idea is brilliant and - with Brickdoctor's permission - I'd love to use it one day.

I honestly don't know what to say :) . I mean, obviously, thank you! But you paid so much attention to my model and then sacrificed so much time to express your feelings about it (twice! - first on the blog and now here) that I'm afraid that a plain "thank you" just isnt' enough . I'm actually blushing, having read such an enthusiastic review - and it's not easy to make such an old fart like me blush ;) . I'm very glad you like my work and please, rest assured that such positive responses motivate me to no end. I guess I'll be working even harder now ;) . But while I respect your opinion about my model being the LEGO X-wing, I must say that incredibly good models appear here almost daily, so it's only a matter of (short) time before someone simply blows my creation from the water. And now to the details you noticed: "a beautifully working landing gear". Only if by "beautifully working" you mean "good looking" :) . The landing gear is not retractable. Long story short - frontal gear was folding nicely (I used old fingered bars) but there was absolutely no way I could do the same trick with the rear gear, due to lack of space. (In theory, it retracts inside the engines - what a silly idea! - and I wanted to show some "guts" of the engines between open wings, which would not be possible with folded landing gear inside.) Then I decided to skip the mechanics and have a really, really realistic landing gear. Conversion from "standing configuration" to "flying configuration" takes some 30 minutes, mainly because of the electric mess which is a real pain in the... engines ;) . "why all four of the cannons have ribbed tubes where I can only spot two on most reference images. I'm sure you have a perfect reason." Oh, yes, I have a good one: I'm in love with them :D . But a more general answer is: my X-wing is an amalgam. I gathered quite a lot of photos of all the existing studio models and soon realized that it is not possible to re-create any of them fully. Some details would always have to be left out (or done only so-so), because it's only LEGO and certain parts come in certain color, period. So instead of building a model lacking details, I decided to have one overflowing with details ;) . There are decals from Red Five, wing markings from Red Two, certain color splashes from Red Three and so on. In my opinion, it worked. "there's a very good reason for that one guy walking around with a radio" I'm about to sorely disappoint you: there is absolutely no reason :D . As I was ordering parts for the scenery (like a rather rare red ladder - you know, Luke used red one on Yavin IV ;) ), I picked an elegant, dark blue toolbox for the Rebel technicians and then noticed in seller's inventory that gray radio thingy. And now a LEGOholic's confession: I bought it because I didn't have one :D . Then added it to the scene just for kicks; seemed appropriate for the good humored pilot ;) . "But I won't be complaining if I see yet another topic crop up again in the forum". Glad to hear that, because - if "everything is proceedng as I have forseen" ;) - my next topic will be titled "Yet another Y-wing"! Lots of work ahead but, as I said, I'm properly motivated, for which I thank you once again!

I think I have another idea but it'll have to wait until I try it :) . I have one more question about your model: what are the round, toothed parts that you put inside Technic Driving Ring Extensions, on the very end of guns?

Same feeling here! I know there's a price for having the canopy hinged but... The bulge takes away quite a lot from a generally very pleasing silhouette. The overall shape is great though and so are the guns. Lots of tasty details. Congratulations!

The red stripes are good ol' panels 1 x 2 x 1. Sorry, I do not have any pictures of the nose. But what I used inside are Technic bricks 1 x 2 with two holes (put horizontally, to attach the side slopes) and headlight bricks. Also, the lower curved slope brick 2 x 4 is attached to a hinge brick 1 x 2 (to make the slope more steep). Yes, I'm working on an Y-wing. I have most of the cockpit ready and currently try make the "neck" look decently.

Well, I used to but I don't anymore, to be precise. It's a daunting task to me plus I very much prefer to build new stuff :) . On the other hand, I've published so many photographs from different angles that it should be possible to reverse engineer the crucial parts of the model. Good luck with that! Thank you very much. Positive reactions to my work mean a lot to me and help me survive the toughest moments during building. Like now, when I'm struggling with that darn greebling on a new model ;) . Thanks again!

I'm rather late to the party but... great work, man! Very good models and nice rendering. Deserve some good photography when finished ;) .

Thank you. I look forward to seeing your model!

Sturdy enough to swoosh the model :) . But if I shook it violently, they would probably fall apart, because laser cannons are heavy: there are metal train axles inside flex tubes.You know, it's qui pro quo - stiff and straight guns, but bigger weight ;) . I actually tried to make the wings completely tiled inside (using inverted tiles 2x2) but THEN they were really, really floppy, so I returned to long plates to improve sturdiness.

Well, that's not quite fair. If an 8 or 9 year old kid would try to assemble a really advanced, SNOT-build model, I guarantee it would be their very last contact with LEGO. Even if they succeded, following the instructions, they would never be able to build anything similar. Toys need to be sturdy and reasonably simple (which does not mean primitive, of course) a that's what LEGO sets are. Adult building is a whole another story. And about visible studs - that's company's policy; the studs are considered a LEGO heritage and will be exposed to the end of days :) .