Lightning Squadron

[XimenaPaulina]

The Lightning Squadron was an elite cavalry unit that was part of the 91st Reconnaisance Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic. The unit was established at the start of the Clone Wars to handle special recon missions. Lightning Squadron consisted of ARF Troopers specially trained to operate AT-RTs.

Under the command of General Mace Windu and Commander CC-0411 (Ponds), it participated in the Battle of Ryloth. The unit greatly helped in the liberation of the world from Emir Wat Tambor. Lightning Squadron was a division of Windu's force during the offensive to free Ryloth's capital.

This is one of my first MOCs that has been sitting in my shelf for quite a while now, and I would like to share it to you guys. The main idea of this project is to transform TLG’s hideous 8014 Walker into more realistic AT-RT walkers for my clone army. After several modifications, I came up with the final design below.

The significant modifications I made were:

- Convert to a single-seater walker (with the proper bike handle bars)

- Modified front panels to resemble the real AT-RT

- Tridacyl feet

- Twin front blasters

- Double rear communication antenna

The design is essentially a cross between the 8014 walker and the official Clone Wars-style AT-RT. Unlike other AT-RT MOCs which are too ‘technicy’ and highly-detailed, I designed my AT-RT to be simple-looking yet resembles the overall look of the TCW AT-RT while still retaining some elements of the 8014 walker (~70% of the parts are from 8014).

Different views of the AT-RT:

The Lightning Squadron Crew:

Commander Ponds is a custom-printed clone trooper with red markings. The ARF Troopers are generic clone troopers with custom-printed scout-trooper helmets. General Mace Windu is...well, the TCW-style Mace Windu.

Bonus Comics:

Comments and criticisms are welcome!

Edited August 23, 2010 by KimT

[brickfoot]

I really like some of the changes you made good job.

[XimenaPaulina]

I really like some of the changes you made good job.

Thanks brickfoot! The changes maybe simple but it really works for me, i'm quite satisfied with the final product.

[Forresto]

This is excellent! It's proobably been the coolest mod to the Clone Walker from the BP i've ever seen. My favorite thing is how you made look more like the animation of the show rather then what it would look like in the movies. Great job!

[Rinconstar]

very cool, love the design of the at-rt. aft troopers rule

Edited July 1, 2010 by Rinconstar

[Solitary Dark]

My son just saw this and asked for one! He's assumed its a new battlepack. Nice walker, simple and it certainly looks like it holds up well to actually being played with (Which is the point of this stuff after all.)

Love it...

[prateek]

Very nice! It's not overly detailed, which means it will fit in with official sets well. Great job on the customs BTW

[lightningtiger]

Excellent 'KielDaMan' - even the stickers help heaps !

I think is better than the one comming with the CTT, more true to it's real height I think.

Keep up the great work and oh yeah, I'm a conformist! !

[Big Cam]

Very cool, this would make an awesome "large" battle pack.

I love the matching colors. Really nice work, I love em.

[XimenaPaulina]

This is excellent! It's proobably been the coolest mod to the Clone Walker from the BP i've ever seen. My favorite thing is how you made look more like the animation of the show rather then what it would look like in the movies. Great job!

Thanks for the kind comments Forresto. Yes it was really my intention to copy the look of the TCW series-AT-RT rather than the ROTS AT-RT.

very cool, love the design of the at-rt. aft troopers rule

Thanks Rinconstar. I also loved the ARF Troopers when I first saw them in action in their AT-RTs in the Liberty of Ryloth. That particular episode actually inspired me to do this MOC.

Edited July 2, 2010 by KielDaMan

[XimenaPaulina]

My son just saw this and asked for one! He's assumed its a new battlepack. Nice walker, simple and it certainly looks like it holds up well to actually being played with (Which is the point of this stuff after all.)

Love it...

Wow I'm touched by your son's comments, thanks.. Though I have to admit that my AT-RTs are a bit unstable, particularly the front side panels, so it's more for display purposes only.

[XimenaPaulina]

Very nice! It's not overly detailed, which means it will fit in with official sets well. Great job on the customs BTW

Thanks parteek. I really made it a point to keep the design very simplistic, to set it apart from other highly-detailed AT-RT MOCs.

[XimenaPaulina]

Excellent 'KielDaMan' - even the stickers help heaps !

I think is better than the one comming with the CTT, more true to it's real height I think.

Keep up the great work and oh yeah, I'm a conformist! !

Thanks lightningtiger! I agree that the AT-RT from the CTT set is a smaller than what its should be, the same way that the 8014 walker was way too big for an AT-RT. Well, that isn't really a surprise knowing TLG's history of missized walkers.

