UCS snowspeeder mk1

After a night out with friends (novelty!) I got back to building this morning with a near hangover.  A quarter done on Thursday, I finished off the 10129 UCS rebel snowspeeder - the original UCS version.  Another ebay purchase, this one came in absolutely immaculate condition, barring a bit of dirt.  Not a single scratch nor any noticeable yellowing!  

Also, for 1450-odd bricks, this was a fairly quick build.  I made a few colour mistakes as I was going, which necessitated a bit of undoing and that no doubt cost me some time.  I also think I was a bit slow from the wine last night.  Here's the finished product:




First impression is that this feels much more weighty than I remember the newer version being, though they appear to be almost identical sizes.  There are a lot of bricks in the cockpit section, and also in the engine cowls on the wings, which probably accounts for that.  

It's also got a significant amount of detail and I think I like the front panel better on this than on the older version.  For the much more limited brick palette available in 2003, this is an undeniably excellent model.  

It's also much very apparent that the more recent UCS snowspeeder is very much a remake of this one which, in my count, now makes no less than 7 UCS sets which have been redone with more modern bricks but otherwise very similar design and sizing (the Falcon, the X-wing, the Y-wing, the sandcrawler, the Death Star, this and recently R2-D2).  I think in most cases, the improvement is marginal (and indeed I prefer the older Y-wing) and it's only if you're a completionist that you need both in your collection.  


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