krispy

(07-03-2013) I've redone the photographs with a white(ish) background. This should show the model more clearly. Hope you like! Hi all! I'm diving deeper into Star Wars starfighter obscurity with this very niche model. The Missile Boat only appeared in a handful of Star Wars games (like the extended edition Tie Fighter and X-Wing Alliance). Oddly enough, after making my Star Wing/Assault Gunboat known to the public I've gotten requests to do the Missile Boat next (more than one even). So here it is! Not a render: a real brick build ship! As always: it's buildable (duh), in minifig scale, (almost) no rare parts and no flick-fire missiles. And unlike my first MOC (the Star Wing), this one is rock solid from the get go! Seriously, it's smaller than the Star Wing, but still weighs about the same. It's very sturdy and swooshable. TL;DR: model files are at the end(ish) of the post. For those unfamiliar with the craft (which is probably 99% of you ) The Missile Boat was an advanced Imperial starfighter designed by Admiral Thrawn and built by Cygnus Spaceworks. Designed as a countermeasure against the rogue Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin and his supply of TIE Defenders, the Missile Boat was a descendant of the Alpha-class Xg-1 Star Wing, also manufactured by Cygnus Spaceworks. The Missile Boat relied primarily on warheads for dogfighting and assaults, a notable difference from other Imperial starfighters, which relied more heavily on laser cannons. The Missile Boat also included an innovative propulsion feature known as the SubLight Acceleration Motor (SLAM). (source: Wookieepedia) And there you have it. Finding source material was even harder than for the Star Wing as the craft only makes its appearance in two games. To make it even more challenging, the models differ greatly between the two games. Oddly enough the X-Wing Alliance Update project also did their (rather excellent) version, which is also diffent. I've included a comparison below. What can I say? I like a challenge! These images and the fact that it's supposed to be 10m long (about 32 studs in minifig scale) was what I got to work with, so I've taken a few liberties as well. Luckily, there are a number of similarities between the craft, like the way the wings are angled, the missilepods on top, big rear engines, narrow(ish) cockpit. I've tried to use similar techniques to the Star Wing; as they are related, it should show. Here are some more views of the result. And I do apologise for my feeble photographing skills: all I had to work with were a bit of cloth, some desklamps and an old compact camera. From the front: Shot from the rear: A side view: Next to it's older brother: Lego®-vision drawing: Render of possible color variations: I'm actually rather taken with the blue one (though I build a red one as the craft in the games are all with red markings). As always, I've shared my lxf files so you can build it yourself. It's 654 pieces in total (165 unique; and that's including the mini-fig) and all can be found on bricklink in good quantities. There are a couple of things you need to mind, but I'll get to that later. Files v1.0: The model assembled v1.0 (in parts): The model broken down in main components. If you are going to build it in real bricks, I suggest you use this file as it will force LDD to generate instructions for each major component, making building easier. Building Notes As I've mentioned before: all parts should be available in good quantities. There are, unfortunately, some parts you need to mind: The Classic grey wedge 6x4; you'll need two and only the 6153a variant is available in this color (which is not in LDD; only the b-variant). There's no alternative (sorry) but the part seems to be available in good quantities. Any suggestions on how to do the nose section without this part (and dump classic grey altogether) is very much welcome. The Light Bley Brick, Modified 2 x 4 x 1 1/3 with Curved Top; it turned out to be way harder to find than I expected, but it looks good on the model. If you have trouble sourcing it, or find it too expensive, you might want to consider using only 2x1x1 1/3's instead. It might require some extra reinforcement underneat though. The Wheel 30mm D. x 13mm (13 x 24 Model Team); it's an older part (last set to feature it is C-3PO from 2001), so most likely you'll only find used ones. Do not confuse this with partno. 60208. The 2695 has a shallower rim and has rounded edges as well. You could use the 60208 (for example if you want the thrusters in dark bley) as it fits, but I personally feel that they don't look right. As with the Star Wing, I suggest that you build it in main components (grab the parts file!) and later assemble those. As always, the LDD instructions are weird and unlogical, so I suggest you spend a little time looking around the model and skipping through the instructions a couple of times just to make sure you won't have to wedge a plate inbetween two brick already there. A quick pointer while building the main hull: LDD will want you to build it in one go, but I advice you to build it in 3 seperate components. A 4-step plan below. Start with the cockpit and internal skeleton (much like the instructions) Seperately, construct the top panel To the same for the bottom panel (just follow the instructions, but don't add it on to the model) Assemble! Unpictured step: the engine part (the dark bley bits at the end) is pretty straightforward. Add it before putting the top panel on. And that should do it. Thank you for reading!

