Greetings! I'm thvnder, and today, I'm excited to share my very first Lego Star Wars MOC with you. It's been quite the journey to get here, and I'm thrilled to finally present it to you. You'll find the instructions at the end, completely free for you to try out. But first, let me walk you through the process behind its creation.
The Star Wars universe is brimming with incredible machines of all shapes and sizes, and today, we're zooming in on the All Terrain Recon Transport (AT-RT). While Lego has made several attempts at capturing this vehicle, none quite hit the mark when it comes to minifigure scale. Sure, there have been a few iterations, with set 9098 coming closest, but let's be honest, it's not the prettiest sight.
One day, while hanging out on Niki's Discord server, MB shared a picture and a YouTube link with us. It was a tutorial for an AT-RT constructed from parts found in the 75372 battle pack, courtesy of Carlosdabricklegend. Intrigued by the concept and armed with two of those sets, I decided to give it a shot. The initial build looked promising, but the legs proved a tad unstable. That's when inspiration struck. With some spare parts lying around, including leftovers from the 501st battle pack, I saw an opportunity to not only stabilize the legs but also enhance the overall design while returning pieces to the Octuparra tri-droid.
The first order of business was ensuring the legs could support the structure without wobbling. Fortunately, I had plenty of hinge plates on hand, making this task a breeze. Energized by my progress, I dubbed this iteration mk.I. Though satisfied with mk.I, I couldn't shake the nagging thought of my incomplete tri-droid. It was time to address that. After some tweaks to the legs and a few enhancements to the main frame, mk.II emerged—the finalized version. However, it still felt a bit bulky for the scale, and certain pieces didn't quite match the desired colors. To remedy this, I reconstructed it digitally using Bricklink's studio, allowing for a paint job that truly showcased its potential. Overall, a satisfying build.
Just when I thought I had reached the pinnacle of my creation, fate intervened. While perusing both movie and series AT-RTs for inspiration, I stumbled upon another MOC—one crafted by Kit Bricksto and shared on the Eurobricks forum. It was magnificent, surpassing my own in every aspect: size, stability, and fidelity to the source material. But I wasn't about to throw in the towel. Drawing inspiration from Kit Bricksto's model, I embarked on mk.III.
Utilizing the same legs and restructuring the frame to achieve a sleeker profile, I aimed to address the shortcomings of my previous versions. Additionally, I made adjustments to the rear of the AT-RT and reinforced the front with flipped plates to provide extra protection for the pilot.
Despite the improvements, mk.III presented two significant challenges. Firstly, it appeared somewhat barebones, and secondly, sourcing certain rare pieces for the rear proved costly (€9.50 for new pieces!). Determined to see the project through, I enhanced the front with minimal additions and simplified the rear using more common blocks. This not only made the final design more affordable—coming in at just €5.55 for the 501st colors—but also opened up possibilities for alternative color schemes.
And there you have it—the evolution of my Lego Star Wars AT-RT MOC. I hope you enjoy building it as much as I did crafting it. May the Force be with you!