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So I just picked up the Bandai 1/48 T-47 snowspeeder. What a beautiful kit and blows my old MPC version out of the water. I was going to convert it to an original T-47 airspeeder but after having a closer look at the kit I think I will instead cut up my MPC kit.

 

I have been thinking that I should follow a different path when I start to build this kit. Most people would simply build it as what we have all seen on the ice planet Hoth. I started to do some research and according to various sources, the snowpseeder is a modified airspeeder. It was modified since the rebels were having issues with the bitter cold of Hoth. It seems that the rebel engineers added the cooling fins on the back as a way to prevent icing up of the cooling stuff. I would also suppose that there are more modifications but are probably not seen as they are internal.

 

So to get it back to the earlier version I will have to remove the fins and plates at the rear. This will certainly change the look of the airspeeder. I also plan to paint it in a tri-colour camouflage scheme as if it was operating over a jungle landscape. It could have been right? Exciting times lie ahead.

 

Here is a cut and paste from Wookieepedia (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page)

The T-47 airspeeder was a model of low-altitude vehicle manufactured by IncomCorporation. When the Alliance to Restore the Republic was stationed on the icy planet of Hoth a contingent of T-47 airspeeders were modified to become ground attack, low-altitude fighters called snowspeeders. Hoth's extreme cold temperatures were too severe for these craft; the power generators would lock up since they ran hot, requiring a large bank of heat radiator fins for essential cooling. Rebel technicians modified the T-47 airspeeder by insulating each radiator fin with side panels to decrease the heat exchange in order to better suit the new environment.

 

A small, wedge-shaped vehicle, the Alliance snowspeeder was a two-man craft, with a pilot and a rear-facing tailgunner. It had two heavy, forward-facing laser cannons and a harpoon cannon placed ahead of the tailgunner. During the Battle of Hoth, these snowspeeders used tow cables to easily disable All Terrain Armored Transport walkers by firing the tow cable and chasing it out around the walker's legs, stopping its locomotion and immobilising the walker.[2]

 

 

So reading this  I wonder if the fins were there and they added side panels as stated? So confusing. :dontknow:  Should be an interesting journey anyway.

 

Edited by skyhawk174
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Yep, I remember the basics of that even as a kid, and noticed two things in the movie: 

1) They never say "snowspeeders," only "speeders."

2) The early dialogue in which Han asks if the speeders are ready for a SAR mission; and is told "Not quite; we're having some difficulty adapting them to the cold." Even as a kid it occurred to me that this meant these were not machines initially designed for snow.

 

Love your idea and looking forward to seeing it! :cheers:

 

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