Tag Archives: Airplanes

A detailed LEGO plane that’s no mirage... Or is it?

LEGO builder Beat Felber is well known for his enormous models of industrial vehicles (exhibit A: our Beat Felber archives). But he’s ringing the changes with his latest model! It’s smaller than his usual fare, of military rather than industrial nature, and more at home in the air than on the ground. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the flawless attention to detail. This plane – and its loadout – is based on a real Dassault Mirage, on display in Beat’s native Switzerland. With the help of some custom decals, it compares very favourably!

Dassault Mirage III RS Swiss Air Force

It wouldn’t be a Beat Felber model without a bit of functionality as well: on here, the landing gear retracts into the undercarriage. You can see what it looks like in flight on this very smart display stand!

Dassault Mirage III RS Swiss Air Force

Aerospace LEGO enthusiast nails hammerhead aircraft design

Capturing the subtle curves of an aircraft’s wings and fuselage in LEGO takes incredible skill. Seeing the lines in Damien Labrousse‘s “Shark Fighter” aircraft, one can’t help but sit up and take notice. The ever-so slight tapering from 6 studs wide at the cockpit to 10 at the rear is masterfully done. The wings and flaps are also top gun design. Damien based his model on a piece of concept art from E Wo Kaku Peter, and the results perfectly capture the inspiration’s silhouette, while making a few creative deviations that help the model shine in LEGO. In a fitting callback for this nautically named work, it shares the same registry number as the LEGO City Seaplane.

Shark Fighter

A triple transformer that’s too tiny to transform? Try again...

In his review of 10338 Transformers Bumblebee, Kyle mentioned that the yellow Autobot’s large size was likely down to the transformation requirement in LEGO form. Clearly, Grant Masters read this and took it as a challenge. He, too, has created a LEGO Transformer. And this one is tiny! It depicts Blitzwing, a Decepticon with as many personalities as he has transformations (three). He is depicted the way he appeared in the animated series rather than in the 2018 Bumblebee film, which results in a snazzy purple-and-tan colour scheme.

Blitzwing

But is he too tiny to transform? No! Now he can’t do all three transformations – even for a builder of Grant’s skill, that’s almost attempting the impossible. But still, being able to transition Blitzwing between his jet and robot forms is seriously impressive at this small scale!

Blitzwing

Planes, trains, and LEGO builds

If you love Italy and/or railway architecture, look no further than this lovely LEGO creation by Jean-Philippe Leroux! Leroux has captured the elegance of the Italian railway bridge, the Viaduct of San Bartolomeo, built in the late 1960s. Leroux has used stacked 2×2 jumper tiles to add the layered texture to all of the pillars, and notice how all the slopes at the base of the pillars are actually 2×3 slopes on their sides? That’s what allows Leroux to “embed” the arches in between the wider supports. Great work on that micro-scale plane too! I can’t imagine he’s used more than ten parts to build it! I’m also excited to see the multiple colors on the outside of the diorama representing the different geological layers; I’d say it really grounds the build!

Ponte di SAn Bartolomeo

Come fly with me: real-world aircraft in the brick [Feature]

A couple of weeks ago, LEGO unveiled 10318 Concorde as the next Icons set. I’ve always admired Concorde, so I’m really excited about this one. In part because it looks gorgeous, but also because it falls into a nice small category of LEGO sets: those based on real planes! Aircraft have of course featured hundreds of times in LEGO sets of varying sizes. But the number based on actual, real-world aircraft is much smaller, which makes it more manageable for things like feature articles on LEGO fan blogs. So, with the help of TBB’s resident expert plane modeller Ralph Savelsberg, let’s take a look at LEGO’s affiliation with planes!

The article really takes off below!

LEGO unveils 2,083-piece Airbus Concorde model in the Icons line [News]

Did you hear that sonic boom? That was the sound of LEGO unveiling the latest addition to the Icons line-up: the world’s first supersonic airliner, 10318 LEGO® Concorde. Despite having retired from operational service 20 years ago, it has endured as a popular image of luxury air travel. The LEGO set probably won’t fly as fast as the real thing (at least not under its own power), but does feature deployable landing gear, a detailed interior, and of course the ‘droop nose’. With a shade over 2,000 pieces, 10318 LEGO® Concorde will be available from LEGO.com and in stores starting September 7 (with early access September 4 for VIPs) for US $199.99 | CAN $259.99 | UK £169.99.

