Tag Archives: Airplane

Classic flight plan hanging around

If you love LEGO flying vehicles, chances are that you may have come across the models of Maelven. His ability to switch between slick renditions of Star Wars vehicles and classic planes is beautiful. It always makes me wonder what he’s going to come out with next. His Blind Man’s Bluff Hangar is full of fine elemental compositions. The plane by itself looks great, with one wing folded up and step ladder at the ready.

Blind Man's Bluff Hangar

This is a new rendition of Maelven’s previous Hawler Sea Fury T.20, a LEGO plane he has been refining since 2012. Accompanying it are a host of other fine details, from his beasty Ratrod to the stripped fuselage and workshop fixtures. However, my eyes kept being drawn towards the top of this superb diorama to take in the roof trusses of this classic hanger. A seamless combination of Technic connectors, liftarms and Technic bricks achieving a specific form such as this always makes me happy. Between the truss and the rigid hose conduit, this fantastic scene is well-framed.

World War 1 German Fokker D.VII

World War I vehicles are a source of inspiration for lots of LEGO builders. Maybe it’s the challenge of the many unique shapes these vehicles use. Whatever the reason, this model of the German Fokker D.VII by Wesley does a top-notch job of capturing the look of this fighter plane, from the cross built into the tailfin to the engine with wooden propeller, to the wheel structure. Even the camouflage pattern under the wings (while not official LEGO) is quite a nice detail.

B-24 Liberator Bomber from World War II recreated in LEGO

The B series bombers are certainty some of my favorite airplanes ever created. I can’t help but think of them as battleships of the sky, with the ability to drop tons of bombs while laying down machine gun fire in all directions from a multitude of manned turrets. Nelsoma84 has brought one of these planes to life in LEGO form: the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Although the B-17 usually steals the show, as we’ve seen before with a B-17 from PlaneBricks and a chrome Flying Fortress by Orion Pax, the B-24 was actually the most-produced bomber and American military aircraft in history. This particular model is based on one of the B-24’s based in Benghazi, Libya, which explains the tan coloring.

These bombers were used in 2,400-mile round-trip bombing raids on oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania which supplied 30-50% of the Third Reich’s fuel. The model has excellent shaping all around, from the tips of the wings to the signature glass nose, and has room inside for pilots and gunners. Custom stickers complete the model’s look and add an additional level of detail.

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Take Flight into the Winds of War with these Fantastic Aircraft

World War I (1914-1918) marked a turning point in military technology. While the age of aircraft was still quite young, it did not take military strategists long to recognize their advantage on the battlefield. The era produced legendary pilots like the Red Baron and Eddie Rickenbacker. 100 years later, we can add Wesley to the list of flying aces with his brilliant aircraft from the Great War.

By themselves, Wesley’s models look really slick, but his excellent photography really kicks things up a notch. He does an excellent job of setting the scenery, with believable landscaping and cloud laden skies. The muted colors used to present the images are reminiscent of turn-of-the-century hand-tinted color photographs. Wesley has created a number of planes for us to enjoy, including…

Check out the rest of Wesley’s amazing aircraft below

Porco Rosso’s racing plane takes to the skies

We’ve featured half a dozen or so Savoia S.21 flying boat from Porco Rosso over the years, but it remains one of my favorite LEGO aircraft whenever I run across a new version. This latest incarnation of the racing plane from the 1992 Hayao Miyazaki film is brought to us by Volker Brodkorb. The airplane’s huge engine mounted forward of the cockpit makes this plane instantly recognizable, as do the striping on the angled wings.

Porco Rosso's Savoia S.21

Volker uses curved slopes attached studs out to achieve the sloping shape of the boat-plane’s hull, and the pop of yellow on the front of the propeller is a lovely touch.

Porco Rosso's Savoia S.21

Flying submarine – top gun of the sea

When it comes to building a great LEGO narrative, the right signature element can really set the scene. Take this delightful flying submarine scene by Yang Wang for example. The tall, skinny, chibi-style fuselage with that perfectly rounded canopy creates a unique and fun vehicle. The working tilt rotors make this airship/submersible complete.

A submarine that flies

See more detailed pics of this submersible after the jump

Is it a bird, a plane or a butterfly?

You would be forgiven for thinking that this was a huge LEGO butterfly. It certainly seems to have the key features of one; four wings, clubbed antennae and a segmented body. In fact, Milan Sekiz has called this beastie a Leption, the combination of the Serbian words ‘leptir’ meaning butterfly and ‘avion’ meaning airplane.  I love those shapely wings, Milan must have used some LEGO mathematics to work out how best to fill their centres with decorative, coloured parts.

Leption

You will notice that there is a pilot at the helm, holding on to some handlebars – is he steering or just along for the ride?

Leption - SidesFans of butterflies may enjoy revisiting these two previous butterflies we have highlighted; a colourful glass-like butterfly and a larger, realistic butterfly.

A flying fortress of LEGO bricks

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft that played a key role for the Allies in World War II. When the prototype B-17 first flew in 1935, a reporter for the Seattle Times was watching and coined the name “Flying Fortress” with his comment, “Why, it’s a flying fortress!” The B-17 was mainly used in the strategic bombing campaign of World War II. PlaneBricks has built a fantastic LEGO version of this famous bomber, complete with the machine guns poking out of clear ‘blisters’ to allow bombardiers and gunners to visualise their targets.

B-17G Flying Fortress

See more images of this classic LEGO aircraft

Microscale A-10 Warthog [Instructions]

For the enjoyment of his fellow military aviation buffs, builder ama77what has beautifully reverse-engineered this microscale A-10 “Warthog” fighter jet from a knock-off brand of building block, recreating it using bona-fide LEGO pieces and presenting it in the form of this handy single-page building guide. There really is nothing more to say here than go build it and SWOOOSH it!

Durable flying machine sweeps the skies

Gerald Cacas brings us a well-shaped LEGO version of the turboprop Fokker 50. There’s a lot of grey going on, but that’s because the build is modelled on the Royal Singapore Air Force version. This old warhorse of an aircraft is still in service with the RSAF in a Utility Transport and Maritime Patrol role. Aside from its realism, the muted tones of the model create an uncluttered feel, really showcasing the builder’s skill.

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Nice innovative parts use with the claw element forming the six-bladed propeller on each side. Aviation fans will also notice the attempt to shape the cockpit window as close as possible to the real McCoy.

Harassing your local LEGO farm

Ciamosław Ciamek today brings us simple but very effective, with a small “Barnstomer” plane rudely flying low on a farmer’s land. Take a few seconds to look at this build. There are no complex techniques nor an overwhelming amount of parts — it’s just the right amount of bricks used in the right places.

01 Barnstormer

What I also love about this build is the small scale of the plane. It’s absolutely minute, and there was some cheating done with the build. I assume the minifig head is just stuck on a brick, or one of the 2X2 driver’s bodies that have a minifig head peg. They were popular with the Drome Racers theme in the early 2000’s, and it’s a good way to simulate a full minifig in a small space. Also check out this alternate view, which shows off more of the plane.

04 Barnstormer

Born to fly ...and submerge

Soviet engineers were people with great imagination. Of course, at that time they didn’t have access to LEGO bricks, but even today their peculiar projects look awesome in plastic. Polish builder Ciamosław Ciamek presents Ushakov’s Flying Submarine — a hybrid of a military airplane and a submarine. Not only does it sound cool, it also looks cool. It’s gray, cold and bizarre even for an ambitious Soviet project.

01 Ushakov's Flying Submarine