Subject:
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4x2ReVu: B-wing at Rebel Control Center
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.reviews, lugnet.starwars
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Date:
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Thu, 13 Jan 2000 17:01:08 GMT
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Viewed:
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1850 times
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The war ended more than a year ago. Ceremonies were held, medals were awarded
and most of the men went home to their families, but not Aram Andrus. Sole
survivor of a hundred skirmishes, he saw too many friends die at the hands of
the Imperials to ever go back to a life of ease. At the last battle near an
Endor moon, Aram stayed in his ship and kept right on flying when the call came
to return. Since then he lives to track down the Imperials going into hiding.
A skilled pilot, decorated hero, and now a relentless hunter. In his
personally modified B-wing fighter, Aram has come to be known as the "vengeance
that never sleeps"!
I was originally not very impressed with the Lego Group taking on Star Wars
vehicles. In my "purist" attitude, it seemed like the company had sold out.
But with the increasing purchase of the new sets, I'm quite glad that the step
was taken because it has breathed new life into the design of spacecraft (like
the 7144-Slave I or 7150-TIE fighter and Y-wing) with a lots of useful pieces
for alternate possibilities. The 7180-B-wing and Rebel Control Center is no
exception.
The set is composed of the B-wing craft and a small construction/station. The
station didn't look like much on first sight but really comes alive upon
assembling it. The front of the station is made up of two doors that manually
slide apart and can close again (kind of like those cheesy doors in old Star
Trek episodes). The interior room is made up of a control chair and a view
screen with a rear portal (without sliding doors) for exiting. The whole unit
isn't entirely enclosed and in fact can fold out into a three-part façade.
It's a very simple structure but I quite like it. This structure also comes
with a small maintenance vehicle and trailer that looks like some sort of hover
craft. The front half of this vehicle features a hinged, extending arm (like a
miniature cherry-picker) in order to do whatever it does.
The B-wing itself is of particular design. The pilot sits in a snug cockpit
which functions like the axis of a wheel. A single wing stretches out from the
cockpit like the spoke of the wheel. This single wing extends to the right of
the cockpit (in landing position). A short distance from the base of the wing
two more foldable wings are housed on the top and bottom of the main structure.
In flying formation, these additional wings extend up and down from the main
appendage giving the entire wing the shape of a lowercase letter T. Also in
flying formation, the entire wing assembly can rotate all the way around the
cockpit (I assume for maneuverability purposes). Blasters are set near the end
of each wing and thrusters are located near the base of the wing where it
connects to the cockpit. Incredible design!
Alternate models pictured at the end of the instruction booklet include a
variation on the station design, three one-man stilt-like walker contraptions,
and two kinds of aircraft (the last of these including 5-step
instructions/suggestions for assembly).
Two figures are included: a pilot in a red flight suit with a grey helmet and
yellow visor (hey, how long has it been since we saw a yellow visor?), and the
standard tan suit-and-cap technician. A short bi-ped astromech is also
included here, he's white with red highlights (though I would love to have had
different colored highlights such as green or orange). A toolwheel (hammer,
screwdriver, drill, etc.) is included for minifig accessories along with a
hand-held circular saw.
The set is loaded with great building pieces (mostly plates) with lots of
unique parts including: black rod-and-brick blaster elements, 4x6 dark grey
wedge plates, tan 1x2 plates with toothed/click hinges mounted on top, a 4x6
dark grey brick that slopes on the short sides, two green 1x2 bricks with a
cross hole running through the center, a charcoal-tinted conical windshield, a
1x4x3 transparent panel that is preprinted and a blue 1x6 brick with
click-hinges on each end. Whew!
I went into this purchase with a positive attitude (the set was fifteen dollars
less than I thought it would be) but had no idea what a great deal it is. For
the great assortment of parts and well-done models, I'm proud to pronounce it
an eight-stud model!
!!!4x2ReVu Stats!!!
Rating: Eight out of eight studs.
Thumbs up for: Very cool ensemble set with a great principal model design and a
neat add-on station structure, all at a reasonable price.
Wallet-Wise: $30.00 suggested U.S. retail for 338 pieces.
Date: 1/10/2000
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: 4x2ReVu: B-wing at Rebel Control Center
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| Joseph Gonzalez <hsadm2.jgonzale@ema...ate.ut.us> wrote in message news:FoA9xw.1HE@lugnet.com... [snip] (...) dollars (...) For (...) it (...) and a (...) I have not yet purchased this model but I have examined the box in stores and it looks like a (...) (24 years ago, 13-Jan-00, to lugnet.reviews, lugnet.starwars)
| | | Re: 4x2ReVu: B-wing (slightly off topic)
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| In lugnet.reviews, Joseph Gonzalez writes: <snip> (...) <snip> According to the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, ( I haven't read a thorough B-wing history anywhere else) The B-wing starfighter was designed as a heavy weapons ship whose primary function (...) (24 years ago, 13-Jan-00, to lugnet.reviews, lugnet.starwars)
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