Tag Archives: SHIPtember

SHIPtember 2025 Finale: Reflections from the fleet [Feature]

As we celebrate the end of another exciting and inspirational SHIPtember, while the fleet is assembling for the 2025 SHIPtember armada poster, it seems only fitting to take a moment to reflect on the history behind this LEGO building challenge. We sat down for a short interview with Simon Liu, the grand admiral of all things SHIPtember. Simon started it all with an idea to challenge himself, to push beyond his comfort zone, and as a result created a community of builders around the world who come together every year (and sometimes in between) to build the best SHIP they can, and to share their struggles and triumphs with others. As a bonus, I also reached out to the SHIP building community to get their thoughts on the event.

TBB: Hi Simon. It’s great to chat with you again after another amazing SHIPtember! Before we get to the greebles, an icebreaker. What is your earliest LEGO memory?

Simon Liu: In our old house, we used to have this enclosed balcony area that was sort of the LEGO playroom, and had this wooden plank that I built a little LEGO city on. Some official sets, some of my own creations, and some set mods. I would play for hours in my own little city.

TBB: Can you tell us about the history behind SHIPtember and your role in it?

Simon: I started SHIPtember and came up with the idea. It was simple; I had never built a SHIP and didn’t know how to. So why not make it a group exercise? At the time, building a SHIP was seen as a huge investment in time and effort, and now it’s pretty routine to see some people build multiple SHIPs in a month.

SHIPtmeber was actually going to be SHIPril. But after no SHIPs at BrickCon (which historically was the first weekend of October), I decided to move it, ensuring that BrickCon would always have fresh SHIPs.

Our interview with SHIPtember founder Simon Liu and final thoughts from 2025 builders follow

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Incomming fleet detected by long-range scanners – SHIPtember 2025 week 4 [Feature]

I can hardly believe yet another SHIPtember has come and gone. This year was one of the most amazing turnouts, with many first-time SHIPbuilders and veterans blowing us away with the sheer scope of their creations, from a 500+ stud Halo ring to a five-pronged star-ship with an impressive amount of teal tiles, to a ship built into and around the bones of a giant space whale. From NASA-adjacent to completely alien, this year’s lineup of ships in all manner of 100 stud orientations will make a very impressive poster in the coming months.

Read on for our special coverage of SHIPtember week 4

Prepare to launch into SHIPtember, week 3 [Feature]

Week three of SHIPtember is behind us, and that means many SHIP builders have wrapped on their epic builds. Some have even started a second SHIP. Many have taken their pics to post-production to produce that epic hero shot, along with a side-view pic that will be featured in 2025’s armada fleet poster, like the one I used for my hero image from 2024. My 2024 SHIP is the slim, dark blue ship just to the right of the Supramacy shown on the far left of the poster.

For many builders, the third week is a time for final details, engines, landing gear, or other greebly details that add the finishing touches to their space-bound masterpieces. But let’s not waste any more time as we take a look at a few completed SHIPs, and check out a few builders that flew under my radar in previous weeks, like a stealth ship with ventral optical camouflage.

Read on for our week 3 coverage of SHIPtember 2025

Blast off into SHIPtember – week 2 [Feature]

Wow, is the month half gone already? As we head further into SHIPtember, the SHIPs are shaping up, and the parts are really adding up. Digital builds begin their journey to IRL, or continue to grow in bytes, while their physical counterparts take on a more finished look. Some SHIPS are even done already. Builders wonder if they have taken on too big a challenge. They persevere, they re-work and re-work that one detail they are not 100% happy with. Some SHIPS may suffer a drop, or a shoulder bump, or a wayward cat, which gives the builder a chance to reinforce a more fragile section. Now, let’s check up on the builds of SHIPtember 2025…

Read on for our coverage of SHIPtember week 2

SHIPtember 2025 – Builders boldly go [Feature]

September is one of my favorite times of year… not just as the start to cooler weather, leading to the best season of all, Fall; but also for the month-long LEGO building challenge known as SHIPtember. The goal is to build a spaceship that measures at least 100 studs in any dimension: length, width, or height. Or even diagonally (like a Borg cube). The only other constraint is that you must complete your ship within one month. The SHIP in SHIPtember stands for Seriously Huge Investment in Parts, and it shows in the final ships, which can stretch beyond the minimum into the 200-300 stud range. Having participated in SHIPtember for the last 10+ years, I can personally attest to both the challenge and the satisfaction in pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone as a LEGO builder, not to mention the incredibly supportive and collaborative community of SHIP builders around the world.

This year, the Brothers Brick will be taking a closer look at SHIPtember in the coming weeks, checking in with builders and sharing starships in progress before rounding up the SHIPs that launch for the stars at the end of the month.

