With almost every single one of my hobbies, I always try to make my sets/models/pieces/whatever better in my eye. No, don't worry, I won't mangle anything or make a complete wreck of something that when it left the store was fairly decent (if not great) to the normal and sane collector. I just have this compulsion to tweak things a bit, making the subject a little more pleasing in my eyes. Usually that means making it a bit more realistic, however "realistic" isn't always synonymous with accurate over here in my warped dimension, so...

But I digress... Here's my latest project, still a work in progress. There's quite more I want to do with it but I don't have all the parts needed . Unfortunately ideas start to pop up while I'm in the process of building or implementing the changes, so that means I usually don't have all the parts needed at hand. When I'm done for the day I write down everything I think I need and then make an order at BL, exactly what I'll do when I finish this post. That way I don't order unnecessary parts, though it will take a while to finish the project. No biggie, since happiness is not at the end of the road, right? I'll post updates according to my progress.

I started out with a brand new Juggernaut (#8098) that I assembled about a month ago, and the idea is to change a few details, small and big. What I was able to do so far (I'm 95% finished) is the front cabin:

The first thing you'll notice is that the cabin has more instrument panels for the driver and tank commander. I fitted more seats to the cabin, so now it holds 3 clones, a whinny Jedi and an Ashoka (it looks like the whinny Jedi can't go anywhere without one at his heels ). If you look closely at the floor, you'll see that the floor is wider, without the huge gap that could be seen between the central section of the floor and the side panels. And now my Force practitioners have a place to store there light sabers without the risk of poking holes through the walls...

As you see, I didn't do anything radical, but IMO the cabin looks a LOT better now. I still have to switch a few parts for others with more matching colors, but in this section I'm basically done. I was hoping to have also finished the rear cabin, but I ran out of parts . As soon as I get what I need I'll have more to show.

Very nice modifications! Can you show a picture of the cabin closed?

A whiny Jedi and Ahsoka . It's a good looking MOD but there's still what appears to be a gap on the floor, or do the side panels close further? Also the sloped control panels could do with been a bit higher so it looks like the pilots could actually use them.

Very nice modifications! Can you show a picture of the cabin closed?

Thanks! I did in fact change a bit of the exterior of the cabin, and I'll show how it looks now when I finish the "exterior phase". But, as you have guessed by now, I've ran out of parts .

A whiny Jedi and Ahsoka . It's a good looking MOD but there's still what appears to be a gap on the floor, or do the side panels close further? Also the sloped control panels could do with been a bit higher so it looks like the pilots could actually use them.

I tried different wedge plates, but that's the only way I was able to close some of the gap without interfering with the side panels. There's still a hole there, but trust me when I say it's a loooot better then when it was stock. Good idea on the control panels! I was able to lift them a little, just one plate higher without the front panel hitting the controls, and it looks a little better now, thanks!

Right now I'm testing some ideas for the undercarriage, to make it look less skinny, and I think I'll be able to improve a bit the looks in that area as well. With my next order of spare parts I hope to get it done. As soon as I have something (decently) finished I'll post pics, so that you guys can comment and hopefully give me new ideas.

It does look a lot better to me too =D I love modding, and love doing things like this, that give a more (personally) 'realistic' feel to it, as well as fiting more minifigs. Im not too keen on this set in all honesty, as I prefer more scaled things, but I would be interested in your mods to see its finished potential! Pics when finished please =D (I agree with you that the underside needs modding to lose the skinny look to its undercarriage too)

Oh, for the guy on the left (with the 2 control arm things)(could also work for the other guy with the 2x2 sloping 45 brick with the 1x2 tile on top) what I often do with the 1x2 control panel tiles, is mount them on the 1x2 hinge bricks (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=3937) I find that these give a nice angle to them one way or another. Just a suggestion ofc =D

Edited January 20, 201213 yr by Fuppylodders

It does look a lot better to me too =D I love modding, and love doing things like this, that give a more (personally) 'realistic' feel to it, as well as fiting more minifigs. Im not too keen on this set in all honesty, as I prefer more scaled things, but I would be interested in your mods to see its finished potential! Pics when finished please =D (I agree with you that the underside needs modding to lose the skinny look to its undercarriage too)

Oh, for the guy on the left (with the 2 control arm things)(could also work for the other guy with the 2x2 sloping 45 brick with the 1x2 tile on top) what I often do with the 1x2 control panel tiles, is mount them on the 1x2 hinge bricks (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=3937) I find that these give a nice angle to them one way or another. Just a suggestion ofc =D

Hinge bricks... Good idea, I'll have to try that, thanks!

As luck would have it, this morning I got an order of more spare parts and was able to do some more. It was a fun afternoon .

I think I'm almost finished with the cabins:

I still want to find a light grey wedge plate for the floor, but other then that I think the front cabin is done. And here's how it looks with all panels closed:

I switched the front stubbed plate for a smooth one, so that it looks a bit more similar to the rear cabin. And speaking of the rear cabin:

In theory Ahsoka should be here in the back, manning the master weapons control (middle seat), but since she can't stay away from the Big Whining Cheese up front, a clone took her place. On the left is the rear driver and on the right the communication's officer.