Thanks Rob!Turns out... it works! Check out these: Notice the lack of hanging sidepods! I've updated the start post with the new model files should anyone want to use these.

Thanks Bobsy! To answer your question about the pilot: not as easy as flipping open the cockpit, but not as hard as you'd expect I suppose. Take a look at this picture: Getting to the pilot is a three step proces: Flip the side windows up, Remove the upper 2x4 tile (seen removed on the left), Remove the main windscreen (on the top right) by pulling it backwards ever so slightly. And you're done! You could leave the main windscreen, but as it is only connected at two points, it's very easy to take out and put back. I recommend removing it as it gives you ample space to work in the cockpit. As for the stability matter. In it's current form, it's not swooshable at all. And that just won't do. Here's what to expect from the 2.0 version of the model: The liftarms and Technics bricks, highlighted in green, should provide ample support for the sidepods and should not bend as easily as the axles do. Moreover, I've changed how the main wing hinges are situated in the pods: studs facing up instead of down. This should make that part sturdier as well. Also note the truckload of jumper plates required to get the right offsets.

With apologies for resurrecting an old topic; I've finally managed to real-brick build the model! So here she is: Turns out that although building with virtual bricks gives you a lot of freedom to experiment, there is no substitute for real-brick building. In this post (which I've also added as a paragraph to the opening post) I shall share some things I've experienced while converting my virtual model to something real. First problem I had was with the ion canons on the sail. Turns out my old grey frictionless pins are not fond of jamming bars in them. So I've opted for the solution shown below (which still looks rather neat). Then there was my "ingenious" solution for mounting these two canons really low and close to the sail. The original plan was to use a brick with an axle cross and jam the pneumatic "T" pieces in there, which oughta fit according to LDD. Turns out, they don't. Well, they fit, but (probably due to wear or tolerance) the brick doesn't hold them properly. Below you see the more standard solution for the problem. Note that in the new model file it is done slightly different, which you can also see in the first picture in this post. And then there was sidepod stability... my biggest problem (as I had predicted and feared). My original design turned out to be very fragile. As the picture below illustrates: just the weight of the main wing was already enough to have the assembly split and come apart (notice the black gap in the middle grey part). I've come up with a redesign that kind of works (I'll get to that in a minute). This is the main reason why, if you have already downloaded a model file from the opening post and intend to build this thing, you should get the updated model files I've posted there. The version number should be 1.5. Unfortunately, that rework of the sidepods didn't stop the axles that connect them to the main hull from bending. The result of that is a model that looks like Star-Wars-meets-Salvador-Dali (apologies for the slightly blurry picture). I've already modified the main hull so that a pair of extra axles is present near the read. This helps, but doesn't stop the hanging. I'm afraid that if I want to make is internally strong enough, I've got to go with an entirely different solution. Probably lose the axles and use beams/thick liftarms instead. I might play with that after I'm done building my Missile Boat (coming soon ). The solution I'm using at the moment to combat the hanging is simple: support the sidepods! As you can see, I've used a 1x16 technics brick and it works really well. Ideally, one would use a 1x14 brick, but I don't have one. Sure, the stand is a bit bulky, but nothing I'm currently annoyed with. So it suffices for now. Other than these issues, the build went rather smooth. I was particularly happy with the sides of the nose: they are much sturdier than I expected, allowing me to remove one of the 4 connection points so I could make the internal cockpit a bit sturdier. I'm happy with how big it turned out; getting a sense of scale is always difficult when you work digitally. You know what they say: "A bird in the hand is worth..." I hope you've enjoyed my little report and good luck if you attempt to build this!

I'm not familiar with the scene (don't watch CW), but that's a mighty fine diorama. I absolutely love that snowy ridge you did! Looks like something you do not want to fall off from.

