LEGO Star Wars UCS 75060 Slave I

[jamilion]

I got mine and modded it slightly. It seemed the designer had gone to great lengths to get 75% of the hull to look movie-accurate, but left the flanks and some other parts with Lego studs visible. I covered them all in flats.

IMG_8127 by jmoledina, on Flickr

Edited April 11, 2015 by jamilion

[H_Solo]

Fantastic picture!

- - -

Great, just ordered a correct sticker sheet from LEGOs CS...

Edited April 11, 2015 by H_Solo

[Lobot]

Hi Jamilion

That's a great photo, the lighting is excellent! Perhaps one day we'll finally get a Cloud City.....

[jamilion]

Thanks Han and Lobot! In the spirit of proper crediting, my 7-year-old daughter helped me build, modify, pose, and photograph the ship. We did two shoots, one at dusk and one at dawn on our roof to get the lighting right. My wife did some color correction to move us from Earth to Bespin.

I would love a Lego Cloud City! Or a decent Master Replicas style one (if such heresy is permitted on a Lego forum).

Edited April 11, 2015 by jamilion

[BrickSev]

I got mine and modded it slightly. It seemed the designer had gone to great lengths to get 75% of the hull to look movie-accurate, but left the flanks and some other parts with Lego studs visible. I covered them all in flats.

IMG_8127 by jmoledina, on Flickr

Great photo indeed

Great lighting, perspective, angle: well done

[jamilion]

Thank you. It was a lot of fun keeping the creative process going post-build and post-mod. Might do some fun shoots with other sets too.

[kiwiatlarge]

UCS set #4 unboxed at home today... Birthday present... certainly the most intriguing of the 4 to date. No way that the Tie can top it, but alas I have to have the Tie with my X-Wing..

[Slurpifier]

The more I look at this ship the more I want it haha! I plan on ordering it on May the 4th, can't wait!

[Anio]

The more I look at this ship the more I want it

The more I look at my 75060, the more the weight of the tail stretches the joint in the middle of the ship. :/

[GallardoLU]

The more I look at my 75060, the more the weight of the tail stretches the joint in the middle of the ship. :/

if you look back a few pages I posted a mod to stop the rattles on the side panels, this has also helped limit the sagging from being on the stand.

[BrickCommander]

Hi LEGO fans!

Time flies - five months ago 75060 came out, and our fellow UCS builder and LEGO Ambassador Anio thought it would be a good time for a follow-up on the interview in the building manual, so he compiled a list of questions which I am happy to answer. Here we go!

Q: Many LEGO designers render models in physical bricks right from the start, but you use LEGO Digital Designer ("LDD") instead. Why? How important is LDD for set development in general nowadays?

Hans: Every designer has his/her own way of working, but later in the development process we all have to "go digital" anyway. I prefer to do so right from the start because it offers many advantages. Building is a lot quicker, changes can be applied (and, if neccessary, reversed) much faster. I don't have to build a fleet of slightly different physical copies, and I am always in control of my budget and which types of elements I use. Slave One looked pretty much the same as the final product after one or two weeks already. I also enjoy working with LDD, although I miss some functionality our internal LEGO developing tools have (like grouping of elements, or moving elements in a controlled fashion).

Q: The skirt of the LEGO Ultimate Collector Series ("UCS") Slave One is dark red and the glow of the engines light blue, but in the movie they appear to be brown and yellow/orange, respectively. Is there a reason for these choices? Parts availability, maybe?

Hans: The engines are indeed orange - when they are on! ;)

Being serious, I remember I was told to change the color of the engines to light blue earlier in the the development process, and Lucasfilm approved the blue engines. Maybe it’s a mistake, or maybe the glow was indeed blue in the 1980 version of The Empire Strikes Back? Who knows?

As for the rest - I used reference material from Lucasfilm and a color guide from a high-quality model kit, so I'm pretty confident that the other details are accurate. Models in movies are subject to lighting which can do funny things to how their color scheme looks. It is a good idea not to rely on "screen-evidence" only.

Parts availabilty is not a big issue – we can make existing elements in new colors if we feel it is warranted. Within reasons, of course.

Q: How did you develop the skirt of the Slave One? Wouldn't new elements like a wedge 4x3 sloped 45, which by the way I would love to see as an element, open a lot of new possibilities?

Hans: New elements other than the new cockpit windscreen were not an option because work on 75060 started late, so I had to deal with the situation accordingly by using existing elements only. Which was fine by me - building with existing elements as far as possible is part of my LEGO design style. In this case though I knew the rear of the ship's skirt/base would cause me a lot of trouble, and I wasn't disappointed! I sketched the shape of the ship in LDD, then made a physical copy to see how much weight I was dealing with and how to make the model stable enough to be lifted. Then I went back into LDD and shifted elements around until things really started to come together. The element you sketched looks really useful and would have made my job a bit easier. But finding solutions without having the 100% perfect shape to build with is part of a creative design process.

