Hulking, mean and spiky: the Merkabah Gunship

Brick Martil‘s Merkabah-class Heavy Gunship is one of the coolest spacecraft I’ve seen in a while. The shape and the phenomenal color blocking are ravishing, giving this model a strikingly unique appearance. This ship positively screams “deadly”.

merkabah space 2

Another element I love about this ship is the size. A lot of LEGO spacecraft would be sized akin to small WWII dogfighters, regardless of its designation as a fighter, heavy bomber, etc. Most would clock in around 20-40 (scale) feet in length, while many modern fighter jets are 50-60 feet long, and other classes even larger. So it’s cool to see a spacecraft sized up to what they most likely would be without becoming capital ships — where a two-man gunship is a huge craft, outfitted with engines and life support to get it through the cold reaches of space and the harrowing re-entry of an atmosphere, not to mention lugging a payload.

The Merkabah is deceptively large — that windscreen is from the UCS Slave I, so check out this comparison photo of the two to get a feel for just how big it is. And here’s a closeup shot so you can check out the fantastic detailing…

Close look of Merkabah gunship