monkypaws

Quick heads up. I have just finished collecting peices for the Mirko U-wing. In the uk the canopy peice for this is really hard to find. On bricklink at the moment there are none for sale and needing two of them, buying second hand U-wing sets to get hold of them isn't fesible. I was buying some bits and pieces on Lego Bricks and Pieces and found that unbeliveably they have clear version of this for sale at the moment. Only £3.24 each.

Ever since the hack, Studio has been acting a little weird with colours. Building Pixel-Dan's large T6 and plagued by parts showing as unavailable in colours I know they exist in and Bricklink also confirms. The worst example being 24316 - 3L axle with stop. This is only avaiable in one colour, Reddish Brown, and yet Studio flags this as unavailable. The colour validator however does not recognise there being an unavailable colour to fix. Fortunately, if you export an XML it does import into bricklink with the correct colour without a hitch.

As a weird aside. Today have been assembling a model in Studio and a number of elements are acting squirrelly, showing as not existing in colours that I know they do in abundance and have not had a problem with using before. Elements 30031 (handlebar) and 1941 (minifig weapons holder) both come in LBG but showing as not. I have had elements refuse to connect before but never had this one. Coincidence?

I know, you can't move the model very easily at all. I noticed in the MandRproductions video, that he positioned the supplied supports way further back than the instructions suggested. Used his positioning and the two of them held everything level really well. Also, when the wings are in landed position they tend to pitch in towards the body of the ship. It only takes one plate width under the base of the cockpit to correct this. I did see some pictures of someone on Euroricks putting together a great looking model trying to get round the delicate wing attachement. He had the wings made but I can't for the life of me find it again. If anyone knows, drop a link in please.

I am really sorry. I build and trouble shot the instructions and then at the last hurdle, got well and truely waylaid by another poject. I was sucked in by Jojobilou's 6000 peice Mandolorian Juggernaut transport, that also was only a unstepped io file and dissapeared down a rabbit hole building and making instructions for that. For any masochists out there you can take a look at https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-61683/Jojobilou/juggernaut-as-seen-in-the-mandalorian/#photos. I am on holiday with the kids at the moment, will be lynched if they see Studio open on the laptop. Next weekend I will check it though and send it off to you. It is still the model in the collection that people gravitate towards. just looks far to sleek and polished to be made of lego.

Well, took me a while longer to get round to building the Republic bricks UCS Gauntet V2 but all done now and can feed back. MandRproductions above did a good job of walking you round the model so doTn't really think that more photos are going to add much at this point. I also agree largely with their review. This is a very fragile build, obviously the wing connctions and the rear assembley. However the choice has clearly been made to render a great looking model that is designed to be looked at not fiddled with. It does that in spades, looks amazing from any angle. There were some interesting building techniques and over all the build was interesting and enjoyable. I would definately recommnend puchasing this though I do have a couple of caveats. The first is that while the build is well done, the instructions are not. Some of the worse I have used. The model is moved around way more than in needed, so you are constately re-orienting the section you are working on needlessly to match what is happenning. While doing this, a number of times the section that is being worked is obscured, and in three cases completely covered by the step parts list. On one occasion parts simply appear having not been included in a step. These are annoying, but just that, niggles, the more irritating detail is that there has seemingly been little thought given to progression. You get half way through a section only to find that a piece needs to both stud in and attach via a pin. This led to a number of deconstructions and much cursing. As I got used to the instructions I began to notice when this was on the cards and skipped ahead to work out, ingnoring instructions, how I should order construction to make things come together without constantly stressing parts. This is also true of the old floating parts, that are included but have no connection until they are finally articulated to, often a good number of steps away. Much more use of submodels would have helped enourmously. Felt like no-one had been given the instructions to build from and trouble shoot. The second was missing parts. Before I start, I will note that Republic Bricks does give advance instructions about what to do if you have missing parts and I am sure they would have happily replaced. However being in the UK this would all have taked to long for me once I start building. Also I would note that I was very happy with the condition of the bricks I received, no discolouration, or marks, most everything looked as good as new. I was missing a total of 21 parts, mostly small stuff, nothing high value and eaisly replaceable from my stock, such as pins, 1x1 plates. The only annoying part was a 6x6 round plate used visibly in the rear assembly. I only had this in azure but just tacked it onto another bricklink order as am starting Jerac's T65 and 70 next. These are only small quibbles and I would happliy buy from Republic bricks again, their UT-AT is one that I do want in the collection.

