Designing and constructing GENERAL GRIEVOUS was, without a doubt, one of the toughest challenges in the entire exhibition, making this particular duel one of the very last to be completed. The vast majority of our time was dedicated to engineering Grievous’s incredibly slender limbs, ensuring they were not only accurate to his on-screen appearance but also strong enough to support four illuminated Lightsabers while somehow accommodating the necessary internal wiring!
LEGO® BRICKS
BUILD HOURS
LEGO® BRICKS
BUILD HOURS
General Grievous was a purely digital creation for the movie, which made designing and building him as a real life-size LEGO® brick model incredibly difficult! Several parts of his body sit at very odd angles, with little room for actual connections, so there was a lot of creative problem-solving needed to get everything attached securely without sacrificing accuracy.
His robotic body is so thin we had to thicken up parts of his limbs and fill in negative spaces with Dark Stone Gray bricks simply to achieve the necessary structural integrity. This was particularly crucial in his legs and wrists, which had to bear a considerable amount of weight. The fact he wields four light-up Lightsaber blades added another layer of complexity, requiring a substantial amount of wiring to be safely installed and carefully routed through the incredibly narrow gaps within his limbs.
Despite his complexity, the number of different LEGO colours in the build ensured the build process never felt repetitive. While most of his body uses Dark Stone Grey bricks for the mechanical areas and Brick Yellow bricks for the outer plating, we also got to use a mix of Olive Green and Transparent Bright Green LEGO parts to imitate the “guts” container which sits in the middle of his chest.
General Grievous’s uniquely shaped head was constructed using a similar technique to our character helmets – with detailed LEGO plate sub-models attached sideways to a central SNOT (Studs Not On Top) core. We made extensive use of the more recently introduced curved wedge elements to replicate the smooth, angled edges that define his head. We were lucky the printed 2 x 2 tile with a reptilian eye pattern from LEGO® DREAMZzz™ was a perfect match for his distinctive eyes!
When it came to OBI-WAN KENOBI, our primary goal was to capture the likeness of Ewan McGregor as accurately as possible. We therefore dedicated a significant amount of time to refining his facial features. Mirroring our approach with other character faces, we extensively used LEGO slopes, tiles, jumper plates, and brackets to ensure all the proportions were as true to life as possible.
Obi-Wan is built primarily in Light Nougat, a LEGO colour with a somewhat limited selection of specialised pieces, particularly when it comes to slopes and curves. We used Dark Orange bricks in his hair and then Medium Nougat bricks in his beard to create the desired look and get the best resemblance to the actor.
We also had a great deal of fun meticulously crafting the various tools and satchels attached to Obi-Wan’s belt! He has five distinct pouches, each subtly different from the others. He also features two unique buckles, with each requiring careful design to ensure accuracy.
Witness these incredible models and more at the world-first LEGO® Star Wars: The Exhibition. Embark on an epic, hands-on adventure through the Star Wars galaxy – Created by Ryan ‘Brickman’ McNaught and his talented team with over eight million LEGO bricks and 25,000+ build hours. Now open at Melbourne Museum.
