October 2023 updated Clone Army (Tx-130 moc, AT-TE Moc, 75021, 75280, 75345 mods)

[Mandalorianknight]

After getting 2 copies of the new 501st battle pack, I thought I'd take stock of my full clone army, and I decided to post it here to show off the Mods and Mocs I've made over the years:

First up we've got the gunship. I've posted it before, but I figured I'd include it again for those who haven't seen it.

It's a pretty basic mod of 75201. Some noted changes are that it's more similar to a clone wars gunship, with the front doorways being sealed, the bay doors being extended to fully seal the ship, and the removal of the bubble turrets in the main bay. Some changes made to save money (I bought the parts rather than buying the ship used because...wow those bricklink prices) are replacing the remaining bubble turrets with those of the 2002 gunship (which saved me $80 back when I did this, since for some reason the 2013 bubbles were $40 each), and replacing the stickered LBG giant slopes with white ones I had lying around.

It fits at least 2 squads + Anakin, Rex, and 2 jet troopers. Those front openings aren't the easiest to put back in, but if you pull out the cart and wedge your finger in there, you can stick them in well. I've been informed that the CW doors partially open forewords, so that's on the agenda for fixing this summer.

I posted my digital MOC of this a year or so ago, but here it is physically. This isn't a MOD, but a full MOC, with a different skeleton, feet, legs, shell, etc. The interior is just a replica of the UCS AT-AT seating though. It fits 2 drivers, a gunner, and 12 seated troops+however many you want to awkwardly bend over the seated guys so they can fit under the shell. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out but it is hard to get into the interior, so I might work on that.

I've posted this MOC a billion times, but I figured we'd give the TX-130 a close-up for completion's sake.

Despite the downsizing I like the 2023 AV-7, though the lack of a control panel really annoyed me, so I added one. It was only a couple parts, IDK why lego didn't just do that in the set. I also added a cone to the tip because I thought it looked better. The 501st version is literally just a colorswap of my mod (if you can call adding just 5 pieces a mod)

My old AT-RT Mocs/mods to get them to the right size. They're very chibi-looking, but I prefer it to the hilariously large official walkers. Here we've got the 501st version alongside one in classic republic colors.

And then the speeders, which are a little sleeker than the official ones. Not much to say. The classic GAR one is not a mod of the 75280 model and more of a mod of the classic BARC archtype.

And finally, a look at my full 501st army. I prefer the 212th or just generic troops, but these have definately been the easiest to army-build. We've got Anakin, Rex, Appo, Fives, 16 standard troopers, 4 heavies, 2 snipers, 2 officers, 2 jet troopers, 2 pilots, 2 LAAT gunners, 1 AV-7 gunner, and 1 trooper who gets to be an AT-TE driver because they don't have a canon design in phase 2.

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Mandalorianknight

[ForgedInLego]

I think you made the right choice for the gunship turrets even without taking cost into account. The 2002 (and 2008) turrets aren't actually based off of AOTC, but this concept studio model developed for the film, but they are much more accurate than the 2013s decision to make the side turrets and the wing turrets the same part, causing the wing turrets to lack detail and point backwards.

I'm also glad to see your AT-TE MOC made it into reality!

[cycbuild]

Brilliant, everything!

[Mandalorianknight]

On 1/6/2023 at 10:26 PM, ForgedInLego said:

I think you made the right choice for the gunship turrets even without taking cost into account. The 2002 (and 2008) turrets aren't actually based off of AOTC, but this concept studio model developed for the film, but they are much more accurate than the 2013s decision to make the side turrets and the wing turrets the same part, causing the wing turrets to lack detail and point backwards.

I'm also glad to see your AT-TE MOC made it into reality!

I didn't know that about the gunship turrets, that's pretty cool!

On 1/7/2023 at 3:27 AM, cycbuild said:

Brilliant, everything!

Thank you!

OCTOBER 2023 UPDATE:

We've expanded a fair bit. I got the roulette spin of "lego accidentally sends you two copies of your order" when I was getting some battle packs, so the army's expanded significantly. The final count is now:

26x standard 501st troopers, 2x 501st BARC pilots, 6x heavy troopers, 2x 501st officer, 4x 501st sniper, 2x 501st jet trooper, 1x 501st grenadier, 1x 501st gunslinger, 1x 501st captain, 2x 501st swamp speeder pilot, 4x 501st gunner/driver, Fives, Rex, and Anakin in the 501st, for a total of 50 unnamed 501st troopers. Adding in the 2x clone pilots, 2x shock gunners, 1x shock AT-RT pilot, 1x clone gunner, 8x 332nd jet troopers, 2x 332nd troopers, 1x 332nd jet commander, 2x 41st troopers, 1x 41st scout trooper, 1x P1 shiny, 1x P1 shiny (CW style), 1x P2 shiny, 2x ARC trooper, 1x 212th trooper, 1x unnamed orange legion trooper, and 2x senate commando, we reach a total of 80 unnamed clones. Throwing in Rex, Gree, Neyo, Vaughn, and Fives, the final tally is 85 clones + Anakin, Ahsoka, and Padme.

Vehicles/Armaments: 1x PLEX launcher, 1x infantry turret, 1x swamp speeder, 3x AT-RT, 3x AV-7 cannon, 3x BARC speeder, 1x TX-130, 1x AT-TE, 1x LAAT/i

 

Here's a closer look at some of my non-canon customs I made using remaining parts (I was trying to maximize my standard 501st troopers using the parts in the 2023 501st specialists and 332nd trooper packs)

L-R 501st grenadier, captain, and gunslinger. The Grenadier uses a custom PLEX rocket launcher as well as a turret from the 332nd pack, and has a kama and backpack alongside yellow caution markings denoting the high explosives he carries. The 501st Captain uses Vaughn's rank plaque torso with blue arms, a kama print, and a Heavy's helmet, and is just a standard 501st captain like Appo. The 2013 trooper gets a cape here and is made a 501st gunslinger, an unconventional soldier excelling in ambushing small squads by himself.

I've never liked the 332nd. An orange helmet doesn't feel like a sufficiently different legion, and the fact that they were only ever active in one battle kind of decreases my desire to collect them. However, I got the extra packs when I just wanted one for the parts and Vaughn, so I tried to make them into an elite jet trooper group. The standard trooper uses the normal 501st legs and 332nd helmet, alongside a heavy's torso, sniper's visor, and blue jetpack. Their Captain has Vaughn's torso and helmet with a sniper's visor and officer's legs. My headcanon for their role in my collection will be that they're a special force of 501st jet troopers, and once the cost of 501st helmets with holes go down on bricklink they'll be gaining those.

Edited October 19, 2023 by Mandalorianknight

[cycbuild]

Awesome