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.

Jumping for joy on the moon

For some, the month of April in the year 1972 may not be memorable but for astronaut John W. Young this date marks the journey of a lifetime – he became the ninth person to walk on the moon. Young’s iconic jumping salute which has been captured both in photography and video is recreated in LEGO bricks by spacemanship123.

This brick-built astronaut seems to make use of a lot of tile type pieces as well as some slopes and a few LEGO Technic elements. A spacesuit does seem like it would be a tough model to design because of its bulky nature and also its requirement for articulation seeing as it is a figural build striking a pose. Designer spacemanship123 was able to make it happen by using various clip pieces in addition to some ball and joint elements. Overall I would say the idea behind this build is unique, perhaps even out of this world! It’s not an everyday occasion that a human lands on the moon, or that an astronaut is built out of bricks.

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A Swedish take on Blacktron

Some say that IKEA is for grownups what LEGO is for kids. I say, why not have both? Builder Kalais seems to think so too.

In probably the first example I’ve ever seen, Kalais used the new IKEA BYGGLEK storage boxes for a very modern-style Blacktron base. As far as getting the Blacktron look, this creation succeeds. From the laser-lime windows to the black and white accent bricks, you know this base belongs to the infamous space-faring evildoers the second you look at it. I especially like the power generator made from large wheels. Very clever!

The one downside about the BYGGLEK storage bins is that they don’t connect as regular LEGO bricks do. If you stare hard enough at the space base, you can see that the boxes are sitting on top of each other instead of locking in like normal bricks. Kalais has made up for that by using black bricks in places to give the illusion of the base being one solid tower.

This is a fantastic example of what you can do with non-traditional pieces like the BYGGLEK storage boxes. I hope to see more people become inspired by Kalais’ creation!

First contact

Bart de Dobbelaer never ceases to amaze me with his LEGO creations. Ever since his ‘The Life Aquatic With Clumsy Pete’ series, he has been making one astounding creation after another. First Contact is no exception to this. It features an out of this world landscape with a spaceship in a colour scheme that will send you on a trip down memory lane. The space crew is carefully conducting their work without noticing that their presence hasn’t gone unnoticed. Bart is a master at building alien creatures from obscure LEGO parts. He always manages to use the parts that I am never able to think of a good use for.

Mars: Bringer of War...and also color coordination

I think I’m not alone in assuming, as a child, that we’d have Mars colonization by the time I was grown. Well, we haven’t even sent manned missions out there yet. But when we get there we’ll inevitably need to shoot stuff. Bob DeQuatre shows us what that could look like with this impressive LEGO Mars Corporation Ares Long-Range Artillery Platform. As you may know, Ares is the Greek god of war and Bob tells us this is Mars Corporation’s deadliest vehicle. He could have called it by its Roman mythological name but that would have been…uh…redundant.

Proving he’s no slouch, Bob also built this Hermes Mobile Command Center in the same striking red and white color scheme. Designed for long-range missions, this vehicle can hold up to six passengers as well as the driver and gunner. This makes sense considering Hermes was the ancient Greek god of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, animal husbandry, sleep, language, thieves,…and travel. Phew, that’s a lot of jobs! We can only assume all those other things are going on onboard as well.

We’re kind of really into Bob’s stuff. Here’s the proof.

Swallows and Amazons

Fledgings look to expert builder Inthert and crane their necks to see what he builds next. Specialising in spaceships, he finds the right pieces to build intricate shapes that bring beauty to otherwise now-generic vehicles. He presents us with a pink-haired lady piloting a small and unique starfighter with an unusual shape. When taking a gander from different angles, we can see that this ship has the shape of a plump bird, with the elements of a fighter jet.

Bird puns aside, this well put together craft checks all the boxes that satisfy a parts- and technique-oriented coot such as myself. A bulky body with downwards sloping wings that resemble a small bird gliding on a current is perfect. Aside from unique parts like a white Slizers visor in the front and two sizes of barrels, the use of inverted slopes for small intakes is ingenious. There is minimal greebling, but it works just as well, as less is more. Last but not least: the wing and landing gear function: the landing gear swings out as the wings fold in.
That’s it.

Only Inthert can make it so simple and work so well. But my favourite part still remains the girl with the lavender coloured Elves hairpiece. Something about a pink-haired girl being the pilot makes an already perfect spaceship even cooler.

See more perfect builds by the talented Inthert here.

Shiny moonbase is a sparkling sight for space-faring eyes

Many builders use standard squares and rectangles as the base for their base, and it makes perfect sense, considering how many LEGO plates are rectangles. so, using a non-rectangular standard really stands out. Simon Liu has come up with an experimental new collaboration standard using a triangle base which fits together neatly and is designed for the trophy figure scale. The base is filled with gold parts that combine with the stark blue and white color scheme and check out those rovers!

