Tag Archives: Nick Trotta

A LEGO R-Type spaceship that warms my Metal Heart

Nick Trotta might not be the most prolific builder, but every one of his works is a masterpiece of color, geometry, and innovative use of LEGO elements. For style and technique, Nick sets the gold standard for LEGO spaceship design. Nick’s latest craft is the R-104 Metal Heart, a ship inspired by the classic R-Type shoot-em-up video games, characterized by the massive wave cannon and many fins for maneuverability. Clocking in at 4,021 pieces, the ship is one of Nick’s most elaborate builds to date.

The best LEGO ships take advantage of slopes and SNOT (short for “studs not on top”) parts to create shapes and angles that are plausible as aerospace engineering while keeping that “swooshable” fun form factor of a kid’s favorite toy. In Nick’s build, every seam enhances the ship’s smooth lines. Modules connect in ways that defy logic. To see how Nick pulled off this slick exterior, you really have to see the ship from the inside. Thankfully the builder provides a detailed video of the build process.

Click to see Nick’s build process on this amazing ship!

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Learn how to build spaceships like a true master AFOL [Instructions]

There are some LEGO builders who, every time they present a new build to the world, have us scratching our heads wondering how on earth they’ve made those pieces fit together like that. For no one is that more true than Nick Trotta, whose spaceships feature frankly mind-bending ways of connecting things together. Have you ever wanted to see how he does it? Well, he’s just released instructions for one of his models, so you can do just that! This spaceship was featured here way back in 2018, and it still looks just as good now as it did then. You can build your own using the instructions over on his website!

And while you’re here – why not take a look through some of his other builds that have graced our Nick Trotta archives since the Resonance made its first appearance?

A sure hit of a spaceship

It’s so hard to pick a favourite LEGO spaceship designer, since there are so many awesome ones out there. If I had to though, you can be damn sure Nick Trotta would be on the shortlist. His spacecraft simply never miss. Appropriately, this latest ship’s namesake – Astraea – is the Greek Goddess of precision, among other things. There’s so much to love about this ship I don’t know where to start! Nick’s trademark mastery of angles is on display in the boosters, wings and scaffolding around the cockpit. Speaking of which, this is a unique design featuring opposed windscreens, whose smooth round lines are a great focal point among all the sharp angles elsewhere. And the colours! Sometimes less is more with colour, but the judicious use of it here makes this model detailed without being cluttered – a fine balance. And a fine creation it is too!

If you like this (and come on, who wouldn’t?) you’ll love everything else we’ve featured from Nick.

The gold standard of spaceships

Back with another astounding LEGO spaceship, Nick Trotta has proved once again that he is the master of his (space) craft. His latest build, titled Interference 3V is a variation on the classic Vic Viper shaping with a few added flairs to keep it unique. Like all of his spaceships, Nick’s latest build is remarkable from a distance. The complex angles and gorgeous color blocking are defining features.

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The Tachyomatic Combine combines complex angles and interstellar build techniques

Well, I’m pretty sure Nick Trotta is from outer space or he’s been sent from the future to kill us all. How else could you explain LEGO build techniques of this caliber? This Tachyomatic Combine combines (how do you explain word association that good?) complex angles, futuristic aerodynamics, and interesting colors and textures. The end result is so cohesive you’d be convinced Nick visited the future. Actually, he’s taken inspiration from artist Weiyi Qin whom I’m pretty sure is also from outer space.

Care to see other angles and the inner workings of this mind-blowing model? I’m pretty much going to speak for you here and say that you do. Go on, click the link! You know you want to!

No seriously, click it. You won’t be disappointed!

This isn’t a spaceship, it’s a LEGO brain-teaser

As you might imagine, being the managing editor for The Brothers Brick entails looking at a lot of LEGO creations. With space being one of the most popular LEGO genres, I’ve seen my share of spaceships. And while I see plenty of spaceships I love, it’s not often that I come across models that truly cause my jaw to drop, but spaceship guru Nick Trotta routinely does so with his mastery of brick geometry. One of the best spaceship builders around, Nick’s latest creation, dubbed the Heavenly Strike, is a perfect example of how you can fit LEGO pieces together in truly mind-blowing configurations. So I’m going to dive into this one a bit more than we do on our usual articles because I’m absolutely enthralled.

At first, you see a superbly slick spaceship with an impeccable color scheme (with a few gorgeously custom copper-chromed elements). It’s angular and appropriately futuristic without being over the top. And, while it’s easily overlooked, that display stand is quite a nice creation on its own. But look closer, and you’ll start to see that very few pieces align in the way that you’d think they should, and nearly every surface is fitted an odd angle.

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If you’re going into space, you may as well do it in style

A new LEGO spaceship from Nick Trotta is always worthy of note, and Firebreak, his latest, is an absolute belter. The shaping is a beautiful collection of angles and curves, making clever use of tiles and a bewildering array of sideways-building techniques to keep the lines smooth. But it’s the color scheme and the ingenious striping which grab the attention — look at the white highlight outline on the asymmetric engine intake, a fantastic piece of LEGO engineering. The angled snub nose is also great, adding a touch of malevolence by invoking attack helicopter styling. Finally, the use of black and chrome for the functional-looking greebles is inspired — a nice change of pace from the “standard” LEGO spaceship greebles in light or dark grey. This is one of the best LEGO spacecraft we’ve seen for a while. I’d recommend zooming in for a closer look at all the quality building involved in its creation.

Wide wings with golden detail brings new frontiers

Another wide streak of light, this time called Refraction R/99, has taken off from the mind of Nick Trotta. After following his amazing LEGO creations for a while, you may pick up on the seamless transitions between each section of his ships. In that regard, he holds true to his craft. Though in others, he spreads his wings a little more. On the one hand, he has built a flying wing, and on the other, he has started playing with a selection of gold elements. Both are styles which he hasn’t explored before.

$Refraction R/99$

His shaping creates a strength of form built off a shallow frame, allowing the pilot to be flanked by its impressive set of wings. Having no fuselage means squeezing all of his incredible details into its wingspan. The medium blue throughout the engine housing, alongside those deep-set grilles following suit, bring out the almost skeletal dark blue within the wings and midsection. As in many of Trotta’s builds, the carefully chosen colours are exceptionally complimented by some bright splashes, this time it’s Bright Light Yellow, Orange, Trans Neon Green and his new addition: Drum Laquer Gold.

$Refraction: Fly-by$

He has used his gold sparingly even though its spread throughout his ship, most effectively as a housing for some fine greebling on either side of the cockpit. This greebling, as squished as it is, has some great parts use going on in there, from the two sunken Megaphones, the red roller skates, to my personal favourite, the black paint roller handle. Yet the clean repetition of the black Grille Guards, installed as cooling vents on the two engines, seem to tie off this brilliant ship.

A spaceship that resonates with us

Space builder Nick Trotta is one of the undisputed masters of minifigure-scale LEGO spacecraft. A fastidious perfectionist, Nick builds and rebuilds each of his models, tweaking every detail before finally letting the world see the finished result. It’s always worth the wait, however, as this new spaceship evidences.

The simple geometric shapes belie the ridiculous amount of engineering needed to achieve them. The technique that always grabs my attention (Nick has used it before) is the use of panels to create the white leading edge on the wings, cleverly hiding any unsightly joints and gaps. Plus, there’s the awesomely retro color scheme, with my favorite detail being the “health” bar on the ship’s nose beneath the cockpit.