Q: In many LEGO models we find parts in colours that seem odd and out of place. I like this a lot because :

a) having a lot of color makes the building process more pleasant and it's easier to find parts

a) it is fun to have odd colors everywhere and see them disappear when the model is complete

b) in Technic (a theme I like a lot), it highlights the workings of a function

On the 75060 Slave One we can find parts in odd colors like 2x6 green bricks and yellow Technic T-beams. Who decides which part in which colour is appropriate for a model?

Hans: As a model designer I am not only in charge of building a pretty model, I also shape the consumer's building experience by keeping the build interesting and reducing room for error. Building mistakes can happen for a variety of reasons, and it is part of my job to anticipate what could possibly go wrong and find ways to prevent it from happening. This means you won’t even be aware of a huge part of my work!

Inserting off-color elements is a great way of surprising a builder and keep him/her focused, it is fun, and if possible I look for elements in rare or new colors to use for this purpose (if they are not too expensive, that is).

Should I fail in this duty, my colleagues from the building instructions department will not be happy and make me change colors of elements during our final model quality meeting anyway. Also, different colors are a good way of making elements easier to find, but with numbered bags this is much less an issue than in the old days when building a Star Wars set meant sitting in front of an ocean of grey elements!

Q: Do other factors play a role, for example which parts are in stock?

Hans: At LEGO we have an "active" element pallette that gets updated regularly: new elements come in, other elements will go out. For designers there usually are no restrictions on the use of active elements. We are talking about a basically unlimited supply of elements here, which is probably a dream come true for any LEGO fan ;)

An exception could be if I were to use a big amount of the same element. In that case the factory needs to know about this so they can check if they are going to have to make a new mould.

Q: Development of the 75060 Slave One started during summer, and the set was released on January 1st. Did the development take just 6 months (which would be quite amazing!), or was it more like 1 1/2 years, which sounds more plausible?

Development of a set always takes about a year, in case of 75060 a little less because of the late start. Keep in mind that release dates of UCS sets are more flexible than launch dates of a whole wave of new product.

Q: Do you prefer working on UCS or retail models?

Hans: For me the process is pretty much the same, only the UCS is a much bigger set than your normal retail set. And there are not more than 2 per year within one IP such as Star Wars, which makes them certainly special! One gets much more recognition for a UCS set, with the designer video, your portrait and an interview in the building manual. Which is very nice especially for a new designer. With playtheme models, after half a year even your own colleagues hardly remember which sets you have done ...

Q: The Slave One is tricky to reproduce in LEGO because of its shapes. Many Star Wars ships that seem easier to make as UCS only exist as playset. Who decides what ship will be made in UCS?

Hans: This is a very complex and arcane process between the LEGO Direct team, Marketing, and our Creative Director. It is like electing a new pope! Of course there are some favorites that are literally no-brainers. The X-Wing comes to mind. Other sets take more of a leap of faith to make. Nobody wants to develope sets that are unpopular. UCS Slave One certainly was a risk. Sure, Boba Fett is a surprisingly popular character, but his ship has very little screen time and features a rather odd shape. But in this case taking a risk paid off nicely: 75060 turned out to be an extremely successful LEGO Star Wars set! It seems consumers appreciate the occasional oddball set if it comes at an attractive price point and is reasonably well made *cough*!

Q: Besides 75060, which other sets have you designed?

Hans: I worked on all 3 years of "Legends of Chima" and joined the Star Wars team almost a year ago, which means that my first Star Wars retail set will release soon. I'm now working on my 6th new Star Wars set nobody outside LEGO has seen yet ;)

But here are some of my Chima sets:

2013: 70005 Laval's Royal Fighter ($39.99), 70012 Razar's Chi Raider ($39.99), 70104, 70109, 70110, 70111, 70112 (Speedorz sets $14.99), Chima Brickmaster book (with Sam Johnson)

2014: 70124 Eagle Legend Beast ($9.99), 70132 Scorm's Scorpion Stinger ($39.99), 70143 Sir Fangar's Sabertooth walker ($39.99)

2015: 70220 Strainor's Saber Cycle ($14.99), 70228 Vultrix's Sky Scavenger, 70227 King Crominus' Rescue ($79.99), 3 Chima Magazin models

Q: During the interview in the instruction book of 75060 you also mentioned that you received help from Anders Gaasedal. Since other designers mention him as well he seems to be some kind of guru. What role exactly does he have? Are there more persons like him at LEGO?

Hans: Anders is a technical coach, working with designers throughout the development process and the model review sessions, focusing on the technical aspects of a model like stability and functions. We designers sometimes get tunnel-visioned, which happens when you are focused on something for a very long time. Anders helps us identify and fix flaws in the construction. He and his colleagues - yes, there are several more - also conduct tests that we designers can't do, like having a robot test a model's function thousands of times over the weekend. But we are always looking to hire more, as it is a very, very specialized job and difficult to find qualified people. If you have an engineering background and maybe even some LEGO knowledge it may be worth to apply ...

Q: Finally: what Star Wars ships would you like to see as UCS in the future?