Before we start our week one coverage, I should mention that some SHIPs are already done, as some builders, like college students, may not have full access to their collections during September, and start their SHIPs in August. As long as the builds stick to the 1-month requirement, they are every bit as eligible as those under construction now. I will also be sharing my own SHIPtember progress each week, at the end of each feature. With that out of the way, let’s jump into SHIPtember 2025 week 1!

Launch into our week 1 coverage

Scott Wilhelm kicks off SHIPtember 2025 slick summer star cruiser

SHIPtember is an annual AFOL tradition where space builders challenge themselves to create a spacecraft that’s at least 100 studs long, built entirely during September. “SHIP” refers both to spaceship but is also an acronym for “Seriously Huge Investment in Parts.” Simon Liu helped start the trend 12 years ago, and for LEGO space fans, it’s a highlight of the year. Scott Wilhelm is one of the original participants and an event regular. But Scott’s love of SHIPs is too great to contain to just one month. At Brickworld, Scott debuted the Noctem Æternus, a dark blue behemoth measuring 105 studs long.

See more of Scott’s bonus SHIP as we set a course for SHIPtember 2025

An impressive SHIP made of Soviet blocks

The heyday of cosmonauts at the bleeding edge of space exploration might be history, but science fiction imagines an alternate timeline where the space race never ended. LEGO builder Duncan Lindbo drew on this alt-reality for his SHIPtemeber creation: the Gazprom Samovar-class tanker ship. Designed to resupply Soviet outposts on Mars, the massive vessel is armed with turrets to protect its precious liquid cargo. The mix of curves, girders, and all of that lovely sand green perfectly extrapolates ’60s space race tech into the future. I love the cluster of engines, angled out like Vostok rockets. In a month of stellar SHIP’s Duncan’s Samovar is steeped in skillful techniques.

If Duncan’s alt-future take on Soviet tech has you curious about the historical precedents, comrade, reflect on this LEGO Soyuz capsule, also built in sand green.

The Charrus is SHIP full of delightful parts

During SHIPtember, when LEGO Space builders race to complete a ship at least 100 studs long within a month, the biggest challenge is finding the time and parts to get it done. But almost as hard is finding a unique hook to make your SHIP stand out. Andre Odyssey‘s OSV Charrus is a slick cargo ship with very few studs that draws on an eclectic range of parts. The ship’s deck is made from road plates, alongside race car spoilers and City ship parts. For cargo, Andre uses Mario mushrooms, lavender barrels from the Friends line, a brilliantly employed Vidyo box full, and a brick-built sand green container. The new “jumbo macaroni” tubes make excellent manipulator arms at this scale. The result is a ship that is both an impressive resupply vessel and a fun celebration of the mix-and-match potential of LEGO themes.

The Adhara adheres to a Saturn V color scheme

Every SHIPtember, so many LEGO builders make a Seriously Huge Investment in Parts to turn out some truly spectacular spaceship-ery. And the Adhara by Tim Zarki is such a sterling representation of what these builds can bring. Clad in a grayscale color scheme, this SHIP is designed for long-range flights running on dual antimatter reactors. And clocking in at 118 studs in length, it features a number of wonderful techniques. I’m particularly fond of Tim’s use of the open Technic pin hole, adding important texture to dark gray panels throughout the creation.

A spaceSHIP that’s in it for the long haul

Need some LEGO cargo hauled across the galaxy? Michael Thomas‘s ACC-312 Cargo Transport “Esperon Express” can get it done. No streamlined curves here, and that’s what’s great about it. The ACC-312 is purely functional, from its landing struts to the bridge tower to the angular stacks of cargo containers. A pair of white-suited spacemen oversee the cargo from platforms both fore and aft.

Here it is with the cargo containers removed (and the crew on shore leave). I love the stark, clean lines of the NASA-meets-Nostromo aesthetics. It all looks very dependable: rain or shine, asteroid or solar flare, the ACC-312 will deliver the goods to Alpha Centauri on time or you’ll get your money back.

In space, no one can hear you croak

Our amphibious friends have been making great leaps in the field of space travel, as shown by this LEGO model by Julie vanderMeulen. This ship, dubbed the Pond Hopper, was built to help frog-kind see if the water really is bluer on the other side of the wormhole. With a water-lily radar dish on the back, and gold accents throughout the build, any frog will be able to travel in style in a frog shaped cabin. So say it with me, folks: that’s one small step for a frog, one giant leap for froggy-kind!

It’s time to flee the great LEGO space flea

Menace and malice are the motto of Malefactor, the latest LEGO build from Scott Wilhelm. With outer plating of dark red and mouthparts and limbs clad in black, this giant parasite still appears to have some of the essentials of space travel like rear thrusters and forward battery. So is this a living creature, or a spaceship with a natural inspiration? I’d rather not get close enough to find out!