I'm helping make these a reality for a small core group building the ESB AT-ST to as close as accurate as possible.
It's going to be a metal fully functional and poseable metal armature, which you can then dress with model parts and animate, just like the real ESB AT-ST.
The thing is, to get the best price possible, I need to add a couple more people to the run to make it a reality. Is this the kind of thing you guys are interested in?
It'd be around $450 for everything - the body, hips, legs, feet. Parts are crimped to axles by allen screws, and I can provide some castings for the rare and expensive parts that go into the model. Here's a low-res idea of what I'm talking about. this is a crop of the parts as seen in 1993, when the model was exhibited in Japan, stripped mostly naked and sad:
It's BIG. I'll post pics of my armature when the machined prototype arrives - for now, I'm feeling you fellas out. I only need a couple of people interested, and then the run can happen, and it's a one time thing - we're just trying to get ours made!!
The resin kit offered recently was very nice, but not accurate. Not the pattern maker's fault - I want to make it clear that I highly admire what was made from VERY sparse photography/reference. I have one, and while I'd love to build it, I want accurate-as-can-be, and I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. Why spend $400 on a resin kit when I can spend double and make one from scratch? LOL! Plus, the resin kits are not structurally sound, and can warp over time if not pinned (or in a humid/hot climate). Don't you want to pose this sucker from time to time? I sure do!!
Recently, I was lucky enough to get access to unpublished and uncirculated high res complete documentation of the model as it existed circa 1980, and a small group of nutjobs (myself included) set to work and IDed just about everything. Top to bottom - under the head, etc. While I cannot publish this material, I can show my model off as I build it, explain the parts used, and you can build one the same way. We all sank about $1,200 into getting these donor kits, maybe more, and we're casting some of the stoopid-rare bits, to avoid eating ramen for a month, etc. The original model was only finished on the "filming side", so you can choose to do the same, or build it idealized as it would have had to have been made, had it seen more screen time.
So that's the bottom line - I can help you make a really accurate ESB AT-ST if you agree to pony up $450 for a set of metal parts. I can offer castings of the 100% accurate bits. Not everything, but enough to save you from a divorce
You can choose to use the Neisen-cast head if you want, but I will also be sharing pics of the accurate head as I (and hopefully others) build it, and you'll be able to "follow along" - I'll share all of my measurements.
Is this technically an interest thread? Sorry if it's in the wrong place. I usually don't do these active projects™, so I dunno the current ruling on le RPF.
It's going to be a metal fully functional and poseable metal armature, which you can then dress with model parts and animate, just like the real ESB AT-ST.
The thing is, to get the best price possible, I need to add a couple more people to the run to make it a reality. Is this the kind of thing you guys are interested in?
It'd be around $450 for everything - the body, hips, legs, feet. Parts are crimped to axles by allen screws, and I can provide some castings for the rare and expensive parts that go into the model. Here's a low-res idea of what I'm talking about. this is a crop of the parts as seen in 1993, when the model was exhibited in Japan, stripped mostly naked and sad:
It's BIG. I'll post pics of my armature when the machined prototype arrives - for now, I'm feeling you fellas out. I only need a couple of people interested, and then the run can happen, and it's a one time thing - we're just trying to get ours made!!
The resin kit offered recently was very nice, but not accurate. Not the pattern maker's fault - I want to make it clear that I highly admire what was made from VERY sparse photography/reference. I have one, and while I'd love to build it, I want accurate-as-can-be, and I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. Why spend $400 on a resin kit when I can spend double and make one from scratch? LOL! Plus, the resin kits are not structurally sound, and can warp over time if not pinned (or in a humid/hot climate). Don't you want to pose this sucker from time to time? I sure do!!
Recently, I was lucky enough to get access to unpublished and uncirculated high res complete documentation of the model as it existed circa 1980, and a small group of nutjobs (myself included) set to work and IDed just about everything. Top to bottom - under the head, etc. While I cannot publish this material, I can show my model off as I build it, explain the parts used, and you can build one the same way. We all sank about $1,200 into getting these donor kits, maybe more, and we're casting some of the stoopid-rare bits, to avoid eating ramen for a month, etc. The original model was only finished on the "filming side", so you can choose to do the same, or build it idealized as it would have had to have been made, had it seen more screen time.
So that's the bottom line - I can help you make a really accurate ESB AT-ST if you agree to pony up $450 for a set of metal parts. I can offer castings of the 100% accurate bits. Not everything, but enough to save you from a divorce
You can choose to use the Neisen-cast head if you want, but I will also be sharing pics of the accurate head as I (and hopefully others) build it, and you'll be able to "follow along" - I'll share all of my measurements.
Is this technically an interest thread? Sorry if it's in the wrong place. I usually don't do these active projects™, so I dunno the current ruling on le RPF.
