All that glitters is gold! In this episode of 3x3PO Fest, our Parts Festival using LEGO® Star Wars™ set 75398 C-3PO™, it's my turn to see what I can do with a pile of gold pieces that would make Midas proud.
Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
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75398 C-3PO
- Release date: 1 August 2024
- Pieces: 1138
- US$ 139.99 on LEGO.com US
- CA$ 179.99 on LEGO.com Canada
- GB£ 124.99 on LEGO.com UK
- AU$ 229.99 on LEGO.com Australia
- NZ$ 249.99 on LEGO.com New Zealand
- DE€ 139,99 on LEGO.com Deutschland
- NL€ 139,99 on LEGO.com Nederland
- FR€ 139,99 on LEGO.com France
- PLN 619.99 on LEGO.com Polska
- NOK 1899,90 on LEGO.com Norge
- DKK 1249.95 on LEGO.com Danmark
As this set was released over 4 months ago, most of its new parts have been added to Pick a Brick. There are individual links throughout the article so you can check if the piece you want is availaible there, or just use this link to see all parts from the C-3PO LEGO set available there (both new and previously existing elements):
Buy individual pieces from 75398 on LEGO® Pick a Brick
Building Master 3PO
In this case, C-3PO's familiar and slightly awkward stance has been modelled really well. Both legs are angled a few degrees forward and his feet make a slight V-shape, while the torso is subtly angled backwards to bring the whole figure upright overall.
However, a sacrifice has to be made!
Beauty isn't just skin deep
After robbing poor 3PO of his shiniest components, I felt he was looking a bit the worse for wear. I decided to see if I could jazz him up a bit by using a selection of substitute parts from my own collection to replace the bits I had stolen – the more colourful, the better.
Thus was born a rather less uptight Protocol Droid; Rainbow 3PO. I think he has begun to grow into his new skin. He now thinks he looks fabulous in his new Technicolour Dreamcoat! And he certainly makes me smile when I spot him waving at me from the corner of my office desk.
The seeds of a MOC idea
Having sifted through the big pile of gold pieces, the 6x2 wedges (5711 and 41748) caught my eye. They're both recolours found exclusively in this set, which contains 6 of each.
I thought they had potential as the engine pods for some sort of ship. I fiddled around with the detailing on the outer sides – using some of the metallic tiles and slopes as go-faster stripes, while the undersides were decorated with some of the stickered curved slopes which show some exposed wiring.
My biggest challenge was holding these two halves together, since I wanted them to be sandwiched back to back. In the end, I attached a layer of black plates to each, and used Bracket 2x2 - 1x2 Centered (41682) on each half to give me a 2x4 antistud section at right angles to the stud directions of the plates.
The notch left in one half of the plates accommodates the bracket from the other half, and the whole assembly is then held together by the 2x2 area of antistuds where these brackets join.
The vital piece holding the two halves together is a black Plate, Modified 2x2 with Pin on Bottom (48241) to which I've added a 1L Technic spacer providing the middle nozzle of this trio.
I topped these off with the Windscreen 2x4x1 Curved (81911) used in 3PO's shoulders to give a fairing for the rear of the engines.
So, having arranged the propulsion, what were they going to power?
D-4QP Interceptor Golden Dragon
I found a pair of metallic gold 10x3 wedge slopes (50955 and 50956) in my "use it someday" pile, acquired when I had parted out an Infinity Gauntlet a couple of years ago. These formed the basis of the front and rear upper fuselage and, after much refining, the D-4QP Interceptor Golden Dragon was finished.
I know those two floating turbines at the front look rather lethal, but nobody should be standing in front of them when they're spinning. So everything should be fine.
I decided to use the baby dragon as a ridiculous hood ornament. It was from another set, 71814 Tournament Temple City, which I reviewed recently.
The brave pilot looks like a tough cookie, and she has lightning fast reflexes, which are necessary to get the most out of the Golden Dragon's quirky airframe.
A quick look at the undercarriage reveals that I was able to use a few more of the stickered pieces from 3PO as detailing, which can be seen when the aircraft is in full swoosh mode.
Minifigure Habitat for Little C-3PO
A minifigure-sized C-3PO was also included in the set, and he was getting a bit annoyed that his big brother was receiving all the attention. So I agreed to make him a Minifigure Habitat.
I imagine this corridor to be on a spaceship somewhere, and our hapless droid friend has wandered off into a section that he probably should not be exploring. He also seems to have picked up a dangerous lightsaber and is waving it about in an attempt to shut it off. Watch where you're swinging that thing, mate!
Conclusion
I have enjoyed using this set as the basis of our parts fest, and was glad I got to keep the spirit of C-3PO alive in his new rainbow outfit. The spaceship MOC was also fun to build. There are still plenty of pearl gold pieces left on the pile, and I'm sure they will be making their way into my MOCs for some time to come.
As a build experience, the set was interesting, but I think although many recoloured elements are included, it is perhaps a bit expensive to buy just as a parts pack at full price. If you can find it discounted, or buy individual pieces from 75398 on Pick a Brick, then your gold-laden MOCs can become a reality!
READ MORE: Eero's introduction to set 75398 C-3PO with lists of all its new parts
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