I had a blast making these flat bike speeders to replace the RoTJ models for my Empire force. I have a big list of possible builds (oppressor tank, at-dt, at-pt, at-dp, etc) in mind, but I'm curious what other folks might want to see.
Edited by BucketheadBits
The 616-AvA Speeder Bike could be a good, simple addition. It's the speeder bike most commonly seen in Rebels and is the precursor to the 74-Z. Could be a fun opportunity to come up with another different stormtrooper armor set as well.
Ok where can I get one? haha Looks amazing!
That's a cool speeder @Praetorate of the Empire ! I'll add it to my list, the Rebels stuff is not on my radar that much. I have the AT-ST helmet done and converting those driver helmets has been on my "maybe" list for a while...
@Themodalnodes My Twitter has the link and I'll be posting some assembly instructions there soon.
I spent a lot of time getting the spru layed out so all of the bike parts are up facing and the connector pegs and guides as aligned in the print bed as I can. So there's little to no support wax and the bike is very smooth. You will have to do a smidge of normal "hobby" trimming/sanding/patching to get some of the joins perfect but its pretty straightforward.
I'll post more pics after I get it primed.
Edit:
Primed! Took a quick (bad) photo with my phone. Will get something better when I have a bit more time.
Edited by BucketheadBits
It's beautiful!!! Going straight on my Wishlist
Fantastic work.
Ron
Wow! Really great work!
Do you have any pictures showcasing the AT-ST joint upgrade kit?
Specifically what sort of posing can be achieved, and how the three quality options compare to the stock bits.
The Chicken leg upgrade kit was inspired by this mod my buddy did (because I am too lazy to do all that sawing), as well as just looking at photos of the walker, such as.... This one , Or this one , Or this one ... And looking at the original stop motion model, and other builds very dedicated folks have done that included lots and lots of research. You'll notice the hips are almost never aligned perfectly straight forward the way the FFG kit is, even when the thing is just standing there the feet are slightly open.
Mechanically speaking the big restrictions are going to be the rotation of the foot, and the size of the base (and how comfy you are with overhang). The ankle joint I've added doesn't modify the foots dimensions (and to keep the kit small I didn't want to put a whole new foot in there too) so you'll only get, I dunno, 10-15 degrees of roll in the foot without trimming before the foot runs into the ankle wall. Some of the iconic stances of the at-st the feet are pretty wide, you'll have to experiment to come up with a look you like that fits on the base well enough.
I have an order of the Smooth (not the smoothest) Fine Detail arriving in about a week and I'll take pics of those once I get em. I put this up in multiple materials because the part visibility is low on the model, so if you want to save a few bucks you'll probably be ok even with the versatile plastic but have a bit more work to do priming/sanding. That said, I don't get prototypes of every thing I make done before I list them. Complex builds like the bike, I had to because the assembly was complicated, bits and simple stuff I just order em as I get the units I want them for assembled.
Edit: I have laid out the Oppressor Tank and it fits in the print bed, but its big (base is >6" across) and its going to be a pricey print... I'll do some more experiments and share what I find.
Edited by BucketheadBits14 hours ago, BucketheadBits said:The Chicken leg upgrade kit was inspired by this mod my buddy did (because I am too lazy to do all that sawing), as well as just looking at photos of the walker, such as.... This one , Or this one , Or this one ... And looking at the original stop motion model, and other builds very dedicated folks have done that included lots and lots of research. You'll notice the hips are almost never aligned perfectly straight forward the way the FFG kit is, even when the thing is just standing there the feet are slightly open.
Mechanically speaking the big restrictions are going to be the rotation of the foot, and the size of the base (and how comfy you are with overhang). The ankle joint I've added doesn't modify the foots dimensions (and to keep the kit small I didn't want to put a whole new foot in there too) so you'll only get, I dunno, 10-15 degrees of roll in the foot without trimming before the foot runs into the ankle wall. Some of the iconic stances of the at-st the feet are pretty wide, you'll have to experiment to come up with a look you like that fits on the base well enough.
I have an order of the Smooth (not the smoothest) Fine Detail arriving in about a week and I'll take pics of those once I get em. I put this up in multiple materials because the part visibility is low on the model, so if you want to save a few bucks you'll probably be ok even with the versatile plastic but have a bit more work to do priming/sanding. That said, I don't get prototypes of every thing I make done before I list them. Complex builds like the bike, I had to because the assembly was complicated, bits and simple stuff I just order em as I get the units I want them for assembled.
Edit: I have laid out the Oppressor Tank and it fits in the print bed, but its big (base is >6" across) and its going to be a pricey print... I'll do some more experiments and share what I find.
