From giant space carriers to starfighters, moon bases to moon buggies, whether you love LEGO models inspired by real-world space programs or science-fiction, you’re in the right place.
There was a time when LEGO builder Grant Davis was a regular here at The Brothers Brick but lately he’s been as rare as truck nuts on a Prius. That’s because he’s been away at the university. But that’s all about to change because he is competing in the ever-popular Iron Builder competition against our friend and recent TBB alumni Benjamin Stenlund. Grant calls this one “The Experiment” and, like many sci-fi movies and Florida Man stories, it features toxic goo, tentacles, and a situation that’s about to get calamitous. This is only his first entry in this competition so we can expect to see plenty more from Grant and even Benjamin soon. Iron Builder always means job security for us. Speaking of job security for us, check out the other times we were totally gaga for Grant’s stuff.
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When The LEGO Movie debuted in 2014, the world was introduced to Benny, a Classic LEGO Spaceman with an enthusiastic love of spaceships. In 2019, The LEGO Movie 2 gave Benny an apocalyptic upgrade which found him sporting a clawed robot arm and carrying a toolbox. Now, builder Chris Yee has upgraded Benny yet again, translating Benny’s apocalyptic minifigure look into a larger Bionicle/Hero Factory style figure. I particularly love the Classic Space logo recreated with a pearl gold conical hat and a red minifigure hand and rubber bands. I’m forced to wonder if there’s a spaceship spaceship spaceship! in all the galaxy that’s capable of containing this much awesome.
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You may have heard the humorous adage that if you paint racing stripes on your vehicle it’ll automatically go faster. In the case of this LEGO anti-gravity Wipeout Racer by David Roberts that might actually be true. He tells us that this ship was first in its class partly due to its powerful engine pack and partly due to its color scheme distracting other pilots and causing them to crash. He goes on to explain that this led to a rule change where the team had to paint their ship in a more sober pattern and thus the success of the race sadly and predictably waned. The lesson learned here is that racing fans like crazy stuff and now we can’t have nice things. Speaking of nice things, this would not be David’s first lap with brightly-colored ships and other awesome stuff. Check out our archives to see what I mean.
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This creation by Rui Miguel pays tribute to classic Star Wars movie posters. It’s unusual to see Vader in blue but this does allow for his helmet to be viewed in greater detail. The haunting eyes of Vader have been created with black armour pieces. As the helmet seeps into an interstellar cloud, you can see older flower pieces used to represent twinkling stars. Luke and Leia strike some cool poses, their noses are actually hinge pieces and Leia has some nice curved elements in her skirt, providing it with a swaying motion. Throughout this build there is a nice application of bright colours which really brings out the details of the display.
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As a builder, I always strive to push the limits of LEGO building, with techniques and parts usage. Combined with my arts and design training, I’ve spent years studying elements and how they fit together. Despite my self-declared expertise, there will always be creations that just stump me. Especially small ones. Especially small ones built by my friend Tom Loftus (Inthert).
I first saw this spindly teal-and-white spaceship in person when we displayed creations together at the last English LEGO exhibitions before the COVID shit hit the fan. He explained to me in great detail how he built this small ship. He even took it apart and showed me an in-depth breakdown of how he built it. I didn’t understand a single thing. It’s like his builds have an IQ-lowering effect on me. Even two years later, after more and more breakdowns via calls and messages, I still don’t understand it. Do you though? I’m not sure, your mind may be just as blown as mine.
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While classic greys have their place, I’m a sucker for a vibrant color scheme on my spaceships. The Blue Barrel by David Roberts certainly doesn’t disappoint in that arena, with a checkerboard pattern of red and orange that really offsets the blue bodywork to make this vessel stand out. I love the smooth lines and the Technic gears in the nose.
The real treat, though, is when this baby comes in for a landing. Dave’s focus on this build was the development of hinged hatches and extendable landing gear. Fingertip pressure is all it takes to pop open the landing struts, but apparently, you’ll “need some fingernails to get at the legs and pull them out!” Truly, one of more obvious-but-still-clever uses of Technic rods I’ve seen in a while. Also be sure to spend a moment or two examining that innovative ladder. It doesn’t use standard stud attachments to hook onto the ship but rather uses 1×1 Tooth plate to hang on the cockpit rim.
Did this whet your appetite for more space-y goodness? Take a stroll through our archives for even more great featured builds!
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Two of the bigger challenges that a builder can face when creating a custom LEGO creation are angles and empty space. Blake Foster has done a great job of conquering both with his Procyon Planetary Research Hovercraft. I can only imagine the number of techniques at play in creating the craft’s hexagonal outer wall. Complicating the matter is all that empty space in the center, which gave Blake the opportunity to outfit the sides of the wall with some great greebling. But I think my favorite aspect of the whole build is one of the more subtle choices – the use of the 1×4 spring shooter launchers, added so that the notch of light bluish gray from the scaffolding cuts slightly into the dark bluish gray of the engines. It’s a great touch that helps keep anything on this craft from looking like a plain old square.
