I've had these books for a while now, and currently, I've only made one of them so today - since I had some free time - I decided I would make another one and document the process of doing so.
Here's A Link To The X-Wing I Made About 3 Months Ago.
What It Comes With
Here's the book. Within is a bunch of cool information about the AT-AT, as well as the model itself.
When you open the book, you're presented with this sleeve containing the model itself and as you can see, it shows all of the other models made by this company that you can collect.
Currently, I have 4 of the Star Wars ones, but I'd really like to pick the other two up as well. Those are the Death Star and the TIE Fighter.
Here is what you're presented with when you open the pocket.
I looked at the instructions, and while I thought the AT-AT would be complicated, it actually seems pretty straightforward.
The book is full of tidbits of knowledge about these vehicles and I'm delighted that it came alongside the models, rather than just giving you the model itself.
The book that comes with the model is really interesting, and it shows detailed schematics of the vehicle, as well as screenshots and factoids from the films.
I love these small details, and what each part of these fictional vehicles are. I remember watching a cool documentary about the Model Makers behind all of the ships and at one point someone said that George Lucas told them that everything has to have a reason for being there. Each vent, cable, or pipe has to lead to something and not just be thrown around because it looks cool.
I imagine that this mindset allowed the model makers to think about what each of these models was like on the inside.
I've always been a big fan of the Republic era, and this book even dives into the evolution of the ships from that era, to the Original Trilogy which is cool.
Building The Model
Here is one page of the instructions laid out, and you can see there aren't that many parts to it. Also, you can see the numbered pieces on the board.
I found that finding the correct parts for each step was a bit of a game in and of itself, because they're not in sequence.
I put the first few pieces in place, essentially the structure's supporting parts.
At this point, it's already kind of obvious what the model will be, unlike the X-Wing, which took a bit of time before it really took shape.
The Head of the AT-AT is the first section to really get all the pieces in place.
If you're looking to make some of these yourself you have to be careful because the wood can be a bit tough to get out of the moulds, and in some cases, it can be pretty flimsy.
Last time, I broke a piece of the X-Wing and had to glue it back together.
After completing the head, I was relieved, because it seemed the most delicate compared to the rest of it.
With some of the body panels added, the final part was the legs - which was a relief because I had to keep propping the model up against things to have a look at it.
With the four legs attached, it was able to stand on its own and while it's a little bit wonky to the touch, it does have a decent balance when left on its own.
Another reason I wanted to make another of these models, was because I recently got a display case for some of my Star Wars stuff, and wanted these to have a shelf of their own, especially if I get the other couple of ships I'm missing.
Here's where it is now, beside the X-Wing. For the time being, they can hang out there beside the rocking-out Stormtrooper and some of the smaller vintage vehicles I have.
I need to organise the shelf a bit better and will be doing this gradually. At the moment, I have two wall-mounted shelves that need to get mounted and they'll be used for loose figures I have. I also have four helmet stands for the four helmets I have, which will be mounted above the wall shelves.
I only really collect vintage Kenner stuff, and that's what my collection mainly consists of, but I do have a bunch of other stuff.
I'm going to do a tour of it all when the room is in order. I currently have an armchair taking up a good portion of the office, which I'm looking to give to someone, sell, or potentially just get rid of in general because it's taking up too much space at the moment and I can't justify keeping it considering I don't use it anymore.
All in all, it'll be a cool den when it's in order and finished.