Hunk a Junk's Mando N-1 Hasbro toy conversion build log

[division 6]

I would scale it to the Astromech head since it's a known size.

 

[Hunk a Junk]

I would scale it to the Astromech head since it's a known size.

Good idea. The droid socket opening is just over 7/8" and we know the R2 units fit pretty snuggly, so I'll go with 7/8" for the diameter of the R2. The R2 Builder's Club states the official dome diameter is 18.25" (correct me if I'm wrong) -- so, according to the scale calculator (assuming I'm doing this right -- and that's a BIG assumption), that's 1:21. Not that it matters a ton to me, but eventually I'll have to print a Mando to go in the cockpit.

 

[Hunk a Junk]

I've been busy with RL, so I haven't made too much progress. Started cutting out the missing panels in the fuselage. Getting the placement right according to the reference photos has been a bit of a challenge since the proportions are slightly different. I opened up some of the panels a bit too wide and needed to add some styrene strip to correct it.

The blaster cannon openings on the toy were square, so I needed to fill them and I'll file them to their proper oval shape this weekend.

Continued to carve away the excess hull material under the wings.

Started adding styrene to build up the proper profile around the cockpit opening. I'm going to attempt to make the canopy open and close, but it remains to be seen if it will be possible. I may just avoid the hassle.

The hull contour at the base of the droid socket (aka Grogu's rumble seat) on the toy is wrong, so I started filling it. Started with Bondo, sanded that, then went over that with Tamiya putty this morning. I'm sure it will take repeated sanding and puttying to get the final smooth shape.

Lastly, started the repair work on the wing where I broke it trying to remove the engine pod. I'll be running a brass rectangular tube through the wing to support the new 3D printed engines, so the repair work isn't structural.

Hope to have more progress in the next update.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Analyzer]

Oh yeah Looking good

 

[soulsaman]

Great work!

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Some more progress. I got all the open panels removed and I'm happy they appear to be the right size and in the right place. That took more effort than I expected. Its easy to think, "Oh, I'll just cut a square hole out," but getting it the right shape and in proportion to the other panels is fiddly stuff.

There's still plenty of subtle clean up to do. I shot it will some primer and it's easy to see all the crimes. The interior of some of the open panels still need to be smoothed. I added some styrene and putty to extend the back edge of the wings along the hull to where it meets a panel line.

I'm getting closer to getting the rear of the cockpit around the R2 socket sorted. Putty, sand, repeat. I also added some styrene to build up the edges of the cockpit opening. I'm cautiously optimistic I'll get the canopy to slide open and closed.

Finally, made new scribe lines and filed the blaster cannon openings to their (almost) final oval shape. Like I said, a little primer and suddenly I see all the places I still need to tweak and sand. This weekend I'll move on the lower hull.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Jaitea]

Love it, coming on well

J

 

[Hunk a Junk]

I had a little bit of time to start modeling the four engine "thingy" add-ons. The housing where these connect to the engine pods will have to wait until I model the engines themselves. Pretty happy with them so far considering I have zero cad experience and I'm just monkeying around on Tinkercad. But if it works...

Thanks for looking!

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Started the bottom hull. I removed the battery compartment, epoxied the door in place, and started the filling and sanding.

 

[Millenniumf]

I sure am glad I have two of these things to convert into an N-1 whenever I get to that project... No need to worry about price-gouging from people on eBay! The N-1 is my favorite prequel-era subject and I was excited to see it in Book of Boba Fett, so I'm thinking of getting back to that project whenever I finish up the subjects on my current build list.

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Plodding along slowly. Some primer on the bottom hull, started plotting out the new scribe lines. Also made some rough cutouts for the missing panels and sublight booster engine.

Cheers!

 

[Analyzer]

Very inspiring!

 

[CB2001]

Looking good so far. Honestly, when I saw this turn up, I was like, "Yeah, people are now gonna be buying those TPM vehicles for their 3.75 inch Mando."

 

[Hunk a Junk]

I started work on the N-1's booster engine by going through the screen grabs to try to get as many details close as possible. The engine has some asymmetry to it on the bottom and some odd details. These were some of the reference shots:

From those I went to Tinkercad and came up with this:

After scaling it to approximately the right size, I made a test print on the Elegoo Mars.

And I gave it a shot of black paint followed up by dry brushing with some silver Rub N' Buff.

I modeled the engine thrust cone feathers too thinly and they quickly broke off even with light dry brushing, so I went back and thickened those up on the .stl and resized the engine to be slightly larger.

I then modeled the inner thruster cone and made it so it would slot into the large engine tube while still allowing me to light both the inner and outer cones.

And the final look. In printing them separately I'll be able to paint the metal burn and heat marks on the inner cone like on the original.

I'll be doing some light sanding and clean up on the pieces before I go to final paint. I'll be installing a blue LED for the engine glow when I get to that stage. I'm pretty happy with the level of detail. Not 100% accurate, but maybe 80-90% and that's more than good enough for me.

I'm going to be posting a Tinkercad demo here for those unfamiliar with it. I've really been having fun and it's exciting to me to be able to make pieces like this. An engine like this would've been weeks of scratch building and would never achieved the a machine-part look. It's crazy!

As a preview, here's the "cryogenic density combustion booster" I made. It would be all but impossible to scratch build.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Analyzer]

Looks amazing!

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Some work on the hood engine.

 

[StevenBills]

Great job on those engine parts!

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Thanks, sir! Added the pipes to the back. The reference photos I have for the back aren't as clear, so I'll need to sit and pause through the episodes on my big screen to see if I can pick out some more details. Then again, once printed this thing will be approx. 2cm by 2 cm, so it may not matter.

 

[mluder]

This is an awesome build. Can't wait to see how it progresses.
Are you planning on making the stl files available eventually? I have one of the model kits of the N-1 from back in the day. I'd love to convert it. Of course it's a smaller scale.

Cheers!

 

[Hunk a Junk]

This is an awesome build. Can't wait to see how it progresses.
Are you planning on making the stl files available eventually? I have one of the model kits of the N-1 from back in the day. I'd love to convert it. Of course it's a smaller scale.

Cheers!

I'm considering it. The digital models are embarrassingly easy though. It's just combining basic shapes and stretching/squashing them until they're in the right position. And Tinkercad is free. Always in motion is the future...