An Excess of X-Wings!

[icm]

When I was a kid wasting time browsing Brickshelf, I always liked X-wings most.  I had a mental list of custom X-wings I liked best and I wanted an X-wing just like them.  But I wasn't willing to break up my sets to make a custom X-wing like the amazing ones on Brickshelf, so I never got one.

As an adult wasting time browsing Flickr, I always like X-wings most.  I have a mental list of custom X-wings I like best and I want an X-wing just like them.  But I'm not willing to break up my sets to make a custom X-wing like the amazing ones on Flickr, so I'm never going to get one.

Oh, what the heck.  It's been 20 years now that I've wanted a super awesome custom X-wing so I should just go ahead and get one.  I'm an adult now.  I don't need to ask anybody's permission, I should just do it.  Show that I can get something done in my life, even if it's as unimportant in the grand scheme of things as a silly little Lego build.

But there are so many good ones!  How can I pick just one!  Obviously I should make my own custom design that takes all the best parts of the best models and corrects the worst parts.  But that would take a LOT of hard work and trial and error ... a friend of mine built his very own custom X-wing design in 2018 and it consumed him for months.

So, like a fool, I spent money instead of time (though time is money) and just, um, built them all.

(Though I'd note that there are at least a dozen more great X-wings on the internet that I'd also like to build .... )

Full Flickr album here:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/149520828@N02/albums/72177720298365006.  I apologize for the bad photography, I don't have a light box or a nice place to take pictures outside.

1. My very own little T-65 X-wing, based on a childhood makeshift (1998ish, 2021)
   This one is an idealization of the makeshift X-wing I built as a little kid without a lot of parts, either before or shortly after the first set came out.  I remember using the 4x9 wedge plate in red to form the nose, and using that shape of windscreen in trans-light blue with that top hatch, and that I used 2x6 plates for the wings.  This takes the concept of that old childhood build and makes it like an actual retail set.  It's about the same size as the 4+ X-wing sets, though not quite as simple.
    
2. My very own design for a T-65 X-wing retail set circa 1983
   This one is all mine!  It bears no debt whatsoever to any other X-wing ever made.  It's my impression of what an X-wing set would have looked like if it had been released in 1983 to tie in with Return of the Jedi, instead of in 1999 to tie in with The Phantom Menace.  Some molds come from as late as 1987, but it seems fair to me to imagine those molds being made in 1983 for this set, since the 1999 set used an awful lot of new molds.  The canopy uses sticker strips cut from unused sticker sheets.  I really like the brick-built R2-D2.  The contemporary finger hinges are too weak to hold the wings up or down on their own, so pneumatic tees are connected to modified plates and sandwiched between 4x1 hinge plate assemblies.  They swing in and prop the wings apart when they're open, and rails near the top and bottom of the aft fuselage prevent the wings from opening too far.  A 2x2 plate at the base of each lower wing provides enough clutch power to keep the wings together and level when they're closed, but not so much that the wings are hard to open.  Like any 1983 set, this uses the Classic Space landing legs, and the contemporary Classic Space canopy works really well for the X-wing - so well that Dan Nelson used it independently in 1997 and Mike Psiaki used it again in 2011.  This is much smaller than most custom X-wings, but it's still a very substantial size for swooshing and play, and it feels like a good size relative to the minifig.  It's got a spacious cockpit and it's easy to get the pilot and droid in and out.  It's also very close to the size of contemporary Lego spaceships in 1983, 1985, and 1987, so it's not too large to imagine as a 1983 set.  So yeah - there are many custom X-wings out there, and this is my humble contribution to the field!
    
3. Dan Nelson T-65, 1997

   This is actually 98% My Own Creation, but I'm crediting Dan Nelson because it's heavily inspired by Dan Nelson's childhood makeshift X-wing circa 1997.  This is my imagination for what an X-wing set would look like circa 1997 if it had been released to tie in with the Special Edition movies rather than with The Phantom Menace.  I've swapped out some old molds that are now very expensive on Bricklink for their modern counterparts - which mostly means swapping finger hinges for modern 3.18mm clip hinges.  I really like the brick-built R2-D2.  There's room for storage accessed from a hatch on the rear fuselage step, like in Dan Nelson's version - a rare feature in custom X-wings.  The canopy framing is white strips cut from unused sticker sheets.

