MR AT-AT vs. ILM AT-AT...differences?

It's still on progress Lee :) I should machine the first parts of the armature by the beginning of 2012 with my cnc, i'm waiting to love to my new house !
Anyway cant wait to see what you'll achieve guys, if it's mastered by John C, it'll be a killer !!
 
I thought it had died Julien, my apologies, great to hear your still chasing it though bud, i think if you apply half of what you did on the ISD, you'll have an amazing prop at the end, is this your first foray into CNC work, be great to see how you go along the way.

lee
 
No worries :) It was on hold for several because of the armature then I thought it would be cheaper to buy a CNC ! Not sure if I'm right though... :lol

I refined the armature drawings and I think they're as close as they can, still not sure about the piston thingie... well I'll probably go with my one design... My biggest concern is too get the hull looking right, I've built 4 hulls but was not happy with any of them, hopefully the fifth will be the good one ! Several subassemblies masters are done by now. I think I'll start by machining a plexy armature to see how it turns, unfortunatly there are 4 parts I won't be able to machine myself (they need to be turned on a lathe).
 
What machine did you buy Julien, if you dont mind my asking, sounds like one hell of a venture!
I think it would eventually pay for it self though, with the work you do, itll prove invaluable?

Yeah ATAT body, what a pig, and ive not even taken a stab at it, just looks horrible to build, and thats not even getting to that head lol.

lee
 
I bought the one AJQuick was offering here in the JY some month ago !
I think it's worth it and I guess I'll find plenty of use for it, not only for the AT-AT but maybe for other SS models ? (armatures etc ?) I know I will never machine complex parts, but for the easiest, it will save some time for sure.

Yeah finally the MR ATAT body is very close in size (with only a few proportion issues, mainly the back) but they did it symetrical and that affects the look of it, really hard to nail... On the other hand the MR head is close to perfect ! But hard to build even with the MR in hand as reference.
 
After reading the last posts and talking with Mike salzo.. we will press forward with the "kit" version.. no sense in reinventing the wheel as far as armeture goes.. looks like thats been tackled....

Mike is going to do the legs and John C will do the head and body. I'll trust those guys to nail the shape and build based upon kit part and photo reference.... we will design it so it can be retro fitted on a armeture that may become available in the future..

Julien...would love to see the CNC set you you have... also interested in the design you have in mind for the legs, feet and supporting structures for the AT-AT...

Steve
 
Steven you still can offer the ATAT armature, I will just make 2 or 3 sets for friends and myself but I'll never offer it, there are way more than 100 machined parts for one armature and that's a lot of time.

The armature parts (legs, support etc) are copied from the original so nothing new, the only thing of my own design will be the piston mechanism, never been able to find how the original was working...

I'll post pics of my CNC once it's unpacked, in my new house, the work area is not big but large enough for AT-AT parts (the largest part being the body armature side plates).

Yeah John is the man to master the head and body, if available by the time I build it, I'll take a set for sure ! It would save me some headaches. :lol One of my concern for the body is how to reproduce the texture of the armor plate. This rough texture was part of the original body master and I dont know how they achieved that but without this texture we would end up with something like the MR... something flat and smooth.
 
Id want to make sure we are simular in shape and size... maybe you can share with Mike Salzo when he starts his version of legs... As far as the texture.. i always thought it was flocking.... they added panels to the metal substructureand flocked it to make it look like snow...ect... the entire ATAT its texured differently.... is that what you are refering to when you say texture?

The casting that is foam filled we have reference of shows the flocking pretty clear... also the layers of storage dust is taking its toll... my favorite shot is in the Chromicals... full page... ATAT in all it's glory..

Steve
 
Steven you still can offer the ATAT armature, I will just make 2 or 3 sets for friends and myself but I'll never offer it, there are way more than 100 machined parts for one armature and that's a lot of time.

The armature parts (legs, support etc) are copied from the original so nothing new, the only thing of my own design will be the piston mechanism, never been able to find how the original was working...

I'll post pics of my CNC once it's unpacked, in my new house, the work area is not big but large enough for AT-AT parts (the largest part being the body armature side plates).

Yeah John is the man to master the head and body, if available by the time I build it, I'll take a set for sure ! It would save me some headaches. :lol One of my concern for the body is how to reproduce the texture of the armor plate. This rough texture was part of the original body master and I dont know how they achieved that but without this texture we would end up with something like the MR... something flat and smooth.


The piston system Julien blows my mind, and is to me, the reason this armature is one the the most intricate and well engineered in history.
Its like some sort of rocking cam system, as the thigh moves, those pistons stay static maybe?
Giving the effect, the pistons are moving.....i dont know lol.