Edited July 2, 2010 by KielDaMan

[jimmyhoppityhop]

i love this!!!

to be fair, i think this should become a box set, its that awesome.

one thing i can tell outright is that the models are done by sharpie. dont worry i use sharpies myself even thou i dont realy do it anymore, alot of hassal if done incorrectly. but onto the walkers

pretty cool i have to say, im wondering where the decals are from for the walkers.

[Brickdoctor]

Hmmm....I like the basic design and the color scheme, but it seems to be too blocky. I, for one, favor the esoteric designs in favor of the studs-up clicky-hinge style. Nice minifig customization, though.

[XimenaPaulina]

i love this!!!

to be fair, i think this should become a box set, its that awesome.

one thing i can tell outright is that the models are done by sharpie. dont worry i use sharpies myself even thou i dont realy do it anymore, a lot of hassal if done incorrectly. but onto the walkers

pretty cool i have to say, im wondering where the decals are from for the walkers.

Thanks jimmy! Yes i have to agree it's really difficult to use sharpies, i would have wanted to have 'cleaner' custom prints, but that's the best I can do with the markers. Do you know a better way to make custom prints? I would love to know.

And the walker decals are just simple lime green and dark red printed stickers.

Edited July 3, 2010 by KielDaMan

[Stash2Sixx]

These look great. I like the sleek lines and simple design you used. These look a lot like the ones in the Ryloth series. Nice job with the clones also.

[XimenaPaulina]

Hmmm....I like the basic design and the color scheme, but it seems to be too blocky. I, for one, favor the esoteric designs in favor of the studs-up clicky-hinge style. Nice minifig customization, though.

I understand you Doc (you are after all a master of AT-RTs ). Yes it is indeed a bit blocky but that is what I intended it to be. I could have easily made it to be highly-detailed like most AT-RT MOCs, but I stayed with the simple design to retain most of the elements of the 8014 clone walker and still resembling the overall look of the TCW AT-RT.

[XimenaPaulina]

These look great. I like the sleek lines and simple design you used. These look a lot like the ones in the Ryloth series. Nice job with the clones also.

Thanks Stash2Sixx! Yes the Liberty on Ryloth episode actually inspired me to this MOC. Since I have a couple of 8014 sets (plus a few more additional pieces from BL), I decided to transform them into the Lightning Squadron.

[Brickdoctor]

I understand you Doc (you are after all a master of AT-RTs ). Yes it is indeed a bit blocky but that is what I intended it to be. I could have easily made it to be highly-detailed like most AT-RT MOCs, but I stayed with the simple design to retain most of the elements of the 8014 clone walker and still resembling the overall look of the TCW AT-RT.

Ah. I assume the advantage is that you don't require hundreds of dollars worth of rare parts and minifigs to build yours. Mine requires a Kashyyyk trooper, AT-ST driver, Rotta the Hutt, a new Dwarf Spider Droid, and 3 Yodas, just to name the minifigs.

[XimenaPaulina]

Ah. I assume the advantage is that you don't require hundreds of dollars worth of rare parts and minifigs to build yours. Mine requires a Kashyyyk trooper, AT-ST driver, Rotta the Hutt, a new Dwarf Spider Droid, and 3 Yodas, just to name the minifigs.

Actually you're partly right there. At first, I did want to make my AT-RTs highly detailed like most AT-RT MOCs, but I was too lazy to buy (and don't want to spend) on too much additional parts, so I stuck with the simplistic design.

But I still think all the dollars you've spent were really worth it since you were able to create your impressive Kaskyyk AT-RT, whick is clearly one of the best I've seen.

Edited July 5, 2010 by KielDaMan

[Brickdoctor]

But I still think all the dollars you've spent were really worth it since you were able to create your impressive Kaskyyk AT-RT, whick is clearly one of the best I've seen.

[-JD-]

Wow! The blockiness of these walkers is actually really great! Very cartoony and recognisable.

Ofcourse, those clones are top-notch too!

I want to customise some of my own now.

Edited July 5, 2010 by Jammiedodger714

[BrickClick]

Very nice and accurate!

Can't wait to see some more of your MOCs!

[XimenaPaulina]

Wow! The blockiness of these walkers is actually really great! Very cartoony and recognisable.

Ofcourse, those clones are top-notch too!

I want to customise some of my own now.

Thanks for the kind comments Jammiedodger! It's actually easy to convert your 8014 clone walkers to these AT-RTs, you just need some additional parts and you're ready to go. If I have time, I might be able to produce some instructions. But if you can, you can easily recognize the build of the AT-RTs just by looking at the pics.

Very nice and accurate!

Can't wait to see some more of your MOCs!

Thanks BrickClick! I have a couple of SW MOCs lined up, plus some non-SW ones as well. I'll post them at the 'proper' time.