Tag Archives: Starfighter

When pink touches yellow, you’re a dead fellow

If you’ve been hankering to hit the stars in a stylish Vic Viper, Kirby Warden has you covered with his blazing yellow Kigiku. In Japanese, Kigiku means yellow chrysanthemum but don’t let the name fool you; if you think you can outrun this starfighter, it’s time to wake up and smell the roses! You’re not going to get away when the pilot has maximum visibility in the cockpit mounted high above the fuselage.

Kigiku

If the subtle angles of the body formed using hinges are any indication, this is also one speedy vessel. Even the most formidable opponents may find themselves distracted by Kigiku’s lively yellow, dark pink, white and dark bluish gray color scheme.

Kigiku

New parts, bold style, deep space

There seems to be some LEGO builders who, when they sit down to build LEGO models, they really pump them out..and in fine form too. Inthert’s recent experimentation with new parts has brought out some great technique and this follow-up ship to his previous creation, 6-H Cargo Hopper, holds its own. Named the TRE-O, it has an almost Microscale feel, which may be partially due to the impression the solid white leaves. There are so many tasty combinations in this little vessel, so let’s just talk about a few. The curved top 1×2 brick dominates the front arms, which slide beautifully into a wheel arches. Twin 1×4 curved slopes adorn each fin further up, giving it another nudge toward its microscale feel. Another fun detail is the new 2×2 plate with thin rotation stem acting as the base of an antenna mount.

TRE-O (1)

The new pneumatic liftarm with connections for hose has instantly proven itself as a perfect engine or thruster, and this shot shows it off really well. Though the back to back 3×3 slope wedges (introduced in the Overwatch range) look great, the shaping of the rear portions of th three fins sets the stern off for me.

TRE-O (2)

This Y-wing is the bomb

There are some builders out there whose names are synonymous with quality, often in a highly specialized niche within the larger LEGO fan community. Jerac is one such builder, whose Star Wars creations are famous for their exceptional level of detail, down to the minutest of greebles, and their near-perfect scaling. His latest creation is a stripped-down Y-wing bomber with all of its parts showing, as was typical in the fleet of the Rebellion. I love the shaping of the cockpit, as well as all of the technical details on the back part of the craft. It is a difficult task to get the rear maneuvering rings looking good, but this version of the Y-wing has lovely round rings and even the little details that should be there. Can a minifigure-scale Y-wing be done better in LEGO? Perhaps, but I have not seen it.

BTL-S3 Y-Wing Bomber

Jerac’s builds are often a master-class in LEGO greebling techniques, with piece usages both expected and unexpected. By now, things like ingots and bars are old hat in spaceships, and even binoculars are expected; but the use of some of the binoculars here is a new one for me, at least: placed recessed into the ship so that only the lenses stick out, as Jerac has done here towards the back of the fuselage. The stretcher holder makes for some great cables or piping, and the use of minifig arms looks good, too, at the very back of the fuselage. And there are more handcuffs than I can count. All in all, this is one terrific spaceship, ready to drop some bombs on Imperial targets.

BTL-S3 Y-Wing Bomber

Wide wings with golden detail brings new frontiers

Another wide streak of light, this time called Refraction R/99, has taken off from the mind of Nick Trotta. After following his amazing LEGO creations for a while, you may pick up on the seamless transitions between each section of his ships. In that regard, he holds true to his craft. Though in others, he spreads his wings a little more. On the one hand, he has built a flying wing, and on the other, he has started playing with a selection of gold elements. Both are styles which he hasn’t explored before.

Refraction R/99

His shaping creates a strength of form built off a shallow frame, allowing the pilot to be flanked by its impressive set of wings. Having no fuselage means squeezing all of his incredible details into its wingspan. The medium blue throughout the engine housing, alongside those deep-set grilles following suit, bring out the almost skeletal dark blue within the wings and midsection. As in many of Trotta’s builds, the carefully chosen colours are exceptionally complimented by some bright splashes, this time it’s Bright Light Yellow, Orange, Trans Neon Green and his new addition: Drum Laquer Gold.

Refraction: Fly-by

He has used his gold sparingly even though its spread throughout his ship, most effectively as a housing for some fine greebling on either side of the cockpit. This greebling, as squished as it is, has some great parts use going on in there, from the two sunken Megaphones, the red roller skates, to my personal favourite, the black paint roller handle. Yet the clean repetition of the black Grille Guards, installed as cooling vents on the two engines, seem to tie off this brilliant ship.

Obi-Wan will get his revenge with this awesome LEGO UCS-scale Jedi Starfighter

LEGO’s ever-popular Ultimate Collector Series of Star Wars ships has one glaring gap: the prequel movies. Whether you grew up with the original trilogy or the new, you have to admit that there were plenty of amazing ship designs in the prequels, and LEGO has made only a few as UCS-style models. Martin Latta is fixing that with this incredible custom model of Obi-Wan’s Jedi Starfighter from Revenge of the Sith.

