35 replies to this topic

[simonjedi]

7674 V-19 Torrent
Number of Pieces: 471
Number of Minifigs: 1
Price: £49.99

The V-19 Torrent starfighter was an assault fighter with exceptional speed and maneuverability used by the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars.It was a predecessor of the Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighter, in terms of purpose and usage. It first appeared in the Genndy Tartakovsky�€™s Clone wars 2D series.

Basics

Box front:


The box art shows the torrent flying above Tatooine, with the new blue and white �€œclone wars�€� style packaging,

Box back:


The back shows some of the features of the set including the lifting mechanism and adverts for 7679 Republic Gunship, 7675 AT-TE and the 7673 MagnaGuard starfighter


Inside the box, there are 2 instruction books, a very small DSS and 9 bags that are not numbered.

Bags:



Instruction books


Random manual shot


Parts list


Book one is mainly the construction of the body and one of the engines, Book 2 is the other engine and the wings. For better pics of the manual look on lego's website.

Sticker sheet:



A very small sticker sheet is included, which includes 2 republic insignias and a nose sticker.  


Minifigure

One minifigure is included, a clone pilot. The whole "OMG only one minifigure in this set" and  "Its not movie accurate, i hate you TLC!!!11one2" has been beaten to death, so please don't make this review turn into that and to be honest i don't care because its an awesome figure.



TLC have made the effort to print the life support device onto the chest plate so props to them.



He has the "clone head" like the rest of the clones have in the CW releases, there are no extra clone bits apart from a long blaster, that's not included here.

Interesting/other pieces

Printed piece!


Rare/unusual pieces:



there are 2 pistons included, as well as 2 weird looking technic pieces that serve as the landing gear during the build. which might explain why the set is quite expensive, it musn't have been cheap to manufacture them.

The build

It starts off relatively simple, the first 16 steps is getting the basic shape of the cockpit and the mechanism to make the middle wing move up and down.



After that the next few steps are getting the landing gear/wing folding device done, it's actually the same thing so when the wings move into attack mode the landing gear retracts. This is then locked into place by the white beams that form the basic shape of the fuselage.



Up to step 46 is the fuselage, as well as fitting the hydraulics. This is what it looks like when the fuselage is complete. The cockpit is not "air tight", there's is quite a big gap

Top:


Bottom:


The final few steps of book 1 is the construction of one of the engines, here it is attatched :



The yellow bar is not permanent, its used to keep the white bit at the top from moving downwards. The steps are repeated in the second book so that both engines are now in



On to the wings!

First one attatched,


The middle one is attached now:


and finally the last one:


It is now finished!

The pieces that are left:



So, you're probably wondering, how does it enter attack mode? well can you see this bar?



push that bar to the center, and pick it up, the hydraulics move the central wing downwards as well as the side wings to enter attack mode:



The outer wings have flickfire missiles on them, they obviously don't work, but it increases the playability of the set.



The cockpit opens in a similar way to General Grevious's starfighter released last year, using a sliding mechanism



For other pics see here : http://s25.photobuck...eview/?start=20 and i'll be taking other requests for pics, maybe a video of it switching between modes.

Build: 7/10 very symmetrical build, the mechanism to move the wings might annoy some people.
Minifigs: 5/10 1 fig in a £50 set, however it is a starfighter
Design: 9/10 very accurate to the source material, Lego have really made the effort to make the movement feature work.
Parts: 8/10 lots of technic, white and dark red pieces
Price: 7/10 could be slightly cheaper,
Playability: 6.5/10 need to buy some enemy sets to get the most of it, flick fires don't work.

comments, requests, questions and criticisms welcome.

Edited by KimT, 04 August 2008 - 06:48 PM.
indexed and poll added

[KimT]

Erhm...
Where's the review? It would be nice to have a few pics of the V-19 itself and a few comments on it.
Could You please add that?

