ESB AT-ST Turkey Walker (Chicken to the talented)
- Thread starter Guy Cowen
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I'll be honest, I was approached about this project so I never tried to push the issue of a run. When I recently asked them if a run was possible I was given a respectable answer.
jawsmodels
Sr Member
Guy its looking great. Your a perfectionist & modest. Your work is always outstanding. Im sure this will be nothing less.
Thanks mate, I guess I hide all the mods and redo's pretty well :lol. I just need to take a couple of mm of the hero side plate and re attach the croc part and its nearly done aside from the base and chin gun mount. It'll be hard putting it down till the armature arrives, I think that why I'll have a crack at the battle damaged head variant.
seven
Sr Member
It would be a run of 33. Not sure if there are that many people who would be interested.
Yikes, its more likely to be around 5 or 6 takers I'd think?
How many of you would be interested?
Guy lets face it, i think youll peak at 6, at least it would shock me if you had 10 down and paid up.
Dont even think the first run got many at all, and back then, it had never been attempted as a replica.
Its a Marmite prop i feel, so many think of a chicken walker, and right away the image of the ROTJ pops in there head.
Lee
seven
Sr Member
For 12 armatures I was quoted at $650 ea. Now, if I could get 50 people interested, the cost would be around $350 ea.
Edit: I just realized that the quote I got is bumpkiss as they only quoted for a single leg :confused. Hopefully I will get some new numbers soon and maybe that will make the difference.
Edit: I just realized that the quote I got is bumpkiss as they only quoted for a single leg :confused. Hopefully I will get some new numbers soon and maybe that will make the difference.
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I know mate, the shame is I was one of those that always liked the ROTJ version a lot more than the ESB, until now that is, the thing with this build is you can see it come to life. I have so much respect for this model now its a total turnaround. Julien nailed the ROTJ and I doubt it will ever be a nailed again, up close it really really is beyond amazing. I do feel though now that this is something I will be proud of for years to come, especially knowing how I felt about even the thought of trying to make one.
For a run of 10 people I think is a tough challenge, I would seriously recommend people try though as it is simply stunning once it comes together, I haven't even started the body Legs but but would just be happy with a head :lol
Its worth us putting a list together just to see numbers (out of interest).
Any how back to the (not such a Turkey) walker.
Again today schoolboy errors a plenty but I have managed to turn em all around without re making parts or smashing my head against a wall. The big headache today was the side plating, I'm trying not to just cut n paste from the amazing ref that Q and Alan have to offer I want to feel it more than duplicate it. This however has its drawbacks. Initially I made it too small, I could have started again but decide to try and extend it before I use up the remaining pull from Q. I had to glue strip styrene along the back edge to extend it 3-4 mm and then trim back to size. I think I've got it closer now and hopefully no join will be seen???
The guns are just place and not attached yet as I still need to make the bottom plate. I am so chuffed with the results I could cry:behave
Cheers mate, hopefully your work is rubbing off on me :thumbsup
-... . .- --..
Sr Member
Man, that's cool...
Nice and clean!
You bagged the hardest part buddy, and, its YOUR work too. We'll have a day soon at the bench together maybe mate, just run through how i do stuff, but again, time and patience is all it takes, its no dark art, there are sooo many guys here i think about and dream i was that good TBH, humbled i guess.
Lee
joewhite
Sr Member
Guy,
Ok, no more self criticism from you, mister!!!! That chicken head looks bad-ass!!!! I may contradict all that crap talk about not starting my build until I move. This is so inspirational!
I also hated this model initially and favored the ROTJ version as well. I first saw Allan's build when I was sweating my ass off in Iraq in 08' and instantly fell in love with this version. For me it was the lack of information involving this model that kept me from giving it any thought. Little did I know there were these crazy modelers gathering the ingredients all along. Stellar job them guys did!
And, again, AMAZING job to you Guy!
Joe
Ok, no more self criticism from you, mister!!!! That chicken head looks bad-ass!!!! I may contradict all that crap talk about not starting my build until I move. This is so inspirational!
