Fully articulated 24" tall AT-AT adventure

[Analyzer]

On the subject I see airfix still make the Apollo Saturn V however cited upgraded parts. Is this kit still close enough for the belly pieces?
Printer first, but Im considering buying kits slowly anyway. Need to find someone local with a 3d scanner.

according to things I have read

things like this post

Apollo Saturn V Rocket (A11170) - 1:144 Airfix

Apollo Saturn V Rocket (A11170) 1:144 Airfix If there are a few things that nearly everyone recognises its fairly sure the Saturn V Rocket is one of them. This is the Rocket which took men to the moon, and then later on launched the Skylab station. The Saturn V holds the record for the Biggest, t...

www.britmodeller.com

The current issue of the Airfix Saturn V is NOT identical to the original release of 1970. This version is actually a re-release of the 2009 issue (issued for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11) . Back then, the moulds were substantially altered to make the kit much more accurate. The main changes were with the Lunar Module adapter section, the Service Module and the Command Module (or, to be more precise, the Boost Protect Cover or BPC - that sits on top of the Command Module during launch).

The main problem with the original kit was that the Service Module diameter was not wide enough. This mean that the Lunar Module adapter tapered too sharply. Also, the BPC was too small as it had too narrow a base (to match the incorrect Service Module). Another issue with the original Service Module was that the radiator pattern as depicted was not the same as those actually seen on the real thing. This was a common problem with many Command/Service module kits of the late 1960s/early 1970s as the kit tool makers followed the design of the original Block I Apollo Command/Service modules - based on drawings and pictures issued by NASA and the contractors all through the 1960s.. All actual Apollo flights were conducted with Block II designs, which had substantially different radiator locations.

IIRC the parts for the Y-Wing engines and the bottom of the AT-AT come from the main stage so they should be ok?

I also think some of the engine parts were used for the X-Wing intakes as well as other parts?

 

[starks]

according to things I have read

things like this post

Apollo Saturn V Rocket (A11170) - 1:144 Airfix

Apollo Saturn V Rocket (A11170) 1:144 Airfix If there are a few things that nearly everyone recognises its fairly sure the Saturn V Rocket is one of them. This is the Rocket which took men to the moon, and then later on launched the Skylab station. The Saturn V holds the record for the Biggest, t...

www.britmodeller.com

The current issue of the Airfix Saturn V is NOT identical to the original release of 1970. This version is actually a re-release of the 2009 issue (issued for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11) . Back then, the moulds were substantially altered to make the kit much more accurate. The main changes were with the Lunar Module adapter section, the Service Module and the Command Module (or, to be more precise, the Boost Protect Cover or BPC - that sits on top of the Command Module during launch).

The main problem with the original kit was that the Service Module diameter was not wide enough. This mean that the Lunar Module adapter tapered too sharply. Also, the BPC was too small as it had too narrow a base (to match the incorrect Service Module). Another issue with the original Service Module was that the radiator pattern as depicted was not the same as those actually seen on the real thing. This was a common problem with many Command/Service module kits of the late 1960s/early 1970s as the kit tool makers followed the design of the original Block I Apollo Command/Service modules - based on drawings and pictures issued by NASA and the contractors all through the 1960s.. All actual Apollo flights were conducted with Block II designs, which had substantially different radiator locations.

IIRC the parts for the Y-Wing engines and the bottom of the AT-AT come from the main stage so they should be ok?

I also think some of the engine parts were used for the X-Wing intakes as well as other parts?

Ok so there's a good chance the current offering is still ok. Would need to compare the two to be sure I suppose. Thanks for putting the information up!

Cheers,
Josh

 

[JediMichael]

Just a fun little video for inspiration.

 

[starks]

Just a fun little video for inspiration.

Thats a fun little doco. There's a good one on You Tube also of an interview with Empire magazine if I remember correctly.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[christrom]

Hi all, I'm sure I'll have a thing or two to throw in here. For some reason, I wasn't receiving notifications from the other post, so I'm glad I found this. I'll soon share the stuff I have been working on to try to create a walking AT-AT and all the pitfalls I found. I gave up for a long time, so a group effort might be better.

I've recently started up on this forum again. I was here years ago and created a Rancor sculpture, and also some AT-AT dioramas. The pics below are from the ERTL kit... I spent about 2 years making this and did a stupid amount of modifications.

I also did a couple of F-Toys dioramas for commissions, but I don't want to spam the thread.

And just for fun, here is a really long stop motion I did a few months back with the Bandai AT-AT. Looking forward to seeing what happens with this thread!

 

[JediMichael]

Hi all, I'm sure I'll have a thing or two to throw in here. For some reason, I wasn't receiving notifications from the other post, so I'm glad I found this. I'll soon share the stuff I have been working on to try to create a walking AT-AT and all the pitfalls I found. I gave up for a long time, so a group effort might be better.

I've recently started up on this forum again. I was here years ago and created a Rancor sculpture, and also some AT-AT dioramas. The pics below are from the ERTL kit... I spent about 2 years making this and did a stupid amount of modifications.

I also did a couple of F-Toys dioramas for commissions, but I don't want to spam the thread.

View attachment 1470441
View attachment 1470442

View attachment 1470443

And just for fun, here is a really long stop motion I did a few months back with the Bandai AT-AT. Looking forward to seeing what happens with this thread!

Nice. Love the stop motion. Very time consuming. How long would you say that it took to film for those long 3 seconds?

 

[Hagoth]

Hi all, I'm sure I'll have a thing or two to throw in here. For some reason, I wasn't receiving notifications from the other post, so I'm glad I found this. I'll soon share the stuff I have been working on to try to create a walking AT-AT and all the pitfalls I found. I gave up for a long time, so a group effort might be better.

