Tag Archives: The Phantom Menace

The Tantive IV of the Star Wars prequels, in LEGO

Every AFOL has what I call their ‘white whale’ set. One that they longed for as a kid (and probably still do as a grown-up), but never owned. For me, that’s 7665 Republic Cruiser. In hindsight, it’s perhaps not the finest recreation of the Radiant VII. But when I was staring longingly at it in the pages of Argos catalogues, it looked as good as Fuku Saku‘s 1:250 scale model does! The subtle curves of the conical pod at the front look great; the way it meshes with the angles elsewhere is so satisfying. To be fair, the same could be said of the whole build. This ship did get a mostly grey militarised variant in the Clone Wars, but I much prefer its diplomatic livery from the opening scene of The Phantom Menace. It looks resplendent in red and white. You could even say it looks… Radiant!

Radiant VII Consular-class Cruiser

Darth Maul’s epic LEGO Scimitar has 4,000 pieces and a full interior!

Evilkirk must have read about me being a sucker for the Phantom Menace, because he’s gone and built a truly epic ship from Star Wars: Episode I! This is the Scimitar, Darth Maul’s daily runabout. It’s a starship that just screams bad guy. Evilkirk’s has to be one of the best versions I’ve seen rendered in LEGO – not least because of its size. What a behemoth! There are over 4,000 pieces in this, and they haven’t all gone into the exterior either…

34. Scimitar flight mode 3

Click here to take a look inside Darth Maul’s ride!

This AAT will defend the honour of Star Wars: Episode I!

I’m a big Star Wars: The Phantom Menace apologist. There, I said it! Come at me, readers. So too, it seems, is LEGO builder Alper Isler. Their photostream is peppered with Episode I builds, the latest of which is this fantastic Armoured Assault Tank (AAT). What good taste! I thought battle droids were really cool when they were first introduced. They’re basically the Galaxy’s most over-the-top collection of remote control toys. Sure, they were reduced to comic relief quite quickly, but cruising around in these things? You’d still better hope the droids run out of battery before they get to you.

Lego AAT MOC

You’re gun-gonna love this Star Wars vignette

The Star Wars Prequel trilogy is old enough now that the original target audience’s nostalgia has begun a full-scale reevaluation of how those films are perceived in the culture. And Okay Yaramanoglu has taken full advantage of that to give us this microscale rendition of Otoh Gunga, the underwater city that is home to Jar Jar Binks and his fellow Gungans. While my own perception of Episode 1 hasn’t changed much in the last couple of decades, I’m in love with this build in part because it’s a refreshing change of pace for Star Wars builds. Don’t get us wrong, we here at The Brother’s Brick will never tire of Star Wars content. But, that said, sometimes all the shades of gray in the spaceships or the hues of tan in yet another desert landscape can start to feel a little monotonous. Here, Okay has broken that pattern to capture the unique bubble design of the city and even paired it with the departing Bongo sub, taking a couple of Jedi to Theed to see the queen.

Departing Otoh Gunga 2

Mesa so delicious!

What is worse than being trapped in a submersible with Jar Jar Binks? Being trapped on that same submersible while being chased by a huge hungry predator. This LEGO creation by al is depicts a scene from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in which our heroes (and Jar Jar) are in their Gungan Bongo Sub being persued by a ravenous Opee Sea Killer. It also marks right about the first instance in which I started rooting for the bad guys. There were many others to come. Still, it’s pretty impressive that this builder can cram so much detail into such a small build. It just goes to show that you don’t need a lot of pieces to build something neat and well-detailed nor to wish to wring Jar Jar’s scrawny neck all over again. How wuud!

Opee Sea Killer and Gungan Bongo Sub

LEGO Naboo starfighter – An elegant ship from a more civilized age

Say what you want about the prequel trilogy, but it is hard to deny that the films came with more than a few iconic ships to give the Millenium Falcon some merchandising competition. Koen Zwanenburg was inspired to make a larger version of this ship having acquired a 4×4 Artoo head from a 2017 polybag. The entire ship was built to scale for this larger printed dome. Koen did a masterful job with the sleek lines and the delicate tail section. The engines are made from hollow tipper drums, which allow the thin wings to hold the weight without bending.

