Tag Archives: Speeders

Racing across the gulf between galaxies

Iconic racing liveries have more reach than we first thought, it seems. In LEGO Speed Champions 76905 Ford GT Heritage Edition and Bronco R, the former of the two vehicles sports the blue-and-orange colours of Gulf Oil, which have adorned countless other racing cars in this galaxy. In the galaxy far, far away, though, it’s Vertaro who has applied these colours (and that Ford’s windscreen, incidentally) to their own racing speeder. The asymmetric design is very cool, from the offset cockpit to the engine chained to the side. Now that might not seem like the safest way to attach your power plant. But at least if it breaks, there’s an unexpected passenger hanging off the side who can help fix it!

Arctic Monkey

Just another day in the galaxy far, far away

For all its laser battles and space wizards, sometimes it’s nice to step back into civilian life in the Star Wars galaxy. Stuart N has crafted this rather charming slice of life, with a lady running errands in her airspeeder. That building adds a whole lot to the scene, as does the floor – the detailing is interesting without being overwhelming. The speeder is the real star of the show, though – it fits so well with the design language of Coruscant speeders from the prequels, for instance. It’s impressive how Stuart has absolutely nailed the Star Wars aesthetic with just a few LEGO Technic panels!

Star Wars Airspeeder

Don’t STAP me now!

When it comes to making LEGO Star Wars builds, one of my favourite things to make is the smaller, one-man craft. Partly because it’s less parts-intensive (and therefore usually cheaper!), but also because of the challenge. Making an accurate model while retaining a modicum of structural integrity is not always easy. And on top of that, they need to fit a minifigure pilot! Or a battle droid, in this case. This is where parts like the wands from Harry Potter sets come in handy. Once I picked up a couple of those and the candle-stick pieces to form the cannons of these Single Trooper Aerial Platforms (STAPs), the rest of the build flowed quickly from there. It’s funny how one or two pieces can dictate the entirety of a build, even small ones.

Trade Federation Battle Droid STAPs

Han Solo himself would be proud of this gorgeous landspeeder

While Solo: A Star Wars Story may not have been a roaring success as far as Star Wars movies go, it did give us some interesting new ship designs and, by extension, some pretty decent LEGO sets. Han Solo’s M-68 Landspeeder was one of them, and Sebastian Arts (Aliencat!) has seen fit to upscale it and give the smuggler’s ride the Ultimate Collector Series treatment, with exquisite levels of detail!

Han Solo's M68 Landspeeder

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Ninjago’s Lloyd trades his dragon for an awesome looking speeder

Presented in a glorious turquoise colour scheme, this racer primarily uses parts from the Jungle Dragon Ninjago set. Marco De Bon has provided the build with an insect-like appearance which is conveyed by the front wings looking similar to mandibles and the spear guns on the back being comparable to antennae. Pentagonal tiles are used to great effect in forming the splayed-out protrusions at the back and there are also orange flippers underneath representing engine grill details. It appears to be a tight squeeze to get into the cockpit which makes sense as the vehicle is designed to be compact, allowing for nifty maneuvers around a race circuit.

Lego speedster "Raptor"