1:144 Junk Speeder Scratchbuild

[monsterpartyhat]

This was a fairly quick build - after musing that X-wing engines would make a good base for a speeder during my X/Y Junkfighter kitbash build, I naturally went and cannibalized another X-wing to do just that :). Mostly built this while waiting for replacement drill bits to arrive for my Millennium Falcon build (since I broke almost every tiny drill bit I had in my first attempt to drill out holes for fiber optics...). 

 

 

This is obviously heavily influenced by Jake Lunt Davies' Jakku speeder concept design from The Force Awakens, that ended up used in a 360 degree VR video on YouTube and a terrible Hasbro toy. While not attempting to actually build *that* speeder, I definitely used the overall layout as a plan for it. 

 

 

 

Here it is next to a Vehicle Model X-wing for scale:

 

 

And I thought it was funny how much space all the paint that went onto it take up next to the model itself :):

 

 

Lots more, including WIP photos, in the flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aalpern/albums/72157689673841005

 

I used a combination of a couple of gauges of music wire, and aluminum tubing for the steering vanes and roll cage. The pilot's seat is one of TonyRR's Millennium Falcon seats from Shapeways (and now I need to order more of those....). The control stick and some piping I added to the back of the engine nacelles after re-locating the exhaust tubes is actually snippets of the docking ring piping from the Bandai TFA Millennium Falcon, and part of the underside is those little bits of sprue attached to the wings of the vehicle model X-wings...

 

There's a lot more cockpit detail I would add in a larger scale, but this was stretching my abilities as it is. 

 

I've already got another variant in progress with the other engine pair from the donor X-wing model. I'm working on a much cleaner build of the tubing/wire portions, with less glue and paint buildup. 

 

Edited November 17, 2017 by monsterpartyhat

[Pete in Lincs]

That looks great.

And considerably faster and scarier than a speeder bike!

You can take it around the block first.

I'll watch from a safe position.

(Maybe Kessel).

[monsterpartyhat]

Heh. 

 

Yeah, with two X-wing engines powering a single-person speeder, this thing must be *FAST*.  Fast enough that a brave pilot can cross the Jundland Wastes while avoiding interception by sand people. Its owner is a washed-out fighter pilot who acts as a courier for stolen Holocrons for the Hutt crime family.  

 

The other one I'm building with the other 2 engines is going to be a bit larger, with more cargo space. 

[Jim Wasley]

That's fired up the imagination,Super build,love the base it sits on,Wow that's hard to believe that much paint went onto such a small scale. Cheers. 

[Andy Moore]

Excellent build, and the base really sets it off well.

 

Andy

[monsterpartyhat]

Here is Junk Speeder #2, made from the other pair of engines in the donor X-wing kit.  It's not *quite* done, but it's reached a point where I'm happy with it so far, and I'm going to sit on it for a while to figure out the right final touches. 

 

I had planned, and attempted, a roll-cage/canopy very similar to #1, but was unable to get it to fit and stay in place after enough attempts that I said "screw it". I may attempt it again later, or try something entirely different. 

 

 

 

 

The sidecar cockpit was a particularly fun bit of scratch-building. Started with the nose-cone and cut-down lower front fuselage of the X-wing, then sanded out the channel a bit and cemented in a Falcon cockpit seat. Attached some styrene sheet to the back, then cut it down to serve as a guide for wrapping more thin styrene around to form a rear fuselage. Then I cut off a piece of leftover greeblie from my previous Y-wing kitbash to put in the back, then added still more pieces of styrene for panelling and bulk. 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots more WIP photos in the flickr album, as before. https://www.flickr.com/photos/aalpern/albums/72157689673841005

 

Edited November 20, 2017 by monsterpartyhat

[Will Vale]

Awesome stuff Adam, I think I like the asymmetrical one even more. I knew they were small from the Flickr photos but seeing them by the paint pots or that massive 4:1 scale model of a hand really brings it home

 

Will

[monsterpartyhat]

Heh. Making these tiny things involves magnifying lenses, tweezers, and copious swearing

[Badder]

Great stuff.

I would not like to ride the 'out-rigger' though, with the whole starboard view blocked by those engines. Well scary!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[monsterpartyhat]

I wouldn't either, but it's completely in line with the Star Wars ship aesthetic :). 

 

Millennium Falcon -- one entire side of visibility blocked. 

TIE Fighter and most of its variants - wings block at least 1/2 of visibility. 

[Badder]

2 hours ago, monsterpartyhat said:

I wouldn't either, but it's completely in line with the Star Wars ship aesthetic :). 

 

Millennium Falcon -- one entire side of visibility blocked. 

TIE Fighter and most of its variants - wings block at least 1/2 of visibility. 

Indeed. I first realised this in 1977, aged 12, while collecting the Topps bubble gum Star Wars Collectible Cards.

 

Still, I'd rather fly something with radar, computer aids, heads up display, canopies/cockpits and airtight hull than a rocking chair strapped to the side of a rocket.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

[monsterpartyhat]

Hey....when those salvaged-from-wreckage, repaired-with-salvaged-parts-and-duct-tape X-wing engines explode, being in the sidecar might be safer than being directly on top of them

 

 

(maybe just 0.001% safer)

[Hunter Rose]

Nice little builds! The asymmetric one is a very cool concept

[Gimme Shelter]

crikes - what brilliant and inventive stuff you keep popping out - a just so tiny too.

 

You have a very vivid and creative mind

 

top marks there - adding really believable shapes back into the world of Star Wars that ILM would most probably approve of (they just didn't think of it first ! )