As another SHIPtember comes to a close, there’s a ton of massive builds to marvel at. But Pascal reminds us that a spaceship doesn’t have to be massive to be impressive. This Narwhal Scout ship packs a ton of things to admire into a small space. Complex angles, just the right amount of greebling, and a sleek, stud-less hull can do the job when a significantly huge investment in parts isn’t on the table.
Pascal has created a vision of a truly terrifying dystopia. This may look like some neo-classic space robots helpfully planning the terraforming of a new, distant world, but look closer! This is a world devoid of mere mortals like minifigures. In this darkest of timelines, our new robot overlords spend their days playing God with the very Earth that sustains us. Rivers bend to their will. They literally move mountains. And we must acquiesce, as tiny figurines moved around on a Warhammer board, powerless to stop them. If only someone had a brick separator… Then we may be free of this torment that the machines call a game…
I love spaceships with unusual shapes, and Pascal has come up with a doozy in this regard. He has dubbed it the Sky Crane; presumably to reflect its role as a cargo-carrying craft, but perhaps also because the cockpit shape is reminiscent of a crane bird. The unique cockpit is a wonderful concept neatly executed, using the transparent yellow windshields from 10497 Galaxy Explorer. Speaking of which, this set didn’t include the moonbase that the original in 1979 had. If it had done, it could well have looked like the mobile habitat slung underneath the Sky Crane here!
LEGO’s 90th anniversary sets have pushed the fandom’s collective nostalgia into hyperspace, prompting all kinds of throwback builds. This tiny spacecraft by Pascal is a perfect example of old-school styling and modern construction. The blue and gray color scheme recalls the classic sets of yesteryear, but the studless construction and greebling details put this squarely in the “modern marvel” category.
Boy, the state of the world is in a boil, isn’t it? It’s been so bad lately that it has turned some Canandians impolite. It seems you have to travel all the way to outer space to find people not getting their knickers in a bunch. Take these two industrious LEGO fellows built by Pascal for example. They are most certainly getting s done and seem pretty happy to do it. Wait a minute, on second thought they both look rather upset. What are they so grumpy about? I thought truckdriving was the happiest job in the world next to security guards and funeral directors! Perhaps they’re mad about having to wear helmets and face visors in the cold, unrelenting, unforgiving vaccuum of outerspace? Whatever their reasoning is, I’m sure we can turn their frowns upside-down with more awesome space stuff!
What do you do when your drone tells you a lame joke? Right, you laugh. Look at Pascal Schmidt‘s drones. They are happy, which means the people around them are safe and happy, too. A combination of brutal dark gray mechanical suits and innocent smiling faces from DOTS gives me chills every time. Practically it’s the most effective way to give your build character, but in this case, the suits are excellent, too.
How many different ways can you build a LEGO X-wing? It’s one of the most iconic ships for Star Wars, and builders have been trying their hand at it over and over, and some of these LEGO X-wings are quite spectacular. But most of them are minifigure scale, so what if you tried a different scale? That’s what Pascal has done, with this slightly smaller and lightly chibi-ized version. He first built it back in 2016, but recently returned to update it a bit, and the result is just lovely. Rather than being the perfect scale model of an X-wing, it looks like a perfect recreation of a toy X-wing, the sort of thing I’d have spent hours swooshing about as a kid making “pew-pew” noises.
What happens when you change up the position of the components of a classic Vic Viper? You’ll end up with a Pasukaru Viper! Pascal decided to step away from the classic Vic Viper rules and changed the location of the twin-pronged fuselage. Rotating them changes the silhouette of the Vic Viper and adds a new flavor to the beloved spacecraft. The usage of the octagonal squiggle brick adds a nice touch to the vehicle. The primary colours of this vehicle somehow remind me of the plastic toys you would get at fast-food chain restaurants during the ’90s. Which for me is a ticket straight to memory lane. The fact that these colours come from the classic LEGO themes Aquanauts and Aquasharks is another reason to hop on that nostalgia bus.
The LEGO fan community is filled with various builder-driven challenges and monthly themes. One of the most popular challenges for space builders is Novvember, wherein builders use the month to recreate the Vic Viper from Gradius with their own twists. If you’ve been following us here on The Brothers Brick for long, you’ll no doubt have seen a fair handful already. This version by Pascal gives it the Ice Planet makeover, with an opaque windscreen and blocky but studless angles.
According to the picture description by Pascal, this Vic Viper has to do something with secret spacecraft technologies. To my surprise, a close look at the build didn’t reveal any hyperdrives, wires, tubes, laser guns, or force shields. I mean, all of these are probably there, but this build looks more like a piece of concept art. It takes LEGO bricks’ geometry to the extreme with elementary shapes. Ultimately it’s the color accents that make the whole thing stand out. Simple and bold!
SHIPtember is coming to a close and we’re beginning to see the results of everyone’s hard work. My Flickr feed has been full of really amazing WIP shots for the last several weeks, but the Bay of Biscay by Pascal is the first of the final builds that I’ve seen. And it’s an incredibly impressive way to start.
The ship has a unique profile, thanks to the use of crane supports to build its outer frame. Nestled within that frame are up to 60 shipping containers, carrying essential supplies for the interplanetary colonies. These containers are delivered down to the surface thanks to a fleet of tug drones, which can dock on the main ship for the long journey between colonies. It’s always great to see the functionality of a build like this thought through to that degree. I’d call it a massive achievement in microscale construction.
Are you ready to play? Builder Pascal shows us how LEGO and board gaming can coexist as the ultimate game night. What was once an assortment of bricks is now a modular custom tile strategy game. A mix of grass, water, rocks and mountains can be created by filling in various parts of the map. The fact that I can recreate the terrain after every batch is fantastic, assuring no game is the same.
Pascal says the inspiration for this creation was found in the 1984 game BattleTech. I’m thrilled to see each 2×2 tile piece has a single stud in the middle to balance my robot warriors. This will definitely come in handy since everyone knows you’ll need to stay on the high ground if you’re going to win at this game.