89 Boxfighter

Finished 30/1 2009

This moc was made for the Small Starfighter Contest on the flickr-group SCI-Lug.
Rules: Make a starfighter that can fit within LWH 14x14x6 studs when landed.

Inspiration:

Japanese mecha aesthetics

Folding booms on contemporary sattelites (gun).

Basically I tried to get as much as possible out of the limited volume by folding the craft as much as possible, and since everybody likes a huge gun, why not make a railgun twice the length of the craft (this seems to be the maximum weight 3 1x4 hinges can carry)?

Although I'm not particularly satisfied with the colours nor the cockpit design, I think it turned out pretty well - and I've got loads of inspiration for future models!

The moc was announced on flickr and in this thread on CSF. Despite it's popularity, it didn't win any prices in the contest, but both Nathan Proudlove and Mark 'Grand Admiral' Sandlin made their own cool versions:

While Tony 'Halfhead' Haffner have shown interest in creating an animation of the unfolding process. If you wish to build it yourself, or just check out how it's constructed, you can download an MLCad-file from my instructions page.