Getting my head together....AT-ST style

[Rats]

Yes getting my head together, in more ways than one.
I thought that I should get started on something SS after lurking on these boards for a while. Thanks to all the excellent info, ID's and inspiration by, among others, Ralphee, MonsieurTox, Moffeaton, Imaginager, qcfoundry, swpropmaker, I managed to track down a few of the kits required and armed with Imaginager's most useful blueprints, I cut some styrene and started my ESB AT-ST.

At the moment it's all taped and blue-tac'd together, to try to ascertain accurate dimensions. As you can see, I've either cut the KV1 part too short or mis-measured the blueprints as the KV1 deck sticks out below the sides of the head. Time to re-measure and re-cut. I might try with cardboard this time before committing to styrene.

I won't be vac-forming the head, as that is a bit outside my skill set at the moment. One thing at a time, as this is my first scratchbuild/kitbash.

This will probably be quite a slow build, as I don't have a lot of time for my hobby and I'm still collecting kits. I didn't get an armature, so I'm still trying to decide how to tackle the legs. Acrylic perhaps, or laminated aluminium, or laminated Aluminium and acrylic? Any ideas, would laminating like that using epoxy for glue be feasible or strong enough over time?

Cheers for now, JT

 

[ralphee]

JT

Buddy nice to see your taking this on now, looks like you have picked up a good few kits too!
OK constructive crit time buddy, not a bash. The front brow first off, yours is straight, if you check out the front of the head there is a curvature there, when viewed from the top of the head, its very apparent.
If you like ill snap some shots of my own (not sure what ref you have TBH) and give you an idea?
The KV1 back plate, also should have a slight pinch inward towards the bottom buddy, thus creating a slight angle?
Its not an exact science, but just a few tips for ya bud, remember i built a few of these along the way, till i got to a version i was fully happy with, just making small tweaks along the way....cardboard is also your friend, if you dont wanna waste styrene!

Looking forward to more!

bests.......lee

 

[Rats]

Thanks for the reply Lee. Don't worry, bash away if it helps me build a better chicken :lol.
I only have the Japanese magazine picture and the Technical journals pics for reference, apart from the builds here from yourself, Jason, Julien and Quincy. I'm using Allen's blueprints for dimensions (with the kit parts as confirmation).
Yes, I've picked up a few more kits, but still have a few to go yet. I only got a 312B the other day, I kept missing out on Ebay :cry
I'll have to cut out some more cardboard this weekend to try to get the basic head shape correct, before I move onto styrene again.
Cheers, JT

 

[imaginager]

JT,

Looking good so far, you'll figure out the height of the sides, just takes some adjusting.

Thought I'd mention, you can cheat on the "brow prow" (which is only at the top and transitions nearly to a plane at the upper edge of the nose armor plate). Use some Apoxie Sculpt up under inside the head at that brow seam. Then you can sand in the prow later on to suit your taste. I've assembled a couple of these heads now, and the last one I wasn't paying close enough attention and assembled the prow right off the head. So......shhh.....I cheated.

Before:

After:

 

[bobjen]

Unbelievable, the amount of time and patience all of the builders I have seen on this board have. I don't (currently) have the time/space/money/...drive... to tackle some of the amazing project I see here, and this is one of my favorites from the SW movies.

 

[vaderdarth]

Very nice!!!!

 

[MonsieurTox]

That's a nice start J, the overall shape of the head is hard to nail !
Let me know if you have any question about this little bugger, I would be glad to help you