LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter Designer Interview

LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter (see it at LEGO) is the latest addition to the UCS, and it’s a sight to behold. It’s big enough to make a statement, but it looks delicate and light. It’s sleek, all sharp angles, clearly designed to go fast. IGN chatted with the designer of the set, César Soares, via email. Here’s our conversation.

IGN: How did you get started designing sets at the LEGO Group?

César Soares: Playing with LEGO bricks was always a big part of my childhood, and I learned the magic of building your own creations from a very young age. Eventually, somewhere in 2014 I re-discovered my passion for building and started buying LEGO sets again. Put up a portfolio of my own LEGO creations/builds and applied for a Model Designer position. After a couple of months of interviews, tasks and workshops I was offered a position in the Star Wars Design team.

IGN: What other sets have you worked on before the LEGO Mandalorian N-1 Starfighter?

Soares: I have been on the LEGO Star Wars team since the beginning, but I have worked on some LEGO IDEAS sets too like the Tree House, Seinfeld, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. But my main work has been in Star Wars, and I have designed a bit of everything. Some of the sets are 75390 Mos Eisley Cantina, 75331 the UCS Razor Crest, 75397 the UCS Sail Barge and more recently 75419 – UCS Death Star.

IGN: When you start working on designing a Star Wars ship like this, what kind of reference materials are available to you? Does Lucasfilm provide you with detailed blueprints, concept art, or models?

Soares: We have a huge reference library of photos, 3D renderings and videos that Lucasfilm has provided to us over the years, and that’s what we mainly use. Of course, I also watch a lot of content like The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian. Seeing the scenes “live” always puts a different perspective on how we design. For this set, we had an extra set of photos. Some of us went to Star Wars Celebration in Los Angeles in 2022 and they had the real-life size vehicle used in the TV shows, so we took the opportunity to take hundreds of photos.

IGN: How much leeway do you have to incorporate your own ideas or visual flourishes into the design? Or does it have to stay extremely close to how it’s depicted in the show?

Soares: When designing a UCS set, it´s very much about details and accuracy to the source material. And for this to be possible, the size needs to be adequate, meaning that usually a bigger size will allow for more correct shapes and angles and more details. We always try to stay as close to the source material as possible but in some cases it´s great to add some fun features or Easter Eggs to enhance the play or build experience.

IGN: What’s your favorite part about the N-1 Starfighter set?

Soares: It’s hard to pick a favorite part of the ship because there are so many interesting details, shapes and features. But I would highlight the engines/wings combo. They are so intricate and with so many mechanical and functional parts exposed that they just look super cool.

IGN: A lot of Star Wars ships are mostly gray in color. When you are designing a monochrome ship, do you have any tactics to keep the model interesting, both for the builder and for viewers of the finished product?

Soares: Yes, we often use lots of assorted colors whenever it’s possible (i.e., not visible in the final model). This provides a better building experience because it’s easier to find some of the elements in a pile of grey LEGO bricks. It also helps the build flow because you have color references that help identify the orientation of the model and where elements are going to be placed next.

IGN: I love how sleek the N-1 Starfighter model is. It looks fast, even just sitting on its stand. What challenges did you encounter while designing such an impressive ship that’s also so narrow and thin?

Soares: It was a big challenge to get the “fast” look right. Several different techniques were used: there is a very strong core that goes in the center from tip to tip. And on this core, there are a variety of different connectors like ball joints and clips that allow organic fuselage to connect to the main body. The wings are also built with several layers of plates, both to get the shape right but also for sturdiness, as they hold the heavy engines.

Lots of different bow and round elements were used also (some of them completely new like the cockpit and the engines inlets), to get the shape as closely as possible to the real starfighter.

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.