The Clone Wars are coming! The Clone Wars are coming!

If you thought the Star Wars saga had ended with the most recent movie, you thought wrong! The action and adventure continue this year with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, an all-new computer-animated movie and television series that takes place between Episodes II and III.

To celebrate the latest chapter in the Star Wars saga, the LEGO® Model Shop has just finished adding the last few bricks to its latest masterpiece: a giant, life-sized statue of Captain Rex, one of the main characters from the new series!

We spoke with designer and LEGO Master Builder Erik Varszegi about his latest creation.




Thanks for talking to us, Erik! So who is this guy, and what’s his story?
Let me introduce you to Rex, a Clone Trooper captain featured in the upcoming animated movie and TV series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He comes from the same genetic stock [that’s Jango Fett, dad to Boba Fett!] as all the rest of the clone troopers, and is Anakin Skywalker’s right-hand man in the period just before Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

What made you decide to build a life-sized Captain Rex?
For a long time now, we’ve wanted to add a trooper to our line-up of life-size, brick-built Star Wars characters. When we heard that the new series would feature the clone troopers in lots of action sequences, we knew the time was right to finally build one. Lucasfilm suggested that we make Rex, who gets quite a bit of character development during the course of the season, and whose extra gear and armor markings really set him apart from the other clones. I really like the “eye” patterns on his helmet in particular; they are very reminiscent of early designs for Boba Fett’s armor. Very cool. Very retro.

Rex can also be found in minifigure form in one of our 2008 LEGO Star Wars sets. He’s definitely one of the coolest-looking minifigs we’ve made over the years.

What other Star Wars projects have you worked on at the Model Shop?
I’ve worked on dozens and dozens of Star Wars-related LEGO projects over the years, from small models like lightsabers, blasters, and dioramas of key movie scenes, to life-sized characters like Captain Rex. Besides Rex, I was responsible for LEGO versions of the Battle Droid, the Destroyer Droid, C-3PO and the latest version of Darth Vader.

I was also fortunate enough to have one of my personal projects chosen for production in the LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series. I can’t tell you what it is just yet, though!

But I’m probably best known around the web for building that 8-foot-long Republic Star Destroyer model that was on display in the LEGO booth at Star Wars Celebration III. Because of that, I got my own entry in an online Star Wars database, which is very strange but flattering.

Are you a Star Wars fan?
Oh yeah, I’m a fan. I saw the original Star Wars movie about 20 times during the summer and fall of 1977. There was this theater within biking distance of my neighborhood that had $2.00 matinees. This was no multiplex, mind you. It had one, just one, giant screen that seemed to my young eyes like it was wider than a football field. Now, that was the way to be introduced to Star Wars.

How did you start on Captain Rex?
Lucasfilm has always been great about providing me with all the reference I need to pull off a great model, and they came through again. They gave me a wealth of information to use.

We were initially going to make a more “realistic” version of a clone trooper, but the computer-animated series has such a distinct look to it that it was ultimately decided to try to emulate that look as closely as we could. Unfortunately, I was already quite far along on the alternate design before we switched to the Clone Wars style!

How was the model designed and constructed?
For the past decade or so, the LEGO Model Shops have had proprietary software that helps us model large-scale brick sculptures by importing various 3D computer formats. To tell the truth, designing with real bricks is a lot more fun, but using computers allows us to shave the design phase down to maybe a third of the total time of doing it the old-fashioned way.

But it’s not as simple as importing a 3D model, hitting a few buttons, and having the computer spit a finished LEGO model out the other side. I sometimes have to spend a few days tweaking the 3D image so that it will translate better in brick form. In this case, I shifted Captain Rex’s legs around a bit so both of his feet were flat on the floor, and I pulled his left arm down to keep it in line with the steel armature that runs through and supports most of our bigger models.

After that, I spent a good amount of time editing colors and rounding surfaces where needed. The program we use only translates a 3D model in basic LEGO bricks or plates. That works really well for organic forms, but if something has a real mechanical element to it, like the Star Wars characters often do, I try to stick other specialty elements in there to give it a more “tech-y” feel.

When I finished the virtual design, I handed it over to the production team of Mark Roe and Pete Donner. They used the software’s building instructions to lay down a layer-by-layer cross section of the entire model around the steel framework that gives the model extra strength and stability.

How long did it take to build? Do you know how many bricks went into the model?
We usually don’t give out the number of bricks used in a model. We keep that knowledge under wraps and use it for “Guess the Number of Bricks” contests. But I can tell you that it took me somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 hours to design, and the production team spent 125 hours assembling it!

How do you like the finished model?
I’m usually pretty critical of my work, and I can always think of different things I could have done to improve it…but this one came out pretty darned good! I especially like his pose and the slight turn I put into his head. It gives him a bit of attitude, a bit of “don’t mess with me.”

Are you looking forward to the new Clone Wars movie and TV series?
During the design phase of Rex, one of our friends from Lucas Licensing stopped by for a tour of the Model Shop. After we showed him around the office, he said he had a real treat for us. We made our way into our conference room, where he hooked his laptop up to our projector and we sat down to watch an episode of the new series. It looked and sounded fantastic. It was completely unexpected and a real thrill to be able to watch some of the series so long before anyone else!

What will happen to the Captain Rex model now?
Rex made his debut at FAO Schwartz in Manhattan alongside our new Indiana Jones™ LEGO sculpture. After that, he’ll be found at the New York Toy Fair in February, and this summer you can look for him at the San Diego Comic-Con and at LEGOLAND California.

Thanks, Erik! And get set, LEGO Star Wars fans…because the CLONE WARS are about to start!

© 2008 LucasFilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.