Death Star (75159) - Starting on the Walls

With the floor of the 1st level done, we next started on the walls. With these starting to go up, you can definitely begin to see the spherical shape of the death star as well as get an idea of the scale and size of the set.

We also started filling in some of the background details in some of the scenes - ladders, weapons racks, etc.

 Here we can see the beginnings of the "swinging across the shaft" scene with the platforms that Luke and Leia swing across in order to escape from the pursuing stormtroopers. The stickers on the long vertical pieces are a nice touch as they do a decent job of recreating the lighting panels as seen in the movie.

 The top down view gives a sense of just how small the base is compared to the upper levels.

Death Star (75159) - First Floor Structure Complete

This is definitely not mom's favorite build. She's never been a fan of builds that are primarily one color and certainly not when that color is gray or shades of gray.

The floor was constructed in quarters, with each quarter panel being affixed to the base as it was completed. It wasn't until we went to attach the last quarter that we realized we had offset the other 2 by 1 stud!!! So we had to rip them up and fix everything - mom was not a happy camper (though hopefully she will be a more careful camper in the future hee hee).

Attaching pieces to the base is not a simply prospect. Because the base is so much smaller than the upper floors (at least until we get past the mid point of the death star), it tends to tip quite easily. When attaching pieces, you need to push down on the opposite side of the structure to ensure you don't flip the entire piece over.