Cruise through the galaxy with style and practicality

Spaceships are definitely my bag, man. Massive dreadnoughts to humble escape pods, I love every model from the unwieldy to the swooshable. Classic Space sets are near and dear to many adult Lego fans, being the formative theme that roped them into playing with little plastic bricks for the rest of their lives. In recent years, the theme has been revived by fans with redesigns of their favorite classic sets or new creations of their own thanks to the LEGO Movie franchise and their lovable, spaceship-obsessed character, Benny the Spaceman. Here, builder LegoSpaceGuy gives us a ship of his own design, the Explorer Cruiser.

Explorer Cruiser 01

This shuttle is clearly inspired by Lego’s own classic 1979 design and it seems Benny approves! Those blues and greys highlight the crew compartment and flight hardware respectively while multiple translucent yellow screens show off the interior and flight deck. I love the engines built from multiple wheel elements detailed with bars, hinges, and the ever-functional droid arm. The use of the zipline as a hose connecting the engines to the main body was quite a good idea! Classic space fans will also notice the iconic bumblebee stripes featured on many of the older space sets.

Explorer Cruiser 12 Crew

The greeble on the outside isn’t the only laudable aspect of this ship as LegoSpaceGuy also built a full interior!

Explorer Cruiser 09 Interior 2

We get a shot of the more mundane aspects of crew life with what I imagine to be a tiny kitchen as well a dining table. There’s also a peek at a crew member working at the Ops station just past the bunk beds. On the other side, a shower is situated next to some testing and analysis equipment that provides plenty of data for the crew about whichever new planet they decide to make a visit.

Explorer Cruiser 08 Interior 1

In the cargo hold, we see lots of stacked containers as well as a little rover! A must-have accessory in any exploration vessel. It fits in perfectly and I just love the shot from the rear of the open cargo hold.

Explorer Cruiser 11

Details are not spared as we get a closer look underneath where turbines are used as boosters for taking off. The ship also has retractable landing gear and some communication units near the front. I love how smooth those brick-built wings look, showing off the bumblebee stripes again. This ship is clearly well equipped for many exploratory missions!

Explorer Cruiser 07 Underside

Check out more Neo-Classic Space models we’ve covered and see how other builders have celebrated this far-out theme!