Richpepperell

I love the UCS Slave 1, it has been my favourite OT ship since I owned the Kenner 3.75" version back in the early 80s. Unfortunately, my wallet doesn't love the price and with the amount of other Star Wars sets being released, it's not on the horizon. I'm not sure if the UCS is genuine minifigure scale or not (I'm sure someone's done the measurements), but I decided I actually wanted something that might fit more easily into a diorama, so I decided on a MOD of 8097. I was lucky enough to pick up a set without minifigures for less than £50 on eBay, and only needed one Bricks & Pieces and one Bricklink order to get what I needed (mostly bricks from the UCS). Without further ado, I give you the Not-really-Ultimate, Not-really-Collectors Series Slave 1! The main job was re-shaping the dark red bottom 'skirt' which was far too blocky in the original. This made the top/rounded end 2 studs wider, so a bit of fiddling was needed. I lost the flick fire mechanism, but kept the compartment play features as I felt the fit with the aesthetic and purpose of the craft. A bit of greebling on the fin arms made a world of difference. The 4x6 dark red tile with studs on 3 edges (I'm sure it has a name) actually lies a lot flatter and smoother than it looks here. The outline is not perfect, but I'm pretty happy at this scale. The nose guns are pretty much a copied/scaled down version of the UCS. Flight mode, with Boba Fett at the controls. The underside is pretty much as-was. The removal of the flick-fire rack means the interior is actually pretty empty. I've covered the opening with a small 4x6 hatch for now that may become some sort of removable holding cell. One final shot with Boba Fett scouting for his latest prey. No arm printing? Well, that's for UCS only! All comments and suggestions for improvements gratefully received and acted upon!

Loved Solo and loved the Lego sets too. Unfortunately it looks like L3-37 is unlikely to appear in minifigure form, so I had a quick go at a brick built effort. I literally spent a few minutes to get this (although I had been "head-building" it all day. Half an hour of tinkering afterwards and I was still happiest with this design. I did a version with more white (head, arms etc) but the LBG looked better. I also like the fact she has waist articulation. She's a little tall, but at this scale I'm fairly happy. Would love to see other people's versions of the character.

One set sorely missing from the Solo range is the AT-DT walker. I love walker, so I thought I'd knock one up! Unfortunately, official images are pretty scarce and the Solo edition of the usually excellent visual guides is a bit of a let down. Therefore I used some good images of a Hasbro toy as a reference, which I now realise is a bit inaccurate, so some more changes will follow. I'm pretty please with the legs which have 4 points of articulation, so plenty of possibility.

Geonosian with demagorgon legs.

Valkyrie cape for Boushh. I feel like this little thing actually makes a big difference. This was the tan version - maybe I'll get a lighter colour next time to try that too, even though I'm happy with this.

No new torsos yet, so I thought I'd try these legs. Have previously updated all to imperial crew "pockets", but now wonder whether partially-erased spooky boy boots could be the way to go?

It's really bugging me that the pockets on Antilles coat weren't carried on onto the hip piece - I don't like the way they're just cut off. Looks much better with hiker legs though.

For me, season 1 of Star Wars Rebels really hit it's stride in the last few episodes, starting from the crew's attack on the Imperial communications tower in the episode 'Call to Action'. This episode also saw the return of one of my favourite Clone Wars ships - the Coruscant Police Gunship. The Imperial Gunship however removed the dark blue colour scheme in favour of imperial greys. This is basically a recolour of the original set. Although the gunship in the show was a more uniform grey, I decided to break it up a bit. The yellow accents aren't seen on screen, but I felt they helped to tie the craft in with the official AT-DP set and my own ITT MOC. Finally, the windscreen in Rebels is actually not red, but trans-black. I decided to stick with the red as firstly, I like the colouration and secondly, I only have one of the windscreen pieces in that colour! Comments welcome!

There are technic 1/2 pins on the inside of the cylinders with 1x3 plates which keep them aligned.

I'd never even noticed this until you pointed it out. Sorted it now.

I've done a lot of mods to this set, but I'd never even noticed the engine issue before! That's a little job for the morning!

Seen on FB that the Kessel mine worker will be free with purchases of £55 from 30/11. Anyone know if this is definite?

Considering the purposes and target audience for the set, I actually think it looks pretty good. Great minifigures, great printed death Star piece and those wing panels could be really useful - might even be a multi-buy!

L3! Also, are there any confirmed UK prices for the upcoming wave yet?

Looks brilliant - I thought there might have been a Freemaker logo on the front. Good job.

The back of the box shows the sith micro fighter - looks very much like a shirtless Maul. No obvious helmet for Iden in the battlepack though...

It looks great - maybe the first set in a modular death star (I know it won't be - no connecting pins). Love the white utility belt for Luke too! Thinking that would look great on biker scouts.

I rebels it being an expensive wave last time so didn't pick it up, so I'm glad it's back! Also really loving the box art. Hopefully the flood gates are open and this is the first of many new images! I've just seen the new juniors X-Wing too - nice printed nose piece!

Any chance you've got a picture of him? This could be what tips me over the edge on this years advent calendar - just to get that torso!

So which set does the Finch Dallow minifigure come with?

The print from these is easy to remove - I use them for the light grey imperial officer from the death star.

Need to be longer, but these are the only ones I had in red - waist capes for Praetorian guards. https://flic.kr/p/2a2AZds

Haven't played BFII for ages, but aren't there only 3 members of inferno squad? If so who might the fourth figure be? Also hoping we get different torsos for them all. That agent minifigure looks amazing!

Also, remember that time the cantina set had the dude from SpongeBob instead of the Bith? We could still see three helmets or legs! Yoda with the new gunship is a big disappointment - was hoping for an exciting Jedi (not really sure who though!)