Tag Archives: Star Wars

LEGO Star Wars is one of the most popular LEGO themes of all time. Far beyond X-wings and TIE fighters, there’s a whole expanded universe of inspiration, and an army of LEGO fans ready to build whatever comes out of George Lucas’s head next.

“I will not give up my favorite decoration.”

There’s been a sharp increase in the amount of mosaic builds we’ve seen since LEGO debuted their Art series last year. But The Middle Brick has taken the art of LEGO mosaic to a new dimension with The Bounty Hunter, a closeup shot of famed Star Wars fiend Boba Fett.

This piece packs a significant amount of detail, and a subtle 3D effect, into its frame thanks to a unique layered approach. The first layer renders the background in standard tiles, while the second and third layers build up the main subject. The final result may not be as detailed as a man frozen in carbonite, but it’s close.

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Three versions of Bag End made from three different LEGO sets.

As a child, one of my favorite things about holding a new LEGO set in hand was turning the box over and looking at all the alternate builds that the set could be reconfigured into. These weren’t official models. There weren’t included instructions for them, like you see in the Creator 3-in-1 sets of today. The pictures were just springboards for your imagination. While the LEGO Group might not market the versatility of their sets in the same way anymore, that doesn’t mean modern sets are any less customizable. And if you need proof of that, legoapprentice has got you covered. He’s built three different versions of Bilbo Baggin’s home, Bag End, made from only the pieces available in three different LEGO sets.

The first version of Bag End is probably closest to the one you’re familiar with. Made from the 21325 Medieval Blacksmith set, this build draws heavily on the medieval roots of Tolkien’s fantasy world. Bilbo looks right at home next to a pair of knights and a blacksmith. And the large chimney up top is no doubt evidence of a kitchen that’s serving up tons of delicious Hobbit meals. Perhaps a pie made from the apples grown on the tree up top.

Click here to see the other alternate versions of Bag End

The perfect combination of Star Wars and Gundam

This stunning model was created by Grammaticul with incredible renders by Tong Xin Jun. The build features elements of a classic X-Wing fighter incorporated into a Gundam mech. The red head crest is actually built to simulate the Rebellion symbol with a kunai piece creating the pointed centre. The X-Wing cockpit is embedded within the mech’s torso and features all main colours of a typical Gundam design. In this first image, there is also the nice touch of a snake piece representing smoke ascending from the barrel of the gun.

The wings and boosters are splayed out on the back of the model with vibrant pink engine details. Ninja daggers represent the tips of the laser guns which extend from the main wing segments.

With all that weight, it is no wonder that the model would need a stand. Perhaps we will see this build face off against a TIE fighter combined with a Zaku in the future. The intricate details of the model provide it with a slender and elegant style while having recognizable features of both an X-Wing and a Gundam.

I have your word, now... not a scratch

When Lando promised to bring the Millenium Falcon back from the battle of Endor without a scratch, he pretty much guaranteed something would get knocked off. And sure enough, this minimalist model by Miscellanabuilds shows the Falcon barely escaping the destruction of the second death star in one piece, let alone scratchless. The model captures the details of the much larger exhaust port perfectly, while the microscale Falcon looks great, even without her signature deflector dish. The only thing missing is the enormous burst of flames that nearly cooked Lando’s goose.

That’s no twin suns...

Ah, Tatooine. A wretched hive of scum and villainy and being the centre of the galaxy. Honestly, everything Star Wars seems to take place at this dangerous ripoff of Arrakis from Dune. However, somehow it works. What amuses me is that amongst all the bounty hunters and intergalactic crime cartels, the biggest dangers for two droids is freaking Jawas. Short, hooded, chattery notorious salesmen traveling in a massive brown tank. And this small build by Kosmas Santosak conveys this so well.

There’s just something about the image of a hooded Jawa looming over a stranded C-3PO and R2-D2 that makes me laugh. Perhaps it’s the glowing yellow eyes that’s a parallel to Tatooine’s twin suns that is clever and funny. Or perhaps looking at it I can hear the high-pitched babble of those mischievous scavengers…

Utinni!
Shootogawa!
A beton nya mombay m’bwa!
Nekkel juuvar obwegadada!

Fabulous Fabuland Homestead

No Fabulous Fabulandspeeder is complete without a Fabulous Homestead. So we are very grateful that Stewart Cromar continued to fabulize Star Wars sets. Whenever you buy a LEGO Star Wars set and you open up all the bags and spread out all the parts on the table you’ll notice that a lot of the parts are light grey, dark grey, or black. Then there are some pops of colour but those are mostly used in the construction of the vehicle and later covered up with light grey, dark grey, or black bricks. Completely the opposite of the Fabuland theme and therefore it is ever so delightful to see these sets get the Fabuland treatment. Some of the original Fabuland parts work so perfectly that LEGO might have to consider recoloring those parts to light grey, dark grey, or black for future releases of Star Wars sets. For instance the mailbox top works perfectly as an arched rooftop and the refrigerator door looks stunning as a front door to this lovely Tatooine Homestead. So LEGO, please consider bringing back some of those iconic Fabuland pieces.

