X-WING STARFIGHTER
SCALING UP A STARFIGHTER
Design Manager Michael Lee Stockwell reveals how the LEGO Star Wars design team got back into the cockpit to create the biggest X-Wing Starfighter yet
Words: Kat Rees-Jauke
SHIPS AND STARFIGHTERS of all shapes and sizes can be found throughout the Star Wars galaxy. Whether it’s a Star Destroyer looming in planetary orbit or a podracer zipping through rocky canyons, each one has its own unique silhouette that makes it iconic.
Possibly the most iconic, aside from Han Solo’s trusty Millennium Falcon, is the X-wing. An essential part of some of the biggest galactic dogfights, X-wing fighters have helped to acquire the Empire’s secret plans in Rogue One and take down the Death Star in A New Hope. They are a familiar sight across the movies and streaming series, and while X-wings may get different paint jobs or slight modifications, the essential classic trilogy design has stayed the same.
That can’t be said for the numerous LEGO versions. X-wings debuted all the way back in the first wave from 1999, and while they were blocky and simplistic, they did capture the key details – including the S-foils that make the fighter so distinctive. Capturing the details is what the LEGO designers have been trying to improve on ever since, especially in the Ultimate Collector Series (UCS).