AT-AP (#7671)

This is a fun little set from Episode III, the AT-AP (All Terrain Attack Pod). It comes with two shock troopers (red markings), I added the third from my pool of extras (you never know when your troops are going to need reinforcements).


The third leg tucks away underneath the body when it's not being used to stabilize the walker when using the mass driver cannon (the big gun). It is also equipped with a turret-mounted blaster cannon and a smaller laser cannon underneath.


The side door opens to the driver...


...and apparently this guy rides along for moral support and to keep the weapons company.


The top flips up for easy access to both compartments.


There really isn't anything I don't like about this one. Just remember it's not meant for close-range combat, so don't send it into battle without some back-up...

Trade Federation MTT (#7662)

The MTT (Multi-Troop Transport) is a really impressive model with a lot of features and even more droids (16 battle droids, 2 red security droids, 2 blue pilot droids, and 1 destroyer droid).


It has six wheels underneath to give it the illusion of hovering, and is surprisingly easy to maneuver considering how big it is.


Here's a view with all the side compartment doors opened.


...and one with the troop rack extended. There's a little knob on the side that will extend/ retract the troop rack when turned. The door opens as the rack extends (this is my first venture into the world of stop-motion animation).


The control center for the pilot...


One of the cool features is the little mini sled that stows away in the rear of the MTT. It can carry the communications dish as shown here...


...or the weapons rack from the main bay...


...or one of the troop racks from the front.

This one does a fairly good job at evening the playing field for ground battles.

Modified Vulture Droids

It wasn't until the Naboo Starfighter that I realized I could take the vulture droid further than the original design. This is the grand vision they had for the vultures out of the box...



The head snaps on and off... not overly sophisticated.




The brown one in the middle is the one that came with the Naboo fighter. The head is mounted on a swivel and "arms" that allow it to raise and lower. If you're curious, here's how to do it:




Now you too can upgrade your 7256 vultures with swivel heads...

Droid Gunship (#7678)

This one is a fun little set. It had a little screen time in Episode III during the Kashyyyk battle and is part of the Clone Wars line-up. After playing Battlefront II, I expected this to be a little bigger, but this is actually a good size for this model. The cool factor on this one has to be the bombs that drop as you turn the dial on top. The gun mounts on the sides go up and down, plus the ball-mounted guns on the sides of the cockpit are fun too.



The top lifts up for access to the pilot.


Not an overly fancy model by any means, but you really have to have one to fill out your droid army. They needed some air support other than the vulture droids...

Magna Guard Starfighter (#7673)

This is another of the Clone Wars sets, the Magna Guard starfighter (aka. P-38). This one is a cool design and I'd say fun to build, but that's a bit redundant.

I really like the overall design and "swoosh factor". The wings are sturdy and the engine pods are just cool.

The sliding cockpit is a really nice feature. The only drawback with this set (for me, anyway) is there is nothing to really hold the minifig in place, so it gets tossed around the cockpit and can sometimes pop it open a little. It's a little embarrassing to have the pilot fall out during a dogfight.

The engine pods open up, as do the concealed missiles in the rear. It also serves as staff storage for the two magna guards included with the set. This one is a great compliment to General Grievous' starfighter.

Obiwan's Jedi Starfighter

Somehow, I didn't know the Ultimate Space Battle kit was available until it was already gone. That must've been before I started checking the Lego site on a daily basis. It has been the only set to feature Obiwan's red Jedi starfighter (also included were Anakin's yellow fighter, two vulture droids, a droid tri-fighter, and two buzz droids). Obiwan's fighter alone has gone for at least $100 by itself on eBay, so I decided to build it from scratch. The whole kit usually ends up around $250.

I retrofit it to dock with the hyperdrive ring, and will put the droid head on a turntable as soon as I find one in dark red...

Republic Gunship (#7676)

I've been kicking myself ever since the original version (#7163) went out of production. Prices on eBay and Bricklink typically start around $200 and have gone as high as $400 for MISB (mint in sealed box) kits. As much as I love Star Wars Lego (which is a lot), that's a little too rich for my blood. So when I saw on a couple of "leaked" sites they were releasing a Clone Wars version, I started saving up right away. That, and I watched 8 kids for two days (my 4 and brother-in-law's 4 of 5)... totally worth it.

It fixed a couple of the short-comings I felt the original version had. I never did get the original, but I downloaded the instructions and thought (briefly) about building it from scratch. I never did like the way the first version split apart at the front. And this one has cockpits that actually open, instead of having to pry them off.

The view from the front. My only complaint with this one (and it's not a very big one at that) is that it was a little short on the minifigs. It came with Asajj Ventress, Obiwan, Commander Cody, Plo Koon, and a clone trooper. I don't think it would've killed anyone to put in maybe one more clone. As it was, I had to put in one clone pilot and two "star corps" troopers (the yellow markings) for the wings (another shortcoming in the original - couldn't put anyone in the wing 'pods'). The instructions called for a 2x2 flat plate in the wing pods, which didn't hold the minifigs at all, so I put in a grill plate and a 1x2 plate to hold them in place a little better.