KimT

[simonjedi]

I'm still reviewing it, the internet broke half way through it

[KimT]

simonjedi, on Aug 4 2008, 05:57 PM, said:

I'm still reviewing it, the internet broke half way through it

The internet broke? That's bad news to all.
Did You push this?

I am eagerly awaiting the rest.

KimT

[Walter Kovacs]

Thanks for the review, simonjedi.  This just re-affirms that the V-19 is my highest priority this fall.  Behind the RGS, of course.  

Is that new printed piece a 2 x 2 Tile?  It looks like an excellent detail part for MOCing.  

Those black pieces used on the landing gear look very Bionicle-like.  If they haven't been used before, I'd suspect they will be.  Not that I'm a Bionicle expert or anything.  

It is a shame that this set only includes one clone.  That seems to be the only drawback to the set.  Everything else looks spot on.

[Tohst]

First, thanks simonjedi for a great review.  I'm interested in what you think of the hydrolics.  I could spend hours just deploying and undeploying the wings and landing gear.  I'm a little worried, the very first batch of the hydrolic piece for, umm, I think it was the off-road 4x4 Technic set, was very fragile and broke after a few uses.  These seem to be holding up but I'm anxious to see if they hold up after 100-200 uses.


quote name='Walter Kovacs' date='Aug 4 2008, 11:47 AM' post='337841']

Those black pieces used on the landing gear look very Bionicle-like. If they haven't been used before, I'd suspect they will be. Not that I'm a Bionicle expert or anything.

[/quote]


Right you are.  They are Bionicle Bohrok head pieces.  So pretty old in Bionicle terms and fairly useless in my opinion but they do make interesting looking landing gear as I deploy and redeploy the wings and landing gear.

Hopefully, we'll get a pilot in the battle pack to help mitigate the fact we only get one here.

-Tohst

[Skipper 24]

The printed part isn't new it came with 10178 motorized AT-AT walker. Also nice review, I would get the set if it was a little cheaper or came with more than 1 fig. Whyhas it got 2 instruction books the set isn't particularly big?

[KimT]

Thanks for the review.
I've added it to the index and added a poll in which members can vote their opinion on this set.
I think this is a very good set. I like the colours and the very playable feature that allows the wings to lock in attack formation. Now all I need is to buy this baby.

Edit: I gave it an Above Average rating, since it's well designed, looks sturdy and fits the SW theme sets perfectly.

[pedro]

Nice review Simon Jedi.

The V-19 has been one of my favourite ships since the release of CWA and this is one of the sets I've been considering most about buying. It's great to see TLG's treatment of it. It looks like no expense was spared making it as aesthetically and functionally accurate as possible - though I think the cockpit windshield could maybe have been slightly bigger, but that's just me I'm sure.

It looks pretty big compared to other starfighters too. Did it take a long time to build?

[bamaker]

Great review simonjedi -- I really like that you included lots of photos of your build.

I put together my V19 Torrent last night, and I was surprised by how heavy the completed ship is.  It has some real heft.  Once it's finished, WOW! it is a really cool ship.  

I was disappointed that the central wing doesn't really lock into place once it flips down.  It just kind of droops there, so I attached a technic pin to the locking arm so it could plug into the 2x4 brick that's on the underside of the starfighter (this brick can be seen in your photo of the bottom of the ship).  

Overall, the build is one of the more confusing that I've seen (I had to dismantle and re-build the first engine after I realized I'd left out a piece) and I kept thinking of the poor 7-year-old that gets this set as his/her very first LEGO set ever.

[parker]

The V-19 was my first TCW set. I buyed it, when i was visiting my father. I just wanted to build it there, and I do so. But how do you will get sth.big like this with in the train?? So I had to destroy him. When I was still home again, I had to build it  3 times, because the mechanic dont works

I only can say that the V-19 is one of the best TCW Sets.

