AT-AT (10178) We Are Done!

Well, it happened a lot sooner than I had anticipated. But we finished the AT-AT over the weekend. Admittedly, it was a pretty small build. Just a little over 1,000 pieces. Plus we didn't have any missing pieces that we needed to wait for.

The head proved to be pretty finnicky to build. Mom kept knocking pieces loose as she was trying to put other pieces on. I think this is partly due to the intricate design and the number of small pieces but also partly due to the fact that she wasn't holding on to the most structurally sound parts when trying to attach more pieces. Either way, she got through it, although there were a few pieces that had to be put on more than once.

It's a snug fit in the cockpit area. There is just enough room for the pilot to sit at the controls while General Veers stands behind and calls out targets. Here, we have raised the armor shielding a little so you can see into the cockpit. Mom likes how the blast shielding on the front look like rows of teeth.

The end product is a very nice looking model and surprisingly heavy. We were a little disappointed to find that with the weight, our batteries (which were brand new) didn't last very long. While I didn't time the amount of walking it did, I would say it was no more than 5 minutes. By that time, the AT-AT had visibly slowed down and would sometimes come to a complete halt altogether. If I lifted up slightly on the built-in handle and relieved some of the weight, it would start walking at a normal rate again.

As always, we had to pose our minifigures in an interesting fashion. While the set comes with a string that you are supposed to hang from the underbelly of the AT-AT, thus re-creating the scene in the movie where Luke rappels up the machine, cuts through the belly armor and throws a grenade in, we decided to deviate from this standard display.

We posed Luke and the snowtrooper up on the back of the AT-AT where they are facing off.