LEGO Star Wars UCS Death Star required some ‘clever engineering’

A solid foundation and some clever engineering techniques were required when it came to designing LEGO Star Wars 75419 Death Star.

Fans of a brick-built galaxy far, far away witnessed the arrival of the largest (and most expensive) LEGO Star Wars set to date last week, when 75419 Death Star finally debuted. The 9,023-piece offering measures over 76cm wide and comes with an impressive 38 minifigures, although it’s a model that’s proven to be somewhat divisive amongst fans.

When it came to assembling 75419 Death Star, the LEGO Star Wars designer behind the build not only looked to the past for potential but also had to stretch his creative abilities in order to make the latest version of the Imperial battle station a reality.

“The previous diorama sets were certainly an inspiration for this model,” said César Soares in an interview with the official Star Wars website, “but, more than that, these previous sets showed us that builders and fans really appreciate this type of intricate, detailed-oriented model.

"With components like Darth Vader´s Meditation Chamber, there was a bit of creative freedom, as you never actually see a room like this on any of the Death Stars apart from a deleted scene from Return of the Jedi. Nonetheless, it would make sense that Darth Vader would have one, so we included it.”

As a LEGO Star Wars UCS set, the designer knew that he had to go bigger and better with 75419 Death Star, a challenge that not only necessitated specific building techniques to ensure the model’s overall stability, but also the construction of smaller dioramas to place inside the model.

“We had to make sure that the bottom half of the circle structure was very sturdy,” César noted, “because that is the foundation of the entire build. All floors above rest on it, so it required some clever engineering.

"When you are finished building a given scene, you just add [the dioramas] to the main build and see the model progress. The result is an appreciation for the wide variety of fun details in this set and the LEGO Star Wars universe.”

75419 Death Star is available to purchase right now, priced at £899.99 / $999.99 / €999.99. The LEGO Star Wars set comes with a free 40771 TIE Fighter with Imperial Hangar Rack GWP for Insiders members until October 7 (while stocks last).

To take a deeper dive into 75419 Death Star, be sure to check out our full review of the massive LEGO Star Wars model here.

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