Solander's "Gungan Reaper" (AAT)

[Solander]

Hi everyone!
Couldn't resist building something even for a single day since completing all works with my ISD.
This time it turned out to be an excellent AMT's Trade Federation Tank AAT, which I have planned to put together for a VEEEry long time.

Here is where it starts



The kit is fairly accurate enough, but not 100%. That I'll try to change.
First thing I've done was bringing the venting grill located on the underside of the tank in order:




One other feature I've always wanted to add to this model was an openable hatch on the command tower, with some interior inside. Taking reference from the crossections book,



I've started with drilling the hatch off, sanding all the problematic spots and cutting it in two:









The next thing I've done was adding some pieces to correct the hatches shape from the inside, but that pics are yet to be taken.
To be continued, guys

 

[JohnSimmons]

Great start Sol, you just can't build them out of the box can you! Lol. I'm sure this is going to be another epic build, I got my eyes peeled!

 

[Solander]

Yeah, no way I can, buddy, no matter how hard I try to, lol ;D

 

[Junkie]

Great idea to open that hatch! This is gonna be very awesome for sure.

 

[Grendels]

I will be following with interest.

 

[fubar]

Great choice dude.....and yes i love those Cross-section books, i have all of them and can loose whole days just looking at the pictures. ;D

Looking forwards to following this.

TTFN Matt

 

[YOULI]

Excellent !

Will follow this WIP with a lot of candy eyes Two at last...

I do think that's the very same scale than the Hasbro Action figure. FOr a time you could find a lot of Federation Droids, mostly sold with another action figure.

 

[ModelMakerMike]

;D yeah, this will be rather kewl!
I will watch with much interest. ;D;D;D

 

[Quaralane]

Should be an interesting project

 

[Dusky]

I remember building one of these when I was younger, although I don't remember it turning out very well. ;D

 

[Solander]

Thanks for joining up guys! I'l try to make this an interesting ride

I do think that's the very same scale than the Hasbro Action figure. FOr a time you could find a lot of Federation Droids, mostly sold with another action figure.

Unfortunately the tank is a bit smaller, being 1/32, while hasbro action figures are around 1/24-1/26.
But no worries, I had a plan for the droid-rider for this kit even before I managed to get the kit itself ;D
But want to make a little surprise of that, so have patience guys - soon the tower will be complete and its mysterious inhabitant would reveal himself

To warm your interest a bit more, I would add that he would be probably be the main reason to call this project not just a simple AAT, but a proud "Gungan Reaper"

 

[Dark Kyp]

nice beginning!

 

[Junkie]

So you're gonna put JarJar in there? Please put him UNDER it. LOL.

 

[Dusky]

So you're gonna put JarJar in there? Please put him UNDER it. LOL.

;D

 

[YOULI]

A lot of Gungans impaled on the Turret ?

1/35... So it's maybe the same scale than the Snail Tank, and therefore the Unleashed Figure Toy line ?

You know ? Like this ones
http://www.puzzlezoo.com/assets/photos/SWUB76912f.jpg

 

[Igard]

Off to a good start. This should be an interesting one. Have fun, Sol.

 

[Ziz]

The small Unleashed figures could work - at 2" tall they're more or less 1/32 scale. That snail tank from E3 is closer to 1/48 though, and the standard Hasbro action figures come out more in the 1/16 to 1/18 range.

 

[Solander]

Hi, guys!
Thank you for all your great comments.
Lots of different things have been done on this project today, and I guess its time to reveal most of the cards, so here is what I've already done + what I'm going to do:

First of all, I need to make the opposite parts on the bottom of the hetch's halves. To make them I've tried the body of a simple ofice magnet at first. That didn't work - he refused to be cut the way I needed. So I've put it aside for a while, trying to find some finner material.





Meanwhile, I've cut the holes in the rocket tubes. To make them look more interesting, I'm gonna place some rocket heads behind them, inside the tank's depth, but for them to be visible if one looks closely. That is up to be done to, so I've put the tubes aside as well.



Then my attention turned to the main body halves.



They are two halves, so hello putty here (and Grendels. Hi, buddy! )



But the main problem is the grill on the back of the tank. It looks awful, and I would have died masking that gap in its middle.



So at first I've decided to leave the grill in place, but glue in a small piece of styrene, separating the grill in halves and masking the gap. But then I've thought that I can do better then that.
I've cut the grill off.



(But saved it - you never know where you can put something like that to use.)



And what I'm going to do, is to put some mechanisms inside (oh, how i LOVE KITBASHING! ;D) and then cover them with a cool grill made of this.



This is a brilliant stuff - a focusing grill for charged particles, used for ex. in experimental plasma facilities. From the very first time I've seen it I understood in which field it can be used also 8) ;D and what is great is that I have an unlimited quantity of them at work, so my depatment's stash is a real factory of fine grills)))

It also already has a protective metalic net on it's backside, which I'm planing to keep while cuting



Now, finally, about the guy in the tower.
YOULI, Ziz, bingo! It is a droid from an unleashed minifigures set "Battle for Crystophsis"





He is in a perfect scale with a tank, and what I especially like in him is his sniper rifle. From the very beginning I was holding an idea of giving him an extremely mean pose, with the rifle laying on a shoulder and a binocular held with an other manipulator near his photoreceptors, searching for the gungans survived (but of coerce none did 8))



Now back to the turret's hatch. Guess what I found handy for it? A kinder-surprise - like capsule. Fited almost perfectly Still lots of work left to do here.







Now, some other areas I'm going to give extensive detailing to
-the opened guts on the main entrance ramp, which would replace the crappy original ones:





-And behind the grilles on the bottom, which I've already glued in and brought to condition with putty (and yeah, side guns are almost ready as well)



And in the finale of today's progress report are:

-The complete and glued in place big panel with small grill on the very bottom



-And the small side guns, upgraded a bit with an injector niddles



Hope you'd enjoy the progress, guys. Let me know, what do you think

 

[JohnSimmons]

WHAt AN UPDATE! Man your working at full speed with this thing!! Great part you have there that you accuired frome work Sol. Everything looks really good mate. And do I see a little hoth dio in your cabinet........

 

[Grendels]

Nice update, and those seams are what I am use to working with.

The replacement grill will look very good.