LiLmeFromDaFuture

Ideally, I aspired to design my AT-AT project as if LEGO would themselves.  Early on, I understood if I stayed true to this direction then I could recreate many details faithfully, so this ambition at the focus of the project even inspired me to explore creative possibilities with the idea of an AT-AT as a transport.  Following closely in the footsteps of LEGO, I modeled the core element of my creation in the spirit of the first official AT-AT set (4483).  

4483 uses sliding benches to store and remove minifigures with great ease, and also space for a Speederbike.  Unlike its successors, 4483 served as the best example of the AT-AT in an abstract, yet fun, way.   To this regard, I took to the idea of implementing 4483's system for storing minifigures quite well and considering my desire to build as LEGO and take a creative approach with my project, it worked perfectly.  With these two factors at the helm of this project, little guesswork remained for how I would fill the inside based on 4483, though what did remain left space for imagination to introduce new ideas along with creative ways to interact with each.  

In the front and rear of my walker stay a small bench with seats for four minifigures, blasters for each, and accessory crates between them.  The middle features a large bench with seats for eight minifigures and blasters for each.

With a larger scale to work with, I knew I could fit at least a dozen and some more minifigures than 4483, though not solely in the middle of the body, and I did not want to require removing several panels to just access the minifigures only to reattach them again when stowing away the minifigures.  If I alternatively planned for a detailed interior, removing panels would not bother so much, as it would allow detailed-observation of the interior, but since I made other plans, this fashion of accessing the minifigures would prove tedious and not fun.  

So with quite the task before me, the immediate solution pointed towards a removable middle section (which I will now refer to as the box), so the troop benches I would place in the front and rear can slide out to the now void middle.  This direction would then lead to a fun solution for how to remove the box from the rest of the walker.  Like I wanted a convenient, manageable solution for accessing the minifigures, I likewise desired the same for removing the box than to grasp it from wherever, leading to possible damages.  So then came 10178.

The motorized walking AT-AT (10178), features a collapsible handle atop its body to move the walker wherever desired.  Though implementing a similar design on my walker may not manage to lift 6000+ parts with ease, the handle allows just what I need for an easy way to remove the box.

This render offers a good perspective of how well (and not so well) the proportions turned out. Unlike my previous attempt, I did not focus hard on nailing the proportions and details perfectly. This time, I purposed structure to take preeminence in this project, and the details take whatever they can get within reason. From this render, the effect of this decision shows most in the legs. So details, in particular, look simple, but I am pleased with how nice they and the proportions turned out!

Designing the engine-esque Greebling took quite some time to figure out. Detail like this, most often involve illegal techniques or weak assemblies. Well, since I am building this walker as if LEGO would release themselves, I required of myself to avoid this. I needed the detail to work within system, easy to assemble, not use obscure elements, but at the same time, not look plain and repetitive (like some sets). Eventually, I managed to accomplish my goal and will share the detail of details later.

Curiosity Broke Its Neck by LiLmeFromDaFuture, on Flickr

(The Means to a Solution)

I designed my AT-AT as a homage to build style of LEGO sets, and many aspects of this project reflect the engineering of official walker sets.  The neck, for example, featured a similar yet improved design of the recent AT-M6 (75189) and its predecessors.  To compensate for the larger scale, I used a Technic 1 x 15 liftarm (32278) as the base for the neck.  Yes, the longest and just one, but with several other Technic elements structured around it, to likewise compensate for the load it will bear.  Counteracting the stress, ideally meant to preserve the mold of the liftarm, by minimizing the chance of it flexing as best possible. The objective found its solution in the form of a sandwiching-technique with half liftarms around the middle of the 1 x 15 liftarm, between a box made of Technic bricks, pinned together with a length 4 axle and stop (87083).

(Learn by Playing)
So far, it looked adequate and integrated well between the connections to the head and infrastructure planned for the body.  Though, I always held doubts about how well the design will perform in the long term.  Since I needed space to install the access tube design (built similar like the sets), a few gaps existed where I could not extend the reach of the Technic-sandwich.  Then recently, I fiddled with a 1 x 15 liftarm and observed its durability between my hands.  To my surprise, I notice the face (the side with pinholes) bends to the power of the force more so than its sides.  I do not know if any of you already knew this, but ever since I committed to building like LEGO, I learned so much about engineering this toy into impressive structures.

(Drop the Sandwich)
The Technic-sandwich idea worked logically and even looked appealing in a structural kind of way.  However, committing to this LEGO standard of building also bears dilemmas, when doing it the "right way" must precede the "cool way."  This applies better to other aspects of the project, but since the Technic-sandwich could not work so effectively as planned, I completely redesigned the neck with the liftarms in the direction consistent with the whole build.  I did the new design in LDD first (not fully weened off yet) and will replicate the changes in STUD.io, then share them later.