Hi folks. This is my first post here; hope I'm ticking all the boxes.
This is the first in a series I'm calling "Mini-rigs for minifigs," the MTV-7 (Multi-Terrain Vehicle). In 1981, Kenner, in an effort to save on plastic costs, began releasing small, one-action-figure Star Wars vehicles that weren't featured in the movies but were designed with the same aesthetic. Since then, some of those designs have actually appeared in official Star Wars stories and games, but I'm basing my builds on the original toys, or rather what I imagine the original models that the toys were based on would have looked like.
For this build, I'm most pleased with the solution I came up for the spring-loaded shock absorbers that were most of the fun value of the original toy. I used rubber Technic dampers threaded onto the axles at 90° to each other, which give the legs plenty of play but still return them to their default upright position when the pressure is released. If I hadn't won an "Anakin's Custom Jedi Starfighter" in a Legoland Discovery Center contest, I never would have known those dampers existed!
Lego MTV-7 by jere7my tho?rpe, on Flickr
Lego MTV-7 by jere7my tho?rpe, on Flickr
Lego MTV-7 by jere7my tho?rpe, on Flickr
Lego MTV-7 by jere7my tho?rpe, on Flickr
Details of the shock absorber feature:
Lego MTV-7 by jere7my tho?rpe, on Flickr
Lego MTV-7 by jere7my tho?rpe, on Flickr
Lego MTV-7 by jere7my tho?rpe, on Flickr
This is the original toy, for comparison:
MTV-7 by Paratrooper Rocky, on Flickr