Tag Archives: Rovers

A pair of roving rovers running rampant

February is one of my favorite LEGO months, Because it comes before Marhikoma, and for Febrovery, when builders from around the world create rovers inspired by the classic space car. This pair of rovers by Isaac Snyder are a perfect blend of nostalgia and modern sci-fi, with smooth large wheels and an open cargo bay, the big rover reminds me of the ground vehicle from the Mass Effect video game franchise, and while I know this only shows how old I am, a bit of the classic arcade game Moon Patrol. The smaller one looks like it rolled over the hill from the lunar lander from NASA. My only question is, will the small one fit on the cargo bed. Judging by the hinged tailgate, I’m guessing it does.

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Rugged rover vibes abound

We’re halfway through FebRovery and the models keep coming. Stand-outs can be hard to find but LEGO builder Julius Kanand has provided us with a near-future gem worth gushing about. A collection of old and new parts, the builder certainly had fun figuring out the finer details in this model. The suspension, which looks a lot like a Coilover suspension in each arm, is full of functioning parts, including the spring suspensions used near the central body. This is a pretty smart way to usefully integrate the suspension so that the body stays relatively still as the arms move up and down to respond to the terrain. Those big, classic wheels provide plenty of clearance under the body along a retro-future vibe to match the Classic Space planet logo used in the tailpiece. There is a ton of nice parts usage in this build, including the skateboard communications array, along with the storable helper bot that the green spacemen must be unloading here.

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This Martian Botanical Unit is like, far-out, man!

We’ve seen plenty of LEGO space rovers lately but Isaac Wilder clearly has a good sense of humor about his. With its 3D-printed custom rims, it’s more of a psychedelic VW T2 campervan than a Mars rover. However, should we ever explore Mars, there is some good reasoning for having a mobile botanical unit to either analyze and collect the plant life that may be discovered there or to seed our own once we terraform the Red Planet. Along with it, you would certainly need a gentle, laidback botanical enthusiast with a knack for making plants grow. Do we know anyone like that? This dude definitely doesn’t harsh my mellow! If you’re hip to it, why not discover other reasons why we think Isaac Wilder is, like, one with the universe. While you’re at it, don’t bogart the love. Be sure to check out these space rovers built by others, brah.

The rover with no blind spots...on the sides

The LEGO builder who is apparently a cat, Koosya the Cat has rendered a space rover that ranks A+ for having no blind spots. At least when you look out from the sides. Results may vary if looking out the front or rear. But who needs driver safety when exploring another planet? The probability of a Toyota Carolla cutting you off is pretty minimal out there in space so I’d say go nuts with whatever wild and crazy rover design you want. If it turns out other planets are full of pedestrians, at least you can see them down below once you run them over. Which could happen for that one astronaut who apparently has to hoof it all the way back to the base. I guess he lost that Rochambeau. Better luck next time, buddy!

Stick a fork in this rover – it’s done. Done right, that is

Inspired by the new wheel fork elements from 76179 Batman & Selina Kyle Motorcycle Pursuit, builder Carrier Lost has repurposed them into a something a little more out of this world. The Gamma Scanner is rover is dripping with Classic Space styling combined with more recent offerings like silver ingots and that all-important driver – Lenny from Benny’s Space Squad. The chassis is indeed pretty sweet, but my favorite part of this rover is that array of transparent-green sensors along the leading edge. Will Lenny find the gamma-powered Hulk in a crossover with the MCU? One can only hope.

If rovers are your thing, then be sure to peruse our Rover Tag for more grounded goodness.

Can’t make space wine without water

Building a colony on another world won’t be easy. It’ll require tons of resources that you better hope are available on the planet and that you can build close enough to them. Builder Bob DeQuatre is certainly aware of the issues that go along with settling new worlds. As a precious and necessary resource, water is certainly worth a hike to retrieve. This nuclear-powered, armored water tank, dubbed the Dionysus, was designed by the Mars Corporation to quickly transport water from remote extraction sites to the main outpost. Massive wheels and an armored body ensure that every drop makes it back safely. All while looking absolutely gorgeous with that white and red color scheme and interesting angles around that elevated cabin.

