LEGO: Star Wars - Darth Vader's Tie Fighter

I've had this kit sitting in the closet for so long, I can't remember exactly what year I got this as a Christmas present.  "Why did I keep it in the closet for so long, you ask?"  Well, that I remember, it was because my kids were still very young.  I knew that if I built it back then it wouldn't last a week before it gets torn apart with pieces missing, never to be seen again.  Fast forward to 2014, the kids are a little older and disciplined, no better time to take this bad boy out of the closet and BUILD!

But something funny (and really cool) happened when I opened the box to start the building process.  My seven year old daughter who stayed home from school because she was sick that day asked me if she could help.  I agreed and she ended up building the whole thing herself!  I was relegated to finding the parts for her to assemble and the occasional "muscle" if she couldn't get a piece to fit in just right.  Needless to say, this was a proud daddy moment for me.

The build was relatively straightforward and there were no issues finding and fitting the right parts based on the instructions. (Master Builders are frowning upon us)

The wing shields (not sure what they're called) connect via rods that are typically used for wheel assemblies which I thought was a pretty neat idea.  I'll definitely keep that in my Master Builder databank for future use.

Pretty intimidating if you were a Lego person seeing this come at you at full speed ready to blast you into the next galaxy.
  

The front of the tie fighter lifts up to reveal the cockpit with none other than Sith Lord, Darth Vader at the controls.
  

This is a dream come true and a definite must have for Star Wars fans who saw the first three episodes (That would be Episodes 4, 5 & 6) growing up and wished they could build a tie fighter (but couldn't) out of the basic blocks Lego had released at the time.  Till my next post.  Thanks, everyone!