The Lego Star Destroyer Project
(Fact #9: Legos are the coolest toys. Buy some now. Really, go now.)

Day Seven

Several days of rest...then "Day Seven"

Not just one day off, I took several days off. There is a lot out there to distract me from the project. My friend Chris has been telling me what a great game Star Wars: Galaxies is; so I had to buy it and check it out too - it is a great game so far. Don't be surprised if you see content added to my web site about that game (Dungeon Siege has to be taken off the site eventually).

I'm going to shoot for getting the other three body panels on the Star Destroyer today. After completing the first one on Day Six, I've got the pattern down. You have to lay a few pieces out flat in one step and then add the connecting pieces in the next step. This takes a bit of space as you need to keep the loose pieces in place before they are connected to anything.

It said 3X, but didn't show where to put the 3rd one Ran into the first error in the booklet (that I can verify). Three parts are in the inventory, but the diagram only shows two being placed. You can't see it clearly in the photo, but trust me - I "triple" checked it. I compare it with the other panel - they are essentially mirrors of one another - and I don't see where this third piece belongs. Back in the bag the extra piece goes.

I almost gave up on finding this piece. I also have the first real moment where I though pieces were truly missing and I would have to stop the project and contact the folks at Lego. It seemed like a pretty standard piece - thin, dark gray, 4 x 10. I looked through all the bags with similar pieces and came up empty. Finally, I just start turning over all the bags - even the ones that clearly don't have any parts like this. Turns out there are only two of these parts in the entire kit and they are bags with some half sphere parts. Whew, false alarm. Honestly, I don't recall ever having a part missing from any Lego kit I've purchased. There are extras from time to time, but I don't remember ever missing a part.

Can you see me?
Those half spheres sure do hide that dark gray piece well, don't they?

Looking pretty cool!
The engines look much better now. The body panels are making all the difference.

Big Guns! I get to the first top body panel and get to add a bit more "texture": Four top turrets. I do run into some trouble handling the panel. Several times as I'm turning it over it breaks in half. I have not completed the panel's construction yet, so it is still a weak bit of assembly. Plus, I'm not in a situation where I need to be turning it over, I'm goofing off with it - placing it on the frame to see where the outer connectors are going to line up. The connectors that hold the panels at the outer edge are well concealed once it is attached.

Peek-a-boo! Can you see the connectors?
The panel connectors along the outer edge. They blend into the detail very well.

The model is big enough now that there is some play in the parts when you start to line them up and attach them. Normally, a Lego project has everything line up smoothly and there's no question what holes are meant for the pegs. This now is allowing for some error. The magnets are tight, but still loose enough to let the piece slide a bit and make it appear that you can connect the outer frame on the wrong row. Pinch the pieces together and they will click into place, but stepping back to check it and you'll see that the panel is protruding out over the top of the lower panel when it should be lined up. I am spending more time stepping back and inspecting the model as a whole at this point in the project. Can't lose sight of the forest for the trees, or there will be a major error that won't be easy to go back and fix.

I'm not able to meet my goal for the day - only the first top body panel gets added to the Star Destroyer. I'm going to have to add Days 8, 9 and 10 to the project. There is still almost a hundred pages in the instruction manual to cover.

Three-fourths of the way done with the body.
Imagine this in orbit around Geonosha in a construction bay, droids working tirelessly on it's assembly.

...Day Six Day Eight...