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.
Name a more unlikely duo. You’ll be hardpressed to find a more odd pairing than Blacktron and farming, yet that mashup is precisely what Dario Đipić has done with this insane combine harvester. Decked out in the theme’s iconic colors of black, white, and trans neon green, this harvester looks ready to collect…wait, what does it collect? I spy skeletons on the edges of the cutter. Hmm…maybe that does track with Blacktron. After all, the Space Police were always after them for some reason.
Oh, and as for unlikely pairings? Well, ok, maybe there are a few others just as out there. Like Star Wars and Fabuland, which is apparently a whole thing. Don’t believe me? Check out our Fabuland archives.
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.
With the live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop just over the horizon, it’s nice to see builds inspired by the show. The unique ships of the Bebop universe are iconic and it’s easy to see echoes of the Swordfish in this design. Builder Nicolas van Grootveld used an aftermarket chromed windscreen to create this big-nosed fighter called the Stratomaxx Acer. Let’s take a look at the schematics.
Inspired by the Vic Viper ship from the Gradius games, Andreas Lenander has created his own starship named the Valkyrie VV. The fighter has a striking appearance with its bold colours and prominent angles. There are some great details around the engines where space blasters have been used to represent mechanical elements. The wings are connected via angled handle pieces and roller skate pieces are used in silver to portray grill sections in the front wings. The cockpit is where Andreas started from and he has used a windscreen which was commonly featured in some classic airport and space sets.
In the video below, Andreas talks through the build and also shows us some different angles and details of the model.
Look at that little star! They’re so adorable when they’re that age, aren’t they? Esteemed LEGO builder Koen Zwanburg tells us that this little star enjoys playing with planets. Don’t we all? Gosh they start off as a cute little gas cloud then before you know it they’re expanding into a Red Giant consuming the planets around it into a fiery hellish doom, then they implode in on themselves into a cold White Dwarf or whatever. But that’s like…a long time from now. We’ll have plenty of time to admire its cuteness before we are all vaporized into oblivion. In the meantime, check out why we’re so intrigued by this builder’s stuff.
This was built for a great cause called Build to Give. Click the little blue link to see what its all about and maybe build your own star to help out.
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?
Tim Goddard has been building fantastic sci-fi LEGO creations for years now at a rate that almost seems inhuman. But now we’ve finally uncovered the secret behind his LEGO output. He’s had robots helping him this whole time! Bot #1 reviews the schematics that Tim’s drawn up, while #4 uses an extra set of extendable limbs to do the heavy lifting. The use of breathing regulators for feet and roller skates as a key component of the heads on these ‘bots is a charming inversion of those pieces normal usage.
Sometimes one good idea spawns another. My case in point, this LEGO Halo ring world built by Ralf Langer. It is chock full of great tricky techniques to build this ring and I could get lost in all the details and the landmasses. We’d be impressed enough if this occurred as a creative anomoly but in the very capable hands of Ralf this is not the case. Back in June we featured a seascape on a curved horizon. In March of 2020 we see Ralf employing the same techniques with a scene from Fallout that made the social media cover image for that month. Both, it would seem, were mere practice runs for this stunning Halo ring. If you have a hankering for all things Halo you may want to click the little blue link. And be sure not to miss another builder’s prior Halo ring world featured way back in 2012.
I don’t know that I have a favorite LEGO piece of all time, but my top five would have to include the long, faceted windscreen that debuted in 1989’s Space theme offerings. Something about that wedge’s multiple sloped angles inspired so many of my childhood builds. I used it to build cockpits, magical jewels, the jaws of various monsters…but I hadn’t given it much thought in the last decade or two. So I was delighted when I spotted the White Tiger Star Fighter by jnj_bricks. One of my favorite pieces had been given new life.
By twisting two of the windscreens sideways and building over the resulting bottom half, the White Tiger employs the existing slope angles to create a new cockpit shape that blends perfectly with the more modern pieces that make up the majority of the ship. It’s got me wanting to dig through my old bricks to see what inspiration might strike.
Is there pumpkin spice latte in space? This autumnal cargo freighter by Finn Roberts might serve it in its onboard kitchen. This ship looks like it belongs in Star Wars, but is a breath of fresh air from the usual greys with its bright yellow colours, inspired by troop carrier concept art for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story combined with the real-life Canadair water bomber. Yet a bit of grey greebly nitty-gritty still remains amongst the bright hull – a characteristic of the well-worn starships flown by smugglers, bounty hunters, and other characters of the galactic underworld. I particularly like the addition of yellowish-orange paneling to imply a weathered hull, indicative of a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Finn is no stranger to designing custom ships that fit so well in the Star Wars universe. Building digitally gives him an unlimited parts palette and allows him to build as big and complex as he wishes. His imagination is his limit, and it works so well. I compare him to a concept artist with pens and brushes rather than model makers who work with readymade materials.
And this isn’t the first time we’ve featured Finn’s wonderful concept builds – check out his creations here!
Just how tiny a vehicle can you make that completely contains a minifigure and still looks sleek and sci-fi? This little beauty by Inthert has got to be near the limit, and it’s wonderfully slick. The main part of the body is formed by two of those new curved slopes that debuted in the 10295 Creator Expert Porsche 911, and when set at a 90-degree angle to each other they perfectly nestle a bubble canopy—trans dark blue, of course, for Space Police. And don’t miss the fantastic pod-engines with bucket handles on the intakes!
