Schneeds

When you put it next to the Sandcrawler like that it really brings home the scale. At 2,400 pieces it dominates it.

Other than the tips I listed on the previous page, the only changes I made were a couple minor cosmetic ones to the plating on the top of the cockpit. I made a few detail mods inside the cockpit as well, but none that actually affected the build.

A few pictures. The current proportions are pretty spot on. Two inches would definitely be too long.

I have now finished the build. First, I must say this is incredibly well designed and nothing seems arbitrary. But that is what you would expect from Raskolnikov. It's one of those models where the pictures don't really do it justice. It looks fantastic in person. Measurement-wise it comes in at about 17.5" high and 17" in overall length. I will try to shoot some quality pictures tomorrow. As for the build/instructions, there are really only three areas where there are any issues. The first, is on pages 103-106. If you assemble it in the exact order of the instructions, it will be impossible to assemble. The bottom most blue technic pin on page 105 will make it impossible for you to get that LBG lift arm all the way down in and snapped in to place. You have to build it in reverse, and put the pin through the lift arm first, then attach it to the frame. That entire assembly actually goes into place easy if you build it in reverse, otherwise its extremely hard to get the pins to all line up and snap in. At least it was for me. The second, is a much easier fix. On page 140 you put the front/back of the leg plating on. You need to remove the bottom most technic pin from the knee-cap side of the leg or you won't be able to attach it. And last, page 171. The instructions mention that the optional neck support parts are difficult to get into place, but I found it to be impossible. If you remove the 1x4 LBG tile piece, it's a lot easier to get into place, but to make it stronger I just built an assembly out of a couple pieces of plate that swaps in easier. That's pretty much it though. Some of the technic structure can be a giant pain in the megablocks but the connections are all legit and it's built quite well. Thanks to Raskolnikov and Legolijntje for all their hard work and generosity! Edit: Apparently Eurobricks auto-substitutes megablocks for the word as**. That is hilarious.

I managed to build Brickwright's Y-wing so I'm confident this will be smooth sailing ;)

Ive got the four legs mostly built and they are quite solid. No real issues with the instructions yet, although the way in which it says to repeat building various sections of the legs is a little confusing.

Which page is that on?

Well my order is missing about a hundred pieces, including half the leg joints so it's not going to happen this week. The Emperor is most displeased with my apparent lack of progress.

My orders arrived and I'll be assembling this weekend! I'll let you know how it goes.

I thought about leaving the shooters out, but they do add a bit of detail under the head and I find it amusing to have them on such an excellent model :)

I have a spot picked out in the room for it :) You should be able to do it for about 10 cents per piece.

I placed my orders--it only took two. The vast majority of the parts are quite common (another excellent design feature). The 5x5 Scala in LBG (6942) seems to be the rarest part and is quite necessary. The 4x4 Round with 4 Side Holes (6222) can be any color which can save some money. With shipping it came out to be about 10.5 cents per piece. Not bad at all for a moc of this size. If you already have Lego's version it should be considerably less from the look of it.

I can't believe how fast you got that done. It looks great! Very generous of the two of you to do this. Now I get to spend most of tonight doing the bricklink challenge :D There's an option on the rebrickable website that lets you export to a bricklink wanted list. (just discovered that myself)

This the reference material I always use. http://www.starshipmodeler.com/starwars/smith_sw.htm

If your goal is to keep the model as close to original as possible, but make it cost effective, than the easiest way by far is to swap out the colors of the wheels and spokes to dark bluish gray. Other than that, you're better off doing a complete redesign. As Mortesv stated, the engine proportions are way off. The only reason I haven't changed mine is because I like the fact that it's such a rare collector piece.

It's such an overall great model and scale I would love to build it. I think it really fits the bill for what a lot of us would like in a UCS model. And if Umbra puts it into LDD I definitely will be building it :)

I really like the engine area. It's very understated, but looks great. It would look even better in real bricks!

This is excellent. I think it's a perfect scale and it looks quite solid; it could not have been done any better. As others have said, I would definitely pay to build this.

Was going to say you'd be better off buying one from bricklink but just checked the prices and they've really gone up the last few years. About $300 more than I paid just a couple years ago. Bricks and Pieces is a good idea. The shipping cost is also a flat rate which can save money. I always copy and paste the inventory off bricklink into a spreadsheet and then look for alternate parts and compare prices. Like Jhaelego pointed out white coloring can vary so you'll definitely want new parts. My shuttle was actually an off white color straight out of the new box. 10179 and 10143 are definite exceptions to that. You will come out way ahead. Also if you make color substitutions to 10019 you can save a fortune.

That would diminish the value and exclusiveness for UCS sets in the minds of many. It's not like the other versions of minifigs aren't still nice, they just aren't quite as detailed. The best things always cost more. This has been true since forever.

I love that transport, possibly more than the Nebulon :D

The shape of the Nebulon B doesn't exactly lend itself to an interior. And from every picture of source material I've looked at, the proportions look to be quite accurate.

I like it. It feels authentic. Did you consider tiling the outside area? If you kept the uneven ground texturing with slopes and tiles it might match the polished exterior of the structure.

That thing is like a tailored suit: neat, crisp lines everywhere :) Looks fantastic and is a great scale.

Very nice. The engines are a very unique take on it and and are very slick.