Star Wars Turbolaser Turret
Special thanks are due to, alphabetically:
- Peter Briggs for the use of his digital camera, directions to Bradford, accommodation and numerous other forms of support during my stay in the UK.
- Elwyn Chow for his extensive photo-survey of the props at the Barbican.
Barbican
If you like this Build and want to see more, just take a look at: https://www.facebook.com/HeliosModelsLighting. Star Wars Incredible Cross-Sections contains drawings of these turrets, as well as a description. It states: It states: The heaviest weapons on board the Star Destroyer are the six turbolaser turrets positioned with the two heavy ion cannon turrets along the flanks of the upper deck structure. The MC80 Liberty-type Mon Cal Star Cruiser was the backbone of the Rebel Alliance fleet.No two were alike, as the Mon Cal enjoyed creating unique vessels. These ships had to be heavily modified for battle and a typical weapons load was forty-eight turbolaser cannons, twenty heavy dual ion cannon batteries, and a variable load of torpedoes, point defense lasers, and tractor beam emitters.
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| various views of the starboard side | |
Nearly complete views of the dorsal and ventral surfaces, exploiting the mirror reflection. The backs of the tower and the dorsal terraces are visible. Of potential photogrammetric interest is the seam between the two mirror panels, and its shadow on the underside of the ship (due to the camera flash). | |
Distant portside view of the object and reflection, showing representatives of most of the major forward and lateral surfaces. Several edges of the mirror are visible: key reference axes for future photogrammetry. | |
Close-up of the bridge tower. The linear array between the scanner globes was modified for TESB; it was in a more upright position in ANH. | |
Starboard side of Devastator, viewed towards the brim trench. A quad cannon is visible in the minor brim notch. The starboard side is the side with two tabs on the ventral hull; there is only one tab on the port side. This is an important asymmetry of the vessel, and it may have some (as yet unknown) functional importance. | |
Reflection of the ventral surface, as seen from a position off starboard bow. A rectangular aperture is visible in the roof of the secondary docking bay cavity. | |
Starboard side of the destroyer, sighting towards the dorsal terraces from a high vantage. | |
Close-up view of the starboard side of the prow. A few of the features of the brim trench are identifiable. | |
Close-up of the starboard side of the dorsal terraces. Unlike the star destroyer Avenger in TESB, the terraces of Devastator appear to be as heavily armoured on the vertical sides as the tops. | |
Distant portside view of the object and reflection, showing representatives of most of the major forward and lateral surfaces. | |
| various views of the port side | |
Wide view of the port side, aft half of the ship, including the entire complex of terraces, the bridge tower, and the portside heavy turrets (three turbolaser turrets at the front; one ion cannon turret at back). | |
Overview of the base mirror, the display case and surroundings. There are several orders of reflections of the ship through the vertical surfaces of the case, and even some reflections of the floor tiles. These could be useful for spatial reference. | |
Somewhat blurred view of the port side of the dorsal terraces, and the front and port sides of the bridge module. | |
Whole-ship view of the port side. Regularly sized lumps inthe brim trench are conspicuous; each of them may be an installation for point-defence guns. | |
Nearly complete view of the ship from the port side. | |
| brim trench, port side | |
Direct view of portside brim trench near the minor brim notch and its quad cannon. | |
Direct view of the port side of the prow, in the approximately the plane of the brim trench. | |
Direct view of the ports side in the brim trench, centred on the primary docking bay area. | |
Detailed view of the dorsal surfaces around the docking facilities, in the reflection. The rectangular aperture in the roof of the secondary docking bay is on the starboard side of the ship. | |
| the stern | |
View of the stern, dorsal terraces and the neck of the bridge tower, seen from a position substantially above the plane of the brim. | |
View of the stern and back end of the bridge tower and terraces, with all major corners visible for both the object and the reflection. None of the ship's important axes is aligned with the edges of the mirror or the display case, as is clearly noticeable in the relationship between the reflection and its background. | |
