I would like to see a Mobquet.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mobquet_medium_transport

Could have a 'Suprosa' title if you're in the mood for some armed Q Ship action... Luke and Dash raided it during Shadows of the Empire and it's also a sweet scenario in X WIng Alliance...

Check out the link if you've never seen a Mobquet, It's a standard Imperial transport in the XWA game. Granted, it probably doesn't appeal to 'movie only' kind of guys and it doesn't look like a mini SD.

It's got the chops for the job though, and unrelated, Joss Whedon threw one in the background of Firefly for one episode.

*EDIT* Still loving your work though Gosric. That second one looks great! Very Imperial.

Good call, I'd quite like to see the Mobquet myself!

Well. One more redesign it seems. I have decided to go for a more Nebulan B styled transport and leave the wedges for the combat vessels. Im still not sure about external TIEs as they are only 1.6 cm long which might be hard to print and could look odd on the board, Athough im assuming they would be removed from the ship and replaced with full size ones on the mat when launched.

The shape is complete but there is a lot of detailing yet to do but so far i think it is the version i prefer

Good grief Gosric! That's... that's pretty **** spectacular

Thank you. Just wait until it is detailed *L*

Finally finished the design and all uploaded ready to go. Took longer to get it right than i thought and the final version looks nothing like the first concept. But that is par for the course in most design processes i guess.

The base ship

And with the interchangable pods. The original version had them all as a single item but nowthey are in groups of 4 for the TIEs and Drop pods. and 3 for the guns due to the need to allow the turrets room to rotate (they dont but it would be cheating design wise to not allow room)

First the Gun pods

The drop pods

Designed to either carry supplies, vehicles or troops rapidly from orbit to the surface With limited use engines and basic stabilizers. Being dropped from low orbit in one of these feels like death itself which is why the Stormtroopers have nicknamed them coffins (also due to their shape) Not a lot of use in game play i suppose though the race to get them before they hit planetside might add a bit of tension when having to deal with the TIEs escorting the ship.

The TIE rack

Image shows my TIE and TIE Avenger to illustrate the scale problem. 2 full size TIEs would barely fit and longer panel versions like the Avenger or Advanced would be seriously cramped. But it ccoul be done if one is willing to suspend disbelief regarding the 12 ft tall TIE pilot *S*

Excellent!

So, when does it go to the printer?

Its on Shapeways now. One day i will have my own printer and then it will be made almost as soon as i complete it. Sadly that day is not this one

Its on Shapeways now. One day i will have my own printer and then it will be made almost as soon as i complete it. Sadly that day is not this one

Cool.

I see it's available in Strong & Flexible. That's the grainy stuff, right?

How much would it be if it were to be upgraded to FUD (were that possible), and how much of the price goes to you?

Amazing work Gosric! I especially like the TIE rack and drop pod variants.

Ok. Quick addition to my huge ship list. Since the Rebellion, or indeed pirates if one is playing them as i know some do, needs something to raid... At almost 9.5 inches it is slightly bigger than the Rebel transport and im wondering what sort of weapon systems it should have.

It's a transport not a warship. The Rebel one is unarmed.

I think plenty of Imperial transports were lightly armed. Certainly they weren't armed to the teeth, but maybe the inclusion of one hardpoint upgrade would do the trick?

Actually it is too big to be printed in the detail materials but at the size it is the shapeways printers are limited regarding orientation which makes it likely to print better.

As for me with a model this size i do put a bit more of a markup than with a fighter so 8 bucks on this and 2 on the pods. I dont like charging a lot but there isnt much i can do about the base cost except be careful when building to use the minimum of material.

I could remake it to have visible guns but with a roughly 110 metre ship they would likely be small anti fighter weapons. and not all that visible. The only reason the Tantive has such huge guns is of course because it was originally going to be a much smaller ship and the guns reflect that. It would be easy enough to just assume that the ship has a hardpoint

Ok. Quick addition to my huge ship list. Since the Rebellion, or indeed pirates if one is playing them as i know some do, needs something to raid... At almost 9.5 inches it is slightly bigger than the Rebel transport and im wondering what sort of weapon systems it should have.

It's a transport not a warship. The Rebel one is unarmed.

I think plenty of Imperial transports were lightly armed. Certainly they weren't armed to the teeth, but maybe the inclusion of one hardpoint upgrade would do the trick?

Is that true though? Did the Empire arm its transports, or did they provide escorts. My assumption has always been the latter, unless they were using Star Galleons.

Actually it is too big to be printed in the detail materials but at the size it is the shapeways printers are limited regarding orientation which makes it likely to print better.

As for me with a model this size i do put a bit more of a markup than with a fighter so 8 bucks on this and 2 on the pods. I dont like charging a lot but there isnt much i can do about the base cost except be careful when building to use the minimum of material.

Wow, it's a bummer that you don't get more of a cut than that, but it's awesome that you're trying to make it available for as cheap as you can.

The grainy finish is the main reason that I'm really hesitant to buy stuff from Shapeways. (Also, the ships are not admissible in most games.) Has anyone tried sanding the plastic down, or does that just turn into a mess without actually achieving a smooth finish?

With the larger ships the finish isnt nearly as bad. It is when the ships are very small that it is a problem as the details do not show very well and there is some stepping. But the few larger ships i have seen tend to not look bad. As for the cut i do it mostly for the love of modelling and the genre. So while i do like to make something from it i am not concerned with making the big bucks. A good going over with a toothbrush and some fine sandpaper can take care of most issues. Strangely it looks like it will print in metal but that has a 300 buck minimium price *L*

As for the arming of transports we never really see any Imperial transports in the films. Although if they arm shuttles then one would assume at the very least defensive guns for transports (which is why i have the gun modules. one of them will add 4 decent sized anti fighter weapons). Anything else comes from the rpgs or books and is often suspect

Is that true though? Did the Empire arm its transports, or did they provide escorts. My assumption has always been the latter, unless they were using Star Galleons.

Mobquets are armed, other than that, depends on what you read*. You're right about the escorts; Though even the might of the Imperial fleet couldn't be everywhere at once.

*I've read so much EU stuff now, i cant tell what is what anymore... See obscure picture reference below:

Is that true though? Did the Empire arm its transports, or did they provide escorts. My assumption has always been the latter, unless they were using Star Galleons.

Mobquets are armed, other than that, depends on what you read*. You're right about the escorts; Though even the might of the Imperial fleet couldn't be everywhere at once.

Fair enough, but here's another in-universe question. (I'm not asking these rhetorically or Socratically, I'm interested in your thoughts.) Wouldn't the places where the Empire's own bulk freighters travel also generally be safe enough that they generally wouldn't need escorts, leaving the Imperial Navy's escort squadrons to escort freighters only in those places where there might be pirate activity or the chance of rebel privateers?

Also, I would think that those more dangerous routes would be out on the Rim, where the Empire wouldn't care as much, except for particularly valuable raw materials from scarce origins. Out there, the freighters would more likely be non-Imperial, and therefore left to their own devices or in need of escorts from local authorities.

(Yes, I think about this stuff too much.)

I love me some Father Ted