   
4. Mark Chan T-65, 2001

   Back in the old days of Brickshelf, when the world was young, this was an X-wing I really admired.  I still think it's pretty neat, nice and sturdy and detailed, but its proportions are a bit off.  As with all the other X-wings, I've swapped some old molds for new ones in this build.  Mark Chan posted an all-new fully modern X-wing to Flickr in 2018, but I actually don't particularly like that one, so I made no effort to copy it.

   
5. Niko T-65, 2003

   This one is a very lightweight and simple X-wing, mainly notable for not having upside-down lower wings.  The proportions are bad and it can't fit a complete droid, but it's lightweight and sturdy, so it's good for swooshing.  It's notable that Mark Chan, Niko, and Bruce Lowell all posted their X-wings with simple nose taper before Lego released the set 4502 with simple nose taper, just as fan-built X-wings used 4w cylinders for the engines long before Lego finally used them in set 75218 in 2018.

   
6. Bruce Lowell T-65, 2003

   Back when Brickshelf was the leading place on the internet to post your Lego creations, before Bricklink was as useful and well known as it is today, Bruce Lowell's X-wing was the best!  It was copied as widely in its day as Mike Psiaki, Tom Loftus (Inthert), or Jerac's X-wings have been, in no small part because like them, Bruce Lowell posted step-by-step instructions for how to build it.  For instance, David Low's excellent "Minifig Collector Scale" X-wing from 2006 is, upon close inspection, a lightly modified Bruce Lowell, so I chose not to build that one.  This one is bigger than Mark Chan and Niko's X-wings, but not quite as big as Brian Tobin's, and smaller than any modern X-wing.  The build is very sturdy and has excellent proportions and detail.  The hexagonal profile and detailed greebling of the aft fuselage was unsurpassed for eight years, until Mike Psiaki posted his famous X-wing in 2011.  As with other old X-wings in this collection, I've swapped some old molds for new ones.  The problem with this X-wing is the wing opening geometry - opposite wings don't line up very well, so it's not a very convincing X.

   
7. Brian Tobin T-65v3, 2004

   Brian Tobin continuously upgraded his childhood makeshift X-wing from 1983 until 2001, but never managed to get the wings to actually open!  His is the most prominent old "big" X-wing I can find pictures for on the internet.  The last Brian Tobin X-wing was this one, which was heavily inspired by set 4502.  As with other X-wings in this album, I've swapped out some old molds for new ones.  I've also included a very large cargo space behind the seat for Luke's Dagobah camping gear, which is a rare feature for custom X-wings.  The problem with this model is that the wing geometry is altered from the 4502 set such that it no longer works!  The wing jacks get caught on the engine cylinder pieces and are unable to open the wings.  You have to open the wings manually and rotate the wing jacks between them.  Also, the rubber bands aren't strong enough to hold the wings open and closed with this geometry, so the wings flop about a lot.  I copied the geometry faithfully though, so I guess Brian Tobin's build must have had the same problem.  Despite its flaws, Brian Tobin's X-wing was one of the best on the internet between 2004 and 2011.  This is the largest of the pre-2016 X-wings, but still smaller than any modern X-wing.

   
8. Mike Psiaki T-65v3, 2011

   When this X-wing appeared in 2011, it made an earthquake in the AFOL community.  It wasn't the first X-wing with true center-pivot wings, but it was the first one to have true center-pivot wings and complex nose taper, and its use of the old Classic Space canopy was ingenious.  Thanks to Mike Psiaki's generous posting of full instructions on Brickshelf, this was the most widely copied X-wing from 2011 to 2016.  Various adaptations used the windscreen from set 7140 or the windscreen from set 75102, or turned it into a T-70.  It's a little smaller than modern X-wings of the latest generation.  The canopy uses strips of white sticker material cut from unused sticker sheets.  Unfortunately, the nose is a little fragile.  The geometry isn't exact, so it takes a little persuasion to stay there.  I don't think anybody is building Psiaki X-wings anymore: the key parts for the build, the hinge plates that form the side of the nose, cost me $6 each on Bricklink.  Ouch!