UCS Jedi starfighter - Eta-2 Actis-class interceptor

The ship’s combination of wedge-shaped wings and radiator flaps with the smoothly domed fuselage makes the ship a real challenge to translate into LEGO, but you wouldn’t know it from Martin’s model, as the parts fit together seamlessly. One particular detail I love is the grey triangular road sign that fills a gap on the back of the cockpit. Continue reading →

Buck Rogers and the 25th Century Thunderfighter

The 1970s brought us so many great sci-fi television shows in the wake of the original Star Trek series, from Battlestar Galactica to Space 1999. There was even a reboot of Buck Rogers, which served as the inspiration for this classic starfighter by Luis Peña. Based upon designs from famous Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, this model features some excellent sculpting and color striping which closely matches its on-screen counterpart.

Buck Rogers Thunderfighter LEGO Model

Cubic LEGO creations squared

The cube is one of the most basic 3D shapes and the building block (pun intended) of many LEGO models. Two different creators have recently drawn inspiration from the cube with wonderfully diverse results. The first model is a plucky little robot by Markus Rollbühler which combines teal and dark red elements in stark contrast. There are two nice parts used in the arms: a minifig torso armor part, and the torso of a B1 battle droid for the hand. The new printed eye tile from the recent LEGO Harry Potter 75950 – Aragog’s Lair gives the eye an unexpected look.

Mech Monday #2: CUB-3

The next model is this floating star-fighter (coincidentally, also with one eye) by Anthony Wilson and was created for a building competition called Space Jam. But there is more to this model than meets the eye. This star-fighter transforms with a flip of the black guns on either side of the ship.

Ol' Starfighter J03

Rebel RZ-1 A-wing interceptor gets an update

It’s been more than 10 years since Jarek shared the first version of his LEGO A-wing, a sleek starfighter first seen in Return of the Jedi. It’s always interesting to see how builders approach the same subject matter years apart, with improved building skills as well as access to new LEGO pieces. Jarek says that his updated A-wing has better proportions than the 2008 version, with properly brick-built missile launchers.

RZ-1 A-Wing

See more photos of Jarek’s A-wing along with new variants

Mini LEGO Fireball racer from Star Wars: Resistance

If the Disney animated series Star Wars: Rebels was any indication, LEGO fans can look forward to a full assortment of sets featuring the characters and vehicles from the new series, Star Wars: Resistance, which just debuted a couple weeks ago. While we wait for official sets, we can enjoy this lovely mini version of the Fireball, a racing ship maintained by Kaz Xiono, Tam Ryvora, and their teammates, built in brick by Tim Goddard. Tim captures the unique color schemes and markings wonderfully, including the little fins and vanes on the nose and wingtips, and even the small gray panel in the white stripe near the nose.

Fireball

Next up, Torra Doza’s Blue Ace in iconic Gulf Oil livery?

The fastest ship in the rebel flight streaks into action

According to concept art, the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor is the fastest ship in the rebel fleet. It is certainly one of the sleekest fighters in the Star Wars universe. This model by Thomas Jenkins is high on my list of fan creations. The off-set tiles down the front of the ship lend a realistic look, without detracting from the clean lines. I also really like the angled detail on either side of the front fuselage that smoothes out an otherwise sharp edge.

The slight angle of the engine pods is quite accurate to its on-screen inspiration, and there are some excellent details along the back of the fighter as well, including an asymmetrical ingot on one side, and a very nice rear thruster detail using 2 spoilers in white.

Cool spaceship is minty fresh

There’s a special class of LEGO model which always catch the eye — those smaller creations which manage to pack in impressive depth of texture, making them look much bigger than they really are. This smart spaceship by Silmaril_1 looks supercool in its white and green livery, all sleek lines and futuristic curves. But the level of details along the side creates a sense of scale way beyond what you might expect from such a relatively small model. Minifigure hands and textured bricks are used to good effect, and the moulded hollows and ridges on those Technic panels work superbly at this scale as hull detailing. It’s a sharp and clean colour scheme, and the model is presented well — looking crisp and fresh against that black void of a backdrop.

Cool LEGO spaceship

Jarek finally gets around to the X-wing, and it was absolutely worth the wait

We’ve been featuring the excellent LEGO models of Polish builder Jarek for more than ten years. While Jarek builds across many LEGO themes, he is perhaps best known for his highly detailed LEGO Star Wars vehicles, from the sleek A-wing back in 2008 and a 2-meter-long Imperial Star Destroyer to Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced just a few months ago. And yet, Jarek has never before built the iconic X-wing starfighter — until now.

T-65 X-Wing

The Incom T-65 X-wing is a particularly challenging craft to render in LEGO due to its harsh angles and distinctive details. As one of the most recognizable vehicles in the Star Wars universe, as well as a frequent subject of official LEGO sets, like the recent 75218 X-wing Starfighter. As a result, even casual fans tend to catch even the smallest inconsistencies and inaccuracies.

See more of what might be the best LEGO X-wing ever