I also hated this model initially and favored the ROTJ version as well. I first saw Allan's build when I was sweating my ass off in Iraq in 08' and instantly fell in love with this version. For me it was the lack of information involving this model that kept me from giving it any thought. Little did I know there were these crazy modelers gathering the ingredients all along. Stellar job them guys did!
And, again, AMAZING job to you Guy!
Joe
qcfoundry
Sr Member
anybody who's spearheading the effort to get a run of armatures, i'd be happy to help where/if i can. i'm fairly comfortable in the art of procuring bids from contractors.
my best quotes for the V2 armatures were between $400 - $500 and this was for a run of 10 (i think)? i busted my hump to get those numbers, everything was at cost (i wasn't out to make any money or get my armature paid by others), and my machinist actually lost money on the project because it ended up being more set-up than he realized.
words of advice:
-look EVERYWHERE for machinists (don't hesitate to drive 4 hours for the machinist).
-SHOTGUN the candidates...call anyone who "smells" like they MIGHT be interested...if they aren't strike up a convo and ask if they know somebody that would.
-be confident in your project. if a vendor feels he's talking to a person who doesn't know wtf they're doing, they won't want to work with you and won't provide a "real" bid
-present a formal RFQ (request for quote) along with the drawing. this not only tells the machinist your serious but spells out with no uncertain language what the project includes and your expectations (i may be able to find my old one if interested).
-you really MUST meet your machinist. after i thinned the herd to 3 candidates, i went and visited their shop. i hate the fact that most projects are won by the lowest bid -- usually quality gets the backseat. when you meet with your machinists you'll realize if working through the project will be easy or not, and if they'll back their product (eg if they cut a piece wrong and need to redo it --- happened to me).
as lee said -- this is a white elephant.
if you want it, you have to work hard to get it. gotta pick up the phone and make lots of calls.
i really would like to see another run occur (doesn't matter where) -- happy to help if needed.
Thanks again guys for the kind words.
Q mate, the difference is you didn't have your build thread as ref when you built yours :lol, my laptop is full of pics of everyones builds and I constantly refer back to them.
Its so weird how just a few mm diff can make a big difference, it was bugging the hell out of me yesterday before I reduced the hero side plate height. It just didn't look right, I only removed 2mm and adjusted the angles on the cut out at the front and it transformed the look. I also work very late at night and have been having on average 5 hrs sleep as its the only decent time I get without distractions
Joe, I dont intend to be self critical its just the way I am, I thinks its cos I haven't actually scratch built that much at all so still cant believe I'm doing it, its also helped by seeing Lee and Julien's work up close. Nothing but perfection is bloody impressive so I guess I bash my own stuff knowing there is a standard thats still to be achieved. Its funny but most of the time when I was working on the head every time I sat back and looked at it I thought if Lee was here he'd be looking at me like, c'mon do that bit again......It really helped.
As for all the work that the team put in on this model, we will only be standing on the shoulders of giants at best mate.
Q mate, the difference is you didn't have your build thread as ref when you built yours :lol, my laptop is full of pics of everyones builds and I constantly refer back to them.
Its so weird how just a few mm diff can make a big difference, it was bugging the hell out of me yesterday before I reduced the hero side plate height. It just didn't look right, I only removed 2mm and adjusted the angles on the cut out at the front and it transformed the look. I also work very late at night and have been having on average 5 hrs sleep as its the only decent time I get without distractions
Joe, I dont intend to be self critical its just the way I am, I thinks its cos I haven't actually scratch built that much at all so still cant believe I'm doing it, its also helped by seeing Lee and Julien's work up close. Nothing but perfection is bloody impressive so I guess I bash my own stuff knowing there is a standard thats still to be achieved. Its funny but most of the time when I was working on the head every time I sat back and looked at it I thought if Lee was here he'd be looking at me like, c'mon do that bit again......It really helped.
As for all the work that the team put in on this model, we will only be standing on the shoulders of giants at best mate.
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