Re: Star Wars Legion - Converting a Disney AT AT Popcorn bucket - The Project

[FreakyFenton]

Interesting idea and lovely project! 

[ARKOUDAKI]

Glad I read this thread. I picked one up off of Ebay. 

Thanks!

Well keep an eye on the forum as I do the conversion work. No sense reinventing the wheel! Plus, you might have some good ideas along the way! 

[mrgrigson]

The wife just returned with mine. It is absolutely not polypropylene like the Millennium Falcon I mentioned. I haven't done any proper glue tests, but it feels like it's a similar kind of plastic as most of the action figure ship toys: Something styrene-like for the main body, soft bendy stuff for the guns and foot supports. I'll need to do a glue test myself as one of the legs met with an unfortunate accident in transit, but I suspect superglue will work fine for that. In the meantime, I'll also try some magic-sculp on the inside of that leg to see how well that sticks. And if it sticks well, I may send a friend down there with a season pass a request for 4 more

[vodkafan]

The wife just returned with mine. It is absolutely not polypropylene like the Millennium Falcon I mentioned. I haven't done any proper glue tests, but it feels like it's a similar kind of plastic as most of the action figure ship toys: Something styrene-like for the main body, soft bendy stuff for the guns and foot supports. I'll need to do a glue test myself as one of the legs met with an unfortunate accident in transit, but I suspect superglue will work fine for that. In the meantime, I'll also try some magic-sculp on the inside of that leg to see how well that sticks. And if it sticks well, I may send a friend down there with a season pass a request for 4 more

Ah, that's a proper wife that is....

[ARKOUDAKI]

It must be love!

Do let me (us) know about your glue tests. I have tried the normal styrene glues but not had good results. I also need to putty up some holes (I cut off those hinges for the straps) as well as do some more detailing. More photos to come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ARKOUDAKI]

Hi all,

Well I have made some progress (considering not much free time of late) upgrading/converting/fixing the two (2) Disney SW popcorn bucket into a more realistic AT AT for usage in my young son's SW Legion and SW Lego!

Okay, not being a SW expert at all (although I have seen the movies and cartoons), I have studied up on the subject some and decided to go with a more traditional version of the AT AT.

Now the Disney SW popcorn bucket suffers from a number of issues, as follows (in no particular order of importance):

- hollow feet that need filling
- hollow internal back legs that need filling and surfacing
- interior that needs to be built to accommodate some troops
- laser guns that need work
- removal of popcorn strap bits and smoothing over
- removing and filling all mold lines on legs, as they are quite noticeable
- etc....

FYI, for the modifications, I will be basing most of the work on the AT AT shown in the 'SW Complete Vehicles' book at DK - see https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Complete-Vehicles-Kerry-Dougherty/dp/1409334767/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550961357&sr=8-1&keywords=star+wars+complete+vehicles

Onto the project!

First up, I took the thing apart as much as possible. I couldn't figure out how to get the main legs off without breaking them so I do broke-down the model as much as possible.

Second, I started work on remedying the interior of the legs. For this, I grinded out the plastic and then just scratch-built some interior parts and are to be covered over with a series of plastic plates, like the AT AT actually has. The work on this is still in progress but looking good so far.

Here are some photos of WIP.

[ARKOUDAKI]

Some more WIP photos...

[ARKOUDAKI]

And I forgot to mention, that the Disney popcorn buckets come with a wash of some black stain all over them, apparently to give them depth in the detail. I cleaned all that mess off with ISA and a toothbrush. I also sawed off the two hinge points that held the strap for the bucket. These were grinded/sanded a bit, and will eventually get puttied over and made smooth like the rest of the armor.

I have done more work but forgot to take some photos...so next time around!

Enjoy and do let me hear your 'constructive' comments! 

[ARKOUDAKI]

Some more WIP photos, just showing how I have done one of the inner legs, which still has more work to do before it is done.

I have also experimented with smoothing out the mold lines on the legs. However, following further research, I may go another way with this. More to come! 

After some experimentation, I found that my VMS Flexy 5K CA works really well on this type of plastic.

Finally, a shot of the laser guns that come with the Disney popcorn bucket, which are made out of a rubbery substance. They too are on the list to change and upgrade!

Enjoy the photos and feel free to comment!