A portable bacta tank for those medical emergencies on the battlefield. I also liked the nose art stickers that were available. I went for the Kowakian Monkey Lizard (like Salacious Crumb from Episode VI) holding the bomb. Little-known fact: the writing above his head says "Laugh this off" in Aurabesh.

The mobile command center... kinda cool.

Obiwan and Commander Cody. You can also see the back of Plo Koon's head. The clones have actual faces under their helmets this time instead of the straight-black head. I do like how the side doors close completely, but I kinda miss having the gun pods on the sides.

The rear hatch opens up to deploy the speeder bike. Also a nice touch. Over-all, I have to say this is one of my favorite sets. And yes, I still play with them when no one is looking...

Anakin's Jedi Starfighter (#7669)

I wasn't sure about this one when it first hit the Lego site, but it grew on me. I think part of the problem was this was the first set to feature the new cartoon-ized minifig, which they are using for the Clone Wars sets as well. I'm checking on Bricklink to see if the parts are available to make a red version for Obiwan's starfighter.

It's nearly as long as the 7143 version, it looks a lot smaller for some reason.


I like the larger engines on the back.


Because I just can't leave things alone, I took out R2's eject system and replaced it with posts to hold R2 in place so Anakin can do more aggressive maneuvers, you don't want to be throwing R2 out every time you do a barrel roll. I also lowered the 'bay' a little so Anakin can have a better view. It's important to take these things into account, can't really expect him to fly and not see where he's going...

Clone Turbo Tank (#7261)

This one was a lot of fun to build. I got it off Bricklink at a discount because all the minifigs had been removed. That's okay because I have several clone troopers anyway. The suspension is cool and there isn't any 'wasted space' in the model.

Here's the tank, BARC (Biker Advanced Recon Commando) speeder, and the gun turret. The instructions only called for one jet pack, but I went for two. I'm just wild and crazy that way...

Two clones in the rear compartment...

The pilot at the front...

This is the engine compartment...

The turret is supposed to go inside, but I fixed up a sliding troop platform instead. Really, what's the point of rolling into battle with such a cool tank if you're only carrying four clones (assuming there's one in the 'crowsnest')

A close-up of the troop platform. Eight clones and a generic Jedi.

Sith Starfighter

This one started out as a modified Anakin's starfighter (#7256) based on the Hasbro version. The one pictured here is probably my 4th or 5th variation in my attempt to get it perfect. Once the hyperdrive ring came out (#7661), I retro-fit Anakin's fighter and the Sith fighter to dock with the ring.


I got an extra sheet of stickers for the Imperial Dropship (ordered off Bricklink, I love that place!) for the flaps, which I had to spray-paint black. I also put the droid's head on a small turntable so he could look around (that's important for an astromech droid).


There's Vader...


There are the axels for docking with the hyperdrive ring.

Imperial Dropship (#7667), modified

This modification has no basis whatsoever in the official canon of Star Wars, I just thought it looked cool. Then again, the model itself has no ties to canon other than coming out as a Lego set. I have two dropships, so I decided to tweak one of them. I'm always a lot braver when I have a duplicate to mess up...


This is the original version, unmodified. It's a nice little model, three stormtroopers, one shadow trooper.


Here they are, side by side. I have enough shadow troopers to have four in the modified version (thank you, Bricklink!). I figured that a ship dedicated to the 'special ops' of the Empire deserved to be ramped up a little. Folding wings on the sides, air intakes on the top, and pylons that come out past the cockpit (not sure what they do exactly, but they seemed to fit).


TIE pilot and four shadow troopers...

TIE Interceptor (#6206) - Modified

I ended up with two TIE Interceptors (my philosophy with Star Wars Lego has always been that if having one is good, then having two is great). I got the idea to modify one from the Hasbro Titanium series. According to the Expanded Universe, the Emperor's Royal Guard had a red version of the interceptor.


Here they are together just to show the contrast.


The Lego version and the Titanium version. I came fairly close on the colors.


And the Royal Guard as pilot.

This one was pretty close to a scratch build. The only parts that survived the transition were the grey pieces, black wings, and the cockpit window.

Imperial Star Destroyer (set #6211)

This was Christmas 2006 from my wonderful wife :)

This one is super-cool and takes up almost the whole shelf by itself. There is a lot of detail on the outside. The only drawback I've experienced so far is you have to be very careful when moving it because the bottom isn't very strong. It's fine just sitting on the shelf, but where's the fun in that? I keep meaning to reinforce everything, but keep getting distracted...

This is the front view.


Top view, including the escape pod.


View 1 of the rear...


View 2 with the command bridge access. I don't remember Tarkin ever being on the Star Destroyer (unless you count the closing scenes of Episode III), but it's cool to have his little minifig anyway.


All opened up... the scout troopers in the bay weren't included in the set, I just didn't have anywhere else to put them at the time.


Close-up of the bay...


Darth Vader's chamber. This was cool, the walls fold up and it has the helmet claw from Episode V...


I had an extra Emperor and throne, and there really wasn't anything happening on this side, so I figured it would be a good place to put him. Behind him is the weapons locker with the slide-away doors.