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Microscale Tales of the Space Age in LEGO

Humanity didn’t make it to space all at once. Like a ladder to the stars, our journey to the moon and beyond took many small steps. Each necessary part of the adventure, the good and bad, helped our species step out into the cosmos. Celebrating this era of discovery, builder Jan Woznica brings us a series of builds that are truly works of art. Each model evokes elements of exploration underlining our adventures in our solar neighborhood. Clever parts usage and pleasing color gradients give each of these a satisfying appeal worthy of displaying. Let’s take a closer look while you debate which would look best in your office or home.

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Searching for a new home on distant worlds

Febrovery might be far off, but that doesn’t mean we should deny ourselves rovers now. Builder Kilo Bricks brings the goods with the Goliathan Beta, an extensive mobile command center fit for exploring other worlds. This behemoth ten-wheel rover is a sight to behold. Its realistic design traversing over earthy terrain almost fools the eye into seeing NASA concept art. The keen eye of a LEGO fan will quickly be able to pick out the tells. Each angle of this beast is full of details worthy of praise, but the true show stopper is its interior. Ready to go for a ride and see what this monster has to offer?

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What’s black and white and rad all over?

Sometimes a single piece can cause the imagination to snowball. LEGO designer Robert Heim wanted to build something with the trans-purple canopy that debuted in the Pop-Up Party Bus from The Lego Movie 2. But all he knew for sure was he wanted to make a space rover with it. That led him to design a semi-truck configuration. And the trailer had to haul something, right? Which meant he had to build a rocket…and thus, the “ORCA” rover was complete.

Flatbed trailers can understandably sometimes be a little visually uninteresting, but Robert’s combated this by including some great detail on the undercarriage, including ray guns acting as suspension on each wheel. But let’s not overlook the cargo. The angled thrusters nestled between hot air balloon shells make the rocket a stand-out build all on its own. The fact that it can be hauled into launch position by such a cool-looking rover is icing on the cake.

This rover has got us pumped.

In 2007, LEGO released the Mars Mission sub-theme for their Space line. One of the major gimmicks for that line was a series of pneumatic tubes that minifigures could travel through. This was accomplished by propelling them with a blast of air provided by a sub-theme-specific giant pump. Those pumps must now be sitting unused in collections around the world. Surely it’s too specific an item to make use of when you’re not constructing a tube-based travel system. “Not so fast,” says lokiloki29. This is the EOS-BA Discovery Rover, and it makes use of four of those pumps to create a set of over-sized wheels that look ready to tackle numerous alien terrains.

Considering the limited connection points that the pumps provide, this vehicle is an out of this world accomplishment. The vehicle contains a fully functioning interior, and even includes a mini vehicle that can deploy to travel through those smaller spaces the larger rover can’t quite handle. And, although it is crewed by a more traditional team of astronauts, I respect that the rover homages the Mars Mission sets with its pops of orange against the largely white color scheme.

When you love Classic Space and have a lot of it to haul around

We all love LEGO Classic Space, right? Sure we do, it hits us right in the nostalgic feels. But what happens when you love it so much that you have a lot of it to haul around? It turns out, The Brick Artisan has answered all our prayers and my weird premise with this Classic Space Compact Transport Rover. It can haul your barrels of toxic waste, whatever comes in those blue canisters (probably also toxic), and whatever that greebly doohickey is of questionable toxicity. Let’s just err on the side of safety and assume it’s all toxic. Thankfully these rovers were fitted with sensitive gyroscopic technologies and extremely responsive suspension so we’ve not shaking up things we don’t have to. This isn’t the first time we were totally delighted by this builder’s Classic Space stuff. Check out what I mean in our archives.

Cruise through the galaxy with style and practicality

Spaceships are definitely my bag, man. Massive dreadnoughts to humble escape pods, I love every model from the unwieldy to the swooshable. Classic Space sets are near and dear to many adult Lego fans, being the formative theme that roped them into playing with little plastic bricks for the rest of their lives. In recent years, the theme has been revived by fans with redesigns of their favorite classic sets or new creations of their own thanks to the LEGO Movie franchise and their lovable, spaceship-obsessed character, Benny the Spaceman. Here, builder LegoSpaceGuy gives us a ship of his own design, the Explorer Cruiser.

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