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The Star Wars Alphabet Project

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the going-where-lucas-has-not dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A ship for every *other* letter in the alphabet. Jon Palmer is creating a Star Wars fighter out of LEGO for every letter in the alphabet (minus X,Y,B,A,E and V). He has about 5 to go. Check out the project on From Bricks to Bothans." I have to admit, some of these look even cooler than the ships created for the newer Star Wars movies.

18 of 385 comments (clear)

  1. Re:S.... by duffhuff · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From the article:
    The LL487 S-Wing is so old it makes the Y-WING look new. The ship has a very mysterious past and little is written about it in the old republic archives.

    So it looks like that because the ship is very old, not because of a cop-out. That still doesn't make much sense (Ships in Eps 1&2 look much different), but maybe that was the style at the time?

  2. Re:Poor guy. by Mr.+Self+estruct · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't think coming online for a few minutes to make fun of a guy is the same thing as devoting your life to make LEGO STARWARS models. Not only put them together.. but design each letter of the alphabet.

  3. Do all those pieces actually exist? by farnerup · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sorry for acting like an old fart, but wasn't Lego more fun when there was a limited number of different pieces in a limited number of colors? Nowadays, the sets consist of like three large custom-made painted pieces that you put together in ten seconds. The point of Lego is that you can build anything from a few simple parts.

    1. Re:Do all those pieces actually exist? by lightcycle · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Ever notice that the lack of build-anything-lego coincides with charts being dominated by brainless lolita pop and one crappy Hollywood movie remake after another being spammed out? Lego isn't the only thing using small numbers of custom-made pieces nowadays. I sense some kind of connection.

      --

      The stars that shine and the stars that shrink
      in the face of stagnation the water runs before your eyes
  4. Re:Wings In Space by p3d0 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I never understood why spacecraft need wings if they are operating outside an atmosphere. However, if they're designed for atmospheric flight they will need wings.
    Have you seen the movies? All the ships can take off and land from the ground.

    Ever notice that the space shuttle has wings?

    --
    Patrick Doyle
    I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
  5. Re:Wings In Space by Sirch · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The reason I mention it is because I haven't seen this type of behavior in other sci-fi fans... Star Trek fans don't flesh out throwaway comments into things of vast significance in the Star Trek universe.

    That's probably because there are (currently) only 5 Star Wars movies (plus one Christmas Special which I haven't seen yet), yet there are something like 10 Star Trek movies (I can't be bothered to actually count), 5 Star Trek live-action series and a Star Trek animated series (I'm not counting the Endor series of Star Wars spinoffs, coz that would be silly).

    The Star Wars fans have much less material to go by, so they have to concentrate their efforts into those outlets. Hence every line is important to them, because it is one of a limited edition of lines in the Star Wars franchise. The Star Trek fans learn Klingon instead.
    --
    We Build Beautiful Websites
  6. Re:WOW! by gabba_gabba_hey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think everyone might be flattering themselves a bit to think that there is a public perception of slashdotters :) .

  7. Difference of opinion. by peterpi · · Score: 4, Insightful
    "I have to admit, some of these look even cooler than the ships created for the newer Star Wars movies."

    Well that's hardly difficult seeing as they sucked ass. X wings and TIE fighters on the other hand looked like they actually had someone engage their brain before making them.

    1. Re:Difference of opinion. by Physics+Nobody · · Score: 2, Insightful

      *sigh*...time for me to be geeky...

      First off, regular TIE Fighters, TIE Interceptors, and TIE Bombers do not have any shields at all. And yes, their armor sucked but that's not the point.

      The standard TIE Fighter is actually an excellent design in its own way. The things aren't that fast, but they are very small and maneuverable and can be a challenge to hit, especially in large numbers. But most importantly, they are simple. They are basically nothing more than a cockpit, lasers, and engine. They are most likely incredibly cheap to build and maintain, and because of their small size you can pack a lot of them into a star destroyer. Thus you can overwhelm your enemy with superior numbers. In large packs TIE Fighters are extremely deadly.