Thanks to you for the review simonjedi , I just wanted to make one in German. But now I needn`t to make it

[simonjedi]

pedro, on Aug 5 2008, 12:29 PM, said:

It looks pretty big compared to other starfighters too. Did it take a long time to build?

It took me 3 and a bit hours to build it, although i had some problems with the technic and i had to take pictures during the build.

[darkrebellion]

Thanks for this excellent review simonjedi   . This looks like an awesome set and this is the set I am most looking foward just as well as the Separatist Spider Droid (7681)   .

[iH Master 13uilder17]

the ability for it to fold in and out of attack position has wowed me. This is my top priority now. Thanks for making up my mind.

[Rayman]

Hydraulic wings! I am very impressed and am now considering getting this set purely because of this funciton. I am just curious as to know why are there sand green parts on the bottom of the V-19. Is it visible when the model is completed? I am also pleased to see TLC giving us a printed cockpit computer this time around.

[slimninj4]

Rayman, on Oct 4 2008, 11:11 PM, said:

Hydraulic wings! I am very impressed and am now considering getting this set purely because of this funciton. I am just curious as to know why are there sand green parts on the bottom of the V-19. Is it visible when the model is completed? I am also pleased to see TLC giving us a printed cockpit computer this time around.

While I do like the functions and they way it is built, I cannot get into this model.  First the price is a bit steep.  I know all the CW sets are expensive but this one just seems more so to me.  I mean there is only 1 fig in here.  Second to me, there is no playability or display-ability.  I gave below average.

[Skipper 24]

In addition to my last comment am I correct in saying that the left over yellow technic part was merely to hold parts together while building?

Edited by Skipper 24, 10 October 2008 - 09:10 PM.

[Rayman]

Skipper 24, on Oct 11 2008, 08:10 AM, said:

In addition to my last comment am I correct in saying that the left over yellow technic part was merely to hold parts together while building?

Yes I believe that the yellow technic is only used for the building. However I didn't find it neccessary. What a strange step...  

[daxflame680]

I built mine today. As soon as I tried to put it in attack position, the thingy rotates the wrong way and it falls apart. What a waste of $55

[simonjedi]

Rayman, on Nov 29 2008, 10:16 PM, said:

Yes I believe that the yellow technic is only used for the building. However I didn't find it neccessary. What a strange step...  

Its to hold the wing connectors in the the same place while the wing is being attached.

[Bricklanta]

Actually we should care that there's only one fig in it since it's kind of expensive (though that's my opinion) , but the ship is really awesome . It's too bad there's not a battlepack that includes clone pilots.

Edited by BRICKLANTA, 30 November 2008 - 06:15 AM.

[darkrebellion]

daxflame680, on Nov 30 2008, 01:03 AM, said:

I built mine today. As soon as I tried to put it in attack position, the thingy rotates the wrong way and it falls apart. What a waste of $55

I suggest you to check again if you put the technic gear in the correct way cause if not than maybe that the problem   . Also, I don´t think it is a waste in my opinion, the ship is very well designed and is actually pretty strong (Or at least mine   ) and the pilot minifig is fantastic even if there is just one of them.

Edited by darkrebellion, 30 November 2008 - 03:17 AM.

[KimT]

daxflame680, on Nov 30 2008, 02:03 AM, said:

I built mine today. As soon as I tried to put it in attack position, the thingy rotates the wrong way and it falls apart. What a waste of $55

No not a waste.
This is one of the best (if not the best) 2008 Star Wars set.
All you need to do is build it correctly

[daxflame680]

KimT, on Nov 30 2008, 10:01 AM, said:

All you need to do is build it correctly

Yes. Yes I do. I'm just kind of lazy. It just didn't work out for me is all.

[Sinner]

I love this set and I gave it "Outstanding". I might note though that the cylinder is just there as a dampener; when disenegaged the wing function still works, just not as smoothly. Interestingly though the cylinder is an old piece, (I have a few others) it's just that this is the first time it's been used without a spring...

I had no problems assembling this set.