JE Hovertank for ground assault. Galactic war comes to the surface.
About this creation
August 2004
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This moc is an effort to fill in a large gap in the Jade Empire dossier of war vessels: ground assault craft. Space- and aircraft are well represented, with fighters and bombers and science vessels, but for ground war the JE has held little ground with the Shen Kai powersuit. A modified EB Elefant tank was used for a short period, but as the friendship between the two powers collapsed, the Jades discontinued use of the hovertank. As the JE threat in space has increased, the need for military control of planet surfaces calls for new vehicles.
The hovertank features a main rail cannon, starboard and port cannons, and two underside blasters. A rear hatch and ramp allow entry for two operators (a driver and gunner), some ammo clips, and possibly two passengers in the very cramped interior. A pair of JE troops can ride board the craft on runningboards on either side.
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The Jade Empire takes on PCS forces at Brickfest 04
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The windshield piece I used allows for a 45-degree rotation from the traditional orientation of Lego bricks and plates. This makes for some interesting ideas. The earliest ideas for this moc were spaceships, featuring clamshell cockpit designs. After some tests with wings, the spaceship concept was abandoned and I moved towards the hovertank design.
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I owe a lot of credit to Gil Shaw and Jamie Neufeld for their BIJoe designs, which emphasize the playability of the original Joe toys. This moc has about as many play elements as it can possibly have.
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This isn't something you want to see coming towards you on a battlefield.
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This side shot shows off the tanklike shape pretty well, I think.
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Heres a shot from behind. The dino tails, an element I try to work into most of my Jade creations, were the last thing I added to this model. I first tried to include them on the turrets, but they looked completely stupid, and then I remembered the way they worked as frames on Chris Maddison's Shen Kai powersuit. I adapted the idea here as sort of rollbar frames for the hatch.
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A closer look at the weaponry. When the hovertank was almost done, it sported drastically different weapons, and after taking some creative building advice and adapting a concept from Soren Roberts, I came up with the final weapon designs.
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This pic shows how the top of the tank comes off for access to the interior. Kind of like a fun little playset. If I was ambitious, I would have made this hinged.
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One operator in his driver's seat, while another brings a load of ammo aboard.
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A rear/underside angle shot showing off the ramp and some fine greebling on and between the engines.
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A troop can hitch a ride on either side of the tank. Normally they wear helmets so overhead turret fire doesn't damage their hearing.
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A trooper disembarking from the rear of the craft. In addition to the two operators, possibly two passengers can squeeze into the cramped innards of the tank.
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Birds eye view. All three top turrets can rotate and shoot up at the camera, which means in a battle situation they can fire at airborne enemy targets.
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Belly of the tank. Arguably the weakest area of the tank.
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Comments
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I like it |
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January 24, 2008 |
Damn dude...that's insanely awesome... |
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I like it |
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June 26, 2006 |
This has always been my favorite JE MOC, I'm glad to see it as MOC of the day. |
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I like it |
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August 24, 2004 |
While the design is wonderful, the plausibility of putting a big window on the front of a tank is baffling to say the least (screen door on a submarine anyone?). I love the idea of having an option on the payload of the tank with the plug-and-play weapons. Overall a great design. |
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I like it |
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August 24, 2004 |
Very cool. I love the use of the quarter-saucer piece, and the color consistency is perfect. |
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I like it |
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August 24, 2004 |
Wonderful MBT, Ryan, but I do really think that it needs something instead of that cockpit... |
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More from Ryan More across MOCpages
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