Aliens APC 1:18 scale with interior

[Desert minion]

That looks great. is it 1:18 scale? Love the wheels!

Its 1/10th. Wheels are real printed rubber. Thanks.

 

[joberg]

Great work skiffy...but where do you put the engine:confused as you can see: model vs studio set is usually off in many ways. Keep on truckin'

 

[skiffy]

Well, Joberg - I'm glad you asked that. #ahem# Ron Cobb came to me in a dream and explained exactly how the engines worked (each wheel has one) how they were battery powered and where the batteries were housed.

In other news, I was looking at these ceiling mounted angled bar things and thinking - I'm sure I've seen those somewhere before...

...then I was looking through the Alien Archive book and saw what the face-hugger jars were stood on.

Bingo!

 

[skiffy]

Smoking or non smoking?

T bar to follow.

 

[joberg]

Ah yes, the old "motors are in the wheels" explanation; love it to bits (since it exists for a while now)...batteries placements will be interesting Keep up the great work!

 

[skiffy]

As I work through builds like this and gather reference I'm constantly amazed when I dig up new facts like the following:

The donor vehicle for the APC, the ATT77, was manufactured in Hunslet, Leeds (UK). I was born in Leeds and lived a couple of miles away from that facility. When I was growing up in the sixties and seventies my father was a contract steel fabricator working in that area and may well have worked on that vehicle. Sadly he passed away decades ago so I'll never know for sure.

 

[joberg]

Full circle then:thumbsup

 

[skiffy]

Indeed!

Well, I got a couple of Hiya Toys 1:18 scale Colonial Marines from my son for my birthday so here's Hicks!

"I like to keep this handy, for close encounters."

"Somebody wake up Hicks."

Sadly Hudson had to be returned to medical - his right leg won't attach properly. Hopefully he'll be back with us soon.

Overall these guys are 'OK'. I actually think I can do at least as good (and definitely more robust) figures using existing 3.75 in (1:18) custom jobs.

 

[Riceball]

Looking good so far. Don't forget that there were overhead storage racks and (I think) the troop compartment had seating on both sides.

 

[skiffy]

Looking good so far. Don't forget that there were overhead storage racks and (I think) the troop compartment had seating on both sides.

Hi Riceball - yup there'll be room for the full squad in there plus all the overhead greeblies. Some of those (over Gorman's console) are re-purposed from the face-hugger specimen jars as I posted earlier.

 

[joberg]

Glad the project is still one

 

[TazMan2000]

I'm not intending to dissuade you from continuing on with your project, but for others looking for a short cut to an Aliens APC with an interior, the Hiya Toys APC has been released. I admit, with all of the delays, I was starting to doubt it ever being released.

Keep on going skiffy , yours will give you a lot more enjoyment and pride.

TazMan2000

 

[skiffy]

Thanks Taz! Yes, I'm aware of the Hiya Toys APC. I'm relieved that it's finally getting released.

I wonder if it will be able to accommodate a full complement of troops!

 

[TazMan2000]

Thanks Taz! Yes, I'm aware of the Hiya Toys APC. I'm relieved that it's finally getting released.

I wonder if it will be able to accommodate a full complement of troops!

The Hiya toys one can hold 10-12 troops. Not sure if that means one in the drivers seat and one in the command seat.

TazMan2000

 

[skiffy]

The Hiya toys one can hold 10-12 troops. Not sure if that means one in the drivers seat and one in the command seat.

TazMan2000

Hmmm... There's eight troops in the rear (two rows of four) a pair of seats (Ripley/Burke) plus Gorman's command chair in the mid-section, and another pair in the front (Apone takes one) along with the gunners seat and the driver. That's a total of fifteen.

 

[skiffy]

I got a new 3d printer to help me with some of the trickier elements (like the wheels) so that should help kick-start some progress on this as soon as I can get to it, probably this weekend with a little luck.

Here's the build, then a test print and lastly a wheel shown in Cura ready for print. I left off the wheel cover and its details - I'll add those in styrene.

 

[skiffy]

Here's a test wheel printed at roughly 50% scale - sat on a 1:18 scale card mock-up wheel. It's 'OK' but I'll work on the print file a little before trying one at 1:18.

 

[yuumi2891103]

deleted

 

[g0rb]

I've heard good things about this 3d printer. I think I'll start saving up

 

[skiffy]

I've heard good things about this 3d printer. I think I'll start saving up

g0rb - the Ender 3 from Creality has been a firm low-cost favourite among hobbyists for a while now and this is the new model - the Ender 5. It's a very rigid cube-based construction and although it's a new build for me (I've built and used other makes in the past) I intend this to be my workhorse machine and I think it'll do very well.