I thought it was just a teal spaceship, but it’s actually better

When I saw this spaceship build by Elven Ranger, a certain colour caught my eye. Everyone knows I am a lover of teal, and any LEGO creation with that colour wins my heart. But upon a second glance, I realised that it is a different shade of green, just the lighting is different. “My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.”

Nevertheless, this grey-and-green spaceship features enough details for its small size to feast my eyes. The angular wings contain layers of plates resembling hull panels, enhanced by a few masonry bricks and minifigure ingots. This adds to a great balance of smooth surfaces and more textured elements. Similarly, the two colours balance each other, making sure that the dark green does not overshadow the light green. Stickers provide extra decorative piping and paneling to give this ship a subtle, yet rugged look. And if anything other than teal that wins my heart, it’s greebles.

If you want more, take a look at our spaceship archives. There is plenty of greebling, and even some teal!

Containment breach

There’s been a slew of stunning LEGO builds recently that is based on the work of conceptual artists and I, for one, am thrilled. My case in point; this neat creation by Bart De Dobbelaer is called Containment Breach and is inspired by the work of Francesco Lorenzetti. Here is the specific reference material. Bart makes great use of color and composition to replicate the unsettling feel of Francesco’s piece. The fearsome red creature is nestled in the shadows and stands out in stark contrast against gray, white, and black. As one commenter on his Flickr stream puts it, “This is classic Bart” and well…I have to agree. Here’s another recent creation by Bart to show you what they mean.

Who says science fiction has to be futuristic?

According to legend, Wan Hu was the first man in space. How? By strapping dozens of rockets to his chair and then going for the ride of a lifetime. Well, he made it to space in some versions of the legend, anyway. In a lot of them, the chair (and presumably Wan Hu) just explode on the ground. But no matter which retelling sounds the most likely to you, you have to admire this brilliant LEGO recreation by Bert Van Raemdonck. I particularly like the way that the curved bricks in the robe create a sense of rushing wind. On the explosive edge, the billowing smoke formed by 4×4 domes in white work really well, as do the 1×1 cone bricks in red as the tips of the rockets. Wan Hu himself is just as expressive, with quarter-circle tile and curved slope brick creating the perfect expression of “maybe I didn’t think this through all the way.”

I’d love to see this sort of myth adapted in more creations. We could be on the verge of a complete re-imagining of Classic Space!

LEGO Halo fan spends 5 years designing & building 7-foot UNSC heavy frigate from 25,000 bricks [Exclusive]

For the past several years, my friend Steve Witt has been collecting the necessary LEGO bricks and fiddling with his design to produce a 7-foot-long (2.1 meter) recreation of a Paris-class UNSC heavy frigate from the Halo video game universe that he’s dubbed the Katara. After following his work-in-progress photos on Facebook and Flickr for five years, I’m very pleased to share this closer look at the finished ship, exclusive to The Brothers Brick.

We’ll take a closer look at the details and share some of the build’s history in a moment, but let’s pause and take in just how massive a LEGO ship 7 feet long really is, with this photo of the builder working on it.

See detailed photos and learn more about this massive Halo ship

The Heimdall is a lesson in color-blocking

Sometimes a LEGO creation comes along that needs a double or even a triple take to really appreciate it. Such is the case with this Heimdall built by Lech Kulina. At first glance, does it take inspiration from a whale? A stingray? A bird? Maybe all three. One thing for sure is this ship is built with a whopping 7441 pieces and took Lech five months to design. He tells us the project is inspired by the imaginative art of Michal Kus, likely this piece. The biggest takeaway from Michal’s work is his use of color-blocking. This is a technique that uses colors that are opposites on the color wheel and pairs them together to make interesting and complementary color combinations. Often this is associated with fashion, but LEGO builders also utilize this technique with equal flair.

Click here to take a closer look

No two ways about it, you can count on this spaceship

There’s something familiar about the shape of this latest spaceship from Dave Kaleta and son. Those curves look too recognizable, suggesting a meaning beyond the utility of the shape itself. I’m sure it’ll come to me. In the meantime, I can enjoy the unusual colors. I think this is the first time I’ve seen a purple and lavender hull, and the extensive use of transparent neon-green lightsaber blades and radar dishes really makes things come alive. This beauty also has cool action features like an opening cockpit, adjustable engines, and firing missiles. (You can see them in action in Dave’s Instagram post.) It really adds up to more than the sum of its parts.

I’m still at a loss as to what this shape means, though. Maybe I’ll go looking at the other ships in Dave’s growing fleet for a clue.