      The Empire almost certainly does not place a high value on the lives of its pilots, which is why they get away with this sort of design. People are expendible. The only thing strange about the movies is that so few TIE Fighters are actually used in most engagements. I mean, look at the final battle in episode 4. You know that Death Star is packed full of TIE Fighters, but they only actually send out a handful to fight the rebel fighters. Maybe they were just overconfident.

      --

      Physics is good

  8. Re:All from the top and side... by Cyno01 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Y-wing from the top, A-wing from the top and i guess the B-wing looks like a lower case 'b' from the side, but i think thats stretching it a bit.

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  9. limited fun by No+Such+Agency · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The basic lego bricks may be ideal for very young children, but once you hit 6 or 7 you get very frustrated by the fact that there are no fighter canopies/big wheels/flexible hoses etc. Fortunately, in my case that was exactly when Lego started to produce more of these parts (I had a spiffy train set with quite a few specialized parts). The "old" parts were still useful of course, it's all about balance.

    I agree that they have gone a tad overboard on the specialized parts in recent years, but the Star Wars line actually uses a lot of the old basic bricks, simply because they're needed to replicate the arbitrary shapes of the SW universe vehicles. I bought several SW Lego sets and they're loaded with great simple parts.

    --
    Freedom: "I won't!"
    1. Re:limited fun by turgid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Even with those fancy new pieces, the thirst for more reappears. Technical lego ("Technic") was so cool in my day. I used to love building cars, cranes, tanks etc. When I was 11 I built a 4-wheel-drive car (3 differential gears!) with a 3-speed gearbox, rack and pinion steering and independent suspension on all four wheels. It was so big and heavy, and had so much friction, the poor little electric motor could barely push it along. I didn't have suspension springs, but I did improvise with rubber bands. Those were the days. Shortly after, my parents banned me from playing with Lego because they said I was too old.

      --
      Stick Men
    2. Re:limited fun by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 4, Insightful

      >> Shortly after, my parents banned me from playing with Lego because they said I was too old.

      Your parents need a dope slap. Firstly, 11 is not too old to be playing with Legos, and secondly, to ban a child from playing with a toy is just wrong. What the hell were Mom Unit and System Dad thinking?

  10. Re:Wings In Space by mblase · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I never understood why spacecraft need wings if they are operating outside an atmosphere.

    If you look at the ships, the wings are clearly not intended for aerodynamics. Their main purpose is to carry guns, and expanding the X-wings turns two gun turrets into four.

    But they look like wings, and they're shaped like wings, so you may as well call them wings.

  11. Re:Poor guy. by RickHunter · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah. I mean, at least this guy's being creative and enjoying himself! In my book, that's far, far more worthwhile than sitting on Slashdot and mocking other people's hobbies.

  12. Re:Wings In Space by gamgee5273 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The Falcon is a freighter - it isn't designed for planetary flight (though it can take off and land), but rather hauling stuff to and fro. It just isn't a good ship to have on a planet.

    Same with the Slave I - no real wings (those flaps are supposedly a gravity stablizer/gyro of some sort) and I doubt Boba or Jango could properly fight with it on a planet.

    The ships with wings seem to be designed specifically for flight in an atmosphere or in space. Thinking about the video games, the only ship without traditional "wings" that I've used in an atmosphere is the Y-Wing (maybe those massive engines make up for that). Or the car, if you've played Rogue Leader with the cheats... ;)

  13. Re:Poor guy. by joebok · · Score: 2, Insightful

    When you are 40, and all you do every day is come in to work, grind away for the corporation, go home too exhausted to play with legos or anything else is when you really have to step back and take a long hard look at your life.

  14. Re:Poor guy. by JebusIsLord · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What the hell does that have to do with anything?

    The Spice Girls have some bling too... does that make them creative geniuses as well?

    --
    Jeremy