The stern, terraces and tower, viewed from a low angle relative to the plane of the brim. For purposes of measurement, this photo has value similar to the one above. Indeed they might even be used as a stereoscopic pair. | |
Direct view of the stern, particularly the mechanisms surrounding the sublight drives. |
Bradford
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A shot of the bow of the Devastator, slightly out of foucs. Note how the ventral hull extends further forward than the dorsal hull. | |
Close-up of the region around the larger notches in the brim. Two of the three large guns on the dorsal ridge are visible at the top-right. The forward part of the primary docking bay is visible at the lower-right. There are several rectangular units in the brim, with two holes each; perhaps they are the standard-sized brim laser cannons? | |
Another side view of the brim, concentrating on the region near the primary docking bay and the first dorsal terrace (right). | |
A region of the portside brim including the minor notch and the quad cannon mounted within it. One of the heavy dorsal turbolaser turrets is visible in the top-right. The ventral bulb (surrounding the protrusion of the sphere of the main reactor) is partly visible in the lower right. | |
Middle and aft end of the portside bank of heavy turrets. Turbolaser turrets on the left; the last turret on the right is the ion cannon. At some point a few barrels have been knocked off the turbolaser turrets; they should have two per turret. |
Star Wars Armada Heavy Turbolaser Turrets
⇒ Star Destroyers⇒ Exhibitions
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Star Wars Turbolaser Turret X-wing
STAR WARS Technical Commentaries⇒ Curtis Saxton home page Original content is © copyright Dr Curtis Saxton 2001.
Online since 8 April 2001.
Last updated 15 April 2001.
This page was constructed and is maintained by Curtis Saxton.
This page is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Lucasfilm Ltd.
Images from the NMPFT exhibition, within and linked from this page, are © copyright Curtis Saxton 2001.
Images from the Barbican exhibition, within and linked from this page, are © copyright Elwyn Chow 2000.
This site is kindly hosted by TheForce.net.
Here it is my first MOC: the Star Wars Imperial Heavy Turbolaser Turret. I am a fan of Star Wars and I like a lot all the Star Wars stuff, so why not starting with this?
I decided to start with a small MOC of something iconic. Let say, something behind the scene but shown in the movies. LEGO already provide us a lot of spectacular models of the spaceships, so I was thinking to something a little bit different.
My MOC is based on the XX-9 Heavy Turbolaser Turret, one of the defensive equipment of the Death Star as seen for a few photograms in the movie Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. However, the real inspiration came from the Imperial Gunner found on the Star Wars Advent Calendar 2019, I mentioned this in my daily countdown. I found this minifigure full of details and it definitively gave me the final kick to do this MOC.
During the preparation, I took also inspiration from the several MOCs online. Maybe some of you will recognise some similarities, but I tried to create my personal version.
In general, my MOC is based on a modular structure of 12×12 stud base. The turret is made of 4 levels, where only three of them have interiors.
For the interior, I took some ideas from the diagram in the fandom website, but I modified and adapted for the minifigures.
Before the rebels arrive, let’s have a look inside!
Outside View
In my view the turret rises above the Death Star surface. The majority of the details are inside, but from the outside you can see the general view of the turret. The original XX-9 Heavy Turbolaser Turret was for me only an inspiration. I think that the general idea is there, but my version is much simplified.
Starting from the top you see the twin turbolaser cannons, mounted in the square based turret. The turret can rotate of 360 degrees and the barrel cannons can swivel vertically, for a complete range of fire. I used technic gears to allow the vertical swivel, while a 4×4 rotating brick allows the horizontal rotation.
On the opposite side of the cannons there is a round brick that is connected with the technic gear and it is used to move the cannons.
In between the two cannons there is a pod: it is the lodgement for all the surveillance sensors. This is a crucial component of the imperial turbolaser turret because it allows the crew to have all the information to aim the target and to monitor the space around the turret itself.
Inspired by the original turret, on the side there is also the external access door: the only access to the cannons interior.