Hans: As a sucker for capital space ships it keeps amazing me how very few LEGO has released over the years. But then again, the movies have surprisingly few that would make good LEGO sets. Calamari cruisers: boooring. Nebulon-B frigate: cool looking, but a structural nightmare, even worse as a play set. Others are just too obscure and people wouldn't even recognize these ships from the movies.

I hope Disney will put many new capital ships in the new movies. Especially designs pulled from older computer games and such. For decades the Victory Star Destroyer was the recognized predecessor of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, but sadly failed to show up in the REBELS tv-show so far. Otherwise the show is an absolute blast, and I have high hopes for future seasons. I would totally volunteer to make any new UCS Star Destroyer! :)

That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and to Anio for being so inquisitive! I hope you had a good time, and maybe I will meet some of you on the LEGO Inside Tour next week!

Hans

[Lobot]

Thanks BrickCommander, it's always interesting to hear from the designers. I'm really pleased that the Slave 1 has been such a commercial success, although to most OT fans of a certain age it was always going to be one of the sets to own, so perhaps it wasn't that surprising

Q: Finally: what Star Wars ships would you like to see as UCS in the future?

Hans: As a sucker for capital space ships it keeps amazing me how very few LEGO has released over the years. But then again, the movies have surprisingly few that would make good LEGO sets. Calamari cruisers: boooring. Nebulon-B frigate: cool looking, but a structural nightmare, even worse as a play set. Others are just too obscure and people wouldn't even recognize these ships from the movies.

I hope Disney will put many new capital ships in the new movies. Especially designs pulled from older computer games and such. For decades the Victory Star Destroyer was the recognized predecessor of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, but sadly failed to show up in the REBELS tv-show so far. Otherwise the show is an absolute blast, and I have high hopes for future seasons. I would totally volunteer to make any new UCS Star Destroyer! :)

Whilst I can understand about the issues with the Nebulon B, it is possible to replicate in LEGO as demonstrated by both LDiEgo and mortesv, although it's likely to be a higher risk commercially than the Slave 1. I'd really love a new UCS Star Destroyer though, as much as I like the original it's well overdue for an upgrade!

[Anio]

Hello Hans,

Thank you for all these answer. :)

But then again, the movies have surprisingly few that would make good LEGO sets. Calamari cruisers: boooring. Nebulon-B frigate: cool looking, but a structural nightmare, even worse as a play set. Others are just too obscure and people wouldn't even recognize these ships from the movies.

I couldn't agree more regarding the Home One which is basically a flying potato.

Same for the Nebulon-B. Only big fans would recognize that thing which does look more like a building than a ship/vessel.

However, I can see many other vehicles/ships/vessels that are greatly appreciated, well known, and which already exist as playsets : AT-AT, AT-TE, AAT, Podracers, A-Wing, Jedi Interceptor, ARC-170, Speeder Bike, and of course Venator.

*cough* It's been proven they can be turned into UCS *cough*

What is your take on this ?

edit : for those who are not familiar with part names, a wedge 4x3 sloped 45 would more or less look like this :

[Bbafett]

Hello Hans,

Thank you for all these answer. :)

I couldn't agree more regarding the Home One which is basically a flying potato.

Same for the Nebulon-B. Only big fans would recognize that thing which does look more like a building than a ship/vessel.

However, I can see many other vehicles/ships/vessels that are greatly appreciated, well known, and which already exist as playsets : AT-AT, AT-TE, AAT, Podracers, A-Wing, Jedi Interceptor, ARC-170, Speeder Bike, Venator,

*cough* It's been proven they can be turned into UCS *cough*

What is your take on this ?

Love this interview. I like the design of the Republic Attack Gunship for a UCS model. I would think that would be a recognizable ship to use from the prequel trilogy. I have yet to pick up the Slave 1 UCS but I plan on getting it in the next few months.

[Bob De Quatre]

Nice to have this interresting interview. Thanks for taking the time to answer Anio's questions

[Werlu Ulcur]

Really cool interview, thanks for sharing! And just imagine a System scale UCS AT-AT or Gunship!

[YavinBase]

if you look back a few pages I posted a mod to stop the rattles on the side panels, this has also helped limit the sagging from being on the stand.

I added the mod today and it worked great! No more rattling side panels.

[ArchieNov]

Hi everyone. New member here. I just bought my first Lego again after 20+ years and the UCS Slave 1 is what pulled me back.

I really love the look, build, engineering and how sturdy it is. Plus it is also in true minifigure scale.

Anyway, I've had it on display for a few days now and noticed that the wings are drooping a little. They're very close to touching the red parts on the side when rotating. I wanted to ask if anyone else has this issue or if I should be concerned that over time, the Lego rods supporting the wings will warp/bend from the weight.

And is it safe to leave it on its stand over extended periods of time (years) without worrying if the bricks will eventually deform from the weight or come apart?

[Naixin]

I know this was advertised as mini-figure scale but it seems kind of small. Anyone else feel the same way?