Building the classic TIE Fighter

One of the things I always wanted to own in lego, was a Star Wars TIE Fighter.

These iconic vessels are like storm troopers: masses of them, and they seem to be defeated by the droves...

But the whole design, together with their menacing `screaming` sound, makes them one of the coolest vessels out there, and I had to just have one on my shelves.  I wanted to buy the `regular` version last year, but then the rumours started popping up about the UCS version, so I held bac and waited for that one.

It is set to come out in may and the more pictures I see about it... the more I feel sad I didn`t just buy the regular smaller version... but I doubt I`ll be shelving out 200 for the UCS one.

I did however find this one on ebay last year: set 7146, the classic TIE fighter from Lego... but unfortunatly in all wrong black and blue colours back then.

Popping open the box, we get the instruction booklet and the bags of parts.

The crew are a regular Stormtrooper and the pilot of the fighter, these came with non printed heads back in the days over which the helmets went.

The base of the build is of course the spherical cabin of the fighter itself. 

Now, these are the cool builds of a decade and longer ago, with instructions not showing how many pieces you needed in each step and the likes, adding some more challenge to the build process.

The Ion drive is installed to the back...

... while the canopy closes off the front of the cabin.

The connection points are attached to the sides, and the work on the large wings, which are basically a set of connected and outlined baseplates, begins.

The build is then mirrorred and the wings attached to the body, granting us the typical silhouette of the TIE fighter.

The final part of the build is a pillar upon which you can rest the fighter, but since it is not connected with a slot or pin, this makes a rather wibbly wobbly affair.

The build stands completed, as the small amount of extra pieces is put into sorting boxes.

It`s a TIE fighter, that is for sure, but truth to be told I`m not to happy with it, as it clearly shows it`s age in build techniques, the pillar first and foremost being prone to the vessel falling off.

And then there is of course also the colour issue... but for now, he still has to suffice.