Not a fan of the flying ARC Troopers

By Crawfskeezen, in Star Wars: Legion

Just built my first box of ARCs and I'm not big on the flying bases. I'm not sure if it comes from the fact that I like things to be uniform, that I don’t don’t plan to use the jetpacks as an upgrade much, that they seem flimsy, or whether it's something else. I feel like giving options for legs or feet to be flat and base-able would have been a good touch, as well as regular (or no) backpacks. I toyed with the idea of gluing them to the base but it would look like they're standing on their tip-toes and that looks even more silly.

I hope they grow on me but I’m already trying to figure out how to model my second box so that I may be able to do it without the flying models.

I don't play GAR so it's not an issue for me, but I completely agree. They should have included extra legs for people who didn't want to use the flight stands.

I haven't received mine yet but also don't think I want partial flyers. Can the stands be cut down to make them closer to Boba Fett's height?

1 minute ago, codytx2 said:

I haven't received mine yet but also don't think I want partial flyers. Can the stands be cut down to make them closer to Boba Fett's height?

They give you 2 sets of 2 stands. Each has a small and big stand but there are 3 flyers so at least one has to be high up.

Edited by Crawfskeezen

At the very least extra feet, or some kind of extra bit on the base to put under at least one of the feet. Like a droid head or something.

4 minutes ago, Crawfskeezen said:

They give you 2 sets of 2 stands. Each has a small and big stand but there are 3 flyers so at least one has to be high up.

That is unfortunate. If you come up with anything please post a pic. I might get one box next week that was in a pre-order with my ATRTs but the rest are on the February delay list.

4 minutes ago, Caimheul1313 said:

At the very least extra feet, or some kind of extra bit on the base to put under at least one of the feet. Like a droid head or something.

I have an extra Grievous from the core set. If I can fit it in to look right I'll post it.

So something you could maybe try is to build up some rocks, machinery, or whatever on the base. It's not perfect, but i think if the terrain is built just right, at least 2 of the 3 can work:

A3ls4QO.jpg

wq6Mgmc.jpg

the far right one works best I'd say, center one looks like he's diving/jumping forward, and the far left one is the trickiest. His pose could work in a diving for cover sort of pose

The center one could also look like he's running down a steep hill

NOTE: these were just quick mockups using poster putty. I plan on using the flight bases for mine.

Edited by oreet

Well, since at least one of them works flat on the ground I can keep with my earlier idea and model one unit entirely on flight bases with jetbacks, one without.

Just now, Caimheul1313 said:

Well, since at least one of them works flat on the ground I can keep with my earlier idea and model one unit entirely on flight bases with jetbacks, one without.

the angle of his feet will still look odd if glued to a flat horizontal surface on a base, you'll want him to be standing on something, but that one would work pretty easily.

2 minutes ago, oreet said:

the angle of his feet will still look odd if glued to a flat horizontal surface on a base, you'll want him to be standing on something, but that one would work pretty easily.

I figured from the way the putty is squished, but I have cork, stones, etc for basing material that would work to explain the angle.

8 minutes ago, oreet said:

the angle of his feet will still look odd if glued to a flat horizontal surface on a base, you'll want him to be standing on something, but that one would work pretty easily.

I base all mine with small rocks and grass so I think I could come up with something. The shorter stands look close to Fett's so putting one or two on them wouldn't be the worse thing for me.

30 minutes ago, Crawfskeezen said:

They give you 2 sets of 2 stands. Each has a small and big stand but there are 3 flyers so at least one has to be high up.

Thank you. For some reason I thought there were 4 backpacks, but all I could find was 3 I thought my son had lost one.

I plan on maybe using the 2 smaller flight stands, but have considered some rocky terrain. No matter which, I definately will be pinning those with rods

Edited by buckero0

Luckily, the ARC troopers' backs look fine without a jetpack or backpack on, so that's always an option too, though personally I think they look better with a jetpack or backpack on.

What makes this bizarre is these models are supposed to make the unit more customizable. I’m surprised to hear the lack of flexibility simply because they neglected to make flat feet. I can’t imagine this is a case of needing all new torsos, so why deprive the user?

6 minutes ago, smickletz said:

What makes this bizarre is these models are supposed to make the unit more customizable. I’m surprised to hear the lack of flexibility simply because they neglected to make flat feet. I can’t imagine this is a case of needing all new torsos, so why deprive the user?

the core set troops had way more flexibility. There is little flexibility without literally chopping the figure apart. The legs only fit one way on one torso allowing for only one fit. Even the arms are kind of one set for one torso. They don't really mix and match. All the helmets are the same.

20 minutes ago, buckero0 said:

the core set troops had way more flexibility. There is little flexibility without literally chopping the figure apart. The legs only fit one way on one torso allowing for only one fit. Even the arms are kind of one set for one torso. They don't really mix and match. All the helmets are the same.

I too was a little disappointed. At least on the core Phase I's, you could mix and match some arms or legs so that your Z6 could be standing or crouching, and the same with some of the other troops. With the ARCs, none of the pieces except for the head fit outside of their designated letter group without quite a lot of work, so what you see in the directions is what you're going to end up with unless you are particularly skilled with a hobby knife and green stuff.

Thematically though, they really do seem like a clone army in that sense. At least the droids are easier to modify their poses.

I posted these in a different thread but here are the two arc troopers I converted to be grounded rather than flying.

BdNn8LH.jpg

rnuWxJB.jpg

One was done by using a pair of P1 legs from the core set and the other by taking the existing legs and cutting them at the joints before running a paperclip through them and repositioning them with some greenstuff to fill the gaps. It was a bit fiddly to achieve but I'm happy with the results and they fit in perfectly with the rest of the squad.

I wish they would have put some standing leg options too but they still look really cool.

Be careful with those flying stands I pressed down on one to glue it and it snapped in half so I'm glad the set comes with an extra stand

IMG_3746.jpg

Edited by ewardell
add picture

I hate flight stands/pegs with a firey passion, so I never considered using them. I decided to be quick with my first (and only) unit of ARCs and didn't modify them at all. I did take advantage of the natural elevation differences on the premium bases, and for the most part they turned out OK. If I can get another unit at some point I will try playing around with their feet to get different angles.

IMG_20200905_105856663 IMG_20200905_105808248

@Alpha17 those look good! Yeah, they look pretty good up close, so I would think they definitely pass my "minimum 3 foot rule."

I have two boxes and decided to combine and split them so I had one squad standing, one squad flying, one strike team and Fives and Echo. All are unique. Had to try a lot of different arm combos to get ones to fit but it works. DC-15xs were a bit of a pain to get on standing models but I only needed to have one flying ARC 'jumping matrix style' to make the plan work.

1 hour ago, Welshie13 said:

I have two boxes and decided to combine and split them so I had one squad standing, one squad flying, one strike team and Fives and Echo. All are unique. Had to try a lot of different arm combos to get ones to fit but it works. DC-15xs were a bit of a pain to get on standing models but I only needed to have one flying ARC 'jumping matrix style' to make the plan work.

That's pretty clever, I like the idea. Team jetpack and team foot.

TBH I'm also not a fan of the flying ARC Troopers and wish there were options to make them ground based. I ended up buying 3 boxes and will be able to make 12 ground based Troopers. This will give me enough figures for 2 5 man squads and Echo and Fives. I can also go with a 4 man squad plus 2 Strike Teams and Echo and Fives or just 3 Strike Teams. Plenty of options until I can get my hands on another ARC Trooper box for a 3rd full squad.

Is Echo meant to be the kneeling figure with the sniper rifle? If so, is the generic sniper only available on a flight stand?