10143 UCS Death Star II

[Lobot]

'The Emperor interrupted Vader's contemplation with a cackled remark to Luke. "As you can see, my young apprentice, the deflector shield is still in place. Your friends have failed! And now..." he raised his spindly hand above his head to mark this moment: "Witness the power of this fully armed and operational battle station." He walked over to the comlink and spoke in a gravelly whisper... "Fire at will, Commander."'

'A thick beam of light slowly pulsed from a long, heavily blockaded shaft. On the outer surface of the completed half of the Death Star, a giant laser dish began to glow. Luke watched in impotent horror, as the unbelievably huge laser beam radiated out from the muzzle of the Death Star'

All finished!! It's been quite a challenge, but worth it

[DFOL]

Congratulations on a job well done Lobot, it looks awesome!

I have to admit part of me is a bit sad the project is finished now, because i always looked forward to seeing the next update and now there won't be any more. But i do want to say a big thank you for making us all part of the building experience, i enjoyed it very much! You wouldn't be planning on any other huge projects, would you?

[Lobot]

Congratulations on a job well done Lobot, it looks awesome!

I have to admit part of me is a bit sad the project is finished now, because i always looked forward to seeing the next update and now there won't be any more. But i do want to say a big thank you for making us all part of the building experience, i enjoyed it very much! You wouldn't be planning on any other huge projects, would you?

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I just might be.....if I can source 7 rare parts that I'm currently trying to track down. It will be another UCS, there's a clue buried in the sell/trades if you're interested

[-DoNe-]

Now this was quite a project!

[quidditys_shore]

superb job!!!

what was the hardest bit? this is one of the sets i want to do myself (along with 10179 falcon, 10178 atat, 7191 x-wing & 10030 destroyer).

have you do this before with bricklink? i'm thinking of doing 2 or more at a time just to get all the same bits for each set at once. dont know how well that'll work out or not as i guess i'll be waiting a fair bit to finish them all! LOL

[Masked Builder]

You know, this looks better in your pictures than LEGO's.

[DFOL]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I just might be.....if I can source 7 rare parts that I'm currently trying to track down. It will be another UCS, there's a clue buried in the sell/trades if you're interested

Ah, exciting! No luck on bricklink getting the parts you need?

[mortesv]

Way to go Lobot!

This was indeed an awesome undertaking, and thanks for the funny progress reports

As a fellow Death Star owner, I am curious to see what measures you intend to take making the model more sturdy. I haven't done anything to make it more robust myself, but my guests are getting tired of being told to "move VERY slowly" when in the room

Oh, a quick note: even if you consider the DSII to be 160km in diameter, the "scale" Executor is still way too big, please fix that

[aminster85]

I have also thought of remaking the Death Star II from Bricklink, but never got around to pricing it out. Really neat to see it done for a reasonable price!

[Lobot]

superb job!!!

what was the hardest bit? this is one of the sets i want to do myself (along with 10179 falcon, 10178 atat, 7191 x-wing & 10030 destroyer).

have you do this before with bricklink? i'm thinking of doing 2 or more at a time just to get all the same bits for each set at once. dont know how well that'll work out or not as i guess i'll be waiting a fair bit to finish them all! LOL

Most of the parts are readily available, but it was difficult to find enough of them! I copied the inventory from Bricklink & saved it in Excel, and kept a running total of the parts that I'd ordered and received. Using this method I only ended up ordering 2 parts that I didn't need! Try to order as many parts from one supplier as possible as the postage costs are significant. Some of the orders I made included parts for another couple of projects I'm working on, and it's a good way of making up minimum orders (or you could always increase your minifigure collection if needed ).

You know, this looks better in your pictures than LEGO's.

Thanks! I can't take any credit for them though, it's the camera. I recently purchased a EOS 550d; it's 18mp & each file is 6-8mb, all of the photos are reduced by 86% to keep the mods happy!! It's just a shame that we're having such a rubbish 'summer' in the UK as the light has been awful

Ah, exciting! No luck on bricklink getting the parts you need?

