It might not be November yet, but it’s never too early to start building Vipers, and while this little ship by Alvaro Gunawan may not have all of the necessary details to qualify as a viper, a specific type of ship inspired by the video game Gradius it does have plenty of charm. With a pair of prongs flanking a sloped central cockpit with a chunky engine and two thin but deadly guns. The only thing missing is a fin.
If one pilot is good, then two must be better, according to Alvaro Gunawan, or maybe this mech is so hard to control, it requires two pilots, like the Jaegers from Pacific Rim. In any case, this hulking black mech sports a heavy-hitting rifle, and two shoulder-mounted rail guns. The model looks like it is fairly pose-able, as well.
Seen from the back, there are some nice details, like two thruster engines, two fuel pods, and those two little thruster flaps above each knee.
Flying through space is not at all like dusting crops, junior. While any self-respecting spaceship tasked with defending a planet wouldn’t be seen without a decent cannon, there are other dangers outside the safety of the atmosphere. Alvaro Gunawan knows about some of these dangers, like solar radiation, and maintaining full power at all times, so they equipped their patrol ship with shields, solar fins, and a couple of big engines. This craft even looks like something NASA or SpaceX might come up with… maybe we’ll live to see something like this sweeping the space around our little rock someday.
There is just something about mechs built from LEGO. It’s almost as if recent smooth pieces like tiles, slopes, and curves exist solely for mechs. Alvaro Gunawan uses a seamless combination of common LEGO elements to create XR-1 Vilthuril – an elegant mech with clean armour and very little exposed innards. There are very few studs on this clean, almost minimal build. I love how a transparent green eye and torso window breaks up the bright grey and white colour scheme. What’s more: the detachable back mounted rocket engine doubles as a shield.
A fun fact about this build: this was submitted to us on our brand new Discord server! Head on over there to join the discussion with your fellow readers!
