Prologue
This
is truly an iconic starfighter together with the X-Wing Starfighter. Below is a
cover
art of the set. Like most Lego Star Wars sets, it features minifigures
galore that are stuffed in sometimes with no reason at all. There is only a cockpit for the TIE Fighter but we get 4 minifigures as well like the X-Wing.
The Complete Build
The
build was not tedious and repetitive, the whole fighter consists both sets of the wings and the centre piece with the cockpit. Here is the full frontal view of the set.
Here it is with the cockpit raised where a cramp cockpit houses the TIE pilot. The fighter console is sadly not realistic at all and just consists of a red translucent flat grille tile. The top printed piece is a nice addition to an other wise quite featureless TIE Fighter.
The rear looks slightly funny, like a bee's bum but I think we can let that one get away. Maybe they could have used a dome piece instead.
Here is a side shot of the TIE Fighter. The wing panels look quite awesome.
Finally here is a scan of one of
the last few pages of the instruction manual showing notable features
of this set. Which is not too much I am afraid. It is the TIE Fighter after all. Just 2 wing panels jammed into the cockpit sides flown with an expendable TIE pilot.
Final Thoughts
This
set was bought when Bricksworld had their annual 20% discount on sets
together with the Lego 9493 X-Wing Starfighter. It is not as exciting a set as the Lego 9493 X-Wing Starfighter. So the question then comes, is it
worth buying? I have looked around the internet on the reviews for the other revisions and I must say this is really a significant improvement
over them. The only weakness of this set is that at a certain angle there is a gap between grey and the black edge of the wing panel. I think if budget
allows, get this to complement the 9493 X-Wing. The colour scheme in this set are
more representative of the TIE Fighter as well, instead of the black and blue of the previous version. I leave this review with a 3/4 view picture
of the whole set.
Prologue
This is truly an iconic starfighter together with the TIE fighter. Below is a cover
art of the set. Like most Lego Star Wars sets, it features minifigures galore that are stuffed in sometimes with no reason at all. I mean come on, this one has 4! There is only a cockpit and a droid bay on this starfighter. Of course some would not complain since the minifigures are usually very detailed and well done though somehow one cannot shake the feeling that they are throwing them in to simply jack up the price of a set.
The Complete Build
The build was not tedious and repetitive although both sets of the wings need to be build in mirror image of themselves. Here is a 3/4 view of it in the attack mode. Had to perch it on a box to show it in this mode.
Here is a frontal view of the set. The overall design is quite good considering that Lego bricks are generally quite angular whereas the X-Wing Starfighter has some subtle angle here and there. I do love how the engines and lasers look. The front of the starfighter is not too badly recreated in this set as well.
Here is a close up of the inner wing and cockpit. The mechanism to open apart the wings is not too noticeable except it is rather colourful.
The mechanism used to close the wings are by means of 2 sets of rubber bands. That kind of spoils the overall profile of the X-Wing but I guess for such a small set, there is no better way to do it effectively. The X-piece is turned in order to open up the wings.
Finally here is a scan of one of the last few pages of the instruction manual showing notable features of this set. Which is not too much I am afraid.
Final Thoughts
This
set was bought when Bricksworld had their annual 20% discount on sets together with the Lego 9492 TIE Fighter. It
is a fun set to own and certainly a person would want to hold it in attack mode and swoosh it around. So the question then comes, is it worth buying? I have looked around the internet on the reviews for the 2 other revisions and I must say this is really a significant improvement over them. Even if you own the previous 2 versions, I think if budget allows, it is justifiable get this set together with the TIE Fighters to do aerial combat with each other. The colour scheme in this set are more representative of the X-Wings, it is the core of the Star Wars franchise and most of all, it looks quite good on its own as a display set as well. I leave this review with more pictures
of the whole set in swoosh poses no less.
