Imperial Landing Craft (#7659)

Thanks to the Episode IV special edition, the Imperial Landing Craft was introduced to the official canon of Star Wars. It had a few brief moment of screen time in the background as the stormtroopers were examining the escape pod's crash site on Tatooine.


I like this design more than the Imperial Shuttle (#7166). It comes out of the box with a TIE pilot and four stormtroopers (two with the orange shoulder palrons).

Turning the little black knob on the bottom will open or close the wings. That's always fun.

I added four white 1x6 plates to the hinged roof (two on each side) so that all three sections would open at the same time.

The crew compartment detaches from the rest of the body. I figure this is just to make it easier to access the stormtroopers inside, because the ship looks goofy without the crew section. It originally came with two spring-loaded missile launchers, but I took them out to make room for two more stormtroopers. I figured that if the Imperial Drop Ship carried four troopers, the landing craft should be able to carry more. I also sealed up the bomb compartments on the rear. Believe me, no one wants to step on the little bombs on your way to the bathroom late at night.