Cheers for posting the pics and review of the build. I ordered the V2 which doesn't post out till end of the month. Design seems 90% the same except for expanding the cargo area and the added back ramp you noted was missing from the V1. First time I've tried buying moc set, as normally buy as much as I can new and the idea of someone else deciding what condition is acceptable makes me nervous. The price of this though seemed to good not to give it a punt and if I have to swap out the odd brick then not too bothered. Reassured by your pics, condition of bricks seems good, can't see any obvious issues. If no-one else does before I get mine will post up pics of the V2 for comparison. Can see in the pic you posted of it with wings parked up that they are splaying a bit which indicated they are under a degree of stress. Will look at a solution for that once I get it built. Regardless, it is by far the best rendereing of the Gauntlet I have seen.

Elegant design, really fits into the theme while adding some fresh design cues. Hats off

Just completed the build and it is fabulous. I have built some fragile models that, despite looking great, are constantly trying to burst apart - this one is rock solid. While termed playscale it is still a beast of a model and almost 7.5lbs. While smaller than the enormous Brickvault minifig scale, it has a much more finished interior. Having built this one I am very glad i made the choice and feel no need to step up to the larger model. The one issue that I have seen that seems to crop up in most pics and also in the otherwise excellent review by Core Flux on Youtube, is the front panel being held off, both holding up the front but also leaving a gap in front of the turret and along the sides. It does help to open the canopy, drop in the panel and then close the canopy but a very slight adjustment to the model also really helped me. On the turret section there is a protruding 2x1 slope and underneath a bracket with a 2x1 plate topped with a 2x1 tile. I found that this held the whole front section from fully engaging with the space left for itunder the turret. When I removed the 2x1 plate so that the tile sat directly on the bracket everything worked perfectly. Additionally, this has the benefit of the slope potruding beyond the tile which means the slope now acts as a retaining lug, sitting over the front panel. Worth noting that the despite the Ghost design being rear heavy, when on its own the model sits very happliy on its feet. Once you attach the Phantom II though it takes it to just under tipping point. When displaying with the Phantom docked I put a little support under the tail assembly to hold it. Cost wise this worked out well, without any need to alter part list. Cost was £420 which works out at almost spot on 10 pence a brick. could have made it a little bit lower but had to break orders into manageble chucks so paid a little more on delivery costs. Quite often with instructions, I find the problem is less colour and more the use of long discontinued bricks that have way cheaper and more available and indistinguishable iterations, esp true of brackets, technic pins and clips. There were none of these problems with Ghost list.

Jaybinx Although not on this epic scale, Bruxxy has posted a set of instructions for the Twilight on Rebrickable that loosely based on the lego model does add a lot in the way of detail and finish pushing the part count from 882 to 1418. Just finished building and it is sturdy and a fun build. The instructions themselves are a little annoying, could have done with a little more ironing out of kinks, but most of the problems only require scanning forward a few steps to work out. I am sure I'm not the only one who wishes the could get their hands on instructions or the Studio files for this beauty by IcarusBuilds but as that is off the table for the forseeable, this is the only other option out there, short of designing it yourself.

All built, and thouroughly enjoyable build. Favourite part was putting on front cannons. As you are doing it you think its never going to hold, then snap in the to internal 1x4 tiles and it is locked tight. The only part that is going to require a major instuctions reshuffle is the building of the angled nose section. the way I built it in Studio was 'throw it against the wall frustrating, then having to repair it after son crash landed it, found a much easier sequence of doing it in two discrete sections. Will be intrigued to post you instructions and see how different my sequencing is to how you built it.

Instructions Update - Was set back a bit by brothers family visiting from Oz for three weeks but the silver lining of a second batch of Covid is that I have had some uninterupted sofa time to really get to grips with it. Just finished the first draft and am currently exporting a pdf with which to do a test build. Think I have got rid of all the sequencing problems created by my initial build and formatting gremlins that appear every time you save out of the programme, fingers crossed. William

Thank you so much for the replies. 1963maniac, thank you for the offer, I hve tried MLCAD but have used Stud for so long following on from LDD that it felt like trying to get on a pair of skis when I have only ever snowboarded, doable but more work than I can face when the later is so comfy. Sylvian, your fix worked perfectly thank you. All the randomness has vanished and been replaced automatically with a neat X2. Will streamline the instructions no end. Thanks again.

Thanks for the relpy and sorry, I was a little scant with the details. Just using Studio. I have two identical sub assemblies that I would like to simply create instructions for the first adding a X2. Can't simply delete one set of steps as then can't show its attachment. Thought that coppying the first sub assembly would work but instructions went really weird at that point. Also I can't really build both assmeblies in one set of steps as it is quite an intricate assembly and would be hard to get model angle to cover both at the same time. I can just do two sets of steps but makes the instructions really clunky. Is there a better programme for instructions? Have only ever used LLD and then Studio.

Anyone know how to do this. Though that copying a submodel might do the trick but did not. Would help to cut down steps in build if anyone could help. Cheers Monkeypaws