Tag Archives: Ships

The LEGO Ninjago Movie’s 70618 Destiny’s Bounty [Review]

Initially designed with the help of a focus group of adult LEGO builders, Ninjago has been one of LEGO’s most popular themes since its inception in 2011. Rumors of its impending cancellation circulated a few years ago, but the theme has stayed strong and become one of the longest-lived homebrew licenses for LEGO. Now having spawned a feature film due for release September 22, the line is as robust as ever with more than a dozen sets and a minifigure series from the film in the latest wave. This year’s lineup contains the several of the largest Ninjago sets ever, such as 70617 Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon, which we reviewed yesterday. Today’s focus is 70618 Destiny’s Bounty, which at 2,295 pieces edges out 2015’s Temple of Airjitzu (2,028 pieces) and loses only to the as-yet-unreleased Ninjago City (a whopping 4,867 pieces) to come in as the second largest Ninjago set ever. 70618 Destiny’s Bounty retails for $159.99 and is available now from the LEGO Shop Online.

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125,000 piece scale model of the RMS Titanic

On the fateful night of April 14th, 1912, the RMS Titanic steamed into an iceberg in the North Atlantic, resulting in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. Discovered on the ocean floor by Dr. Robert Ballard, immortalized by James Cameron in the 1997 film of the same name, the historic ship has now been created using about 125,000 LEGO pieces by Ben Macleod. I have seen a couple of LEGO versions of the Titanic, But Ben’s is the first I have seen with a full interior of every deck.

Taking approximately 2,000 hours over 3 years, the dimensions of this thing are amazing, at a length of 9 feet 7 inches (2.9 meters or 364 studs) a width of 1 foot 8 inches (0.5 meters or 62 studs) and a height of 2 feet 8 inches (0.8 meters or 84 studs). It is currently on display at “Wax World of the Stars” in Cavendish, Canada.

We don’t need a bigger boat

Although a bigger boat is sometimes a necessity, shrinking your favourite LEGO ships into more manageable proportions can be useful. Brick LeKao might have run out of display space, or perhaps he’s just a fan of more petite sets judging by his collection of cute Pirates of the Caribbean microscale ships. Silent Mary, the Black Pearl, and Queen Ann’s Revenge are all built in microscale, but despite their small size, they are completely recognisable as the famous vessels.

Click to see more adorably miniaturized pirate ships

Green and white to sail the ocean blue

What I love most about this gallant old tall ship by Sebeus I is that it’s still distinctly in the style of the classic LEGO Pirate ships I remember from the early 90s. Of course, this one is both much larger and much better detailed, but it still incorporates the large hull elements and distinctive flags along the sides for cannon ports. The custom paper sails add a great look, too.

Where this ship really shines, though, is in the stern, which is low and sleek and expertly sculpted. The ship manages to capture the deck’s curvature in a way the old sets never could. It looks just perfect to fetch some breadfruit plantings from the tropics.

I am a leaf on the wind – watch how I soar

Shown at Bricks Cascade 2017 and winner of Interstellar Bella trophy, Jonathan Walker‘s breathtaking Shadowcaster is a masterpiece. At 133ish studs in length, the leaf-like beauty is massive. Inspired by a train station in France by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, Jonathan spent a lot of time building curves, stressing LEGO in ways it shouldn’t be stressed; the results are extraordinary. Each 4 stud section is attached by a single stud to the spine and they are all held in place by the curve of sand green on the edges. I love the colors he has used and the multi-directional engines mounted underneath. A spectacular spaceship to demonstrate the limitless potential of our beloved plastic brick.

Mesmerizing kinetic LEGO model of the RMS Titanic

Korean builder Bangoo H has created a nifty little display model of the world’s most famous passenger liner. The repeated pattern of blue and white slopes for the waves is a lovely representation.

But you must check out the video below to get the full effect. The mechanism of the rolling waves is truely hypnotic and far more peaceful than what passengers would have really experienced on that fateful North Atlantic voyage.

Dreadnought delivers the whale mail

A cute pocket battleship combines forces with a whale, apparently to deliver the mail, in this LEGO creation from Revan New. I genuinely have no idea what is going on here, but I like it. First up, we see the chibi-styled dieselpunk dreadnought sailing into a moody sunset, a companionable whale matching the ship’s course…

And then the true nature of this partnership is revealed — some sort of oceanic postal service…

The styling of the little dreadnought is smart — I particularly like the curve of the hull and the maroon striping. Those deck guns are pretty good too. And then the whale itself has a friendly face. Who wouldn’t want this guy turning up at the door with their Amazon packages?

