Construction: AT-AT, part 19

Almost there!

Some weathering today, i.e. covering the whole thing in a black wash. Not a great success, I'll admit and it's ended up hiding come of the detail, but the 'clean' look was simply no good for a Star Wars vehicle. Given more time, I'd like to go back and add some brighter grey back in to balance all the wash, but for now, it'll do.

Next time this is assembled, it'll be at the school comic convention!

Construction: AT-AT, part 18

So a tiny problem cropped up while painting the AT-AT; well, not exactly during the painting, more the taking the AT-AT apart afterwards: I destroyed the feet. As much as I loved them being able to stack on top of each other, they simply weren't strong enough. Drastic action was needed. Expanding foam came to help...

The trouble with expanding foam is that it doesn't start expanding very rapidly at first. There's a good few minutes before the expanding really kicked in and during those few minutes, well, I thought it wasn't expanding anywhere near as much as I wanted. So I added more and more...

Turns out expanding foam is an utter bugger to get off paving. But at least the feet are nicely solid now.

Construction: AT-AT, part 17

Not a lot to say about this, other than I bought a tin of 'urbanite' emulsion from Homebase, picked up a brush and began to paint...

Construction: AT-AT, part 16

The problem with corrugated cardboard is that the ends make it very obvious that you've used corrugated cardboard. This bugs the hell out of me whenever I use it and I'm not going to stand for it now.

So I've attempted to use two different methods to fill the gap. The first is a load of Poundland filler, which...wasn't entirely successful. The second, which I used on the leg coverings, was better and was essentially sticking paper over all the edges.

And this, essentially, brings me to the end of the build. Is it perfect? No. Could I have made it a thousand times better with a larger budget? Obviously! But it's already cost me more than enough and that's before we move onto the final stage: painting.

Construction: AT-AT, part 15

We've reached the point where all the main areas of the AT-AT have been completed and the big question arises: how much detail do I add before I start painting? Once the painting begins there's really no going back; not with the time limit as it is.

Since the con is still a while off, and there's a reasonable chance of good weather before that, today I began some detailing. First off, essential panels to the front and rear of the main body. These attach with velcro and simply 'stick' onto the laminate beneath.

Also, some windows and doors are added on.

And a bit more velcro to hold the triangular flappy bits between the centre and front/rear ends in place.

You may notice the big chunk of tape holding the triangle on on one side. This may have to be replaced as it isn't sticking too well.

Construction: AT-AT, part 14

Ankle time. Pretty obviously, these are made from cardboard. The wooden fence-post legs then slot through and they rest on the feet. The exterior is covered in a cardboard skin (which I've failed to take any photos of), with a gap for the leg.

There was much internal debate about the best way to do the ankles, most ideas for which became hideously complicated. In the end, I figured simpler was better.