Tag Archives: Space

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.

Dropship to the rescue!

Reinforcements have arrived! Whether you are deploying soldiers to the battlefront or supplies in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, Anders Sinding’s dropship is the LEGO vehicle needed to get the job done.

This build looks like it arrives screaming down from the skies. It’s clear this dropship is capable of anything. I’m way impressed with the decision to not use transparent pieces for the cockpit, going instead with sloped bricks angled in a way to have the same jutting windscreen vibe. The engines are just as incredible, using not one, not two, but three fan intakes.

I like the clear blue piece on the nose. I’m sure it’s part of the dropship’s sensor equipment, helping sweep the landing area for obstacles or threats before deploying. As far as color goes, I really admire the choice to stick with red with white and blue accents.

Overall, I would be more than happy to see this ship coming to the rescue if I was in a tough spot.

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Working telescope built from LEGO

LEGO is truly beautiful in the way that it allows people to recreate real-world objects with both form and function. LEGO themselves have made working models of a grand piano and a Nintendo Entertainment System. Builder Victor continues the trend by creating a working telescope in the same style, though slightly smaller than life-size. Needless to say, it is welcome to see such objects completely remade from LEGO bricks, especially ones that function.

This model telescope works the same way as a real life one – peeking through the eyepiece lets one see the stars and planets, though not the real ones. Victor solves this problem with pictures printed on small window pieces backlit by a light brick. This imitates LEGO’s light projection techniques in their official sets like the Stranger Things: Upside Down and the Haunted House. Victor also provides four separate interchangeable prints, one of them being an easter egg reference to LEGO’s own Bionicle theme.

Functional Febrovery

Febrovery – the annual event where people build space rovers from LEGO. I (Mansur “Waffles” Soeleman) couldn’t say no to building a wheeled space vehicle this month. However, I decided to take a different approach: make it move, make it work, and make it Technical. The result is the Horizon Chariot – a massive, greebly shuttle transporter in a LEGO Classic Space livery. On the outside, it looks like a jumble of layers and pipes, but it’s merely a shell for a complex Technic frame with a working four-wheel drive with a double V8 piston engine, working steering, and soft pendular suspension. My favourite feature turned out to be a working tipping flatbed which launches the small LL-64 Arcade Hopper.

The spaceship belonging to the Horizon Chariot was more of a distraction than an afterthought. I wanted to incorporate a NinjaGo arcade pod into the build as the blue airtight section of Classic Space vehicles. I found it was too small for a big vehicle so why not make a smaller vehicle as part of it? That’s how the aptly named LL-64 Arcade Hopper was born. I just couldn’t stop myself from building a spaceship! With swing-down wings and a smooth underside, it’s really a step away from my usually greebly builds, but it turned out to be a beautiful two-seater shuttle.

Check out the Flickr album to see more photos of the rover and the spaceship!

A plucky little space patrol craft

Flying through space is not at all like dusting crops, junior. While any self-respecting spaceship tasked with defending a planet wouldn’t be seen without a decent cannon, there are other dangers outside the safety of the atmosphere. Alvaro Gunawan knows about some of these dangers, like solar radiation, and maintaining full power at all times, so they equipped their patrol ship with shields, solar fins, and a couple of big engines. This craft even looks like something NASA or SpaceX might come up with… maybe we’ll live to see something like this sweeping the space around our little rock someday.

An intimidating armada responds to an alien invasion

If you are planning to respond to a garbled distress call involving aliens of unknown intent, it is wise to bring as much firepower as possible, as spaceship builder Ryan Olsen knows full well. Building a fleet that is recognizable as being part of a larger faction comes down to using certain design elements that can be repeated at different sizes to fit the design of ships with unique purposes, and Ryan pulls this off beautifully. Take the very back of each ship, which includes a blue stripe in the middle of a larger white stripe.

Repetition is another key building technique, and you can see several examples of a simple curved shape, or part, like the ski part used in several ships, and even re-created in brick form for the larger ship. In this close-up of one of the ships, you can also see how a simple part like the dark gray storage container (used as a thruster cowl), can add just the right amount of texture and visual interest.

A black and white ride for the Red Planet

Here’s a fun fact: while here, on Earth, we often design our vehicles to merge with the environment, on Mars, the more attention your rover gets, the better. And since the planet is red, even black and white will do. Cole Blaq knows how to make a rover remarkable with an unusual cockpit structure while keeping the rest basic. It has just the right amount of detailing, with neat headlights in the front and very suitable stickers in the back. And why would you need more when your rover has rims like these?

Load up and roll out

There’s always a ton of cool builds that show up in February thanks to various “Febrover” contests. This year was no different with Isaac Snyder’s (on Flickr as -soccerkid6) M-Tron rover and loading station.

