LEGO 75155 Rebel U-wing Fighter Set Review

Rogue One is one of my favourite films in the Star Wars Saga and is easily in my top 3. I recently completed my Rogue One set collection when I was able to acquire this set, LEGO 75155 Rebel U-wing Fighter. The U-wing is one of the best ship designs to come out of the Disney Era of Star Wars due to its interesting appearance and originality factor. The ship is visually like the Y-wings and X-wings we see in the original trilogy and is a sort of mix of both. There are the 4 large engine pods, much like those found on an X-wing and the main body of the craft looks similar to that of a Y-wing. The set captures the look of the onscreen craft remarkably well and the minifigure selection is fantastic too.

In universe, the U-wing is a troop transport and can be seen deploying rebel troops to battle fronts across the galaxy most notably we see it in “Rogue One” and “Star Wars Rebels” as well as a few appearances in video games, novels, and comics. The ship also plays a support role, providing overwatch for ground forces as the troop bay can open and allow one of the ship’s crew to act as a door gunner to provide covering fire for troops below. We see this in “Rogue One” where a U-wing takes down an AT-ACT Walker. The ship was produced by Incom corporation and features a pair of wing-like S-foils, which are able to be positioned forward or backward-facing depending on the scenario. In combat situations the S-foils are angled backwards as it increases the surface area of the ship’s deflector shields and also assists in radiating excess heat from the engine’s core. The flight configuration was primarily reserved for interstellar operation as it proved difficult to operate with variable weather conditions when in atmospheric combat. U-wings were also armed with a pair of fixed-position KX7 laser cannons on the nose sections for offensive capabilities.

I will start as usual with some information about the set then begin the review.

Name: Rebel U-wing Fighter
Set Number: 75155
Year released: 2016
RRP: £74.99
Pieces: 659
Theme: Star Wars
Minifigures: 5

LEGO 75155 Minifigures

I’ll start with the minifigures then move onto the build itself.

First up we have Jyn Erso. Overall, this figure is great, the torso print is very accurate to her shirt/jacket combo she wears throughout the film. The stitching and pocket detailing, along with the creases is nice and adds depth to the print. The figure also comes with a soft cloth poncho which she wears during the scenes on Eadu, about halfway through the film. The hat/hair piece is also obviously based upon this particular costume variant she wears during these scenes. The mould is very good and has the goggles usually found on Hoth rebels, attached to the top. There is also a microphone on the side of the cap which we see in the film. The dark tan colour scheme matches the jacket on the torso and the gloved hands.

The face does a decent job of replicating the appearance of Felicity Jones, so you can tell it is Jyn Erso just from looking at the figure. Unfortunately, the legs are plain black, they could have benefitted from a bit of printing, maybe of the belt/holster she has throughout the film. She also has a reddish-brown bag, reused from the Indiana Jones theme which is nice to see again. The figure is really well made and is a good addition to any collection and is also exclusive to this set. 8/10

Next, we have Cassian Andor. This figure is based on the costume he wears on Jedha when they attempt to locate Saw Gerrera. The figure definitely captures the look of the large coat he wears and is packed with details. The torso has the fur printed around the collar, on both sides, with some pockets and additional pouch details. The print continues into the legs with the fabric folds and pouch prints. It’s unfortunate that the print is only on the front of the legs and doesn’t wrap around the whole of the top half of the legs, maybe this would have been better if it was printed on dual moulded legs, however I do still like it as the highly detailed print is really nice and is exclusive to this set.

The face prints resemble Diego Luna very well and feature both smirking and passive expressions. The Dark brown hair is quite generic but it’s the right style for the character and works well. Overall, I would say this figure is a nice version of the character, the leg printing could be executed better nowadays I imagine but for a first version of this costume it’s a strong figure. 8/10

The next figure is Bistan. This character is seen briefly in the film as a door gunner on a U-wing at the battle of Scarif and destroys an AT-ACT. This figure accurately captures the design of his jumpsuit and carries across to the legs from the torso. The dark green and olive green works very well, and the strap details are great too. The head is a new mould created specifically for Bistan and has a 360O print. He has a great face print and looks just like the onscreen version of the character. The hair is good too and has some bald streaks like the “real” character. The neck ring part is good too and has dark pearl grey print.

Despite only appearing very briefly, Bistan is a fan favourite, and the figure does the character justice. I really like this figure and it’s a solid addition to any rebel alliance army, adding some variety amongst the ranks. He is also exclusive to this set adding to the desirability of owning this figure. 9/10

Next up we have the Rebel alliance trooper who is based on a background character we see briefly on Scarif called Eskro Casrich. Despite being a relatively obscure character much like Bistan, this figure is brilliant, he has an olive-green torso with some grey pouches and a brown section of the combat jacket. The dark tan legs have pouches near the tops and some stripes on the knee sections. These are similar in design to the legs on other Rebels in the Rogue One wave of sets.

