Apache Longbow & OpFor Technical

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

I recently finished building my largest LDraw designed military MOC to date - an AH-64D Apache Longbow. The Apache has been done many times in Lego by many builders, and I knew from the start that I would be incorporating many of the excellent design ideas and solutions from other builders, so first here is a list of some of the best Apaches that I am aware of and which have inspired this build:

Bryce Rollins

Mad Physicist (Ralph Savelsberg) (larger scale)

Szabi1029

Zackhariah

Mondayn00dle (microscale)

I ended up borrowing ideas mostly from Szabi1029 (the overall shape, the engines, the chain gun attachment, and the main gear) and Chandler Parker (the weapons, tail rotor [courtesy of Aleksander Stein], the main rotor blades, and the mast-mounted radar). But that said, I also built it from scratch in LDraw and incorporated many solutions and ideas of my own. The Apache was also one of my favorite MOCs as a child, so it was fun to make a much better model without being limited by parts or color.

Click on the pics to access the full Flickr gallery.

The model includes many features, such as:

- Swiveling and tilting chain gun.

- Detailed 2-man cockpit.

- 8 Hellfire missiles, 2 rocket pods, and 4 Stinger AAMs.

- Detachable engines and sidepods.

- Realistically asymmetrical sidepod design.

- Main rotor rotating freely around a stationary mast-mounted fire control radar.

- Adjustable rear horizontal stabilizer.

It may not be my most original creation, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out, it was terrifically fun to build, and it sure looks nice alongside my Little Birds and other military MOCs.

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I've also completed the LDraw design work on an OpFor Technical based on the pickup truck in the game Battlefield 2 Special Forces. I have ordered parts and hope to have it built in 2-3 weeks. It features a detailed engine and interior, opening front bonnet and doors, and a rotating and tilting .50cal machine gun in the back.

Edited December 22, 2016 by BrickMonkeyMOCs
Indexed

[lightningtiger]

AWESOME copter 'SpaceMonkey' - fantastic details and I love chain guns - hence I can't wait to see your pickup with it's chain gun on board.

I'm a conformist! !

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

This is great! I think my favorite part is the way you built the tail rotor, very clever and realistic too. Wish they made all those pieces in dark green, would look just like the real thing! Does the 30mm chaingun move at all?

-Dread Pirate Wesley

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

AWESOME copter 'SpaceMonkey' - fantastic details and I love chain guns - hence I can't wait to see your pickup with it's chain gun on board.

I'm a conformist! !

Thanks for your comment LT. I would surely like to I'm a conformist!, but I'm afraid my economic situation just took a nosedive, so these may be my last MOCs for a while.

This is great! I think my favorite part is the way you built the tail rotor, very clever and realistic too. Wish they made all those pieces in dark green, would look just like the real thing! Does the 30mm chaingun move at all?

-Dread Pirate Wesley

Thanks. The tail rotor solution was provided by Aleksander Stein at Flickr, and I borrowed it from Chandler Parker's recent Apache model. It is certainly a very clever and effective solution for replicating the odd 55/125deg angles for the blades. The chaingun is attached to a 2x2 turntable via 1x1 clips, and can both rotate and tilt up and down.

As for the color, I've used new dark bley (dark stone) to match the rest of my military MOCs, but I think old dark grey is a closer match for olive drab than dark green. Check out Ralph's larger AH-64A (linked to in the OP) as an example of this.

Edited April 22, 2010 by SpaceMonkey

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

My parts orders all arrived, and I've finished building the OpFor Technical:

LINK TO SET

I had a minor problem with the way the ninja headwraps aren't fully compatible with the minifig seats, forcing the figs to lean forwards, which required some modification to the rear gun mounting to give it enough room to tilt without hitting the gunner's face. But otherwise it came together as planned.

Edited April 18, 2015 by SpaceMonkey

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

I built a bunch of these military models back in 2009, but have revisited them this year with improvements and upgrades. The OP has been updated with the new version of my AH-64D Apache Longbow. The main change is swapping the prefab trans black hinged two-piece canopy for a brick-built cockpit frame, which I think much better represents the look of the real helicopter. Other improvements involve updates to the sidepods and nose, which have gone through several iterations over the intervening years. Instructions available via the link in my sig.