Probe Droid Hyperspace Pod LR223 & LR232

[imaginager]

Assembled the LR223 variant and started paint and weathering over the weekend.

 

[Scott Graham]

Re: Probe Droid Hyperspace Pod LR223

Looks great! Nice colors.

 

[Rats]

Re: Probe Droid Hyperspace Pod LR223

That looks fantastic Allen. Thanks for all the "naked" pictures too :lol. What a shame to paint it! Cheers, JT

 

[ralphee]

Re: Probe Droid Hyperspace Pod LR223

Beautiful Allan, hell yours is a leap above mine, but then you are the most methodical guy ive ever met hehe.
I like your blue/grey mix, very nice, think mine came out a tad more rich in the blue, but still seems to photograph pretty well......as you said, tricky color to mix right, but.....dang it if you havent nailed it again!

lee

 

[seven]

Re: Probe Droid Hyperspace Pod LR223

love the new additions!

 

[imaginager]

Re: Probe Droid Hyperspace Pod LR223

Thanks for the comments, all!

 

[imaginager]

Re: Probe Droid Hyperspace Pod LR223 / 232

Starting on the other variant...232

I'd previously assembled this version, and had leveraged the open frames at the fronts of the 8Rad hulls to build out a lot of 'sunken' detail. Unfortunately, based on the info Lee was able to share in his thread via his build, I had to remove all of that detail - instead of just build over the top.

Another problem was the lack of an armature. So, to attach the bottom plate a bit more securely, which is tricky because the open frames on the 8Rad hulls are less than 2.0mm wide, I decided to use an ILM standby: hot glue...

 

[ralphee]

Re: Probe Droid Hyperspace Pod LR223

Allan i had to fit my bulkhead outside sadly, as im not as smart as you to think of drizzling hot glue down the hole......dangit lol, still, you just had to be a smartypants and show off lol.
Looks great buddy, real glad you saved what you had already started, they will look wonderful as a pair.
Now.....all we need, is a good Probe Droid to accompany them :lol

lee

 

[imaginager]

Re: Probe Droid Hyperspace Pod LR223

Dunno, looks like yours is attached from beneath...? Hmm. If it isn't, you have cut a perfect bottom plate!!

 

[Guy Cowen]

Re: Probe Droid Hyperspace Pod LR223

Both are looking ace, Its great to see this getting the screen time at last.......see what you started Lee.

 

[imaginager]

Well, I'm not completely taken with my first attempt at the markings. But, laziness may prevail as it took a good hour to make the masks. Anyway, these are basically done, construction-wise. I'll get around to the markings on the smaller one next week. A shout-out to Lee and Jason - thanks! But, some bad news, guys: the domes on the 232 are VHE-40s. I had to remove the 48s...after I'd already primed and shot the with color. I was cheerful.

Just shot this one, hence the shine.

One of the domes is removable via an RE magnet so I can use a different mount point.

 

[ralphee]

Allan, they look fantastic.....really do...and your right on the domes lol, i tried to mask up yesterday....and yup, found the same problem, how i missed that i dont know....im a hack LOL.
Ill have to leave mine as is, maybe not add those outer markings, im just happy i could save the original hull....maybe i could say it was painted in the booth by an Imperial tech....with a hangover :lol.

Well done buddy, so glad you built these.

lee

 

[ralphee]

BTW, anyone following these, and wanting to build one, refer to Allans builds, mine are a tad off in part orientation......Allan, has truly nailed them.

lee

 

[Scott Graham]

Looks great Allan! I love the way they use those flak gun seat backs on here.

There are some dark markings on the domes of the smaller, 223 variant. Will you be tackling those? Or is there a reason it's not marked?

Richard did a pretty good job of those markings on his. When I did the 223 markings mine were pretty inconsistent and I went back in and hand painted a little - a bit of a hack job.

 

[MonsieurTox]

Awesome Allan, that's great to see both completed ! You did an awesome job to get them as accurate as possible with the few ref available, kudos, a great inspiration for me !

I too noticed the domes used on the 232 prop were smaller than the turret hole as we can see the notches on this hole on the ref pic when I tried to fit left over domes on my pod, I didnt know the ref of the new domes, fortunatly I havent ordered yet from plastruct ! Thanks for the info. :thumbsup

 

[imaginager]

I tried to mask up yesterday....and yup, found the same problem, how i missed that i dont know...

Well done buddy, so glad you built these.

lee

Allan, has truly nailed them.

Lee, guess we got tunnel vision as the domes seemed like the easiest part? I honestly thought the notches Julien mentions below were simply more markings. Partly, I think because the 223 was first, we made an assumption. Anyway, gotta thank you again for setting loose that ESB rare prop bug...the little guys are sure a lot of fun to build and I'd never really noticed them before you brought them up. I will also mention that, if you want to scratch these and you don't have a healthy stock of donor kits, you're looking at, what? $400, maybe? Like you'd mentioned before, even the "leftovers" from the big builds are some money!

Well, I don't know that I've nailed them. I don't think we really know for certain what the bottom of, well - of either pod is. Would be nice to get some confirmation from those who have seen them, even if they can't share reference. I'd say the LR232 is probably 95 percent accurate, maybe a touch more. The LR223...more like 60 percent, LOL.

There are some dark markings on the domes of the smaller, 223 variant. Will you be tackling those? Or is there a reason it's not marked?

Scott, I'll get around to adding markings to the smaller version soon. I'm not happy with the color of the 312B hood plates, so I may change that. In fact, I may reshoot the base color, as well. I was finally able to track down some transfer sheets, so I may attempt to cut my markings from them.

I too noticed the domes used on the 232 prop were smaller than the turret hole as we can see the notches on this hole on the ref pic when I tried to fit left over domes on my pod, I didnt know the ref of the new domes, fortunatly I havent ordered yet from plastruct ! Thanks for the info. :thumbsup

Thanks, Julien. Yeah, it's the VHE-40. The funny part is I delayed working on the LR232 because I had to order more VHE-48 domes when I had the 40s in my stock the whole time! LOL

 

[moffeaton]

LOL - and I JUST ordered from Plastruct AGAIN today. Unnnnghhhhh.

Now I need to meet the $20 minimum for the THIRD time this month! Waa waaa waaaaaaa.

 

[booch]

Hi guys, I have perhaps a bit of a dumb question, but I'm relatively new here so please bear with me:
Can I ask you where you're getting the reference material for these? Even looking at HD captures from ESB, you can't really make anything out on the model, so I suspect you must have some sort of better reference somewhere. You use the names LR223/232, so I assume this must be in a visual dictionary or the like somewhere. My SW reference material is fairly limited, so I'm wondering where all this juicy information is? The Chronicles book?

 

[moffeaton]

Nope. I unfortunately have pics that I am not allowed to share. However, you are free to copy what Allan, Lee, and I are doing - they show what these pods are supposed to look like better than the reference photos do, to be honest, as you can see the donor parts in their raw form! You can thank a Global guy for the stipulations on the photo lockdown, by the way. Real world repercussions, people.

 

[imaginager]

You use the names LR223/232, so I assume this must be in a visual dictionary or the like somewhere.

One member's passion for these models was central to getting the pods ID'd and so when I posted this build thread, I named the replica models in his honor.

The "LR" designation is simply the initials of the member's real name. "223" and "232" refer to the primary (hull) donor models for the pods, the Leichter Panzerspähwagen 223 and Schwerer Panzerspähwagen 232 8-rad, respectively.

I'm tickled that the name has stuck! And, I'm pointing out what it means so people understand that there's a real person to thank for blazing the trail on these models.

Thanks, Lee!