So far I've only done a few minor improvements, but I also did some BIG changes:

Yep, a canon . Come on, it's called the "Clone Tank" not "Clone APC", so of course you have to have a big friggin' cannon some where. It's a plasma (pulse) cannon, remotely controlled from the rear cabin. On the top you have the optical range finding system (laser, IR and light intensification modes), and it has 360º of motion and can be elevated up to 45º. Yeah, yeah, totally not accurate and un-canonical but now the thing looks more like a tank. Disregard the satellite dish (already changed) and the ugly bricks in the undercarriage - I was just testing some ideas. If you look closely on the side panels, maybe those who have the set will notice that there are a bit more tiles and a few details. Nothing fancy, but at least in my eye it now looks a little more aesthetically pleasing.

I still have to complete an order for parts for the undercarriage, but since I don't have the parts not even to mock-stage what I want to build, I'm not 100% sure that what I have in mind will work . Hopefully in two or three weeks I can show some progress. And if that goes well maybe I'll tag the wheels.

Thats coming along great! The front cabin is looking neat too =D Ive just realised it has the lifting mechanism that it can be lifted by the dropship with... will you be losing that to make the interior more... interior like?

That front cabin looks great now, and the turret / cannon thing is a great idea (technically it's not a tank at all TLG made up the Turbo Tank name because someone else had the rights to the name Juggernaut or something ). I would also love to see the interior properly modded as well. Oh and the undercarriage does look ridiculously skinny now.

Thanks guys! I'm pleased you liked my work .

The undercarriage will be a challenge. Well, not really - If you make those axles "static" (no more suspension) it would be easy. It would just be a matter of beefing the undercarriage up with grey bricks and do some detailing and it's done. But being kind of a gear head, I love the independent suspension that Lego did on the tank, so I want to keep it. Because of that, unfortunately, my options will be VERY limited .

Looking good!

If you could post a few before shots it would be much appreciated

Looking good!

If you could post a few before shots it would be much appreciated

Thanks!

Yeah, I only remember that I should make some before shots for comparisons after I'm already working on it .

Great mod. I always wonder why TLG doesn't add all the details like you did already, as there isn't that much work involved (correct me if I'm wrong ), yet it does improve the quality of a set alot.

Hi. If its not to much trouble can you make a parts list for the cannon on top please. thank you very much

Great mod. I always wonder why TLG doesn't add all the details like you did already, as there isn't that much work involved (correct me if I'm wrong ), yet it does improve the quality of a set alot.

Much work? Not at all! It was just a matter of seeing what I could fit in there. I guess they don't want a regular set to compete with an UCS in terms of details. And of course, to keep the price down I bet.

Hi. If its not to much trouble can you make a parts list for the cannon on top please. thank you very much

Next time I make more shots I'll pull the cannon apart to show what I used.

Today I had some free time so I took a few shots of how the big tank is looking . I think I'm (finally) done with the exterior, so now the next step is the undercarriage . Here's how the brute is looking right now:

Since the Juggernaut is not truly in scale, that lone trooper sitting topside was bothering me. It made the tank look smaller and I was a bit worried that the guy may catch a flu or something. So I deleted that puny gun and replaced it with a big anti-aircraft blaster:

It's remotely controlled from the rear cabin, and can also be used as an anti-personnel weapon (truly makes minced meat of anyone who comes in it's way). I was also afraid that this big behemoth could be vulnerable to infantry, so up front (on the each side panels) I added a small double blaster, that can also be used as an AA weapon, though with a limited range.

I altered the barrel of the main canon and switched the position of the antenna and radar. Under both cabins I added a swiveling Gatling gun, double up front, so that the tank can be basically secure from infantry attack.

I deleted the stock canons that were pinned to the sides under the front cabin, that beside looking anemic, were very fragile and always fell off. The new Gatlings are much more sturdy, and the whole tank is more "swooshable" then it was stock. Besides the weapons, I messed around with a few details, like position of the head lights, colors and a few details that to my eye made the tank a bit better. And for the rear cabin I finally got the perfect wedge plate for the floor, so no more gaps:

For the front cabin's floor there's nothing I can do beyond what I already did if I want the side panels to close . I did switch some of the controls in there, but only now I realized that I didn't make a shot of that section . I basically used some gray sloped bricks instead of the black ones and it looks more harmonic now, even better then what you now see on the rear cabin. The problem is that there's not many gray sloped bricks with printed control panels, so I would have to use the same bricks more then once, something I was hoping to avoid. But looking at the picture above, things are too black for my tastes, so I guess I don't have much choice if I want this cabin to look better...

I have the parts and ideas to start messing with the undercarriage, but I wanted to finish the exterior, guns and cabins first. I also tried a different pair of wheels to have an idea of how the tank would look with some rubber, but the wheels I got (56×30R) were visually too small. If I done my research correctly Lego has a bigger tire then that, so maybe it will be possible to use different wheels/tires.

Yep, BrickLink time .

Edited February 12, 201213 yr by Werlu Ulcur

I like the Mods you've made to this! Great work.

Today I had some free time so I took a few shots of how the big tank is looking . I think I'm (finally) done with the exterior, so now the next step is the undercarriage . Here's how the brute is looking right now:

Nice job , those guns on top look great, and the bulky body is a big improvement . I want to see the moded undercarriage now .

Hmm a double post . Please Delete.

Edited February 12, 201213 yr by Mr Man

Thanks guys!

I know the canon-followers are getting cross-eyed mad at me, but as I said I wanted it to look like a tank, not an APC as what it looks like in the PT and CW cartoons. If my kids give me a break this afternoon I'll get busy with the undercarriage.