Designing the Ultimate LEGO Star Wars Tatooine Layout

In May of 2021, a group of four builders self-described as “Star Wars nerds and AFOLs” got together and started planning a rather crazy idea: to build a giant Tatooine display. For those unfamiliar with Star Wars, Tatooine is a prominent planet in the universe with a fairly large amount of sand. And most notably, a now iconic cantina with one of the best bands in the galaxy. I was fortunate enough to chat with the guys behind this massive build. Join me as we dive a little deeper into their journey and how this collab came to enter our galaxy.

The Crew and History of CB Blue Harvest

Andreas: Thank you for taking the time to chat about this amazing build! First off, how did you guys come up with this idea?

Anders Horvath: The idea was born as we were driving home from a sorting event in the spring of 2021. We applied for project support through our LUG, Swebrick, and it was fortunately approved. Each year, a LUG can send an application directly to LEGO in order to buy (yes, you still have to pay for it) a larger quantity of pieces for a few specific projects. The pieces arrived in the fall of that year, so that´s when the fun really started!

Andreas: That´s great! Now let´s get into it, who are you guys?

Left to right, mattias, anders, joakim and mikael

Anders: Well I guess I´ll start with myself. My name is Anders Horvath. I´m the LEGO ambassador for Swebricks, and I have been a member of the Swedish LUG since 2012. I mostly build Star Wars but also enjoy building medieval things as well as City modulars. I have an adult daughter and live with my wife in a house with a large LEGO room. You can find some of my builds here.

Next is Mikael Sjöstedt. He´s the co-founder of Swebrick and has been an AFOL since the early 2000s. He has been a LEGO ambassador for Eurobricks for about ten years. Mikael enjoys building Star Wars, as well as large mosaics, medieval builds and trains. He has a bit of a fetish for building Fabuland crossover builds! Mikael lives in a house with his wife and also has a large LEGO room.

The third member of this group is Mattias Hjelmgren, who is the current vice president of Swebrick. He loves building Star Wars and medieval things but is also a huge fan of The Lord of The Rings. Mattias runs one of the largest BrickLink stores in Sweden - Bricks In Tyresö. He lives in an apartment with his four kids and a VERY patient wife!

Joakim Antman is the final member of the group. He is primarily a Star Wars builder but also plays bass in the Death Metal band LIK och Bloodbath. He has quite a few beautiful Star Wars tattoos and lives with his girlfriend and their cat.

Andreas: The fact that there are only four of you for this whole project is crazy. How long did the building process take from the start of construction to your first exhibition?

Anders: If we start the countdown from when we first had the idea, it took around two years before we had our first public display. And the response was fantastic!

Transporting Precious Cargo: The Logistics of Giant Displays

Andreas: Planning a build and then displaying it repeatedly requires quite a bit of organizing skills. And let me tell you, these guys have that in abundance. Below is an illustration of one version of the display, both ready modules and those still in the planning stage. Seriously impressive stuff.

Andreas: I remember hearing about this build a while before actually seeing it. There were a few rumblings around the LUG forum about a collab that would “blow people away”. But you were all very secretive as I remember it. When did you debut it, has it changed since then?

Anders: Our first public exhibition was in Örebro in the spring of 2023. Back then we had 76 total modules, which is pretty sizeable as is. Since then, we have expanded it quite a bit and right now the whole build consists of 132 total modules.

Andreas: What would you say are some of the pitfalls when planning and executing a build of this size?

Anders: The number one thing is definitely logistics. After building everything, you still need to transport it to exhibitions. We planned for transportation when we started this whole project. We decided pretty early to make each module 48x48 and also planned the packaging. We had custom boxes made that fit the modules to make transporting them way easier. We´ve also had some help from a company that hosts quite a few LEGO exhibitions. So with a bit of planning, those logistical challenges can be overcome.

Creating Accurate Docking Bays and Filling Out the Spaceport

Andreas: The design of the modules are quite interesting. They seem to be raised quite a bit compared to what you normally see with a big collab. Tell us a bit about that.

Anders: That´s correct. One of the most important things we wanted to showcase with a Tatooine build of this scale was the depth and key features of the desert - especially those iconic submerged hangar bays. We could have just made the walls surrounding them raised, but that´s not really the vision we had. So the solution was to raise the whole “ground“. That way, the submerged sections would look more realistic. It´s definitely not the most financially responsible choice, but we´re all happy we chose to go that route.

Andreas: That is a seriously impressive undertaking. And the result speaks for itself, so good choice! Have you been able to get along and agree on all the little details through all of this? Any juicy controversies that you feel like sharing with the readers?

Anders: Haha! We´ve actually had some minor controversies during this journey. The main one is that Joakim initially “demanded“ that all the minifigs in the display would be from the original trilogy. He was, however, rather quickly overruled when the rest of us started putting in minifigs from other movies, as well as from other franchises.

Andreas: Wow, that sure is controversial…

Anders: I know, right!? All jokes aside, we´ve all gotten along very well. I think one of the main reasons is that we are all good friends. Making sure things were planned out beforehand sure helped a lot, too.

Anders: Another key factor has been that we´ve each built “strips” of modules, where each of us has our own section of the city. That way, it doesn´t really matter if we differ a bit in style, or even if one of us is missing from a show. We can rearrange the sections and still get something that the crowd can enjoy.

Combining the Desert Through the Moduverse System

Andreas: Good stuff, for sure. Now let´s get into the really nerdy stuff, tell us a bit more about those modules and the transportation.

Anders: Gladly! As I said before, each module is 48x48 studs. We start with a grey baseplate at the bottom. The way to get the elevation differs a bit between our different modules, but each one has a ground height of 16 studs. We all have a so-called “moduverse” baseplate for the ground. A moduverse baseplate is sort of like a MILS baseplate, but a bit more sturdy. It´s a common standard that we use a lot in Swebrick. Using this technique, we get modules that are very solid, and thus are easy to transport.

custom boxes for transport, nothing left to chance with these guys!

Anders: We´ve used basically two different approaches to our modules, even though the end result is the same. Mattias and I have solid modules that are easy to set up and take down. Each section is completely built, sort of like a cube. Mikael and Joakim have used a slightly different approach, where the pillars and houses that sit on the ground are packed separately. It allows for a more compact module that doesn’t take up as much space, although it takes a bit longer to set up and take down. Each approach to the module has its pros and cons.

anders´ packaging, very organized but takes up a bit of space…

mikael´s storage, compact and of course with the appropriate print on

Andreas: That is very impressive, and also interesting to hear about the different approaches you guys have taken.

Workshops and What is to Come for Tatooine

Having been fortunate enough to know these guys for a while, I can assure you that they think of pretty much everything. They held a workshop in Skaerbaek, and everyone who signed up for it got a build made specifically for that workshop. I mean that is just class all the way!

Andreas: Thank you again for taking the time to talk about this awesome project! I’m so impressed with what you guys have accomplished and look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Anders: Thank you, we´re all very happy about how this whole thing has turned out and look forward to bringing it to more shows in the future and to keep growing it!

Is this truly the ultimate Tatooine display? Let us know in the comments below!

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