First off, so many shields! It’s incredible to see so many of one piece used so well. The shield shape gives the base of this build a concrete look, very fitting for space-corporation LEGO design. I’m also a huge fan of the use of ladders as the frame. It feels like this whole build was taken right out of an industrial outpost controlled by M-Tron.

But the rover is the real star of the show. The wheels were installed backward so Isaac could use the grey disk as a detail effect, which is very clever. I totally dig the mini-crane on the back as well, with again a ladder being used, this time as the crane arm.

M-Tron should really make a comeback. If it does, I hope it looks like Isaac’s stuff!

Daaamn bro, check out this rover’s rims

With the Perseverance recently landing on Mars, rovers are all the rage again. And when you’re building a cool LEGO model like a rover, what better way to make it ice cold than to give it some giant rims, just like Andreas Lenander has.

While I’ve seen the 1×2 plate with rounded corners used as tiny rover tracks before, simply by flipping it up on its side, this rover puts them to work in an all new, spectacular way. By only pressing one side of the pieces together – leaving a gap on the opposite side – it’s quite possible to bend flat or square bricks to make curves and circles. This technique might not fly in an official set, but who says LEGO fans have to listen to any rules when they’re making their own creations. It may just be a simple looking little 1×2 plate with rounded corners, but I know tons of LEGO builders were excited when they first saw it. This is just another innovative use for it.

Yo, dawg! We heard you like gold so we pimped your ride!

Who could forget the mid-2000’s show Pimp My Ride? You can be forgiven if you had already forgotten it. The premise was the host and rapper Xzibit, would knock on some young pimple popper’s door, notify them that their broke-ass ride is about to be pimped, then backflips and high-fives would ensue. Then the guys at West Coast Customs would install state-of-the-art stereo systems and gadgets, wild paint schemes, spinner rims, and TVs on nearly every surface including seat rests and mud flaps. Stir in a little drama and a big reveal and you have the makings of what entertained us in the mid-oughts. This LEGO rover by Crimso Giger is pretty much what Pimp My Ride would be like if they had worked on space rovers. It’s way more blingy than the practical but boring rover they just sent to Mars. Consider yourselves pimped!

Exploring other worlds with LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31115 Space Mining Mech [Review]

If you’re here, chances are you’re a big fan of the LEGO brand, so you already know that it’s the toy of endless possibilities. Even on more expensive sets, you’re most likely always going to get a good bang for your buck. And in terms of creative potential, Creator sets are some of the best at encouraging it, particularly 3-in-1’s which provide a great combination of inspiration and versatile parts. The latest addition to the line is finally here, and we’re eager to see if this space-themed kit is out of this world! Come along as we explore what LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31115 Space Mining Mech has to offer. The set will be available March 1st, and will retail for US $24.99 | CAN $34.99 | UK £24.99.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to launch!

The next phase in chicken walker evolution

When hearing the term “chicken walker”, one tends to think of the famous AT-ST walkers from Star Wars. Those vehicles set the trend for walkers with avian-style legs, where the ankle joint is pronounced like a backward knee. Tim Goddard, co-author of LEGO Space: Building the Future, built a Space Police mech wholly inspired by avian anatomy. Not only the legs are inspired by “chicken walkers,” but the body and head resemble a bird as well. It’s always a welcome sightseeing a new addition to Tim’s already extensive Space Police fleet. This time, he used the new Space Policeman in the most recent LEGO Collectible Minifigures not only as parts but as an excuse to always keep on building Space Police!

And by looking at the details on this build, his creations never disappoint. The highlight of this build is how Tim cleverly assembled the satellite dish using handlebars to create a circular shape. But the rear thrusters made up of Technic piston engine parts has got to be my favourite detail. The grey looks out of place from the blue and black color scheme, almost tacked on as an afterthought. It’s like someone decided to plonk on rockets to this mech so it can receive a boost to help with pursuits over uneven terrain.

See more of Tim’s amazing space-themed creations here!

I promise you, one day I’ll take you to Elysium.

Graffiti is commonly found in alleyways, on abandoned buildings and railway cars but you don’t think of it as being scrawled on spacecraft. That’s why it is so neat to see it on Peter Stella’s newest LEGO creation. This is a shuttle from the gritty…or partially gritty Elysium movie from 2013. For those who haven’t seen the film, the citizens of Earth live in squalor, filth, pestilence and turmoil. That’s the gritty part. The non-gritty parts of the movie takes place on Elysium, a beautiful, clean utopian space station orbiting the Earth where the rich and powerful live. The station is technologically advanced, with devices that can cure diseases, reverse aging, and even regenerate body parts. Earth, not so much. The film makes deliberate, heavy-handed socio-political commentary and, as you can imagine, tension ensues. Anyway, in a LEGO world of Star Wars and Harry Potter it’s nice to see someone of Peter’s caliber give Elysium a bit of love. And graffiti.