Tag Archives: Jarek

This epic 5000-piece Razor Crest from the Mandalorian is the perfect tribute to the trendiest spaceship out there

By this point, I’m pretty sure everyone and their mother has watched The Mandalorian (except my own mother, who only watches PBS). It’s a popular show, and for a good reason: it takes the western-cowboy movie vibes of A New Hope and runs with it, letting us see a grittier side of everybody’s favorite space fairy tale kingdom. It’s got a cute little Yoda-species kid, a more fleshed-out version of the mysterious Mandalorian Boba Fett, and plenty of epic gunfights. As a result, the spaceship that hauls around Mando (a.k.a. Din Djarin), the Razor Crest, has become almost as recognizable as the TIE Fighter or the X-Wing. And just like those venerable ships, the Razor Crest has received the epic treatment from Jarek Książczyk (Jerac), a master Star Wars LEGO builder.

The Razor Crest

Click to see more of this beautiful bounty hunting craft

The Romans go ballistic

I’ve mentioned before in these pages that I have a background in Roman stuff, particularly language and literature, but also some history and architecture. In fact, I compiled and annotated a Latin reader on Roman military texts for my Master’s degree. So imagine my delight when I saw this functional Roman ballista by Jerac. These things were used all over the Republic and Empire, including Caesar’s siege of Alesia. There’s no gimmickry here; just like the real deal, the force to launch the bolts comes from coiled cords, not the bow. And the whole thing is LEGO, which makes it even cooler. The Technic gear and axle connector don’t look out of place as parts of the mechanical structure, and, in fact, I believe the lip on the bushing catches on the gear to ratchet the tension. Then flip up those rods, and voilà! You have just destroyed a tower. The wooden planks and the soldiery, along with the suggestion of landscaping, are just icing on the cake to dress it up a bit; the real beauty of the build is the technological achievement.

Roman Ballista

Love Ancient Rome? Check out some more Roman-themed builds, like the whole city of Rome, an ambush, and a forum.

A trio of traps – Claptraps, that is

When it comes to hilarious AI sidekicks in video games, it’s hard to beat the exuberant, boisterous, stair-challenged inverted triangle designated CL4P-TP, or better known as Claptrap. And what could be better than one Claptrap? If you asked Jerac that question, the answer would be three Claptraps.

Borderlands Claptrap family - 2.0!

Jerac has captured the distinctive look of these mono-wheeled robots very well, from the spindly arms to the oversized guns. And speaking of wheels, they are attached using the 1×1 modified plate with handle as if the part was made just for this purpose.

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

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

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

Incredible minifigure-scale LEGO model of Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced is probably the most accurate ever

LEGO builder Jarek is pretty much the undisputed king of Star Wars ships, routinely making the most accurate and gorgeously intricate vehicles from a galaxy far, far away ever to be built of bricks. He’s been on a roll lately with the Imperial Navy, starting with a TIE Fighter and TIE Interceptor, then upgrading to the heavy TIE Bomber. But now Jarek’s moved up the chain even further, to Darth Vader’s personal spacecraft, the prototype TIE Advanced.

Darth Vader's TIE/x1 Advanced

Click to see more of this incredible TIE Advanced

Jarek’s Z-10D “Hades” has nice curves

Jarek‘s sci-fi vehicles have some of the smoothest contours I’ve seen, and his latest starfighter is no exception. Take note of how well those wedge plates complement the flow of the cement mixer half cylinders.

Hades starfighter

LEGO Star Wars A-Wing Interceptor by Jarek

From the narrow gap in the nose to the detailed tail, Jarek‘s A-Wing is a gorgeous little fighter:

If standard red isn’t your thing, perhaps you’d prefer sunny yellow: