Land Speeder Conversion (assembled & with crew/passengers)

[Silent Invader]

Nah, it's magic!

 

[Mason]

I like that, mate.
It works really well.
 

[Silent Invader]

I like that, mate.
It works really well.
 

Thank you Paul 

[tin shed gamer]

Looking good .Not really one for using magnets (more a case of  it never occurred to me use them as a solution for the projects I tend to do.Than anything else ) They do seem quite robust for there size. So I'm going to try them as a method for joining railway tack and ballast lengths together.Any do's and don'ts spring to mind?
Mark.

[Silent Invader]

Looking good .Not really one for using magnets (more a case of  it never occurred to me use them as a solution for the projects I tend to do.Than anything else ) They do seem quite robust for there size. So I'm going to try them as a method for joining railway tack and ballast lengths together.Any do's and don'ts spring to mind?
Mark.

Polarity! I know it's obvious but it really can't be overstated simply because, if there's another magnet or iron etc in the vicinity, the little buggers jump around as soon as you let go of them and it's easy to fix them the wrong way round. It doesn't matter too much if the magnet will be coupling to metal, but can be extremely frustrating in magnet to magnet fixtures! I tend to drill the hole, drop in some superglue, then deliver the magnet attached to something handy like a small nut, I push the magnet into the hole then swipe the nut sideways, which generally leaves the magnet where I want it.

[fred]

Yep, all what SI says.

When magnets work they are great, but it can be a bit of a trial getting them in place. I often put a dot on one side using a sharpie, so that I know which polarity is which. The jumping behaviour of the rare earth ones is very impressive, it doesn't seem to matter how far away you move stuff, its never quite far enough.

One thing to be aware of is that things will rotate if fixed by magnets, this is often a good thing, but gravity will play its influence, so be aware when attaching things like arms where the magnet is perpendicular to the ground.

[tin shed gamer]

Thank you for the tip about using a nut big fan of keep it simple.
I was going to avoid the risk of mixing up polarities by only having a single magnet at opposite corners and a piece of metal on the other so that no matter which way round I attached the track lengths they'd never touch magnet to magnet.
But so like the nut idea.thanks once again.
Mark.

[Silent Invader]

Magnet to metal is defintely so much easier than magnet to magnet, so you're on the right track  

[Andym]

Nicely done Steve!

What about putting a roof over the top to make it look a little more solid?......or maybe some technical gubbins underneath? Make it look more like a chopper with the sides left open?

[Silent Invader]

Thanks Andy!  . James had also asked about a roof, so you're in good company  

Yeah, a mesh roof would look cool but practically speaking I think I'd have to raise the roof line to get minis in and out..... it's a fast insertion vehicle rather than a distance transit so I'm not 'too' worried about a roof from the utility perspective and a higher roofline might spoil the sleek aesthetic.   Ponder. Ponder. Ponder.....

I did do a bit of pondering. I suppose that while it has helicopter functionality, I'm also influenced by other fast insertion craft such RIBs, especially as without a rotor it doesn't actually have a mechanical need for a roof. I was considering present-day examples of how a space patrol ship might be resourced and found myself being influenced by HMS Protector....

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Protector_(A173)

.... the successor of HMS Endurance, with its interesting (for scenario purposes) mix of scientists and soldiers. Other influences for the Speeder's structure include the SWAT-type vehicles with manpower transported on external 'running boards' rather than inside an enclosed cabin and also the scenes in Black Hawk Down where the Little Birds hover on the target building and the Delta guys just step off the rails onto the roof.... a fluid and almost seamless transition from small, fast, mobile delivery platform to solid roof top.  

Actually, the more I thought about it the more I realised that I was being influenced by the technological interactions of Black Hawk Down rather than Platoon. So taking that into the future (the sci-fi bit and bearing in mind the RIB analogy) leads me to where I am now.

 

Btw, last night I endeavoured to scratchbuild a two-man weapons platform for top cover, with functionality and role akin to the more heavily weaponised Little Birds that do the strafing runs in BHD. My scratchbuild was a big fail and after several hours entailing much cutting and gluing of plasticard I threw it in the bin. I expect that I shall just get the smaller GW Speeder for conversion into a top-cover fire-support platform.

Edited for typos

[aircav]

Looking good Steve, I love the magnetised basing.
Can't wait to see em painted

[Silent Invader]

Thanks Keith