The parts I need are available on Bricklink but the only seller with any decent numbers is in the US and doesn't ship to the UK I've managed to find a very helpful US EB member who's offered to order them for me, in exchange for a few minifigures, so it should be possible...I'm going to wait until these arrive before I make any serious orders!

Way to go Lobot!

This was indeed an awesome undertaking, and thanks for the funny progress reports

As a fellow Death Star owner, I am curious to see what measures you intend to take making the model more sturdy. I haven't done anything to make it more robust myself, but my guests are getting tired of being told to "move VERY slowly" when in the room

Oh, a quick note: even if you consider the DSII to be 160km in diameter, the "scale" Executor is still way too big, please fix that

Thanks I'm really surprised how much it 'twists' on the stand Why didn't they use the thicker technic beams with the studs on one side? They could be covered in tiles to make them look a bit less prominent. I'm rubbish at modding so I'll leave this to other, far more talented, EB members

[quidditys_shore]

Most of the parts are readily available, but it was difficult to find enough of them! I copied the inventory from Bricklink & saved it in Excel, and kept a running total of the parts that I'd ordered and received. Using this method I only ended up ordering 2 parts that I didn't need! Try to order as many parts from one supplier as possible as the postage costs are significant. Some of the orders I made included parts for another couple of projects I'm working on, and it's a good way of making up minimum orders (or you could always increase your minifigure collection if needed ).

well i've took the plunge! as i really fancied making this death star i've gone for doing this & the 10030 star destroyer (as they share alot of the same colours so thought that might make it easier) i've just ordered the most pieces i can get in one go (around 600 for £20 + P&P).

i've never used excel since i was at school though. doesnt bricklink automatically adjust what you need after you've done an order? is there an idiots/dummies guide to using bricklink?! LOL

[Jim]

well i've took the plunge! as i really fancied making this death star i've gone for doing this & the 10030 star destroyer (as they share alot of the same colours so thought that might make it easier) i've just ordered the most pieces i can get in one go (around 600 for £20 + P&P).

i've never used excel since i was at school though. doesnt bricklink automatically adjust what you need after you've done an order? is there an idiots/dummies guide to using bricklink?! LOL

My experience is that using BrickStore is the way to go. You can import part lists from sets. You can edit the lists and export the wanted parts to Bricklink.

The easiest thing about Brickstore is that you can import Bricklink orders and deduct the parts from your wanted list. After that, clear your Bricklink wanted list and export again.

In my humble opinion this is way better than using Excel.

Brickstore is your friend!

http://www.brickforge.de/software/brickstore/

Another great thing is that Brickstore can lookup the average price of the parts you need. So you can see instantly which parts will set you back the most. Or which parts are rare, because of the high price.

And my experience is that you can also order used parts. I used to order only new parts, but most used parts are perfectly acceptable. Will save you a lot of money, on parts and maybe on the number of orders, thus shipping costs.

Edited July 15, 2012 by Gekke Ted

[Jim]

Btw, I was wondering the same thing; can Bricklink deduct parts from your wanted list, based on the orders you placed? Would be a nice feature.

[kr-lik]

So... I started my own DS2 bricklinking... I guess I didn't pay much attention to important things as I only used bricklink and tried to find stores in Poland (since I'm in Poland) which carry the most lots I need.

at this moment I'm about 115 pieces short (3326 bought). had to replace 4 of them (couldn't find the right color) and so far I paid around 1600 PLN which is more or less 380 euro (0,12 per piece). Most of the bricks I bought were NEW but right now it's hard to find the amount I need in stores...

I think I overpaid atm (especially looking at the 225 pounds ;) ) but then again it is my first bricklinking attempt on such big model.

[drdavewatford]

Oh man - reading your account brings back memories !

Not the most exciting build ever, but an ingenious design, and the finished model looked a lot better than I expected.

It's also surprisingly robust - if you take the inverted dish off the top you can grab the top of the Technic frame and carry the model around quite easily with one hand.

