The D-Wing Starfighter is a custom LEGO MOC based on original concept art by Matthew Savage, a concept artist who designed the ship as a personal project. The design stood out immediately: an unusual half-circle “D-shaped” silhouette, prominent air intakes flanking the cockpit, a thin nose that thickens toward the rear engine housings, and greebled mechanical detail throughout. Sleek but slightly awkward in the best possible way, it feels like it belongs in the Rebel Alliance fleet.
Building instructions and a complete parts list are available on Rebrickable for $5.
New to Rebrickable? It’s the marketplace for custom LEGO instructions. You purchase and download a PDF, then use the included parts list to source pieces through BrickLink or your preferred parts store. Here’s a step-by-step guide to ordering parts.
Origin, Design, and Specs
The D-Wing was designed by Matthew Savage as a personal concept project outside of his work at Lucasfilm. Savage is known for his detailed, grounded approach to Star Wars ship design, and the D-Wing reflects that: it has the worn markings, battle scarring, and purposeful asymmetry of a ship that has actually been somewhere. The bold red striping and white livery place it comfortably alongside Rebel Alliance craft.
It has no official role in Star Wars canon, but it has the proportions and character of a ship that could slot into any Rebel hangar without anyone asking questions.
Creating the D-Wing Starfighter in LEGO
The D-shaped silhouette is the central design challenge. Achieving the compound curve, which has to look right from the front, top, and sides simultaneously, required a heavily SNOT-based internal framework that rotates brick direction at multiple points to expose studs for the outer surfaces. That framework took several weeks to refine and is deliberately over-engineered for strength. The result is one of the sturdiest ships I’ve designed.
Key features include:
- Sliding cockpit canopy that opens to reveal a detailed interior with adjustable flight controls
- Storage compartment behind the cockpit seat for a blaster rifle or other gear
- Air intakes flanking the cockpit, matching the concept art proportions
- Compact engine housings with grille or translucent dish options for engine flare
- Removable landing gear so it can be displayed in flight or at rest
- Bold red stripes and subtle weathering including battle scarring, matching Savage’s original markings
The model is proportioned from the concept art directly, using a pixel-to-stud conversion that placed the finished ship at roughly 36 studs wide and 20 studs long, excluding the pointed rear fins.
On Patreon I publish behind-the-scenes articles documenting how each build actually came together. The article for this ship covers how I measured Savage’s concept art using a pixel-to-stud formula, the engine prototypes through several iterations before I landed on the final shape, the assembled SNOT framework, test build photos, and the cockpit sequencing problem I only caught when I actually tried to build it. Tier 1 (Hangar Crew) membership gets you this article and every behind-the-scenes post I publish.
Pieces: 748
Instructions: 231 pages
Building Instructions
Step-by-step building instructions and a complete parts list are available on Rebrickable. The instructions were developed through a full physical test build to ensure every sequence is actually buildable, particularly around the cockpit assembly, which requires specific timing to slot into the SNOT framework correctly.
231 pages, developed through a full physical test build. Includes a complete parts list for sourcing through BrickLink or your preferred parts store.
About the Concept Art
The D-Wing was designed by Matthew Savage, a concept artist at Lucasfilm, as a personal creative project. You can find more of his work on Instagram. All concept art remains the property of Matthew Savage. Used here with respect for the original work.