Lepin 05038 Not Lego UCS Star Wars Sandcrawler Set Review - Part Four

Yay!  Lepin's version of the UCS Star Wars Sandcrawler is finally done.  Let's see how we got here.

Step 80: Here's the assembly of the 4 tractor wheels.

The treads have been attached and the wheels fitted to the main sandcrawler body.

Step 85: A closer look at the wheel assemblies.

Step 90:  The front hatch door is operated by the gear lever at the top.  

Step 95:  I somehow messed up the installation of the extending winch and had to take apart the entire mechanism that opens and closes the door to fix my mistake.  Now the winch extends properly and the door opens and closes perfectly.

Step 100:  All the side panels are installed on the technic structure.

Step 110:  Just installed the finish pieces that link the panels together.

Step 115:  Roof and rear panel assemblies completed.

Step 120:  Done!

Here's a pic of the side panels raised up.  You have to remove the roof panel to access the central winch.  There are different accessories to attach to the winch so that you can lift droids or one of the three containers that are included with the set.   There is also a small speeder used by the Jawas to transport the droids that they capture.

A look at the front of the Lepin Sandcrawler with door open.

Here's an overhead shot of the Sandcrawler.

My previous posts about the Lepin Sandcrawler can be found here:

http://its-not-lego.blogspot.ca/2017/02/lepin-05038-ucs-star-wars-sandcrawler.html

http://its-not-lego.blogspot.ca/2017/01/lepin-05038-ucs-sandcrawler-review-part.html

http://its-not-lego.blogspot.ca/2017/01/lepin-05038-ucs-sandcrawler-star-wars.html

Lepin 05029 Not Lego Star Wars Resistance X-Wing Fighter Set Review

Hi.  Today I'll be reviewing the Resistance X-Wing Fighter bootleg Lego set by Lepin.  The model number is Star Wnrs 05029 and it has 740 pieces.  I decided to try a different Aliexpress store this time around.  The store is called BlueSky 326 and they had the cheapest price.  What surprised me is that they used DHL to ship this item.  Normally Aliexpress sellers only use DHL to ship larger or higher value items. 

As you can see this set comes with the parts in approx ten separate bags.  Besides the instruction manual, there is a sticker sheet.

Ok, let's start building!  I'll snap some pics of my progress every time I finish 20 steps from the X-Wing manual.

Here's how the X-wing base chassis and wing mechanism look like after step 20.

On step 40, we create the structure for the Resistance X-Wing's nose.

At step 60, the fuselage is complete and the cockpit is almost ready.

The aft section is built up and the canopy has been added in step 80.  There are supposed to be two gears that control the opening of the wings, and I found that one of the smaller gears was missing from my set.  This is a critical piece, but luckily I remembered that I had a couple of spares in my brick stash.  I would have been really disappointed and upset if I didn't have that gear, because the wing functionality would not work without it.

We are now at the halfway point, step 100.  Landing gear has been installed and the sides panels are done.  The canopy doesn't close properly but I have a fix for that, which I will show you later.

At step 120, I start working on the wings.

Oops, I forgot to take pictures at steps 140 and 160, but that's ok, it was just more wing construction.  At step 180, we finish the last of the 4 wing segments.

The Lepin Resistance X-wing is nearly complete at step 200.  All that's left is making and attaching the rear engines.

All done!  Included with the X-wing fighter is a small diorama that has some storage containers and a vaporator tower that is on fire.

In this pic you can see that Lepin gives us a crappy pilot's helmet that doesn't have the transparent visor.  This was also evident in the Lepin First Order X-Wing set 05004.

Review Summary

Minifigures:  You get the same four as the original Lego Resistance X-wing model, but Poe's helmet is inferior.  Minifig print quality is good except for BB-8 whose top ring is lopsided.

Build Quality:  Brick clutch is good, however the canopy failed to close properly.

Missing or Deformed parts:  A critical gear piece that controls the opening and closing of the wings was missing from the set.  I replaced it with a piece I already had.

Price:  I paid around $25 USD which makes it about one-third the price of a Lego Resistance X-Wing  75149 model.

Lepin 05038 Not Lego UCS Star Wars SandCrawler Set Review - Part Three

Hello and welcome back to Its-Not-Lego.blogspot.com.  Today, we will continue our review of the Star Wars UCS Sandcrawler building set.  It's not the Lego 75059 version, but a knockoff version Lepin model 05038.   In our previous blog post, I put up some pictures as I was building the first 40 steps as I followed the Lepin manual.   Now we will continue the build from steps 50 and onwards.

Step 50

Here's how the Lepin Sandcrawler is progressing so far.   The base and lower side walls have been installed along with the pivot mechanism which will control the rear treads.  On step 50, I added the lower side cladding and was supposed to attach the ladder but I couldn't find the two black arms that hold it in place.   The pivot mechanism is a bit stiff but seems to work for the moment.

Here's another view before we move on.

Step 60.

We are now at step 60 of the manual.  In the previous 10 steps, all we did was put down some long tiles on the floor of the Sandcrawler.  I think this is used to mark off the areas where the droids will be located later. 

I applied the stack of bricks at the front of the Sandcrawler that will be used as the front door pillars.

 Steps 67 - 70.

The height of the front pillars was increased with more bricks, and one of the side panels has been constructed.  The yellow door opens up into the cargo area.

This is a look from the other side.

Now both side panels have been added.

Front view looking back.

On step 70, we added the support beams that connect the front pillars with the side panels.

There is also a sliding mechanism along the inside. I think this will be used for as part of an arm to pick up the droids.

This build seems to go on and on, I still have so many bricks left to attach.

Construction of the back of the Sandcrawler begins.

And here's the completed detailing.  Looks pretty cool.

Support beams installed between the back wall and the side panels.

Roller ramps added underneath each opening on the inside of the side panels.

A closer look.

A look at the technic pieces that hold the back wall in place.

Just a few more pics.

side view.

top view.

Rear view.   This brings us to step 79.

I'll stop here for now.  I'm aiming to wrap up the construction by the next blog post, I promise.