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?
The DBY-827 heavy turbolaser turret was a turbolaser turret used on the Galactic Republic's Venator-class Star Destroyers during the Clone Wars. Turbolasers Arquitens - Dual Turbolaser Turrets ISD - Heavy Turbolaser Turrets Nebulon - XI7 (Eleven-Seven) Turbolasers MC30 - Turbolaser Reroute Circuits L MC80 - Spinal Armament, Quad Turbolaser Cannons. Support Team L MC80 - Medical Team H1 MC80 - Projection Experts.
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.
- The Turbolaseris a semi-automatic stationary turret in DICE's Star Wars Battlefrontfound on certain Walker Assaultand Supremacymaps, such as SoroSuub Centroplexor Cloud City.
- Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures. Dose anybody need a Laser Turret model? These might do the job. Does (not dose) anyone have any rules for a turbolaser tower?
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.
Star Wars Turbolaser Turret Gunner
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.
Star Wars Turbolaser Turret X-wing
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!
May the Force be with you!