Pierre E Fieschi alluded to a much larger project recently when he posted a heavy hauler. The result was worth the wait.
Pierre’s bombardment platform uses the new 1×1 round tiles, and incorporates some interesting polygonal shapes. I love the way the yellow spans the underlying dark gray.
James Pegrum’s (peggyjdb) vignette caught my eye with its slanted rocks and angled placement of the temple, making it look more refined and realistic.
I’ve been sick this week. Though nothing life-threatening, I’ve kept my sniffling and sneezing to myself here at home. Between naps and sipping green tea while curled up on the couch to watch whatever’s on the National Geographic Channel, I’ve built a few things (including 10214 Tower Bridge).
My U.E.F. Ship Recovery Vessel was inspired by equal parts Chris Foss and pseudoephedrine.
As eye-bleedingly garish as it is, I like the idea behind it:
The U.E.F. Kudu-class SRV enters battle zones to recover and transport damaged or disabled combat vessels.
Aboard their unarmed and lightly armored ships, SRV crews have a motto: “Jump In, Jump Out.” SRVs have the highest-precision FTL jump computers in the U.E.F. fleet, able to jump in behind the disabled ship, extend a shield for temporary protection, secure the ship for transport, and jump out of the system in under 90 seconds.
For less dangerous cargo than that carried by my Pit Viper fuel tanker, I built this Octan “multitanker”.
Finally, I revisited the idea behind the cargo container ship I’d built nearly five years ago, resulting in this interplanetary transport.
I can’t wait to feel better, but it’s been nice having something to distract myself from feeling miserable in the meantime.
After trying on stripes for some spaceships inspired by Chris Foss I turned my eye to the less garish but no less colorful aesthetic of the Homeworld games (in turn inspired by Peter Elson). I can’t say that this ended up fitting any particular Homeworld race or ship class, but my Pit Viper fuel tanker is easily one of my personal favorite micro ships. In nature, venomous animals use color to warn off predators. This tanker does the same as it transports the U.E.F. fleet‘s poisonous sources of interstellar fuel.
Graffiti covers the underside of the central tank. After all, the lower surface is where planet-bound delinquents would be able to reach when the Pit Viper lands, right? Both the fore and aft sections use old X-Pod parts, for a “greeble sandwich” effect.
Via twee affect. ;-)
I alluded to the opposing force that inspired my own microscale battle fleet, but it looks like I didn’t end up blogging Mike Yoder‘s fleet on its own. Well, this wonderful new poster created for Mike by Stijn gives me a great excuse to do so.
All of Mike’s ships have a consistent design that visually places them within the same faction, while each vessel has a unique style of its own. I just love the little fighters!
Anyone who has played StarCraft 2 will instantly recognize Sven Junga‘s model of the Hyperion. Even those who are unfamiliar with the game may recognize the hammerhead shape of the battlecruiser design, which has been done several times in LEGO.
Click to see more angles and detailing of the Hyperion
Brickshelf user icare‘s microscale model of the Musée du quai Branly in Paris captures its vibrant architecture. Even though I’m not familiar with the actual museum, this creation is still a treat for the eyes.
The weather outside might be frightful, but we’ve got plenty to keep us inside and warm. And that includes building ornaments for our trees, if that’s the holiday you choose to celebrate.
Chris McVeigh has posted his series of five ornaments, each designed to bring a bit of life and character to your decorations this holiday season! Each has instructions, so happy building!
They say you’re not a real LEGO Space builder until you’ve built a SHIP — a “Significantly Huge Investment in Parts” — that’s at least 100 studs long. As tempting as it was to take on that challenge, I was having so much fun with my little microscale fleet that I decided I wanted to stay within a size that was a reasonable addition to the carrier, cruiser, destroyer, and other little ships I’d built before BrickCon.
Spurred by a rival fleet Mike Yoder built, I set out to add a battleship. Thus was born UES Vanguard, the flagship of the United Earth Federation interstellar fleet.
Despite limiting myself to 55-60 studs, I still struggled with the engineering problems of creating something that wasn’t just built from bricks and slopes stacked on top of each other — something I know regular LEGO Space builders solved years ago. By the end, Vanguard was basically built as a “normal” LEGO (SYSTEM) skin enclosing a Technic latticework. That makes it strong enough, though, that I can hold it with one hand near the back and swoosh it around the living room. Sweet!
See more photos in the photoset on Flickr.
You know, there are some places where it’s just worth it to plan an intergalactic road-trip because the food is just so amazing, that even a trip to a restaurant at the end of the universe is no big deal. I’m pretty sure that’s the case for Rod Gillies‘ fabulous micro-diorama. There’s just something in the beef that makes it all worth it.
Either that, or the ship’s cook is really just that bad and they’re DONE with cafeteria food.
I’m still not satisfied with my indoor, winter/rain/Seattle photo setup, so I’ve been playing around quite a bit with post-processing to make up for the less-than-optimal lighting in my recent LEGO photos. After I finally posted my completed microscale Tokyo that I’d built a year earlier, I went a little wild with this next photo. I ended up turning it into a 1960s postcard, inspired by Godzilla battling some sort of kaiju as a visiting King Kong looks on.
The scale varies within the scene, and is wildly incorrect for the Micropolis standard I used as the base, but my tiny Tokyo has everything I remember from the time I spent there in the 70’s and 80’s — old-style bullet trains and neon-hued commuter trains, brightly colored advertising cubes atop buildings in Ginza and Shinjuku, the ever-expanding industry around Tokyo Harbor, Meiji Shrine, the National Diet, and the iconic red and white of Tokyo Tower.
Time is running thin for Classic-Castle‘s Micro Castle Contest, and I assure you, I do not envy the judge(s). Lolino weighs in with this impressive interpretation of Tartarus.
Wikipedia provides an excellent explanation of the location and purpose for any who are interested!