Tag Archives: Galactic Empire

The only UCS AT-AT I can afford

The UCS AT-AT set is impressive: full of detail, has an accurate interior, and is a marvel of LEGO engineering when it comes to stability and articulation. But at £750, it is way out of my budget, not to mention that it wouldn’t fit anywhere in my apartment (U.K. rooms be small.) Luckily, Will (BrickGuild) Built a smaller version of the AT-AT.

Microscale AT-AT MOC

This microscale Imperial Walker is instantly recognisable, and sports one of the cleanest exteriors I’ve seen on such scale. The surfaces are clean and smooth, with studs remaining only on the wedge plates. I particularly like the use of “sandwich tiles” to give the hull some paneling. Using minifig hands as the “toes” of the walker is genius. And it can be posed reasonably, tho Will had to sacrifice knee articulation. Understandably so, that would have been impossible for a model this small without making the legs too clunky.

Visit Galaxy’s Edge in this massive collaborative LEGO build!

The planet Batuu lies at the edge of the known galaxy, a waypoint bordering the unknown regions. It is an outpost known only to a few. To get there, one must… go to Disneyland? In America?
Well, a group of European builders in the BrickzLab community shared the same sentiment and decided to build their own Galaxy’s Edge in LEGO – but set in the Dark Times era, which takes place after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Nine talented builders came together to build this immersive town: Malen Garek, dogma_54, The Brickforce, Luca S Projects, LegoFordo, H2Brick, lego_earth_production, lego_fanboy, and W1chard. Their goal was to display it at the German LEGO exhibition of IDS Brickworld, and the result was a massive 190cm by 130cm (6.3′ by 4.3′) display lit up with custom LEGO-compatible LED lights by Lightailing.

Click to see more photos and more info of this immersive build in great detail!

Imperial Soviet Nuclear TIE Bomber

Yes, you read that right. And your eyes are not deceiving you. LEGO builder Ghalad managed to combine an obscure nuclear seaplane from the Soviet Union with a classic Star Wars TIE fighter. The resulting digital build is something you could have expected to appear in the sequel trilogy of Star Wars films.

Tiekranoplan Heavy Assault

It’s unlikely you’ve heard of the Lun-class Ekranoplan, a Soviet-era seaplane capable of launching nuclear warheads through tubes based on top of the plane. It was developed before the age of ballistic submarines, filling the gap between land-based nuclear bombers and sea-based launch platforms.

From Wikipedia

Click to see more pictures

Nimble Nimbus V-wing Fighter

Star Wars is notorious for its level of detail and worldbuilding that we barely notice at times. Things like a background character or a vehicle that appears for a split second have extensive Wookieepedia articles. Many of these elements receive backstories from writers of the extended universe. And many of them return to the forefront of newer Star Wars media due to popular demand. For example, the Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighter – as built by Pande (Malen Garek) appears at the end of Revenge of the Sith for a few seconds. Yet, its striking unique silhouette piqued the interest of many vehicle-oriented fans. Many LEGO builders built their own version of this starfighter despite not being very well known.

Alpha-3 Nimbus-class Imperial V-wing

You could say that the V-wing is essentially an evolutionary step between the Delta-7 Jedi Starfighter and the TIE Fighter. Its sleek arrowhead shape and bladelike wings are tough to get right considering looks and structure. You either make it too skinny and it falls apart, or you make it too thick. Pande found the balance between the two in a beautiful clean finish and sharp angles. I particularly like the usage of tall slopes to make the front wedges and throwing in a little dark grey for greyscale colour variation.

Not a very “chicken” walker

Known to fans as the “chicken walker”, this LEGO All Terrain-Scout Transport (AT-ST) model by builder Lewis Kiwi is anything but a wimpy chicken. I’d use this beast to stand up to rebel scum any day of the week.

AT-ST

This has to be the most well-built AT-ST I’ve ever seen. From the top of the highly-detailed roof to the bottom of the articulated feet, this AT-ST outshines even the Ultimate Collector’s Series AT-ST set. Just look at the joints! The blasters! The engine work!

Some of the best LEGO creations have a level of detail that implies more detail beneath it. Notice how simple pieces like tubing and fans draw your eyes into the walker’s interior, making you wonder where those tubes connect to and how the walker is powered.

AT-ST

Where Lewis shines the most, however, is in his color schemes. This AT-ST uses light gray as the main armor layer, while underlying dark gray form the walker’s structure. This effect establishes the battle-readiness and is a detail not seen in many of the AT-ST models built over the years.