The face is a generic one we have seen multiple times before, but it works for the character. The mould for the helmet he wears was reused on the Cloud Car pilots in the 75222 Betrayal on Cloud City set but in white. In this set its in dark tan and has some dark green printing on the top. There is also some grey printing on the ear covering areas of the helmet and a small yellow logo on the side. The whole figure looks really sleek as the colours all tie into each other and the colour scheme is consistent throughout. This figure looks great alongside the other rebels from the Rogue One wave. Much like Bistan, this trooper is a great addition to the ranks of rebel troopers and adds a bit of variety to the mainstream rebel troopers we usually get. 8/10

The last figure is the Blue Squadron Pilot. This figure was included with both the U-wing and the 75172 Y-wing, so he isn’t exclusive but is still a great pilot figure. He has the regular pilot head which LEGO has used for a while, but I don’t mind it here. The helmet has a chequered pattern on the front sections which is reminiscent of the design we see Biggs Darklighter sport in “A New Hope” but in black and white rather than black and yellow.

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The torso and legs were reused in other sets in the wave, but they are a welcome change to the regular pilots we’re used to in their orange jumpsuits. The print has the control box on the chest as usual, but the dark blue jumpsuit makes the figure look sleeker than usual, perhaps it’s the darker colour that makes it look more realistic. This is a great figure to have just wish it had a different helmet print to make it exclusive. 7/10

LEGO 75155 Build

The set doesn’t feature any side builds, it is just the U-wing, and it’s a great recreation of the onscreen ship. The U-wing captures the essence of the vehicles seen in the original trilogy, whilst still bringing something new and original to the table. The LEGO model perfectly replicates this feel. The set is in play scale so it’s a little undersized compared to the scale it should be for minifigure scale, but it is still fairly large and has all the key details which it should have.

The build is enjoyable, and the end result is great too. The colour scheme is accurate to the craft we see the Rogue One team use in the film. The yellow and blue highlights add to the overall look of the ship and tie in the stickers to the main brick-built sections.

The ship is built in 2 parts and then assembled near the end of the build process. You start with the upper area of the craft, building the main hull and the S-foils. You then build the troop bay and cockpit interior. Then the 2 halves are assembled and connected via technic beams and pins. This makes the ship quite sturdy, and it feels strong enough to move about without worrying that it will break every 5 minutes. The under section makes use of the large 10240 UCS X-wing window canopy and inverts it to make the large window in the troop bay, we see on the in-universe ship.

The wings are constructed the same way for the most part, with the exceptions being some of the plate detailing on the top sections and the sticker application. For the most part they’re the same just mirrored. They look good but maybe less visible studs would improve the sleekness. The middle section has few visible studs and looks very aerodynamic and smooth. The main cockpit in the centre uses the common X-wing canopy for the play scale X-wings we have had in recent years.

The troop bay is decent, but it would benefit from a bit more space and there is little room to fit the whole Rogue One team in comfortably if you have them. This can be fixed to make the interior more spacious with modifications, but it shouldn’t really require these mods to fit the figures in without cramming them in. I like the inclusions of the door gunner areas however, these use stud shooters which I’m not a huge fan of this is ok though because you can either remove them entirely or just replace them with more realistic looking blasters, as I have done. The doors open easily and have some great details on them, even if they are obtained through stickers.

There is a large grilled area on the very back of the troop bay, that leads to the top section, which I imagine is meant to simulate the radiator section for the engines. The top of the ship, just behind the main cockpit there is a nicely textured space with a suggestion of the hyperdrive. This round area has a handheld claw weapon accessory which has been used across many themes. This little greeble works surprisingly well and actually looks like the in-universe design in this area.

The last things you build are the 4 big X-wing-esque thrusters. You build 2 at a time and then they go in mirrored positions on the back of the ship. These make use of the old ice pick accessory to simulate the T shaped intakes we see on the X-Wing. This is quite a smart use of parts. A similar technique was used on the 10240 UCS X-wing and the 75218 Play scale X-wing. The front turbine bits of each of these thrusters have 2 stickers top and bottom to recreate the blue markings we see on the onscreen ship. These could benefit from a slightly longer build perhaps another one of the white turbine parts on each of the pods could’ve improved it, but it’s not too much of an issue.

The set has a few play features which I will speak about briefly before offering my final verdict. The first main feature is the ability to open the wings into attack mode. This feature is great and completely changes the shape of the ship. This works well as both a play feature and also a display option for collectors. It takes up more space in this configuration, but it does look good.

The next play feature is the pair of spring-loaded shooters on the front of the craft. These are integrated really well as they are activated by pressing down on a pair of buttons on the nose area. If you don’t like them then you can remove them easily or just leave the bolts out. Another feature I touched upon earlier was the door gunner areas in the troop bay. There are 2 stud shooters which can be positioned to shoot out the door if positioned to do so. This is an ok play feature and does match up to what we see in the film, but I don’t like stud shooters in general, so I replaced them with better looking blaster cannons.

The final feature isn’t really a play feature, but it is still worth mentioning. The cockpit is quite tricky to open, so LEGO included a small feature behind the canopy piece. If you slide some inverted 1×1 studs forward, which are part of a mechanism, this will push some technic parts forward to slightly push up the canopy and allow you to open it with ease. This was a smart move by LEGO as the mechanism is hidden and it also allows the cockpit shaping to be as accurate as possible without needing to be altered to make it easier to open.

Final Thoughts

To conclude, I would recommend this set to anyone who is a fan of Star Wars in general. The set looks really good on display and the minifigure selection is perfect. You get 2 of the main cast and some pretty memorable and unique figures too, plus 4 of the included figures are exclusives. The build was enjoyable, and the play features also add to the displayability factor of the set. The engines could do with being a little larger but overall a great set. 9/10