Take the model out for a test flight below!

If I was in World War II they’d call me Spitfire!

The Supermarine Spitfire is possibly the most iconic propellor-driven plane, and has appeared just about everywhere — books, comics, TV shows, films, music , and indeed, LEGO bricks. And while British dance legends the Prodigy penned the title of this post, the prodigy behind this brick-built Spitfire is Juliusz D. It’s slightly smaller than some other Spitfires you might have seen over the years, but it’s no less impressive for it. One of my favourite bits is the canopy, one of the first bits Juliusz built. In fact, this is apparently where the whole build stemmed from. Some custom decals – alongside stickers re-purposed from 76907 Lotus Evija – are the perfect icing on the cake to complete the iconic look of this WWII fighter.

Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. XVIe

Sail through the skies with some cyber wings

Taking off at the nearest cyberpunk runway is this lovely LEGO plane from Sylon_tw. The build blends the cyberpunk theme with the classic aviation look to get this tight little flyer. You have the more classic aviation look from the 1930s and 1940s in the overall shaping and especially the blue in the front. The rest of it is definitely cyberpunk in theme! I do love the exposed wings to see all those details, and those wingtips remind me of starfighters. This thing looks like it can really move, pulling all kinds of stunts as it flies around. This is some great styling, and I hope to see more in the future.

[cybersky] Tomtit - main

Check out some of the details on this slick jet below, including shots of the cockpit and landing gear.

[cybersky] Tomtit - details

Porco Rosso takes the lead in his Savoia S.21 seaplane

I’ve lost count of how many LEGO versions of Porco Rosso’s iconic seaplane we’ve featured here on TBB, going way back to Uspez Morbo’s Savoia S.21 I wrote about in 2008. And yet I enjoy every version we’ve highlighted, not least this fantastic microscale version by Marcin Otreba, complete with stand and tiny Adriatic seascape. A miniature Porco pilot may try to steal the show here, but the details I love most are the little contrails emerging from the engine exhaust and the rounded cowling on the seaplane’s bow.

Savoia S.21

LEGO Technic 42152 Firefighter Aircraft – A plane filled with features [Review]

Each time LEGO comes out with a new wave of any theme, there tends to be a sort of “flagship” model of the series. These are often large, top-dollar builds that makes every fan drool. But there are actually a lot of models that stand in the shadows as diamonds in the rough. LEGO Technic 42152 Firefighter Aircraft might just be one of those sets. The 1134-piece plane is currently available and retails for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £94.99. Come along as we check out all the cool features.

Continue reading →

Socks and sandals on the beach? Ridiculous!

Somehow I find the concept of socks and sandals on the beach more unsettling than an anthropomorphic airplane on vacation. That’s the conundrum that Nathan Hake presents with this new LEGO creation titled Arby the A320. I mean, have you tried to rinse sand out of socks? Nathan tells us the build started life as sort of a flying mechanism but this particular plane was way too heavy for the task. With its wings folded over, the aircraft looked to the builder like it was very tired and was having a little rest. So he gave it legs and declared it to be on vacation because everyone needs some time off, even planes. Despite the footwear fashion faux pas, I’m really on board with this. I like the little hat; practicality at its finest! Check out our archives to discover why Nathan Hake is sometimes silly, sometimes fun, but always interesting.

Arby the a320

An itsy-bitsy SR-71 Blackbird

Don’t let its size fool you! This teensy LEGO SR-71 Blackbird by Greyson is a mighty recon machine from the factories of Lockheed Martin. Even while working in a monochromatic palette, this plane still feels dynamic, a perfect recreation of its real-life kin. Each wedge plate feels perfectly placed, and the shaping on the fuselage is all the better for Greyson’s excellent use of the katana minifig accessory. I even like the shaping on its gray stand: a simple bit that only accentuates the clever design of the micro aircraft.

Baby Blackbird