The Sandcrawler is one of those Star Wars vehicles that never really gets the credit it deserves, but this amazing LEGO contraption captures the massive vehicle in all its ugly and awesome glory. If that weren’t enough, it even moves! Flickr user marshal banana took this project upon himself, and while it’s still a work in progress, it’s at the point where just about everything has come together and it can be truly admired.
The Sandcrawler was seen early in Star Wars: A New Hope, used by the Jawas to traverse the hilly and sandy terrain of Tattooine. They were originally mining vehicles, but Jawas have a way of appropriating things for themselves. Other ground vehicles like speeders (including speeder bikes), AT-STs, and AT-ATs seem to get all the love and, while that’s understandable, the Sandcrawler is left in the proverbial dust. The vehicle is massive, almost like a Star Destroyer on the ground, only without the weaponry. Even without heavy weaponry, the vehicle is intimidating, a massive, ugly, clunky treaded monstrosity that slowly putts its way across the seemingly endless desert.
This LEGO creation really captures all of those details, and the size can be seen when compared to a standard LEGO Minifig. The Sandcrawler isn’t just a big box like you might remember it, either. While it’s certainly “boxy”, it also has many cool details, the vast majority of which are replicated in this LEGO version. If you check the video, you’ll see that it’s even able to move, powered by an internal motor that is no doubt struggling to carry the thing along.
The earlier test footage shows it carrying a minimal amount of weight and moving quite freely, but once that weight is increased to 18 kg with the more complete version of the LEGO Sandcrawler, it moves at a glacial pace. For most things, this would be a flaw, but for the cumbersome Sandcrawler, it’s perfect! For more creative use of Star Wars vehicles, check out these Ground Vehicle Tribute Posters or this Star Destroyer Ice Luge.