Also, the toes, not quite sure whats going on there too, the foot assemblies show several parts, with what appears to be a large spring dampening the foot centre?

Was this spring there to "unload" the toes as the foot lifts, maybe only on the full hero models?

Do love to talk ATAT lol, its a bonkers way out there prop for sure.

As for body texture, id bet thats rough paint, coupled with the baking soda they blew around the set maybe, then, add layers of dust over time......possibly?

lee
 
Yeah the pistons are quite confusing and when you look closely at the movie you can notice they were sometimes hand animated (probably the mechanism was broken at some point, it was probably very fragile).

As for the toes, Im not sure they were linked to the spring, I think they just dropped down by gravity as there's no evidence the toes go through the feet. Also, the feet were not only compressed by the weight of the ATAT but by screws through the stage. I think it was Berg explaining that if Im correct.

Regarding the texture I was more thinking about the texture of the armor body panels. We can see it un the Chronicles pic of the body master painted black with the partialy unpainted 223 hull. It can also be seen in any close up pics. Also in the pics MR took of the ATAT casting. We can clearly see through the paint that the texture is part of the casting thus part of the master (they used the same body mold for this casting than the production ATAT).

The ATAT is an awesome model to study, really a piece of work !
 
Yeah the pistons are quite confusing and when you look closely at the movie you can notice they were sometimes hand animated (probably the mechanism was broken at some point, it was probably very fragile).

As for the toes, Im not sure they were linked to the spring, I think they just dropped down by gravity as there's no evidence the toes go through the feet. Also, the feet were not only compressed by the weight of the ATAT but by screws through the stage. I think it was Berg explaining that if Im correct.

Regarding the texture I was more thinking about the texture of the armor body panels. We can see it un the Chronicles pic of the body master painted black with the partialy unpainted 223 hull. It can also be seen in any close up pics. Also in the pics MR took of the ATAT casting. We can clearly see through the paint that the texture is part of the casting thus part of the master (they used the same body mold for this casting than the production ATAT).

The ATAT is an awesome model to study, really a piece of work !

Ah i hear ya Julien, ill look at those pics again. As for the toes, yeah, i have a pic of one of the naked foot casings, your right, no link to the toes, so maybe it just dampened the centre of the foot?
Its a mystery lol, but, if there is a chance of getting an armature when you get to it, id still be in, be good to build with the old school again, if not, well, its all good bud.

lee
 
Yeah if you ever got an idea of how they achivied this rough texture, i would like to hear it ! I havent found something convaincing enough yet. :(

I remembre this pic of the foot casting, i guess the only way to know that and how the pistons work would be to get in touch with Berg or St-Amand !

Ill see what i can do for you about the armature, no promess, i need to know first how long it takes to get all the parts CNC'ed. First I need to find someone to convert my plans into cnc readable files, I dont know how much it will cost me.
 
This thread sounds great. If you were to make a resin/acrylic version as a kit I think I would go for it. I don't have a master replicas version myself and would much prefer to build up from a kit. I'm still working on 3 amt/ertl at-ats trying to make them a lot more like the studio models. They will be little blinders when they are done as I've spent over a year on them on and off already :)
 
Going back to the thread's original question I saw the MR ATAT Lucasfilm gave to Phil Tippett in Tippett Studios reception and I asked Phil what he thought. He was especially enthusiastic about the piece (that's also why its showcased in his reception) and he couldn't shower enough praise on the workmanship and in his opinion, the exceptionally fine work MR did in realising the replica…

Its ironic that it appears (again) that the gifted members of these boards see and want things that even the original model makers aren't fussed about…

ATAT.jpg


Regards and best

MARK
 
Saying that, if Mr Tippett wanted a stop Motion Replica of his At-At he wouldn't buy an MR version, he'd make a Stop Mo, there are no stop mo versions on the open market so those members here that want one have no choice!

I have the MR At-AT and I love it, but it aint a stop motion model.
 
Please be aware the stop motion At-AT was developed by Jon Berg and machined by Tom St. Amand. Phil Tippet has been getting credit for it for years; the worst insult to Jon was when MR hired him to paint the master of their version, but then released a signature edition with Phil's autograph.

Jon was responsible for the AT-AT, Phil for the Taun-taun. Tom St. Amand did the armatures, and others (Steve Gawley, Charlie Bailey, etc) detailed the model parts on the walker. Jon engineered the complex piston armature mechanics that you folks are trying to replicate.

It frustrates me to no end that Jon doesn't receive the proper credit for his hard work.

--Don Bies
 
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