Bantha II Cargo Skiff 1/12 Scale

This is my model of the Bantha II Cargo Skiff. This is modeled at 1/12 scale, and is designed to be displayed with Hasbro Black Series action figures.

CAUTION At this time, this project contains moving parts that have not been fully tested yet and may be revised or removed in the future. I am sharing these files in case you want to try to build one too. I make no claim that these files will work for you.

This is a large project that requires moderate printing experience, and makes use of both FDM and resin parts. The models are provided unsupported, but in the orientation that I printed them. I figure you know your printers best and how you like to support your prints, so I leave that up to you.
For my resin parts, I tend to us autogenerated fine or light supports, moderately dense, and then I manually add or remove supports where I feel my printer needs it.
For my FDM parts, I use tree supports, only touching the build plate. The 3 hull sections have small circular holes on the bottom that will need to have supports blocked from. They do not need them, as the holes are only 2mm dia.

Multiple versions:
There are options to print the model multiple ways, and you can mix and match options.

Hull: Because the cargo stowage doors are experimental and largely untested, I have included a version of the Hull Middle that does not have them. You can print the model with or without the cargo stowage and doors.

Body: There are both undamaged and damaged versions of the Body Back, Body Front and Body Right parts. The damage is modeled to look like the end of the Sarlacc pit scene in Return of the Jedi.
          Additionally, you can print the model without the deck box interior

Tail: There are 2 versions of the FDM tail, a screen accurate version, and a shorter version that lets the skiff fit in an Ikea Billy book shelf.

Flagpoles and Pikes: The steering vanes each have a "flagpole" on the top and a "pike" on the bottom. I have had problems with thin straight parts warping in the past, so for this, I have provided 2 methods to create the flagpoles and spikes. There are models of the full part included in the zip. If you print them straight up and down, they should be fine and not warp. If you don't trust that to be true, you can do what I did and make the pole parts from 3mm dia. acrylic rod. It's available to order on ebay. There is a model of the flagpole decorative cap, designed to fit on a 3mm pole, and for the pike, I just sharpened one end on sandpaper.
Flagpole length: 106mm, Pike length: 132mm

Approximate Total Print Times (For my printers, provided for example). Your print times will vary depending on your printer speed and which parts you want to print.
FDM: 4 days, 0 hours, 40 minutes
Resin: 4 days, 4 hours, 22 minutes

Instructions have FINALLY been posted (Sorry for the delay).

For the springs used in the instructions, I used the springs from
these mechanical pencils: https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Pencils-Bright-Multicolored-Leads/dp/B07GGNM1BZ

If you prefer to source your own springs, they are 14mm in length and 3mm in diameter. There are pictures in the photo section with a ruler for reference.

Non-Canon details:
This model is as accurate as I could make it using only footage from Return of the Jedi as a reference, plus a few set photos I found online. There are parts of this model that I totally made up, because I wanted detail and could find no references for. One of those embellished areas is the cargo hold under the deck box. The 3 covers on top are removable, and there are full details underneath. The other embellished area is the storage are with opening doors for the magnetic cargo lifts. The movie shows the magnetic cargo lifts picking up the droids, but it never shows where they are located or how they are deployed, so I made those details up too! The stowage bays have full resin printed interiors, hooks to hang the actual lifters and working (Hopefully!) doors. I must stipulate that at the time of publishing, I HAVE NOT FULLY TESTED THE DOORS YET. I have done a dry fit test, and it seems to work fine, but I will not really know until I get it all sanded, painted and assembled with the springs. Start this project at your own risk. If the doors do not end up working, they can be glued in and have the seams filled. Similarly, if you prefer a canon-only version, you can simply not print the interior parts of the hold or the stowage. Then glue the doors in, and glue the 3 top panels on the deck box.

Several of the resin parts require multiple to be printed:
Cargo Lift Core.stl - Print 2 (If used)
Cargo Lift Frame.stl - Print 2 (If used)
Cargo Lift Pads.stl - Print 2 (If used)
Control Cable.stl - Print 2
Deck Box Lid.stl - Print 3
Engine Tank.stl - Print 3
Flagpole Cap.stl - Print 2 (If used)
Steering Vane Flagpole.stl - Print 2 (If used)
Steering Vane Pike.stl - Print 2 (If used)
Steering Vane.stl - Print 2

These models were designed in Rhino 7 with sculpting done in Blender 4.3, and printed on an Anycubic Photon Mono X 6K using ABS-Like Pro 2 resin and an Anycubic Kobra Max using PLA.

Note: Some of the photos are from earlier in the build process and may not reflect the final models.

Update 1.1 - Revamped the steering vane support arms to be a bit thicker, and made some changes to the plank and plank ports to prevent warping.

Update 1.2 - Split the surfboard into 4 parts for those with smaller printers.

I designed these parts to print on my printers. I have a Kobra Max FDM printer that has a 400x400x450mm build volume, and a Photon Mono X 6K that has a 197x112x245 and many of the parts barely fit.

The STL files are provided in the orientation that I printed them successfully, but I leave it to you to know your printers and add your own supports to the models.

For the FDM parts, I used Cura 5.7 to slice.
Layer Height: .2mm
line width: .4mm
Wall thickness: 1.2mm
Wall Line Count: 3
Top/Bottom thickness: 1.2mm
Top/Bottom layers: 6
Infill: 15% Grid
Supports: Tree, 45 degree, touching buildplate only

For the Resin parts, I use Lychee slicer to slice.
I autogenerate light supports with high density, then I manually add them where my printer has issues with things like sagging. Occasionaly I will place individual medium supports where needed, but I find that light supports are generally the best with some mediums where needed.