Ruaidhri's Starfighter (WIP/Old MOC) UPDATED 26th Sep.

Updated 11th October 2008
Updated 16th December 2008
Updated 26th September 2009
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Built this a couple of years ago and add to it now and then, but seeing as I'd like to use this as the personal starfighter of my Jedi General, I'm now looking for some real ways to improve it. Anyway, pictures:







Gallery

I realise I haven't posted pictures of Ruaidhri himself yet - maybe tomorrow.

Anyway, what are your opinions?

I really like the gun turret on top, and the engines are nice, but I would have more space betwen the engines and the cockpit/gun. The nose could be fixed a bit too. But great so far!

No offense Jinja, but this looks more like a landspeeder and not a starfighter, if you added wings and took out the guns on the top it would look more like a spaceship!

T-B: Heard of an A-Wing? And I tried to model the turret off of the Y-Wing. Maybe make it more like the UCS version?

CC: Thanks for the tip. I know, how about a nice greebly SNOT area between the cockpit and engines?

Pros:

Nifty engines
Nice colour scheme
Nice inverted cockpit idea

Cons:

Guns on top look tacked on, ditch 'em and integrate some into the wings
Too many contradicting angles, smooooooooth it out
Grey and ornj are kind of argh!
Not JSF-ish enough, give it some big wings or a gap in the middle
Bottom is too bulky
Grey and bley clash
Republic logo seems out of place
Trans-clr cheeses are pointless
The nose is particularlyy messy

Yeah me too it looks like a landspeeder than more then a starfighter.

By any chance, could you two post a picture of this landspeeder it supposedly looks like? I know it a little bit snowspeeder-y, shape-wise, but looking at it in person, I'd say it was more like an A-wing starfighter than anything...

Jake, thanks for your ideas, and I'll try and get my hands on that part you suggested on MSN. Just going over some of the points you made:

"Guns on top look tacked on, ditch 'em and integrate some into the wings": I will integrate some into the wings, but I think I'll just shrink the top guns - blend 'em in more.

"Grey and ornj are kind of argh!": I'll try and eliminate the dark grey, and maybe switch the grey to bley.

"Not JSF-ish enough, give it some big wings or a gap in the middle": I'm not going for a Delta-7 or Eta-2, just a starfighter.

"Republic logo seems out of place": It's a Republic ship.

"The nose is particularly messy": Yeah, I always thought that was the weak point.

Anyway, more suggestions?

I'd say try to make the colors on the thrusters match. That would be a little more realistic.

Orange! Nice color, I love the idea for the thrusters.

Hey, I like it. I actually wouldn't change a thing. I like the orange on dark colors. Very Rebel "-esque".

I like it too, the only thing I would suggest is putting some more detailing around the base of the gun, and smoothing out the nose just a bit, these upgrades arn't even neccesary, just suggestions, I think it looks great as it is!

Now this looks nice Jinja! Good use of orange with the whole color scheme. The fighter looks a little bulky in terms of width and kinda reminds me more of a tank or ground vehicle. To fix this problem I suggest elongating it or cutting some of the sloped bricks off the back. Good work!

Well the turret is a nice touch and the engines are nice too, but they need more space from each other. Also it needs more work if you want it to be a starfighter, because it looks more like a landspeeder. Still 4/5. And nice work on the color scheme.

Okay, that's the third person who's said it looks more like a landspeeder (although thunder-clone was probably just parrotting to get his post count up ). Could someone enlighten me as to why?

Legorev: I think I'll work on elongating the nose.

The Jinja Ninja wrote:Okay, that's the third person who's said it looks more like a landspeeder (although thunder-clone was probably just parrotting to get his post count up ). Could someone enlighten me as to why?

Legorev: I think I'll work on elongating the nose.

Well, it does sorta look Landspeeder-esk, but it reminds me more of a Eta-2/A-Wing mix, or even a space tug. I especially like the large engines, they make it look VERY spacecrafty.

Does anyone except Jake think this piece would be good on the sides?

In orange maybe. But I already said what I thought about the MOC.

Looks really cool right now! Looks like when you said "You will see these guys some day! I promise.", you meant it!

If you can find those pieces in orange Jinja, I think that would work well!

Exo-Force has them. Several I believe. Most had stickers that you were suppose to put on them.

Only in that big orange tank. I think my friend has that one in his attic, so I may be in luck.

The Jinja Ninja wrote:Does anyone except Jake think this piece would be good on the sides?

Just be lazy and paint over it really carefully and smoothly.

That's a Bricklink image, not something in my collection. The only ones I have are currently in Boba Fett's Slave I, and I really don't want to annoy Fett. In other news, the friend I mentioned has agreed to let me buy the big ornj tank off of him for cheap. I guess I'll pick it up Saturday when I go round to hijack his copy of The Force Unleashed.

Anyway, looks like I'll have to dig out my ISD (now the Outrider alt-model) to nick two bley wing plates, so I'd best get cracking!

Almost-month-old bump! I've taken into account most of your comments (y'know, apart from the stupid ones ) and revamped the starfighter. The nose has been elongated, the angles have been smoothed out, there are guns on the wings, I'm steadily replacing grey with bley and I've added a 1-stud wide SNOT-y bit between the cockpit and engines, which is being greebled slowly but surely. I'll post pictures soon, as I'm feeling motivated tonight, and then I'll see what you've got to say before I start buying and *GASP* painting new pieces (gorram rare rounded slopes!). Brace yourselves for hypersp-... uh, my next post!

This post is so Jinja does not have to triple post. He could just hit edit though...