This is Allan Hansen's partially built project that I've taken over. Allan had built the head and top of the chassis - some of the most difficult and important areas to scratch and modify kit parts. Also, the kit parts were ordered very neatly into bags representing the subassemblies, which helped move things along in an orderly fashion. Allan also made possible placement of non-canon symmetry in some of the head parts on the right side of the head by using magnets to hold them on or pose it with them off, as is the stop motion puppet. Even the chin guns are held on with magnets. Allan is also the first person to develop the armature, which for this version was made possible by Quincy Cutshaw.
Since all of that was taken care of, I've completed most of the rest of it the last two weeks. These pics show it as of last weekend. Since then I've made a couple of mistakes that I'll just have to live with. Hopefully they're not too noticeable and can be put down to "interpretation". Everyone seems to build them a little differently and makes them a little more neat than the original - which had hot glue blobs especially all over the right thigh area. The original was built in such a rush I'm surprised it held up for filming!
I'll post pics of this weekend's progress in the next day or so. I'm just placing the hoses and such now. They're the last parts to go on it. Oh yeah, and the little part that goes under the nebelwerfer arms in the upper thigh area. The feet and engine areas are just fit in place, no glue yet.
I ended up scratching the inner thigh plate that had me scratching my head and on an intergalactic search of obscure kit parts trying to find it. Life's too short, and I had to move on.
For the most part I wrote with pen on parts then eyeballed x-acto-ing or razor blading the cuts on parts. Only in one area did I waste an AMT flatbed part by cutting it incorrectly.
Now I have my own unstarted AT-ST to figure out what to do with. One of the reasons I never started it was the challenge it took to cut and glue the head correctly to begin with. I'd like to make another, using this as reference. The other might be idealized and symmetrical instead of asymmetrical like this one. All I know is I can't get enough of building these. I also have a Neisen version I made a diorama of.
So far I've had a blast with this! Thanks for the opportunity Allan and happy motorcycling.
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