[SWBP] – The Star Wars Imperial Shocktrooper Speeder

[sparkart]

This playset is a kind of alternate universe foil to LEGO set 7668 Star Wars Rebel Scout Speeder. The Rebels have little chance of success against three Imperial Shocktroopers and a Supercommando in an armed speeder!

The Star Wars Imperial Shocktrooper Speeder by SPARKART!, on Flickr.

If you appreciate Dark Horse Comics' The Star Wars, you understand the impetus to create this slightly askew rendition of the familiar Star Wars Stormtroopers. The Shocktrooper minifigures in this set are inspired by concept artist Ralph McQuarrie's early drawings for George Lucas's Star Wars, in particular, this illustration.

The Supercommando with the brick-built rocketpack is inspired by the artwork that evolved into Boba Fett. I wanted the rocketpack to resemble the real-life Bell Rocket Belt that would've been familiar to the concept artists in the 1970s, when the nascent Star Wars story and movie was taking shape.

The Star Wars Imperial Shocktrooper Speeder by SPARKART!, on Flickr.

The speeder attempts to evoke the imagery of McQuarrie's sleek speeder bike designs, as seen in the lower right of this picture.

Swoop into the fray with the sleek speeder!

The Star Wars Imperial Shocktrooper Speeder by SPARKART!, on Flickr.

Detach the speeder's rear cannon and create a standalone armed defense point! Fire the spring-loaded cannon!

The Star Wars Imperial Shocktrooper Speeder by SPARKART!, on Flickr.

Deploy the Supercommando with his rocket pack to scout the area!

The Star Wars Imperial Shocktrooper Speeder by SPARKART!, on Flickr.

Instructions available <TBD>, so you can examine, modify, and build this playset. 95 pieces total, 49 pieces for the speeder

Edited May 15, 2015 by sparkart

[Legocity2713]

I love the vehicle, and the shape of the soldiers is cool. Good job. :thumbup:

[LegoPercyJ]

For a LDD, it looks great! The figures look cool, and the speeder too!

[MKJoshA]

This is a great example of a good LDD entry for this contest. Good work so far!

[LegoPercyJ]

Awesome! I was waiting to see the final build, and it looks amazing! Great Job!

[Artizan]

Final build and the minifigures look really cool.

[keiththelegokid]

Hey, Dude it says your images are no longer available.

[MKJoshA]

Your brick build is even better! I really like your figs, though I don't understand why they have lightsabers. Maybe it's because I haven't read the comics.

[sparkart]

Lightsabers seem to have been a part of Star Wars from its illustrative beginnings. Presumably, George Lucas was formulating a space adventure and thought some kinda futuristic melee weapon, like a laser sword would be super cool. In Ralph McQuarrie's early Star Wars illustrations, Imperial troops had lightsabers (and shields!), Han Solo had a lightsaber, Vader had a light saber, etc. Somewhere along the way, lightsabers were reserved for the more elite warriors, Jedi and Sith, but early on, lightsabers seemed to be a more commonplace weapon for heroes, villains, and minions, alike.

Edited May 17, 2015 by sparkart

[Lego Fett]

LDD? That doesnt look like LDD to me?

[MKJoshA]

LDD? That doesnt look like LDD to me?

He updated it from LDD to actual bricks.

[sparkart]

It's a world of laughter, a world of tears,

It's a world of hope, and a world of fears.

There's so much that we share,

That it's time we're aware,

It's a small world, after all!

The Star Wars Imperial Shocktrooper Speeder Mini by SPARKART!, on Flickr.

Yes, it's a smaller version of this battle pack, with the same play features. Ironically, the smaller vehicle model has MORE pieces in it, than the larger mini-fig sized model. That's the funny thing about small models, it's hard to appreciate or imagine that they could be more complicated than larger models. E.g. on the larger mini-fig sized model, the engines are two pieces (there's a fan-like impeller inserted in them). On the smaller model, the same engines are made from four pieces. The large windscreen on the mini-fig sized model is one piece - on the smaller model, it's three pieces.

Edited May 31, 2015 by sparkart

[Praiter Yed]

Nice to see an entry inspired by The Star Wars / McQuarrie concept art. I like how sleek and dynamic your speeder is and the splash of light blue gives it a nice lift. Minifigs are cool too, I'd definitely buy something like this.

Totally off topic: I sort of expected to see lots of really fresh new SW MOCs when The Star Wars comic came out, two man fighters shaped like Star Destroyers and the like, but it just didn't seem to happen. Maybe The Star Wars was less of an event than I thought it was?

[sparkart]

RE: The Star Wars comic, I was pretty jazzed about buying the first issue. That got me back into a comic-book store after years of absence, but I didn't buy any other issues. It didn't capture my imagination or distract me enough from my other nerdly pursuits.