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If you’ve seen portions of this LEGO space station by Tim Goddard, then it may be because we wrote about it back when it was just Platform 7. As minifig-kind continues exploring the vastness of space, so grows Tim’s elegant outpost. I like to think that the oil rig-like Platform 7 was just the start of an expansive exploration colony. Tim built a hexagonal landing pad as the second module of the space station, and I eagerly await the next sections.
Looking at the aesthetics of this sci-fi playground, it has the usual colour scheme of realistic space stations, but Tim makes it interesting with a masterful balance of smooth whites and grey greebles that only he can achieve. While it is different from the retro feel of most Classic Space builds, this station conveys a futuristic look. This is all thanks to the new torsos provided by recent Creatorsets and collectible minifigures. After all, space exploration can only move forwards.
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Back in 1994, the LEGO Space Police had to deal with one of their most challenging foes in the form of SPYRIUS, an intergalactic band of espionage agents who specialized in stealing the technology of more peaceful citizens in the United Galaxies Space Council. Now, in 2021, Spyrius has finally gotten a taste of their own medicine thanks to builder Moppo!, who has managed to steal some technology from Spyrius and used it to create this custom LEGO creation, a modern update on the Saucer Scout.
This version of the vehicle is larger, but it hasn’t lost the feel of a smaller ship perfect for recon missions. It’s still got those perpendicular engines, ready to blast the ship off in any direction, in case it needs to make a quick getaway from Space Police patrol ships in the area. The pops of lime green near the cockpit are a great compliment to the traditional red and black color scheme. And, of course, it’s not a real Spyrius set without that trademark printed tile.
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What does NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Stephen Pakbaz do for fun when he’s not working on real-life Mars vehicles? Well, it turns out he builds Mars vehicles in LEGO. Here is a 1:1 scale, motorized model of the Ingenuity Helicopter that spans about four feet (1.2 meters) across. In case you’ve been living under a meteorite this past month this craft has made headlines with a number of historic flights.You can keep up with the latest real-life shenanigans of the helicopter on Mars on Nasa’s official website. As for LEGO-life shenanigans, you may notice that Stephen has also built the Ingenuity a leeetle friend in 1:3 scale. That one he has launched on LEGO Ideas in hopes of gaining the votes needed to maybe make it an official set at some point. This isn’t Stephen’s first orbit with LEGO Ideas. He was successful in turning the Curiosity Rover into an official set back in the early days when LEGO Ideas was called Cuusoo. Check out our interview from 2013.
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LEGO custom creations that play with scale and perspective remind me of old-fashioned movie special effects. There’s something magical about matte paintings and models and perfect camera angles combining together to make the viewer believe they’re watching a vast expanse of space when it’s really all set up in a parking lot in Culver City. Mountain Hobbit has produced a little classic sci-fi Hollywood magic of his own with this Iron Builder submission. The seed part is the Crane Grab Jaw with Axle and Pin Hole, which he used to create the “teeth” on the hangar door. He’s also used orange ingots to bring a little pop of color detail to the largely gray interior. The complementary hues of color on both the spaceship and the landing bay give us a sense that they’re part of the same sci-fi universe.
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I finally realised why Daft Punk decided to retire a few months ago. There is a new robot band in town. Meet Solid State, a four-piece robotic pop group from the future. Serving in the LEGO Classic Space fleet aboard a remote outpost, they overrode their programming and abandoned their boring jobs. Instead of becoming murder-bots, they did what all young insurgent mechanoids should do: unleash their creative circuits in crafting music that explores life from a mechanical perspective. In other words, “beep beep beep.” Classic Space robot expert and Solid State groupie Tim Goddard even built a tour bus to help Solid State travel to perform at gigs. It totally matches the band’s brand – grey, mechanical, and goes beep beep beep. Most importantly, there is ample room in the back for the whole band plus all their equipment. While it’s not the most luxurious vehicle that musicians and space influencers like to flaunt, it’s perfect for the up-and-coming group.
Beep is Solid State’s debut single, as seen in the beautifully made LEGO stop-motion music video below. The song is upbeat and catchy, and exactly what you would expect from robots. It’s all performed by LEGO Space legend Peter Reid and fellow space builders Jeremy Williams, Drew Hamilton, and Chris Salt, who built the band and their equipment.
Solid State consists of: Keko (Peter Reid, vocals/guitar/synths), Mason (Jeremy Williams, decks/vocals/programming), Wami (Drew Hamilton, bass/keys), and Biz (Chris Salt, drums). A four song EP Zeros and Ones will be released later this year, and I for one, am very excited for more robot noises!
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