Review: 8099 Midi-scale Imperial Star Destroyer

Set ID: 8099 Midi-scale Imperial Star Destroyer

Number of Pieces: 423

Year of Release: 2010

Minifigs: 0

Purchased Price: About SGD68

There are a few Star Wars vehicles that I will personally regard as "classic". And by that I meant you can instantaneously recognise the vehicle when you lay eyes on it. Being able to name it will make you a fan, being able to recall which scene it appears in the movie will admit you to the Star Wars Fanatic Hall of Fame. The Imperial Star Destroyer (ISD) is definitely in the league of a "classic". At least to me.

To make a classic Star Wars vehicle easily recognisable in LEGO form is never an easy task, given that they are made of "bricks" and therefore lack the versatility to replicate the original fully. At only about 20 cm in length, it is even more challenging to perform a miracle. An example of a failure was the first generation Sith Infiltrator (7151), while this set, on the other hand, has hit the right note in terms of proportion and details.

A total of three Imperial Star Destroyers (ISD) were produced in the LEGO Star Wars range - The  3000 plus pieces 10030 UCS ISD released in 2002 (What a beauty!), 6211 ISD released in 2006 which is a playable version with the team of minifigs and this. Lacking in size and minifigs, it will still be popular with collectors of tight budget and of limited shelf space. With only 423 pieces, it is almost an impossible mission to recreate the grandeur and details of the ISD. However, kudos to the LEGO designers who manage to pull this off by clever improvisation of standard bricks, e.g. using the binoculars brick for the laser guns on the upper deck.

Building Experience

Opening up the box revealed bagfuls of grey and dark grey bricks. Not a surprise given that these are the theme colours of the ISD. Those of us who build LEGO often enough will know that the colour representation on the instruction manual is hardly spot on. Under dim lighting or reading off a reflection, you can easily mistaken a dark grey bricks with its grey counterpart. Throw a few more black coloured ones and it is enough to drive you nuts. That was the case for me when building this set, misreading a grey 3X2 for a dark grey one. The result? Having to backtrack a fair bit to retrieve the wrong brick. But if you manage to follow the instruction to the T, this is definitely a 1.5 to 2 hour effort.

Basically the building starts with a skeleton in the middle, followed by 4 panels (2 on top and 2 below) of pretty similar proportion. 3 after burners and the iconic T-shape bridge completes the vehicle. The rear burners are fixed onto a diamond shape panel that only loosely fit to the body of the ISD. How loose? They are connected by just 2 studs. Yes, 2. Try not to muddle too much with the rear if you do not want to deal with an 'engine failure'.

The Look

The best way to appreciate the this ISD is to look at it from a short distance away, roughly an arm length. Too close and those studs of the bricks will start to mess with the aesthetic. Too far, well, you will not be able to see some of the details on the ISD. If the ISD is a sandwich, then my favourite view will be to peek at the filling. There is a sense of "organised mess" at this level, with the dark grey bricks seemingly put together in a random fashion but represent somehow a sense of sophistication and advancement of the ship.

This ISD also comes with an integrated inverted T-stand at the bottom and provides a stable frame to display the vehicle. There are also enough details put into the design of the belly, reminding me of the scene when the ISD majestically flew overhead with the camera panning from below it. I did mention that the ISD is a "classic", didn't I?