Imperial AT-ST "Chicken Walker"

By far the Star Wars creation I've spent the most time and effort building and rebuilding is the Imperial All-Terrain Scout Transport, better known as the AT-ST, or sometimes "Chicken Walker." Since I've built and rebuilt this creation so many times over the years, I'll go through all of the steps below...

First Edition (1998 or so)

I built this version long before the LEGO company came out with any kind of official set of one. As you can see, quite a simplistic model. Basically just a box on stilts. The only cool feature of this original model was the eye-flaps, which I've kept basically the same ever since. This version actually opened up with a door on the back, instead of a hatch on the top!

Second Edition

I later improved the model slightly by changing the feet and legs, and adding a bit more detail to the sides of the head. I also switched the rear door for a top hatch. Other than that, it's actually pretty much the same.

Third Edition (1999 or so)

This original model was "finished" in 1999 when I built this version, with much more accurate legs. The head itself stayed pretty much the same except for some color improvements. I remained perfectly satisfied with this version for a number of years, even after LEGO came out with their first official AT-ST in 2001, since to be frank, the original LEGO AT-ST set was a piece of crap. It was quite possibly the worst LEGO set ever created. It was tiny, could only seat one pilot, looked nothing like the walker in the movies, had brown and tan legs and feet, and featured a laughable "shuffling action" instead of actual walking ability...

Fourth Edition (2001)

However, to my astonishment, some people actually claimed to LIKE the horrible official LEGO set. Most of these people were absolute Star Wars LEGO fanboys who chatted on the forum I used to visit during that time. These people would brainwash themselves to love anything that involved LEGO and/or George Lucas, no matter how bad it was. Many of them justified the official model by saying it was much more accurate size-wise than most existing custom AT-STs, which were far too big to be actual minifig scale. I'm still not sure I agree with this assessment, but I felt sure LEGO could at least have made a minifig-scale AT-ST that was decent enough to look like what it was supposed to be, and preferably could seat two pilots. So I built this version, the one shown above. As you can see, it's quite small, has the right colors, looks unmistakably like the AT-ST, and can seat two pilots side-by-side. I was very proud of it, but it actually received a somewhat lukewarm reaction when I posted it. So since I had really only built it to satisfy other people (I prefer my own AT-STs bigger) and it didn't even seem to do that, I soon tore it up and began working on ANOTHER version...

Fifth Edition (10/27/2001)

When I finally completed this model in late 2001, I was very proud of it. Okay, that's an understatement... I was overjoyed with it, and proudly shouted to the world that I had constructed the most perfect, absolute best model of the AT-ST that could possibly be made with the humble LEGO brick. These days I'm more like the LEGO brick: a bit more humble. This model is far from perfect, and certainly could be better. But I'm still pretty fond of it.

As you can see in the above images, it can seat two pilots side-by-side and its head is shaped (dare I say it) almost perfectly. The chin gun is one of its biggest flaws, since it's way too big and clunky to match the movie version. Another fatal flaw it has is its tendency to stand with the head pointed slightly upward. Still, other than these minor flaws, I have to say it's pretty good. The legs can be positioned in a few different poses, and the model features a wide array of play features. LEGO later came out with another official AT-ST model in 2007 that actually looked like the vehicle it was supposed to represent. By this point, however, I no longer cared. And honestly, I can still safely say that mine is better. Maybe someday I'll come back to this old model and build a new one, one that truly does approach perfect. Or maybe not. We'll see...