   
9. Jerac T-65v1, 2018

   Jerac's original T-65 has set the standard for the last four years, with good reason.  Although it's fragile during construction, it knits together very well and is surprisingly sturdy afterwards - except for the lower aft fuselage step and the 4w engine cylinders.  Unfortunately, the lower aft fuselage step is so fragile that it's hard to grip the model near the center of gravity, and the 4w engine cylinders have such a fragile connection that you can't open the wings to their full range of motion without having one or more engine cylinders pop off.  (I can't anyway.). The greebling on top of the aft fuselage leaves something to be desired too.  It's so shallow that I don't find it very convincing.  The retractable landing gear works well, but the hinges are inadequately supported and prone to detaching unless treated very gingerly, and it's a bit tricky to reattach them.

   

    

10. Koen Zwanenburg T-65, 2019

    Koen Zwanenburg posted the Studio file for this on Eurobricks for a few days, but he removed it after Brick Vault complained that he was affecting their sales of the instructions for Jerac's 2018 version.  In fact, the build is completely different.  The brick built Red 5 stripes on the wings are excellent.  The 4w engine cylinder mounts are much improved, so the wings can be opened to their full extent, which is wider than on the Jerac model, without losing anything.  The aft fuselage profile is a much nicer hexagon.  The lower aft fuselage and aft fuselage step are much stronger than on the Jerac model, but at the cost of losing the nice SNOT tiled underside.  The landing gear doors are simpler and theoretically stronger, but I still end up having to take them off any time I want to get the landing gear out, so it doesn't actually end up much better than the Jerac model in that respect.  The nose construction is much simplified, with no attempt at achieving the subtle bank of the sides; instead, they're straight vertical.  The nose cone isn't attached to the nose side panels with Mixel joints as in the Jerac model, but is mounted on a rigid pole extended from the cockpit.  This theoretically should make the structure simpler and stronger, but in practice it makes it much harder to assemble and much more fragile when assembled, because the parts remain under high stress rather than having flexible joints that accomodate the stress. The big cylindrical bases of the wing guns are modified from Marshal Banana's modified Jerac X-wing.

    
11. Chris Ehnot T-65v3, 2020

    After Tom Loftus's (Inthert's) revolutionary T-65v2 in 2016, Chris Ehnot was the first to post a fully modern X-wing with the windscreen from 75102, paneled/tiled nose sides, and 4w engine cylinders.  He revised his build over three years - this is copied from his version 3, posted in 2020.  Like Koen Zwanenburg's model, this one has wings that open wider than Jerac's without popping off the engine cylinders.  Though it looks similar externally, the build is completely different than in Jerac v1, Jerac v2, or Koen Zwanenburg.  It's distinguished by several subtleties of shape compared to those.  Baby bows are used on the bottom of the fuselage to suggest the subtle angles on the bottom, where the filming model is in fact not flat.  The wedges beside the engine cylinders are more smoothly integrated into the wing and have a subtle edge above the plane of the wing as on the filming model.  Behind the engines, there are the little jigsaw-tabs that are almost always omitted on custom X-wings.  The upper aft fuselage has a nice depth of greebling, and has the small, limited 45-degree sloped edge that characterizes the original ANH filming models, but which is lacking from the full-size model used in the ESB Dagobah crash scene and from the Special Edition CGI models.  Because Chris Ehnot's model has no rear landing gear, it can have four complete engine cylinders for a better look underneath.  The modeling that connects and smooths the junction of the aft fuselage and nose is very detailed and subtle.  Unfortunately, this is also the most fragile X-wing model in the collection, such that it can hardly be touched in order to take photographs.

    
12. Jerac T-65v2, 2022

    Jerac's T-65v2 is the best X-wing of the lot.  It's amazingly sturdy, unlike all the other fully modern X-wings with the post-2015 canopy part and 4w engine cylinders, and easy to build too.  The nose knits together very well, and the line of panels on the side is completely level and unstepped, unlike on the Jerac T-65v1, the Koen Zwanenburg, and the Chris Ehnot models.  The worm gear box is amazing.  It holds the wings steady as a rock when open and when closed.  The back engine extensions are held on very steady.  The Ninjago sais and candles work very well to simulate the flashback suppressors at the tips of the laser cannons and the varying diameter of the gun barrels.  It's easier to get the pilot in and out than on the previous model, and the droid.  The bottom of the forward fuselage is covered better than on the old model.  Most importantly, the aft fuselage step, which was previously very fragile, is now much simplified and completely solid, and the 4w engine cylinders, which previously popped off tremendously easy, no longer do, even though the wings open wider with the new mechanism than they did with the old version.  The greebling on the top of the aft fuselage is also much improved, and there's even greebling on the sides of the fuselage between the wing jacks!  Also, there's added greebling inside the wings on the engine "shadows", and representation of the "greeble panels" at two stations along the wingspan.  The rear landing gear is now fully supported, so the hinges won't pop off if you press down on them too hard.  While some subtleties of shape are lost on the lower aft fuselage compared to the previous version, the tailcone has the proper subtle 7-sided shape for the first time.  The visible gaps on the sides of the nose cone leave something to be desired though.