Thanks, looking forward to seeing them. Do you foresee any significant difference in durability of model with the smooth vs versatile? I hear the SLA stuff is somewhat brittle?
You can read up on the materials on SW . I wouldn't have listed the versatile if I though it would be bad based on my xp with it (this is why I pretty much only stick with smoothest fine detail for the stuff where its not cost prohibitive), I think it will be fine but your mileage may vary. In either case, I'll probably pin through the entire assembly with some brass rod because its relatively easy and will make it super strong. That's probably overkill? There is plenty of surface area to get a good glue.
Posted some new stuff today.
I got my leg kit in yesterday and took some quick photos this morning. The regular Smooth print is excellent, a little cleaning and a bit of sanding on the round bits and it'll be great. The fit between the printed bits is also spot on, the fit between printed and pvc isn't perfect in a few places I'll cover that stuff below...
Some observations:
- The hip assembly is a smidge longer than the source to facilitate the pivots. But as you can see you get full 360 degree articulation mid hip, and 180 degrees at either end.
- The join between the hip and the top leg segment is a bit smooth, you'll want to pin and/or wrap the post in greenstuff to make the connection better.
- You have to trim the body to hip connection down, because of the rotation that post can no longer extend into the hip the way ffg's kit does. This is expected, and super easy, you can see how the hip is hanging way off the end in my photos because I haven't done this yet.
- The ankle and foot connections are super tight, plan on doing some light sanding here or, worst case, cutting the pins off the printed foot and pinning that piece in. I spent maybe a minute sanding the calf and the ankle fit is really good. I can't make the post from the foot into the ankle longer without making either bit too thin for the the printer and also expect it to hold anything, so I will definitely plan on pinning this on mine.
- If you wanted to be super economical, you could split the kit between two at-sts... just have one articulated leg per model. The bit of extra length in the hip won't be noticeable.
Edit: Realized it wasn't super obvious from my pics how both ends of the hip had 180 degree rotation on a second axis... so put another pic of the hip in there.
Edited by BucketheadBitsGot some new scouts for Christmas and got them converted with my Special Bucketheads kit.
And I'm very slowly making progress on painting the bike. I'll probably pause here and get the second one assembled and base coated like this before weathering and shading them together.
@BucketheadBits that Speeder looks nice. You planning to play games with this using the standard Speeder bike stats or is it just for show?
Really like the customs. Where can we get those helmets. I painted a set of scouts in the paint scheme of the AT-AT driver as seen in ESB. Those helmets would be the perfect conversion for that squad.
@BigBadAndy Ya I'll proxy with these.
@C3POFETT search for my name on shape ways shops.
Some WIP on my Special Forces Scouts. Finally got a gameplan for all the layers of black good enough. Comments and crits welcome!
Also, lots of new bits on the shape shop ;).
47 minutes ago, BucketheadBits said:Some WIP on my Special Forces Scouts. Finally got a gameplan for all the layers of black good enough. Comments and crits welcome!
Also, lots of new bits on the shape shop ;).
This looks absolutely amazing. I viewed your shop and I have to pick up a set of pilot helmets and a set of trooper helmets to make an AT-AT/Tie Fighter pilot mixed squad and a patrol trooper squad from the brief scene in the Solo movie. I just have to finish painting what I have started and then pick up 2 more Scout Trooper packs.
My children attend a school for kids with special needs and last school year I introduced Imperial Assault at their Family Fun Days and it was very popular. This year I introduced Legion and it has taken over everything. I now have 3 core sets and multiple expansions of each type just to make sure everyone can play. Painting feels like a part time job even though it is a labor of love.
Swapping heads will make it so much cooler to know which squad is which rather than just a different paint scheme for the same looking squads. Almost a third faction you might say. Anyway your stuff is amazing and I wish you much success.
Thanks for the kind words @C3POFETT . Really love your story about sharing legion with your kids and their classmates. Games are so important, that's really awesome.
I'll add a couple squad size sets of heads for you this weekend.
I just found your thread any your work is awesome. Are you planning on the occupier tank commander or shoretrooper heads?
Salcor
I will get back to doing heads and things after I finish up the tank itself.
1 hour ago, BucketheadBits said:I will get back to doing heads and things after I finish up the tank itself.
Umm, looks like FFG beat you to it.
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/1/14/heavy-hitter/
Very cool stuff. Any chance of you selling the STLs via Pinshape or a similar site? Shapeways orders can get a smidge ridiculous if you want multiples of a thing.
11 hours ago, BucketheadBits said:
Well, the design space of a First Sergeant Arbmab for your AT-ST hatch just opened up, assuming the FFG part won't fit cleanly.
