When all the planets’ resources are depleted, mankind must turn to space to harvest even the most common of material: iron. And when that time comes, the Iron Mountain will lead the fleet of prospectors to find new sources of wealth. This awesome space miner by Sam Malmberg rings in at a whopping 162 studs long, and like most other large spacecraft you’ll see around here for awhile, was built as part of the “build a giant spaceship in a month” challenge known as SHIPtember. Sam has beautifully blended an armor-plated hull with large technological greebly appendages, but my absolute favorite part is Sam’s use of LEGO’s short-lived Aero Tubes and even more impressively, its accompanying Air Pump — a piece I can’t recall ever seeing in a fan-creation before. Oddly enough, just a few days ago I rediscovered the Air Pump in my collection, and thought to myself “one day I must find a use for this…”

Sam says he’s bringing the model to Brickcon in Seattle, which begins tomorrow for registered attendees, and is open to the public Saturday and Sunday. So if you want to check out this model in person, or many of the other models we feature, be sure to stop by. A number of us from the Brothers Brick — including myself — will be in attendance as well, so seek us out and say hi!