Peter Mowry has expanded his fleet of ships with his lastest, the White Whale. I’ll save you all from a terrible Moby Dick joke and keep that to myself.
I very much enjoy Peter’s ships, and find their shapes and universe fascinating. We’ve previously featured Solacium and The Marquis, so he’s got a proven record of beautiful ships.
Just in time for Ridley Scott’s film The Martian, Ryan Howerter presents his beautiful model of MAVEN, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission satellite. His model is a commission for the University of Colorado Boulder, for display at the CU Heritage Center. MAVEN recently celebrated its first year in orbit around Mars.
This is the third model he’s built for the University of Colorado; MAVEN joins Voyager 2 and the Apollo 11 Service Module.
Space news typically makes me giddy. When LEGO is in the mix, it’s all the better. On September 2 the Russian Soyuz rocket launched a new crew to the International Space Station for Expedition 44. This new crew will join astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, who are spending one full year on-board the ISS as we study the effects of long-term space travel in preparation for future deep-space missions.
Image courtesy of the European Space Agency and CollectSpace
Expedition 44 includes veteran cosmonaut Sergei Volkov (Russia), Aidyn Aimbetov (National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan), and Andreas Mogensen (European Space Agency). Why are we telling you all of this? Andres Mogensen is Denmark’s first ever astronaut and has brought LEGO with him aboard the ISS to mark the occasion. Along with the crew and supplies for their mission, 20 minifigures flew aboard.
Image courtesy of the European Space Agency and CollectSpace
According to Mogensen, “ESA and LEGO Education have partnered together for this mission, and among other things, we are running a competition for Danish schoolchildren to tell a story about my mission using Legos.” Mogensen recently completed a fantastic AMA on Reddit, if you wish to read more.
For more information on the mission and Expedition 44, check out Collect Space, the European Space Agency, NASA, and follow Andreas Mogensen on Twitter.
I have for you a most beautiful custom minifig. Marina brings us Yavanna, from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. She is responsible for all things that grew in the earth.
MikMikEternity gives us this wonderful custom Groot minifigure. The detail and sculpting are impressive. He says he sculpted the additional pieces and painted by hand. I love the weathered, wooden look and the subtle greenery all over Groot. There is so much character.
I think it’s high time for some castle-type-builds on here. What do you think? I present The Hunter’s Lair, built by W. Navarre. The build has a lot of features common-place for current castle builds, including a non-traditional base (tan! nice touch), detailed stonework, and a nice curved-looking roof. I like the mossy, dilapidated look this build has, and I’m going to suggest NOT standing near the chimney.
I grew up with Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. hI got my copy when I was very small, and that Christmas I got one of the Wild Things, too. The one with the long red hair. It was an amazing Christmas. This book has SUCH a place in my childhood, and was one of my favorites.
Max Pointner gives us this wonderful tribute to such an amazing book, right from its pages.
via Bricknerd
Danny Benedettelli builds robots using Mindstorms, and has been doing it for quite some time. He contributed models for EV3, when that was released, including this playable electric guitar. Today, we’re focusing on his robot Cyclops.
Now, granted, it looks like Cyclops has been around for a while, but it’s new to us, and I’ll hazard a guess it’s new for a lot of you, too.
Let’s introduce you to Cyclops:
And how Cyclops is able to move:
Since you can’t have a robot revolution without improving on previous designs, Danny also brings us Cyclops mk III:
via Nerdist
In the nick of time, a hero arose…and I’m not apologizing for the 1960s ear worm. Miro Dudas has given us what we never knew we needed: Snoopy in his warbird. The Sopwith Camel itself is fantastic, and the addition of Snoopy as pilot just tugs at nostalgia.
This might be an older model, but this adorable early design from Jordan Schwartz just has to be shared. The car’s got such an elegant design, with those lovely lines and most excellent grill.
And should you be interested, Jordan’s also got some delightful older vehicles for you to enjoy. Or in which to avoid government officials. Depends on your needs.
Space is dangerous. Getting there maybe even more so, what with riding a controlled explosion to overcome gravity and all. In the United States, the majority of the space flight innovations came from NASA with a significant amount of help early on from the Air Force and German aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun.
Max Schellenberg gives us an intro to modern space travel with this brilliant microscale version of a Falcon 9 landing in the Atlantic Ocean. This is adorable and I love it.
Now, there are a number of private companies developing new technology: Boeing and Lockheed Martin regularly launch the Delta IV rockets under United Launch Alliance; Boeing is developing their CST-100 crew capsule. Sierra Nevada has their Dreamchaser. Jeff Bezos has Blue Origin, for tourist space flight, launching out of Texas.
And Elon Musk has SpaceX.
Off all of these, I get the most giddy about SpaceX. Because the first foray into reusable equipment with the Shuttle program still required going and fishing the boosters out of the Atlantic, along with the orbiter returning safely to earth. SpaceX has developed their Falcon 9, capable of launching a payload into space, and having the booster return to a fixed point. Namely, their “autonomous spaceport drone ships,” the Just Read the Instructions and Of Course I Still Love You. They’ve recently leased one of the former launch complexes on Cape Canaveral Air Force Base and converted into a landing facility as well.
That is amazing.
Evidently, selling earth-like vacuum cleaners is a dangerous, adventurous business. Sebastiaan (Alien Cat) returns to us from real-life adventures to present the little Alien Cat’s terribly hazardous profession selling vacuum cleaners across the known universe.
Business is clearly doing well, if this sporty read number is any indication:
Clearly his driving skills haven’t improved. That, or he failed to account for changes in gravity and atmosphere from one planet to another. 
I’m particularly fond of this lovely little star ship called Tia Maria.
