make a SS sandcrawler!
- Thread starter thawn_es
- Start date
star-art
Sr Member
I agree it would be nice if everything were pre-fabricated/molded. But, flat resin panels will warp for sure. Flat fiberglass panels should be more stable, but might also warp. I would never, ever attempt to cast something like a Star Destroyer because of this. Even if it looks good when it comes out of the mold, you never know what it might look like a few years later. 
I have not started any drawings on this subject, though I'd like to. I know of one person who has made progress on it based on researching the original parts. I haven't seen the results of that, but I'm sure it's quite spectacular!
I have not started any drawings on this subject, though I'd like to. I know of one person who has made progress on it based on researching the original parts. I haven't seen the results of that, but I'm sure it's quite spectacular!
The Lucasfilm Archives book has it at 55cm x 125cm x 66cm. :eek The thing about this is that EVERY part of building one of these would be epic. Think about it.
1. Identifying Parts
2. Making the plans.
3. Building the Frame/Body
4. Assembling all the kit and cast parts.
5. The Chasis and treads (enough said)
6. The Electronics/RC components
Each component is a project within itself. But maaaaannn would it be cool. And again, only have to build one side!
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vaderdarth
Master Member
Epic indeed, but nothing this group of propsters can't handle. We said the same thing back in the day about doing a full scale R2D2, but look at what is possible today. Every single detail of the ILM R2's have been documented, moulded, reproduced down to fractions of a millimeter. I'm almost done with my own R2 and though I've been working on it for 2 years, I'm just as excited today as I was at the prospect of starting it. The thing is, we just work on it until it get's done. We can't give up. Anything built on a wood frame is gonna be tough. If the resin parts are thick enough.......they won't warp. We can reinforce the resin with wire or whatever to make sure it doesn't sag. I'm not intimidated by that. Heck for that matter we just build the main sections in wood or thick fiberglass or plexi or sheet aluminum. Whatever it takes to make it successful. The good news is that it's all a bunch of straight flat panels at different angles. So even if the proto is moulded and each section is poured in resin...........once it's together, we could design it so that it could be filled with spray foam insulation which would reinforce it from inside. That surely wouldn't sag. (I'm guessing about this last part, but you get my meaning).
Let's start amassing our resources. Everyone look for some of their best pics of the crawler either from CIII etc....or in books or film stills etc.... We can gather the pics in a reference thread and put our skills to work from those photos. We can start by using the dimensions supplied by LFL and see if our drafted plans match their numbers. That would be a great place to begin. I'd be happy if this project resulted in nothing but a solid set of blueprints, if you know what I mean???
Dave
Let's start amassing our resources. Everyone look for some of their best pics of the crawler either from CIII etc....or in books or film stills etc.... We can gather the pics in a reference thread and put our skills to work from those photos. We can start by using the dimensions supplied by LFL and see if our drafted plans match their numbers. That would be a great place to begin. I'd be happy if this project resulted in nothing but a solid set of blueprints, if you know what I mean???
Dave
Like I said before I still have my project binder. If I still have the digital files I'll get them posted. :thumbsup Gimme a few days though. (long story).
Anyone have the correct blueprints of the sandcrawler model???
what about the idea to make a joint project with all the interested ones in the sandcrawler project .I mean that somebody can do the top of the model ,somebody the side panels,the rear, track sistem...
But for that we needed a correct blueprints!
I have the essential guide blueprints but I think are not very accurate.
what do you think?
what about the idea to make a joint project with all the interested ones in the sandcrawler project .I mean that somebody can do the top of the model ,somebody the side panels,the rear, track sistem...
But for that we needed a correct blueprints!
I have the essential guide blueprints but I think are not very accurate.
what do you think?
Call me crazy (all together now... "You're Crazy!") but I think I just found the springboard for the blueprints here:
http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~sf-papercraft/Gallery/Sand/sand.html
These could easily be blown up to work out the geometry kinks in a half-size foamcore study model before moving on to the 1/4" plywood full-size model. I'm not talking about surface details only the overall shape.
http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~sf-papercraft/Gallery/Sand/sand.html
These could easily be blown up to work out the geometry kinks in a half-size foamcore study model before moving on to the 1/4" plywood full-size model. I'm not talking about surface details only the overall shape.
SSR
Well-Known Member
You wouldn't be crazy to build a Sandcrawler, just forget about the running gear; no need for that headache. Realistically, unless you were into large-scale R/C tanks there would be no need for it. The people who would likely see the finished product would either be looking at it in your home or at a model show; either way it would be static. There would be enough challenges with this miniature to begin with.
The question that does come to mind is, would you detail the unseen (ie: unbuilt) side the same as the seen (ie: built) side, or we you "freelance" the design to suit your own tastes; perhaps add a few interesting items (a heavy crane; docking port/boarding ramp similar to the AT-AT structure from Jedi; a weapon of some sort; balcony for the Jawas; whatever might be of interest.
