AT AT dropship , advice wanted

[Dan]

Hi all , I picked up an AT AT recently at a gaming convention for free . It was a little battered but quite usable .
I want to use it as a Dropship type exploration vehicle rather than a fighter/bomber for my Teminator style force but am having second thoughts .
I started with the AT AT plus a A100 Warthog and some large wheels from a 4x4 truck.

[Dan]

I then found some fans from a photocopier and have gotten this far with it . I have keep the weapons to a minimum with only the chin guns and a chain gun on the rear .




I was going to add wings from the Warthog but feel this looks good as is .
Also I originally wanted to paint it the same as the Terminators in a metal finish but think it would look good a dirty White or Yellow with lots of signage on it.

Anyone want to offer any advice?

[Commander Vyper]

Not feeling it mate sorry, probably too recognisable to work for me sorry.

Thoughts though: tank tracks, lose the head and have a kind of crawler/human harvester.

Maybe be trying to do too much with combining flyer and wheeled vehicle but thats just me so no offence meant.

Cheers


The Commander

[AKULA]

Firstly, i've got to say, its a very creative use of the legs, and the fan blades look great!

As you've asked for comments/suggestions though, I agree with Vyper, it still looks too much like an AT-AT at the moment, and the wheels look plain odd.

Personally i'd lost the wheels completely, and go for skids. 

The Head could still be useful, but i'd lose the neck, and flip the head upside down, and attach it directly to the body, to give that angled look to the front of the ship.

[dijit]

Personally i'd lost the wheels completely, and go for skids. 

The Head could still be useful, but i'd lose the neck, and flip the head upside down, and attach it directly to the body, to give that angled look to the front of the ship.

Agreed the wheels are just too big in relation for it to work well. Removing the neck section might also help give a more 'blocky' dropship type look. And again nice and creative juse of the legs!
Also what I've never worked out with the ATAT is just where the troops are meant to disembark from, and again with your dropship where are the exit points?

[gamer Mac]

Wheels don’t suit the rest, they look to heavy. Take them off and keep them for another project. Build skids.
The neck and head look too much like the original. Remove the neck altogether. Attach the head on top of the body, sticking over the front.
At the front where the neck attached build a large hatch (drawbridge type), for allowing the troops to disembark.
The legs and the fans look great.

[Renfield286]

i would second the idea for smaller wheels and taking out the neck section.

everything else looks great.

[Dan]

Thanks for the opinions . No offense taken.
I never really got StarWars as I'm more of an Alien fan so did'nt really worry about it looking too much like an original AT AT.
BUT at a Demo or game day it may not work for others as you have suggested.

I tried some tracks before and did'nt like it but may have to get rid of the bottom plate altogether and try again. Skids may also work .

The disembarkation points are a bit of a sticking point since I covered the sides with the legs . I had planned a bottom plate exit point between the wheels.

I like the head as it looks like a robot similar to a Terminator ( or have I been watching Transformers too much  ) It also does double duty as an escape pod so will remove it and see what use I can make of it.

No opinions of colour?

[Dr. The Viking]

Lose the wheels and remove the "neck" to make it less AT-ATish.

It's way too AT-AT still, but I think your idea could turn out really good.

Add something round to the head - cockpit shielding glass or whatever.

[former user]

ok, here you are
criticism:
no wheels
loose the neck
advice:
fix the head below the front section but not under it
use the wings, but fix them to the front section
put some protection rings around the rotors
add some fixing to the rotors, so that they look connected
use skids or some landing gear without wheels, but not too low
use magnets to fix the weapons, you might want too have some options
add a canopy on top of the head

I think the idea is great, but the At At is too specific, so you have to make it more unrecognazible

[anevilgiraffe]

erm.... you've given the AT-AT cat ears?

[fastolfrus]

Remove the neck.

On the thought of exit ports, can you mount the head direct onto the body, but hinged at either the top or the side ? Then fit landing skids, and the result should be something like a WWII assault glider (apart from the rotors of course).

Not entirely sure about that tail rotor, four rotors, mounted as two pairs (one each side) would look more balanced.

Option B on the exit ports would be to fit the head direct to the front of the body (or leave off entirely), leave off the tail rotor and fit a door/ramp at the back.

Don't think it's worth having the head as an escape pod - it wouldn't hold all the passengers from the dropship so why would the designer choose that spec ?

[Dan]

Wow , lots of advice  Thanks.

What I have done tonite is remove the neck and make a few cuts to the head so I can mount it to the front of the body inline with the plate . I have removed the guns and will probobly put bigger ones underneath to fill in the gap.

I've been trying to find something to protect the rotors but think I will have to laminate some card unless I find a tube to do the job. (The original mounts were too square and difficult to shape so they had to come off.)

I have played around with smaller wheels and legs but may have found the answer in two sets of a Robogear walker . The problem is how to make the bottom plate look sensible.

I looked at using the Robogear cockpit but that would have made it look too much like it was human crewed and I want it to look more robotic .

The body is not really big enough to enable the use of large hatches so I think I may have one either side just behind the cockpit area .

Anevilgiraffe , I wondered if anyone would notice the ears  I have removed them now.
For inspiration I have been looking at this thread http://www.pistonheads.com/Gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=210&t=653756&mid=0&i=0&nmt=Post amazingly cool pictures of sci-fi machinery&mid=0

EDIT , I think I have just worked it out  The hatch will be below the rear rotor Hercules style with a ramp shape down to it. The legs will fold up in the cut outs either side of the bottom/side plates .

[Predatorpt]

After seeing your thread, I've came up with the idea of mixing my Revell AT-AT with this other walker:



I'll remove the neck and cockpit of the AT-AT (like so many suggested) and use the front end of that AT-AP as the new cockpit for my cargo ship. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Dan]

After seeing your thread, I've came up with the idea of mixing my Revell AT-AT with this other walker:

Thanks for your interest , I'd like to see how yours comes out.
In the mean time I have been bending and laminating card for engine shrouds ( I guess thats the right word ) Also have managed to get the rear ramp sorted.