The crew can reach this aforementioned door only by using the external ladder. It is on the side of the turret and it crosses all the levels.
In general, the exterior of the turret is quite simple, I just added now and then some radiators, boxes and pipes. Also on the basement there are some further pipes and grids.
Level-by-level a look inside
As said, the entire turret is made up of 4 sections. Removing the top with the cannons, the remaining three parts are the ones where I included all the details.
The three levels are organised as follows:
- Lower level for the auxiliary generators.
- Second level for the control room.
- Third level for the power core.
So, after the walk on the external, let’s have a walk inside from the bottom back to the top, again.
Auxiliary Power Level
Restarting the tour from the basement, we enter inside the door just behind the imperial gunner minifigure. We are at the auxiliary power level, or the technician level.
The room is fully dedicated to the two auxiliary power generators for the turret. They aim to guarantee the continuity of power in case of main power loss.
Auxiliary generators provide power through the yellow auxiliary power lines. On the other hand, the main power runs in the wall of the turret in between the yellow lines. The Death Star defence power line provides the main power to the turret and I don’t represent it much in detail. I just installed some inspection grids on the wall.
The room left for the crew is really essential: the generators have all the space. however, in this level there are two other details.
First of all on the corner there is an internal ladder to climb the turret and to go to the upper levels. I think that in the Star Wars universe a lift would have been more appropriate, unfortunately, in my model it wouldn’t fit.
Secondly, as in the Star Wars Universe all the main equipments has a master switch, like the tractor beam of the Death Star. The one of the entire turret is in this floor, close to the external door: easily accessible by a Jedi!
Hoping you enjoy this first level, let’s go together to the next one.
Control Centre Level
The second level is the control room. It is the brain of the entire imperial turbolaser turret.
Also this level is quite busy: there are two seated positions for the gunners and a standing position for the turret commander.
The gunners have all the monitors and equipment to control all the functionality of the turret. On the right position, there is the operator responsible for the surveillance of the space above the turret. On the left position, there is the operator responsible to fire. The central part of the console aims to monitor and control the power and the generators.
From this position the crew can both manoeuvre the turret and check the status of the power generator. Likewise, they can switch to the auxiliary units in case of emergency.
From its standing position behind the gunners, the officer can monitor all the activities. Moreover, the officer has also dedicated monitor on the wall behind. The purpose of the officer’s terminal is to autonomously monitor and communication with the command center on the Death Star.
Power Core Level
Last but absolutely not least, just below the cannons, there is the turbolaser cannons power core. The entire room is full with the main power generator. The core provide power to the cannons on top and receives energy from the power lines coming from the lower levels.
There are only a few further details in this level since all the space is for the power core. On the wall there are some monitors and and switches to allow the technician to monitor the core and the power supply directly from this level.
This is the last level of the turret accessible from inside.
The Imperial Crew
The last part of the imperial turbolaser turret is the crew: of course a crucial element of the Star Wars universe!
Together with the Imperial Gunner I found in the Star Wars Advent Calendar 2019, I found in my collection also other interesting characters. So, I decided to create a crew of five:
- One Imperial Officer
- Three Imperial Gunners
- One Imperial Technician
The Imperial officer is the leader of the crew. Two gunners serves on the console to operate the imperial turbolaser turret while the last one is for backup and monitoring. Finally, the technician assures the correct operability and the maintenance of the entire turret. Of course if major maintenance will be required on the turret, one technician is not enough. The aim of this is to provide immediate support to improve the capability of the turret.
Before the battle
Finally, that’s all for my first MOC. I wanted to share with you and I hope you liked it. On my side, I liked creating this modular building and I liked adding some technical details and stories. Hoping, you find them of your interest, I really would like to read you comments, because I would like to improve my MOCs in the future.
Finally, while I am waiting for your comments, I will have some pizza with the crew! Waves ssl 4000 plugin bundle torrent.
May the Force be with you!