X-Wing for the Birthday Boy

Jonny has been asking for quite a few things for his birthday this year. He seems to have some high expectations and a large list of them... One of the things that he has been consistently pleading for is some Star Wars Legos. I am reticent to get him some standard sized Legos for various reasons, including some stubbornness on my part. I asked him if he wanted to get the little Lego sets, or have Daddy make a BIG Star Wars toy. He said, "Both." That seemed a reasonable response. When pressed to choose just one, he said that Daddy could make him one.

Since I will be otherwise occupied closer to his birthday, I decided to start one today. I told him I would build a little X-Wing for Luke, and then a BIG Millenium Falcon for Han. I will probably start on the Millenium Falcon this next week. Stay tuned.

I wasn't sure exactly how the X-Wing would turn out, but I wanted to try to use the Toolos and make rotating wings. It took a long time and experimentation to figure out how. I only figured it out by chance after I had already given up and started on making a fixed-wing version. I realized that the locking mechanism of the Toolos, which has a little slack, would be perfect to allow for the needed motion.


This is the kid version, which is much more stable than the more realistic one. The wing motion is more locked down, and the front is shorter and doesn't include a cockpit. I also included a handle on the back so that the kids can hold that and fly it around. They love it.


Pictures of the more realistic version will be added soon (probably after the kids go to bed).