Got weird grody space-milk?

I’m no slouch when it comes to writing my own jokes. But sometimes you just want to seek out low-hanging fruit and let someone else do all the heavy lifting and joke writing for you. Thankfully, I found The Brothers Brick alumni Iain Heath to be both low-hanging and fruit. The Last Jedi answered a dubious question that no one wanted to know; how does Luke sustain himself on the remote, rocky, wind-blown planet of southern Ireland? It turns out he gets it right from the tap as illustrated with this creation that Iain made to look like an official LEGO set. (Don’t let that fool you, space travelers!) It features a Thala-siren, a weird marine mammal-creature with her huge rediculous udders flopping out there in front of God and everybody to see.

The title “Crazy Space Wizard Breakfast Assault” is hilarious. The milk on Luke’s face, Rey’s last name are all also pretty damned hilarious. Even the piece count of 420 may offer up a clue as to where Iain gets all his crazy ideas. See what I mean? The jokes just write themselves!

At last we will reveal ourselves to the LEGO fans...

You’ve got to give Yodamann credit for keeping LEGO building fun with this build that could have been part of the Time Cruisers line in the ’90s. Classic pirates with a Star Wars-inspired speeder…what’s not to love? The oars in the front, the inspiration for this creation, works really well here, and I love the barrel in the back for the propulsor unit.

An old bomber, a new paint job

There are few other fictional space ships that are as easily identifiable as the BTL-B Y-wing, seen here during the Clone Wars. LEGO builder simon-wild showcases his new take on one of the most classic starfighters to be seen on the screen.

Covered in armor and loaded with freedom, the mighty Y-wing was a staple of the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars era. It was retired during the Republic’s transition into the Galactic Empire but regained its status as a formidable bomber for the Rebellion, eventually earning the title, “The starfighter that broke the Empire’s back.”

In his build, Simon elaborates on the 8037 Anakin’s Y-wing Starfighter set released way back in 2009. He smoothed out the fuselage and engines, improved the paint pattern and traded the yellow for red. He also beefed up the size of the bomber to minifigure-scale, nearly reaching the size of the 75181 UCS Y-wing released in 2018. I admire all of the extra armor plating seen in Simon’s model. It helps separate the Y-wing from looking like a fighter and more like a bomber. Perhaps we’ll see an armor-less version of Simon’s Y-wing fighting for the Rebellion in the future?

A new way for the Rebel Alliance to get around.

It’s a small part of the movie, but my favorite piece of technology introduced in 1999’s The Phantom Menace is the Bloodfin, Darth Maul’s almost orb-shaped speeder bike that is glimpsed briefly on Tatooine. My infatuation with the vehicle might be that it belonged to Darth Maul, who was the coolest part of that movie overall. Or it might just be that I love speeder bikes in all their forms. Whatever the reason, I was delighted to see this Rebel speeder bike by Patrick Boyle that makes use of a similar shape.

The new bowed window element helps give this vehicle its distinctive curves. And, by building the speeder in a typical Rebel color scheme and outfitting it with a place to keep an Astromech droid, Patrick has crafted a vehicle that blends the new and the familiar – a must when creating original Star Wars tech in LEGO form.

Imperial by birth, Rebel by choice

Did you know that the Rebel Alliance’s Medical Frigate began its life in the service of the Empire? LEGO builder Remco Rohaan shares his latest masterpiece, the Imperial Nebulon-B Frigate.

It’s an established fact in the Star Wars lore that the Nebulon-B Frigate, first seen at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, was a ship built by the Empire but stolen by the Rebellion. Yet we’ve never seen the Nebulon-B during its time as an Imperial warship. Thanks to fan art creators like EC Henry and Fractal Sponge, we’ve been able to get a glimpse of what the Nebulon-B must have looked like before it fell into the hands of “Rebel scum.” Now, we have the privilege of seeing the ship in LEGO form.

Clearly, this looks like an Imperial warship. The armor plating, command bridge, and TIE fighter-style wings give off really strong Empire vibes. Speaking of armor plating, I just love how much there is. The Rebel version of the Nebulon-B has a considerable amount of armor removed, which is typical of Rebel spacecraft.

Builder Remco Rohaan also included digital instructions of his Imperial Nebulon-B on his Flickr page but also check out this quick video of it being assembled

https://www.flickr.com/photos/remcorohaan/51408124868/

Here’s an image of his Imperial Nebulon-B to scale with the Rebel version, an Imperial Gozanti freighter, and an Imperial shuttle.

Those scrappy Rebels

The Rebels in Episode IV of Star Wars were really a rag-tag bunch of freedom fighters, and their equipment was largely hand-me-down dilapidated old tech. LEGO builder Abe Fortier is showing us a side that we don’t often see though, of the Rebels scrapping out a ship that’s no longer spaceworthy. Abe pulled the Y-wing design from Star Wars ship-master Jerac, but gave it a cool twist with disassembled sections and of course, a portion of the Massassi outpost on Yavin 4 that the Rebels turned into a base.