Well done Robin for a good read !

Cheers,

Dr. D.

[Lobot]

Thanks DrDave, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I'm still looking for another big project, but after finishing the 10179 Falcon recently there isn't much else I can do.... Unfortunately, there's some really rare parts in the Blockade Runner, Y-wing and Star Destroyer which makes them un-viable and I don't think that I'm brave enough to attempt cavegod's superb UCS AT-AT

[drdavewatford]

I don't think that I'm brave enough to attempt cavegod's superb UCS AT-AT

Oh go on - you know you want to ! It only took me 11 months....

;-)

Dr. D.

[henning1010]

I'm still looking for another big project, but after finishing the 10179 Falcon recently there isn't much else I can do.... Unfortunately, there's some really rare parts in the Blockade Runner, Y-wing and Star Destroyer which makes them un-viable and I don't think that I'm brave enough to attempt cavegod's superb UCS AT-AT

Hi Lobot, I just finished the Star Destroyer. It can be done at a reasonable price with only minor changes. I bought 2573 in black (1 € compared to 50 € for each ). Yes, it is a flaw but acceptable (for me). Still thinking about coloring them.

And, I got 30342 in dark grey. For me that is really good solution. The rest of this beautiful ship is completely in lbg.

Go for it, it was a lot of fun.

Did you think about trying 10129, that was fun, too.

[Brickdoctor]

I would go for 10030 next, too, even if the cost makes it take longer. I've only once seen it in-person, but it's always struck me as perhaps the most impressive of the official UCS models. (I think it was in '02 that there was one of those oversized catalogs and it had a full page spread of 10030; that's always stuck with me.)

[Brickdoctor]

Sorry, wondering a bit off topic here.

I'll split these posts off into a thread about Bricklinking 10129, since that appears to be your project and not Lobot's.

[Robert_88]

I was also brave/crazy enough to "bricklink" the 10143 UCS Death Star II (from scratch). :) It was a great project and this thread inspired me! Thanks a lot!

Edited July 13, 2013 by Robert_88

[kr-lik]

I was also brave/crazy enough to "bricklink" the 10143 UCS Death Star II (from scratch). :) It was a great project and this thread inspired me! Thanks a lot!

how much did you manage to spend on it ?

[Robert_88]

how much did you manage to spend on it ?

More than 225 Pounds :-) I don't know it exactly but I think as much as you did. 95-97 % of the parts are new but I replaced some expensive internal parts. I also replaced the lbg/lbg levers and used lbg/black levers.

It was the first time that I used bricklink so I guess it is possible to save a few euros!

[inashu]

Simply amazing! well done!

[Lukasguy]

Nearly a year has past since the start of bricklinking my UCS Star Destroyer. Time has gone by, but not the awesomeness of this model. It still stands strong and hasn't started drooling yet.

But enough of this. I'm back with another post about bricklinking a retired lego ucs set. This time I'll bricklink the lego death star II.

The conflict of whether I should just buy the play death star model 10188 or the ucs model 10143 is finally over and 10143 has won.

If I could still buy the play set at Lego I might have done that but now that it's retired and the prices for a sealed one are starting to go up.

While my ISD was partially build from pieces from my other sets, I'll fully bricklink this set (except for some small pieces like studs).

Some rare pieces which form the inside structure will be bought a different color to reduce the price.

I'm about to place my first order but I still have some questions to people who also bricklinked this model:

The piece count for the 2x8 light blue plates is 260 on bricklink and rebrickable, but it's 200 on brickset and some other places. Is it 200 or 260?

The new bricks and pieces selection now let's you buy a max count of pieces as there are in the set, and it also says 200.

Does anyone know where I can find the prices for the pieces on the new bricks and pieces page?

I can only see my cart but not the cost.

Last question I promise:

While I had fun building the ISD in front of my pc, I would like to have an instruction manual too. Does anyone know a cheap and good way to get this?

Thanks for reading, have a nice holiday.