    
13. Jerac T-70, 2022

    This is nearly unmodified from the Brick Vault instructions, with just a couple small color swaps on the nose.  It's a surprisingly easy build and very sturdy.  The nose knits together extremely well.  The worm gear mechanism for the wings is amazing.  They hold their position steady as a rock either open or closed.  The visible gaps on the sides of the nose cone leave something to be desired though.

    

     

14. All of them together!
    I don't have enough room to take a really well-staged fleet shot, so this will have to do.  By the door: Chris Ehnot 2016-2020.  On stands: Jerac T-65v2 2022, Jerac T-70 2022.  Left column, front to back: my 1983 set concept, Dan Nelson 1997, Niko 2003, Brian Tobin 2004, Jerac T-65v1 2018.  Right column, front to back: my little X-wing 2021, Mark Chan 2001, Bruce Lowell 2003, Mike Psiaki 2011, Koen Zwanenburg 2019.
     

 

[ForgedInLego]

Wow, this feels like walking through a museum!

[TeddytheSpoon]

It's fascinating to read through the different evolutions of x-wings over the years. This is almost a history of the LEGO online community and some of its main characters which I love, going from Brickshelf, Bruce Lowell et al through to the present with Jerac and Flickr. I agree with @ForgedInLego that if feels like a museum exhibit, so thanks for going through the effort with the information! Props to you for building all of these at once as well!

[Schneeds]

Amazing post.  Shout out to the Psiaki, I built one a few years ago  :)

[AlexGdD]

Lovely collection ! Thanks for sharing all the information - a very interesting read !

[Jerac]

This would look lovely on an exhibition! I like the detailed description of each model. It is amazing how the same subject, in roughly the same scale, can be done in so many different ways. It kinda disproves the claim that "each new x-wing is the same!" 
I can recommend two more models: from dmac and fukusaku. They both have their own distinct styles and would be a nice addition to the collection!

[MAVERICK26]

Wow, what an effort to compile each one! Amazing job.

[Brick-Wombat]

This was a fun trip down memory lane.

[Feuer Zug]

Great rundown on the MOCs from various builders over the years.

[Themiddlebrick]

Amazing post! Really informative and shows just how far designs have come, especially in the last few years. I would love to see a couple more modern mocs in comparison as well. 

[icm]

@Jerac This would make a pretty good convention exhibit, but there aren't any Lego conventions in my state this year that I know of.  The closest one is about seven hundred miles away and shortly after the beginning of fall term, so I won't be going.

@everybody who's replied, thanks for your comments!  One of the reasons I like X-wings so much is precisely because they're sort of a standard subject that reflects the development of new parts and techniques exceptionally well.  When you see so many builders tackling precisely the same subject (Luke Skywalker's Red 5 X-wing from Episode IV) at very similar scales over more than twenty years, you can really see the diversity of building techniques and the versatility of Lego as a system.  You don't get quite that same sense of ongoing development in less, shall we say, repetitive lines of sets or of fan builds.  And inasmuch as Star Wars has been a huge part of the online Lego community since the early days of the internet, it is (as TeddytheSpoon says) almost a history of the Lego online community and its main characters.

This is probably about as much custom building this year as my wallet can handle, since I buy MOC parts separately from sets instead of breaking down my sets for their parts.  You'll notice that I have several X-wings from 2001-2004 and several from 2016 on, but only one in between; the gap pretty neatly covers my Gray Ages.  So if I were to build another dozen or more X-wings, I'd make sure to include several from my Gray Ages.  I wanted to include a list below of all the other X-wings on Flickr, Brickshelf, and Rebrickable that I might consider building in the future, but I'm having trouble entering long lists so it's probably for the best that I don't.  I should be doing something besides writing a Eurobricks forum post right now!

[Mandalorianknight]

This is really something special. Your own modifications are good of course, but the amount of time it must have taken to compile all this information is an achievement in itself. This is a great museum exhibit style post.