Impressive That's quite the shopping spree! I'd say you're serious about your hobby On topic(ish): not necessarily sets, but I've just spend my brick budget on 1200+ bricks to real brick build the Assault Gunboat MOC I did as well as my upcoming Missile Boat MOC. Got some nice minifigs with my order as well (Royal Guard, Emperor Palpatine).

Great job (again)! If it weren't for the Star Wing and Missile Boat in my build queue, I might try my hand on this one. I have the new official A-Wing, but it doesn't quite do it to be honest (especially when showcased next to the B-Wing ). What I like about this version is that it seems to use similar parts to the current official set, which means less parts to order.

I know, right? I really do! To me it looks absolutely bang on (and I've blown up quite a bunch of these in my Imperial pilot days ). I might also nick your stand idea for my B-Wing; it's about the same size, but this one looks so much more elegant. My only gripe: upload some larger renders and include the link to the Cuusoo page so we can support?

Wow... That's big! I love the shape.

Wow. Those are some impressive discounts! I just got the 75003 A-Wing as an early birthday present. Cute build, excellent minifigs, but a shame there's so many stickers.

LOL, now there's a picture I'd like to see! As for the skeleton: if you have some spare technics bricks (I think I used 1x12) around and a couple of 1x4 plates in dark bley, you should be able to do the skeleton in v1.1 style without much problems. That's what I did: I can't order new plates as the Lego budget is still recovering from building this thing...

Look great though! I like the blue's you've used; they are more pronounced than the sand blue. Which version of the lxf did you use?

I agree. The new style is a massive improvement compared to the old style Tie Fighters; especially looking at the grey rim around the wings. The 9493 X-Wing comes in at a close second, but I still dislike the S-foil solution with rubber bands (one of the first things I fixed ).

4. Kristel - 2 points 25 Legofin2012 - 2 points 56. Cerator - 1 points

5. Freighter over Ice Planet Biodome - Lt. de Martinet - 1 point 8. Iron Giant - cmaddison - 1 point 13. Invasion! - 4estFeller - 1 point 62. Factory Defense - Darkblane - 1 point 72.The City of Tomorrow - touthomme - 1 point Kudos to all builders: the choice was very difficult!

5. Duh-Nuh - madLEGOman - 3 points 37. rEvolution - zane_houston - 1 points 63.Nutcracker Mech - Classicsmiley - 1 point Because Shark + Mech = Awesome

10. Righty - 1 18. Priovit70 - 1 37. Etzel - 3

Great job! I hadn't heard of this star fighter, but I like it. I especially like how you've done the rear tail part (with those cylinders) and the yellow color scheme is certainly refreshing. I'm always in favour of moar star fighters, so supported!

No problem; take pictures when you complete it. Also please take note that I've updated the model file (should be more robust now). If you really consider building it from LDD instructions, you might want to grab the "in parts" file. This has the model in seperate major components, forcing LDD to create instructions for them seperately. This way, the instructions make much more sense. All you have to do at the end is bring the major components (9 in total) together at the end, which isn't hard. Thanks! As a matter of fact, I was already contemplating it: I noticed one of my early prototypes of the gunboat resembled a missileboat

Thanks for the awesome comments! They mean a lot. As token of my gratitude, please accept this scene that finished rendering today Star Wing patrol by Krispy's brick stuff, on Flickr

So jealous right now.... On topic: it has not been mentioned often, but I would definitely like some sort of connection analysis tooling or something to get an idea of model sturdiness/stability; like what Calabar said at the start of the topic (shake the model and stuff). For example: I would like to see which pieces are connected by only one or two studs or perhaps more relevant which pieces are connected by only 10% of their studs. Right now it's really difficult to judge if your model is stable let alone sturdy. I sometimes end up rebuilding the model from scratch because I forgot that one 3x12 wing was only connected by one stud.

Interesting find. I'm gonna try this, see what the differences are (quality vs speed etc).

Just wow... It's big yet so detailed. Love it!

30m in minifig-scale translates to about 96 studs... that's a pretty big barge

Consider your request granted. It is now on Cuusoo! Thank you guys for supporting! I've also updated the markings and tweaked the color scheme. I think the model looks much more coherent and way more interesting now. The LDD model file was also updated.