Naboo Starfighter

And check out this beautiful head-on view, which really shows off the delicate wings with the large engines that present one of the major challenges with building this ship, which Koen handled like a Jedi.

Naboo Starfighter

The Star Wars Clone Wars unfold on a massive light-up Naboo diorama

Say what you will about the Star Wars prequels, Naboo is a planet that everyone agrees is beautiful. Inspired by its appearance in 2017’s Battlefront II videogame, Belgian LEGO Star Wars YouTuber Axidroid spent eight months building a Clone Wars battle scene in the streets of Theed. With 121 minifigures, with most of them being from the popular 501st Battlepack, there are also custom vehicles such as the Gunships, AAT tank, and AT-RT walker. While large Star Wars dioramas are not uncommon, the 140cm by 77cm size dwarfs the largest LEGO Star Wars set, the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer, which is 110cm by 66cm.

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While the size of this build is impressive, the real kicker is at nighttime. Using Christmas LED lights inside the buildings and street lamps, Axidroid lights up the Theed plaza into a lovely atmospheric scene. The battle droids and clone troopers now look like they’re lined up for an evening festival, and bring the Mediterranean setting of Naboo even closer to home.

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Axidroid even documented his 8-month long build process in a YouTube video series. In the finale below he shows off all the details in the expansive build.

Explore more builds of Naboo here.

Moon racers fight to the finish

Have you ever seen podracing in 1/6th of normal gravity? Thanks to builder Rubblemaker, now you can! In real LEGO high definition!
Podracing on the Moon

With a silent roar, four engines take off through the Sea of Tranquility, blowing up dust clouds visible from Earth. What you can only see up close, however, is the excellent detail work on each podracer. For example, look at the way each Blacktron engine is a sandwich of filters and fins, expertly crafted using flat brick pieces. Also, check out the dirt being blown up behind each pod; it definitely gives you the idea that these pods are flying along the lunar surface!

LEGO reveals 7 new Star Wars sets for late summer 2020 including Galaxy’s Edge and upcoming 2020 advent calendar [News]

LEGO has revealed seven new Star Wars sets based on everything across the galaxy including the films, television shows, a visual dictionary, and even Disney’s theme park land, Galaxy’s Edge. The sets include two brand new ships, multiple desirable minifigures, a few refreshed models, and the 2020 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar. (Spoiler alert: we’ve included photos of the Advent behind the jump at the far end of this article.)

The seven new sets join four other upcoming LEGO Star Wars models already announced earlier this year, including 75288 AT-AT, 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers, 75292 The Razor Crest and 75317 The Mandalorian & The Child BrickHeadz. All these new sets should be available globally starting Sept. 1st.

Click to take a closer look at each new LEGO Star Wars set.

The Star Wars MTT brings the boys (and battle droids) to the yard

With stiff acting, boring political lectures and that abomination known as Jar Jar Binks, there was plenty wrong with the Star Wars prequels. Even as an adult I found myself glazing over when the senators and all the other grown-ups were talking about trade route tariff disputes but then perked up when there were explosions and laser battles. One thing that went well — in my opinion anyway, though yours may vary — is the films’ spaceship and vehicle design. I was not overly disappointed with the look and feel of everything and was in the camp that was impressed by the imposing Federation MTT (Multi Troop Transport). A builder by the name of Just Bricking seems to agree. Reminiscent of a charging bison, this creation expertly captures the complex angles of this unique design.

While the builder didn’t provide a video of this in action or even an interior photo, we’re told that this creation comprises 3,250 pieces and took two years to build. It is a massive 72 studs long, 32 high, and 22 wide. I can only imagine that this has a feature that would unfurl some complex rotisserie to deploy a battalion of battle droids into action like a hi-tech Trojan Horse.