[JACKATTACKS]

This has been a really interesting read through, thank you for taking the time to craft such a well-written piece!

[AyeMatey]

I just finished the Jerac v2 and it is an amazingly complex and wonderful build. So much nuance, and feels like it should fall apart but is so solid. Nice write-ups.

[Sucram]

These all look great, first one is my favourite 

[JayCal]

Amazing stuff man! I can remember the cewl build-offs I had with Bruce Lowell back then. If you need one more for your collection, here's my 2001 version: https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=2989

Ps. I'm still pretty proud of my old at-st model from way back... Considering the limited amount of parts we had 😉. Very nice to see your commemorative display!

 

[icm]

1 hour ago, JayCal said:

Amazing stuff man! I can remember the cewl build-offs I had with Bruce Lowell back then. If you need one more for your collection, here's my 2001 version: https://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=2989

Ps. I'm still pretty proud of my old at-st model from way back... Considering the limited amount of parts we had 😉. Very nice to see your commemorative display!

 

Wow, nice to hear from someone who remembers when the Bruce Lowell model was the one to beat!  I could have sworn I knew every old X-wing on Brickshelf but I guess not - I’ve never seen yours before! Since it was a digital build way back in 2001, I don’t suppose you still have the LDraw file for it? I’d love to take a closer look at your take on the ship in Studio.

[JayCal]

I'll have a dig through the old archives :-)

 

[MAB]

What a collection. They would look even better all hanging from the ceiling!

 

[icm]

@MAB That would look super cool, but then how would I swoosh them?  I'm a big believer in swooshing spaceships.  Plus I don't want to even think about hanging the Koen Zwanenburg and Chris Ehnot models, they're already so fragile ....

[Elephant Knight]

Impressive! What's most impressive is you had them all built at once! I wasn't sure if that was the case until I saw the final photo. 

You've got more than enough for a full squadron! Reminds me of the time I made a full 12 X-wings, coloured to those in the X-Wings book series (The ones that actually mentioned the colour scheme. I took creative liberty with half of them.)

EKnight

[icm]

Oh wow. That is also an Excess of X-wings, isn’t it? (I’m coining that word as the official term for a grouping of many X-wings, like a group of crows is called a murder). Except they’re all the same build in different colors, instead of all different builds in the same colors. Yours is another older X-wing design I’ve never seen before, mind if I copy it? (But probably not for a couple of years). Later in your Star Wars Flickr album you have a great big Imperial base that reminds me of the great big Hoth rebel bases that I used to see on the FBTB forums way back when, I was so jealous of those Internet strangers that could afford whole fleets of X-wings. Guess I had to be like that when I grew up. Now if I could handle the next step of growing up, meaning buying a nice little two bedroom house on a quiet street ….

[Elephant Knight]

17 hours ago, icm said:

Oh wow. That is also an Excess of X-wings, isn’t it? (I’m coining that word as the official term for a grouping of many X-wings, like a group of crows is called a murder). Except they’re all the same build in different colors, instead of all different builds in the same colors. Yours is another older X-wing design I’ve never seen before, mind if I copy it? (But probably not for a couple of years). Later in your Star Wars Flickr album you have a great big Imperial base that reminds me of the great big Hoth rebel bases that I used to see on the FBTB forums way back when, I was so jealous of those Internet strangers that could afford whole fleets of X-wings. Guess I had to be like that when I grew up. Now if I could handle the next step of growing up, meaning buying a nice little two bedroom house on a quiet street ….

Yup, the X-wings are my own design. It definitely got tedious building the same MOC 12 times, even in different colours. I also later did a larger version. Big Imperial base is based more of off playing the Dark Forces games than anything else.

[icm]

2 minutes ago, Elephant Knight said:

Yup, the X-wings are my own design. It definitely got tedious building the same MOC 12 times, even in different colours. I also later did a larger version. Big Imperial base is based more of off playing the Dark Forces games than anything else.

Building the same design in so many colors, did you have to paint any parts?  It looks to me like a lot of the parts on your older Corran Horn version are painted, but it's hard to tell.

 

[Elephant Knight]

1 hour ago, icm said:

Building the same design in so many colors, did you have to paint any parts?  It looks to me like a lot of the parts on your older Corran Horn version are painted, but it's hard to tell.

 

Nope, no paint was used. A bit of sharpie and some tape was used on Tycho's for the black stripe, but that was it.

Eknight