Topic: spudafett's vehicles (last update: mando speeder video!!!)

[beige-4]

ohh god . tearing up a at at ,,,, SWEET ! cant wait

[spudafett]

I loved the new mando speeder bike as seen in the clone wars cartoon... however when I got the bike's toy version I wasn't impressed.  The figure doesn't sit well on it and the orientation of the rider looks rediculous.  I've wanted to customize one for a while and I've finally gotten around to it.  But I wanted to take this a step further and try something new. 

I wanted to add lights to this very small vehicle... in the past I used button cell batteries, but they run down quickly and are dificult to change.  So instead I'll be building a diorama with a connection point for the speeder to connect it to an external battery pack of AA's.

here is the WIP shots I've gotten done so far:


the shell was opened up and alot of unnecessary crap was removed.  I realized that ther wasn't a WHOLE lot of room inside for the electronics but enough to put in what I wanted.  I decided on two LED's, a headlight and an instrument pannel light.


you can see above that I moved the foot petals to the rear and added a power plug connection to an external battery pack. 


something I never understood with this speeder was WHERE THE HELL IS THE ENGINE?  what pushes it?  so I added a few greeblies, including an engine underneath....




and then finally begun painting... the paint-scheme has been inspired by a mando figure I've already completed.

[Clonehead]

Good lord, Devin, that is a flamin masterpiece! I love your mods to the speeder and your idea for a dio designed around a battery connection is problem solving in the custom world at it's finest! The lights look good and I like the color coordinated color scheme of the bike. Consider me juiced about this project.

[Jedi Minstrel]

OMG!!!!!!  Wow.  Very Slick.

[spudafett]

Finished up the speeder and threw together a very basic dio-stand.  The stand is just a sheet of plastic with a few crates and cans glued down around a battery pack. 
One of the drums has the male end of a power connector that fits into a socket on the speeder bike.  when the bike is pushed down all the way onto this connection it not only holds the bike up off the ground but also activates the LED lights within the bike.  Taking the bike slightly off the conector turns the lights off.




here is the dio base.  It's incredibly simple right now, I may go back and add more detail to the "floor" or paint it a dark grey. you can see in the one barrel the connector for the bike.












and to finish up here are a few comparisons of the custom to the original:




changing the orientation of the foot-pedals completely changes the look of the bike.  The rider goes from sitting in one of the most awkward and seemingly un-natural positions to something much more fluid that makes much more sense. 

what do you guys think?

[Art deWhill]

as I said over at DA: super cool looking bike !!! and clever dio with nice details. *three thumbs up*

[beige-4]

i love that figure and that speeder is a great addition !

[Clonehead]

That bike turned out just plain wicked looking, Devin! I love how the stance of the rider is with the new foot rest orientation.
Remind me to put this one on the fp later today.

[Tamer]

This is great, on the front page. That light connector is out of this world.

[spudafett]

yeah I love the new positioning so much for the rider that I am actually going to convert the other speeder I have but without moving the handlebars.  I believe I'll set up my new camera and do a quick video tutorial on how to do it too... if enough folks seem interested.  It realy is a simple conversion.

[SITHHAPPENS]

WOW that is awesome with those skills you will be building a real one in no time

[wraithnine]

that looks superb Devin   fantastic attetion to detail mate and the LED's  take it over the top   

[CaptainLux]

Oh yeah man, that speeder looks sweet!

[Luke Sprywalker]

Great mod to this speeder. The led's and the base really make this a great one.

[hangarbay94]

Absolutely fantastic! I love the paint job on both the bike a and rider, the cape looks superb in the rear shot and adding lights takes it to a whole new level.

A object of envy my friend!