T1-E Skyhop

T1-E Skyhop

This one was inspired by the movie A.I., and I’ve tried to make it as true to the real thing as I could. It is a small VTOL craft, originally a police vehicle in the movie. It’s really just a small personal transport. It is also submersible, so it is extremely adaptable to the environment.

The Skyhop is equipped with no weapons, no shielding, and minimal engines. Anti-grav was not feasable in a vessel this small at the time, however, computer controled thrust vectoring had come to near perfection, making the Skyhop almost as nimble as a modern, anti-grav model of similar size. It can land pretty much anywhere there’s space for it, as it needs no runway. This model also has an array of search lamps above the canopy which come in very handy when in an under-water environment.

Design Note: If this model looks slightly familiar, I started with the nose from the Star Wars B-Wing and went from there. Also, there is some odd placement of 2×2 round tiles – these are actually meant to be those convex “button” tiles found on the undersides of iceplanet ships. Either the part doesn’t exist in Ldraw, or I just can’t find it, so I improvised.

Propulsion

  • Two Vectored-Thrust HJVP engines
Armament

  • none