I've recently started up on this forum again. I was here years ago and created a Rancor sculpture, and also some AT-AT dioramas. The pics below are from the ERTL kit... I spent about 2 years making this and did a stupid amount of modifications.

I also did a couple of F-Toys dioramas for commissions, but I don't want to spam the thread.

View attachment 1470441
View attachment 1470442

View attachment 1470443

And just for fun, here is a really long stop motion I did a few months back with the Bandai AT-AT. Looking forward to seeing what happens with this thread!

That is some really nice looking work christrom! Looking forward to anything you can contribute to this adventure.

Your stop motion sequence looks like it might provide the shot I have been looking for to determine the arc of movement the legs move towards each other. (shorter arc movement but greatest down motion of the hip blade to match the opposite direction range of motion) That is if Bandai duplicated the range of motion correctly from the example they copied from. So far I'm guessing at least 11 degrees and likely closer to 12 but some pictures seem to show it could be as large as 13. They are so blurry it is difficult to get anything accurate so far.

 

[christrom]

The animation took about an hour to do if I remember correctly. I think I messed up the order of the last leg, but it is so tricky to do as you are moving the 3 other legs literally half a millimetre a frame.

The bandai model feels very accurate to me, and the range of motion was indeed limited. Although the animation is a bit naff, I think the model is as capable as the larger one, just that the joints do not hold each position as well. I had the whole held in a clamp for this.

 

[joberg]

Love the effort put in that stop motion vid Eager to see your next update!

 

[Analyzer]

Love the animation and the diorama!

As a side question, what material did you use for the snow?

 

[christrom]

Love the animation and the diorama!

As a side question, what material did you use for the snow?

Thanks! It was just interior wall filler, watered down so I could use it as a paste. To get it smooth once it had dried, I just wet my finger and rubbed the surface until it started to reactivate.

 

[christrom]

Right, here is a vid showing some of the work I did on trying to figure out a walking AT-AT. The narration is a bit quiet. If anyone has any other ideas I'd love to see them. This whole thing nearly drove me to madness when I originally did it.

If anyone needs the files, just shout

 

[Searun]

Christrom, your video should qualify as college credit for a dynamics course in translation & rotation.

I have gone through the threads and comments of Hagoth, Starks, JediMichael and others on the walking AT-AT and its hard not to get captivated by the complexity of gearing, metal tracking path plates, check valve levers and synchronization necessary. You guys must have a doctorate in robotics and extensive drafting experience. I remain an appreciative student.

 

[starks]

Right, here is a vid showing some of the work I did on trying to figure out a walking AT-AT. The narration is a bit quiet. If anyone has any other ideas I'd love to see them. This whole thing nearly drove me to madness when I originally did it.

If anyone needs the files, just shout

You put together some absolutely fantastic work here christrom, thankyou!

Hagoth had shared with me some artwork of the leg pistons joining to a gear on the knee. If setup correctly there is the possibility this could work to move the knee as the leg articulates in its back and foward swing, save the extra linkage rod.
In my mind with clever planning most aspects of a robotic walker could operate with one section driving the next section. We almost need a watch maker to look at this haha.

I think you paid very close attention to the hip movement recreating the slow up and fast down movement. Exceptional job.

The initial thought of this thread was in creating a stop motion puppet that could be potentially motorised, but even in stop motion the more points that operate by themselves in unison the simpler the animation will become.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Hagoth]

Right, here is a vid showing some of the work I did on trying to figure out a walking AT-AT. The narration is a bit quiet. If anyone has any other ideas I'd love to see them. This whole thing nearly drove me to madness when I originally did it.

If anyone needs the files, just shout

That is a some great motion analysis you have laid out in that video. Thank you for sharing it. Contributions like this are part of the intent of this thread which is to bring together any of the creative minds on this forum who want to share ideas and input on the subject matter of AT-AT motion duplication, and see what we can come up with as a community to give it physical form.

I've been focusing on another project while support resources were available but I have not stopped thinking about ways of doing this one. I hope to get some time in about a week to post my next round of mechanism progress updates.

I have some ideas for driving the hip and upper leg motion (to the knee flywheel) using two stepper worm gears driving cams that pivot through the hip to body joint. Works in my head but remains to be seen if real life agrees.

 

[christrom]

I'll look forward to seeing that. I did actually place a servo in the revell leg joint, but there is always the problem of power output for something so small. Algodoo is great for doing these quick visualisations, I highly recommend it, unless you have something like Autodesk Inventor

 

[christrom]

Anyone seen this? Hopefully should be a link to Merlin models AT-AT

The Walker REVEAL | Our Walker REVEAL! Total price $1299 plus shipping USD Pre order 1st payment $400 USD Studio Scale (approx 1/48) Cast Polyurethane plastic body parts... | By Merlin Models | Facebook

Our Walker REVEAL! Total price $1299 plus shipping USD Pre order 1st payment $400 USD Studio Scale (approx 1/48) Cast Polyurethane plastic body parts...

fb.watch

 

[joberg]

Yes, a hundred kits made only...it's going to go fast and furious for that one

 

[skahtul]

Nice work so far, there is a crazy amount of detail here already to follow. I just picked up the Revell 40th anniversary kit a few weeks back and there is a ton of inspiration here.

I also picked up a set of files from Gambody (which has the full interior) and that might be a good jumping-off point to attempt something like this as it's already designed to move. Colin over on Etsy has a great set of files also. So many projects and not enough time.

Following this for sure and will contribute if I can, nice work!

 

[jkno]

Superb project!! This AT-AT will be fantastic when finished