Slave I (75060) - Final Thoughts

We finished up Slave I sometime at the end of October, if memory serves. Overall, it was a pretty fun build. There were definitely a lot of unique colors and pieces used (which pleased mom to no end). There were a few areas that I wish were secured more rigidly to the vessel - one that comes to mind are the bumpers along the front edges of the ship. These are held on with only a few studs and tended to come off when bumped or nudged trying to pick up the ship or hold it when placing other pieces. Luckily, they were as easy to re-attach as they were to dislodge.

The ship has a lot of detail - likely due to the fact that it really is a set where all angles are visible in display/flight position. As you can see, the belly of the craft has a significant amount of detailing, representative of the complexity of the thrusters on Slave I.

The vessel - not surprisingly - has an array of weapons that Boba Fett can engage with the flip of a switch or the toggle of a lever. Missile and rocket pods are typically hidden flush with the body of Slave I but pop out to engage targets as required. There is an additional set of laser cannons at the bottom end of the vessel that is not visible in this picture.

The set comes with 3 mini-figures. Boba Fett (who is in the cockpit and thus not visible) as well as a stormtrooper and a Cloud City trooper. As with all UCS sets, it also has a descriptive placard that provides the details and specifications of the ship.

 Overall, this is a very nice rendition of a classic vessel from Star Wars. There were some areas that were challenging to build - always a nice way to exercise both finger and mind dexterity. Mom was definitely a fan of the different colors and textures of the ship as well as the very unique shape of it. She calls it the "turkey drumstick".

Slave I (75060) - We aren't dead ...

So I have been terribly remiss in updating our blog. Things just happened, life came along and updating just kind of fell by the wayside.

We did, however, manage to finish off Slave I, so here are a few pictures of the latter stages of the build. Here we've got the bottom hull all finished and have started on the lift mechanism for frozen Han Solo. The wings are also both on.

In this next series of shots, we have completed the cockpit area which seems like a very comprehensive command center for Boba Fett. His entire flight console and seat pivots so that he is always facing the action, whether the ship is in its docked position, flight position or somewhere in between. Surrounding him on both sides are blasters attached to holders in the wall so that is never more than arm's reach from a weapon.

Here we have started on the mechanical pods to the sides of the cockpit area that house the motors and other components that power the vessel.

Slave 1 (75060) - Mom Freaks Out

Another 1.25 hours spent building last night and we managed to get most of the way through chapter 5. We did a lot of work to the underside of the ship, where the engines are and got to work with a few new colors (much to mom's enjoyment and pleasure). You can see the light, transparent blue engine thrusters in the 2 circular and 1 rectangular sections.

However, the most enjoyable (at least for me) aspect of the evening was after mom finished putting together the circular engine frame. That's the piece right underneath the rectangular engine in the picture above. It's got the two curved wings on the side that kind of encircle the outer edges of the round engine thrusters.

Anyway, that piece is supposed to be symmetrical down the center. Well, somehow my mom managed to build it such that one arm was longer than the other. Not noticing this, she very proudly proclaimed how beautiful it was and how clever she was to have finished it. Of course, I had to burst her bubble and asked her why one arm was longer than the other. She looked at it, shrieked and said very loudly WHY WHY WHY?

It's not nearly as funny in the re-telling as it was in person, given how proud she was of building the piece. And NO, I am NOT being mean by laughing at her!

Slave 1 (75060) - I Have Nothing Witty To Say

Despite wracking my brain, I could not come up with a witty and catchy title for this post.

In more interesting news, we finished Chapter 4 last night and got part way through Chapter 5. Chapter 4 was dedicated to building the rear base of the ship. The finished product looks a lot like the front end of a very fancy car.

Chapter 5 finishes off some detailing on the base pieces and then joins them up. We finished for the night after attaching the two halves.

So far the build remains very solid. One of the reviews on the Lego site said that pieces kept falling off during the assembly process, but thus far we have not experienced this at all. It's possible that as we move outwards and start building the outer details and the weaponry, we may get into this situation.

Slave 1 (75060) - It's A Lobster Crab!

We were very productive last night, finishing both chapters 2 and 3. The ship is starting to take shape now and is recognizable as the back end of the vessel.

To me, it looks like a hybrid between a lobster tail and a horseshoe crab. The overall shape is like the crab but the way the armor plates are tiered is reminiscent of the shell on a lobster tail.

The set, so far, has been very sturdily designed. Already, the piece we have put together is quite heavy. And with the solidness of the build, you could give someone a good whallop on the head with it.

Of course, mom was ooohing and aaahing with all the dark red she was getting to build. Admittedly, this is definitely one of the more colorful star wars sets, as most of them seem to be comprised primarily of dark bluish gray, light bluish gray or black.

This build also seems to be easier so far. We are certainly moving through it at a pretty rapid clip. It's only taken us 2 hours to get to this stage. As mom says, we better slow things down a little as this is a hobby that is not cheap!!

Slave 1 (75060) - On To The Next Project!

With the quick completion of our AT-AT, we had to move on to a new project (of course!). I've had this set sitting in my closet for a few months now and we figured it was time for it to get some attention.

Mom picked this one up - she was drawn in by all the color and by the unique shape. I am, of course, referring to Slave 1. It's another Star Wars UCS set and will look very nice beside our Super Star Destroyer.

We cracked it open last night and dove in, managing to finish off the first chapter before calling it a night. We decided we would track our build time this go around, just to see how long it takes us.

The instruction manual is pretty hefty. Once more, we were annoyed with the fact that it is a glue spine and not a coiled spine. This makes it impossible to lay flat, particularly if you are trying not to crease the spine as we were. Secondly, the paper that they used has a gloss finish, which had the annoying tendency of catching the overhead light and casting a glare into our eyes. We had to move the book around to different angles to overcome this. Thirdly, they decided to use a dark gray tint on each page, which made the pieces harder to differentiate at times. I think the message is that simple is still best! Plain white, non-glossy paper would have been the best way to go. It might not look as fancy but it sure would be more user-friendly. The money saved could go into making all the manuals coil bound instead.

Anyway, with that little rant out of the way, below is a picture of the finished product from Chapter 1. It's not much to look at - in fact, I am not entire sure which portion of the ship it is.