One of the things I love about the LEGO community is that no matter how many times something’s been done, it’s possible for someone to build a new take on a model and add more details and accuracy. Star Wars ships are a prime example; because of their ubiquity both in official sets and fan models, there’s no end of inspiration and various designs, and Thomas Jenkins has crafted a jaw-dropping new version of the LAAT, better known as the Republic Gunship from Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars. Thomas has used lots of great design details here to make a super accurate minifigure-scale version, with clever bits ranging from the oars on the engine nacelles to the backpack on the nose. But perhaps the most impressive thing is that all of the detailed color blocking is brick-built.
It’s hard to compare the size, but from what I can see this shows what an awful model the UCS version is. You expect a compromise where fan models are less swooshable and the official ones are robust, but the UCS one falls apart at the merest touch and this one just looks so much better. Excellent work.