All-in-all, this is nicely built, nicely photographed, and nicely crazy. Just the sort of stuff we like round here.

Final voyage of the Lemuria

There’s something calming, peaceful, and haunting about a shipwreck. It’s knowing that it’s untouchable at the deepest depths of the ocean, where no one can touch the remains of the ship. Built by TBB contributor Luka Vodnik, this is a sombre ship, mesmerizing us with contrasting details and a story we may never know. Smooth tiles form the body of the ship’s hull, with studded elements creating barnacles. Luka has named the ill-fated vessel Lemuria, leaving her tales with Davy Jones at the bottom of the sea.

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales 71042 Silent Mary [Exclusive Review]

Last month, we went to New York Toy fair to bring you the first images of 71042 Silent Mary when LEGO unveiled their latest Pirates of the Caribbean tie-in set, 71042 Silent Mary, and now we’re pleased to bring you this exclusive early review of the set. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is the fifth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and is due for release on 26 May, 2017. Although the official trailer for the movie features the Silent Mary, Armando Salazar’s ghost ship, there may be some very minor spoilers below.

LEGO 71042 Silent Mary has 2,294 parts and is due for release to LEGO VIP members on 17 March, 2017 priced at $199.99/£179.99/199,99 € and is listed for ages 14+. The Silent Mary isn’t quite the largest ship LEGO has made, though she does impressively measure over 18” (48cm) high with the main mast in vertical position, and 26” (68cm) long and 8” (22cm) wide. She’s just over 14” (36cm) wide with the main mast collapsed. To give you a comparison, a largest LEGO ship is 10210 Imperial Flagship, which measures 29.5” (75 cm) long and 23.6” (60 cm) tall. 4184 The Black Pearl is a bit smaller, coming in at 21” (53cm) long, 20” (50cm) tall and 5” (12cm) wide.

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Huge LEGO steampunk wheel keeps the ship rollin’

In the steampunk realm, vehicles are powered by the Victorian power of choice: industrial steam. Well, with a futuristic spin, of course. This LEGO steampunk galleon by Chris Wright fits the genre perfectly — a huge steam-powered mega-wheel with a central ship that seems to defy gravity. The detailed central minifigure-scale ship remains stationary within the huge outer wheel thanks to a collection of wheels at the points where the two meet. The ship itself is full of great details but the first thing to catch my attention is the size of this thing and colour scheme thanks to those Medium Azure highlights throughout.

See more of this massive steampunk marvel

The monstrous Vengeful Spirit

A “SHIP” is a large scale LEGO spaceship, specifically one of at least 100 studs in length (or height!). They are a popular theme to build, especially for convention displays. This specific SHIP by Tim Clark appeared at Brickworld 2016, but apparently the photos had to travel for seven months to reach the internet. Worth the wait? It sure is!

The builder has created quite a few SHIPs over the years, which you can see in his MOC Pages album, but this one is his largest so far at amazing 164 studs of length. It is also his first one that is not mostly light gray, which is a colour all too often used on large builds. Tim used many of his already tested techniques that he used in his other capital ships, but the larger scale called for new implementations of these techniques for more stability. The overall shape is what is the most important in large spaceships, and the Vengeful Spirit hits the nail on the head here. The small details like trans light-blue elements and turrets are the cherry on the top.

There are many more detail photos on the builder’s MOC page of the Vengeful Spirit, as well as the inspiration picture.

Whimsical watery warship

If a picture paints a thousand words, then this picture paints a boatload. This wonderful creation by aardwolf_83 shows that many shapes are possible with our beloved plastic brick. The smoothly curving lines of the rounded hull give this ship a buxom appearance as it sits heavily on the water, displacing a painstakingly sculpted bow-wave. The subtle hints of dark green and yellow along the line of this curvaceous craft, the shield crests, and the custom paper sail all add to the character.

The vessel comes complete with a ballista, brick built anchor, spear-holding golden figurehead, and a working tiller and rudder system! The real treat is inside however, where it has a full interior and (as an added bonus) you can see the clips the builder has used to attach the exterior hull pieces to the frame.