The question that does come to mind is, would you detail the unseen (ie: unbuilt) side the same as the seen (ie: built) side, or we you "freelance" the design to suit your own tastes; perhaps add a few interesting items (a heavy crane; docking port/boarding ramp similar to the AT-AT structure from Jedi; a weapon of some sort; balcony for the Jawas; whatever might be of interest.
vaderdarth
Master Member
personally, I want the unseen side to be the mirror image of the visible side. Since there was nothing on the original, we can do it however we like. I vote for keeping it simple. Anyone that gets a Kit could easily customize it if he or she wants cranes and balconies etc etc.
Dave
Dave
Here are the reference images I cobbled together awhile back. Turns out that most of them were from http://www.starwarz.com/modelshop/bench/sandcrawler.htm. You can visit the site to see those. Here are the rest some of which I believe I got here as well.
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I found more. http://www.forbiddenplastic.com/ref_star_wars/index.html
There's some of the best detail shots of the treads that I've seen. You get a good idea of the bogey mechanism and what Lorne Peterson was talking about in regards to casting the individual tread pieces.
There's some of the best detail shots of the treads that I've seen. You get a good idea of the bogey mechanism and what Lorne Peterson was talking about in regards to casting the individual tread pieces.
Hi all!
The sandcrawler made it in http://www.starwarz.com/modelshop/bench/sandcrawler.htm
is small than the SS.
Isn´t it?
thanks for the pics bcgd!!!
The sandcrawler made it in http://www.starwarz.com/modelshop/bench/sandcrawler.htm
is small than the SS.
Isn´t it?
thanks for the pics bcgd!!!
PHArchivist
Master Member
PHArchivist
Master Member
Great - more Sealab parts.
Yeah. Fun.
As for the treads - The tread system on the early Tamiya 1/16th scale RC Shermans were a ***** to put together. The treads were two little rods with a middle tooth and you had to put them together one at a time using clips at the ends of the links. (The later issues of the kit offer a realistic and pre-assembled tread made out of ABS that in no way resembles the original.)
Per Lorne, the treads were assembled, though at a shorter length to fit around the bogies. To create the treads themselves, he used a nibbler (a tool that creates a small square hole that machinists use) to notch out a piece of styrene or aluminum (he didn't say which). These notches are on the insides. On the outsides of the treads is a little detail part making the edge of the tread look a little thicker. Actually, it looks like a grouser (or extender) that was bolted to an actual tank's tread to improve traction on a muddy /snowy surface. Might be a kit part, I don't know. This tread piece served as a master that was molded and then used in the injection molding machine they used for other detail parts on the show. They were cast up and then attached to the treads of the Tamiya kit.
My thinking for a static version (and that's all I'll comtemplate) is to approach it like a link and length model kit setup. Cast up several individual parts, lay them out in a straight line and mold them. That piece becomes the length. They can be used for the top and bottom runs. The individual links can be used to negotiate the curves around the wheels. Though the inside of the bogies reveal the model parts, I think we could easily install another detail plate like the outside and get away with it.
Gene
Yeah. Fun.
As for the treads - The tread system on the early Tamiya 1/16th scale RC Shermans were a ***** to put together. The treads were two little rods with a middle tooth and you had to put them together one at a time using clips at the ends of the links. (The later issues of the kit offer a realistic and pre-assembled tread made out of ABS that in no way resembles the original.)
Per Lorne, the treads were assembled, though at a shorter length to fit around the bogies. To create the treads themselves, he used a nibbler (a tool that creates a small square hole that machinists use) to notch out a piece of styrene or aluminum (he didn't say which). These notches are on the insides. On the outsides of the treads is a little detail part making the edge of the tread look a little thicker. Actually, it looks like a grouser (or extender) that was bolted to an actual tank's tread to improve traction on a muddy /snowy surface. Might be a kit part, I don't know. This tread piece served as a master that was molded and then used in the injection molding machine they used for other detail parts on the show. They were cast up and then attached to the treads of the Tamiya kit.
My thinking for a static version (and that's all I'll comtemplate) is to approach it like a link and length model kit setup. Cast up several individual parts, lay them out in a straight line and mold them. That piece becomes the length. They can be used for the top and bottom runs. The individual links can be used to negotiate the curves around the wheels. Though the inside of the bogies reveal the model parts, I think we could easily install another detail plate like the outside and get away with it.
Gene
:lol
As for the static model part I'm in the camp of "go big or go home" and mak it R/C. Of course this is coming from the guy whose never done ANYTHING like that before. I started a scratch-build SS Escape Pod only to watch others make a kit of it while I practiced throwing my belt over the shower rod.:lol
Thanks for those pics! Those with the numbers and highlights are from the original thread in this very forum, which somehow lost almost all of its posts during one of the server moves or something. It's useless now.
BTW that Episode II crawler is CG.
BTW that Episode II crawler is CG.
Yeah even worse was I had printed out the entire thread with the kit and parts listed but when I tabled the idea of tackling the project I used it for scratch paper.:lol
