Colonizing alien planets is the adventure of a lifetime, but things don’t always go as planned. This LEGO radar outpost by Douglas Hughes supports a group of colonists and space marines in their efforts to tame the wild unknown. The best part about a radar outpost with treads is you can make a not-so-quick getaway when the going gets rough.
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…Next time won’t you sing with me? With several toddlers roaming the hardwood, I sing the alphabet song frequently around my house. It’s a classic. That also seems to be what Dave Kaleta is singing with this gorgeous poster shot of all of his alphabet starfighters, built out of LEGO in collaboration with his young son. We have featured several of them on their own, like B and C, among others, but all together they are gorgeous.
And while we usually don’t promote contests here at The Brothers Brick, I can’t resist pointing out that Dave really is inviting you to sing the space alphabet song with him by entering your own alphabet starfighter into his contest (clicking the image below will bring you to the rules). It ends May 9th, by the way, so you have time to get some entries in!
It’s been many many years since we’ve seen any LEGO creations in the fan-created “Tech West” theme. The theme mashes up LEGO space and western, with a dash of steampunk, with a heavy dose of Serenity and Wild Wild West. Although builder captainsmog may label this “Colonial Futurist” but I’m personally transported back to 2004 rather than an alternate 1874. What I love most about the stagecoach is how the detailed robotic legs move just like horse legs. This is no horseless carriage — the horse is just mechanical. Similarly, notice how the front of the speeder bikes ridden by the marauding bandits are shaped like horses’ heads.
It’s not clear whether LEGO builder Shannon Sproule‘s roving habitat is meant for use on a distant planet or the apocalyptic future of our own, but this repurposed APC looks like it’s seen it all. Shannon says it used to have a turret, but that’s now been replaced with a hab module and comms equipment. The vehicle is battered and worn, with Shannon doing a great job with the weathering thanks to introducing some brighter colors like dark orange and coral. The simple digital background also gives the presentation that sense of place, which goes a long way in telling the APC’s story.
Some LEGO creations are great at telling a story. Take “Clunker” by Inthert, for example. The story here is: “Mining asteroids is a sucky, sucky job.” This scene of futuristic yet questionably maintained drilling equipment is full of great details and part usage. In particular, I’m enjoying the Minecraft-esque blocks that are being removed from the surface. I’m all for hyper-realism in LEGO creations, but when you can keep things “blocky” for a reason…well, it’s a nice treat.
A stand-out technique is the texture of the rock, created by layering lots of ball-socket plates. A more subtle, yet impressive, trick is the use of the firing pins from stud shooters braced diagonally in the underside of 1×1 plates. I hadn’t seen that one before. I shouldn’t be too shocked about that, though, as this build is part of the MOC Wars 2020 competition. You have to be as tough and skilled as these miners to survive that.
Most spaceships I have seen are just machines, a tin can hurtling through the cosmos propelled by some rockets or thrusters. X-wings, Star Destroyers, the Enterprise, Discovery One, and so on, all fit this paradigm. Most LEGO space creations fit the same pattern, be they Classic Space, Galaxy Squad, or Star Wars. But do they have to be? Galaxy Squad offered a glimpse into what semi-organic spacecraft could be with the Buggoids, and Insectoids back in the day did too. Thankfully, to show us a true hybrid of machine and alien, Rubblemaker has brought us the BR4-1N, a fusion of Neo-Classic Space and some deep-space dwelling creature.
A recent touch of insomnia prompted this latest LEGO model. I found myself lying awake, staring at the ceiling, caught up in concern as to how sentient robots would cope on long interstellar journeys when their human companions are all tucked up in cryosleep. Maybe they shut down for a decade or so, but maybe they just wander the silent corridors of the ship, lonely and cold? This melancholy scenario wouldn’t leave me alone, and so I built it to try and get it out of my head. The robot’s stooped posture was key to the feeling I was trying to create. I wanted him to look old and tired, and perhaps a little apprehensive, as he shuffled through the empty halls of his vessel. I’d originally planned to shoot the photo and then filter it to a black and white image. However, built in shades of grey, it turned out exactly how I wanted without much processing. I hope it captures the slight air of gloom, which prompted the build.
This was one of those LEGO models which seemingly popped out of nowhere during the creative process. I started off fiddling around with the new mudguard pieces, thinking they might make for interesting detailing, and almost before I knew it, I had something reminiscent of a muscle car engine grille. At that point, the retro racing vibe kicked in and the rest of the model came together in a couple of hours. I think asymmetry always adds an interesting spark to a model, and so the off-centre elements — the stripe and the protruding engine — were in the plan from an early stage. The domed cockpit came late to the party, but it’s the part of the model I’m most pleased with. I feel it adds a Jetsons-esque touch of the retro-ridiculous, and makes the model more fun than it might have been otherwise. Similarly, the addition of the Friends sticker on the front wing fitted with a racing theme, but represented a change from the usual livery applied to futuristic LEGO vehicles.
Once the model was complete I obviously had to build some kind of backdrop for it. The panel-based scenery is plain and simple, but that’s okay as I’d always planned to motion-blur the hell out of it! I know some people prefer to see their LEGO models in plain and unfiltered images, but for me this one demanded some oomph. I’ve been watching a lot of the Netflix F1 documentary recently, and I was trying to capture something of the same feel, conveying the dynamic nature of the hover car racing competition I had in my head.
Boy, LEGO builder Yuri Badiner sure makes lunar exploration look like fun, doesn’t he? I was under the impression that space travel involves following strict procedures and abiding by careful measures and counter-measures. But this photo makes me want to switch careers to become an astronaut. These two are having a blast on their Apollo rover. While the build techniques are fairly basic you’ve got to give props to his excellent photography. In fact, excellent LEGO photography seems to be Yuri’s thing. With photos this engaging, we’ll be sure to be on the lookout for whatever other hijinks he gets his LEGO minifigs into.
February is over, and LEGO builders who participated in the month-long building challenge known as Febrovery even got a bonus day with this leap year. Several rovers have been featured here on TBB this month, but this open-topped model by Anthony Wilson instantly caught my eye, mostly with the presence of something not usually seen in space exploration vehicles, a tree, and a very nicely sculpted one at that. I would say this tree-topped rover was a breath of fresh air.
February is the least favorite month for many people, at least in the Northern Hemisphere; it’s often cold, still dreary, and all the magic of winter and Christmas is long forgotten. But not for me. It certainly helps that my birthday falls in this shortest of months, but there are many other positive features to recommend it. For example, it is the month to build LEGO rovers (Febrovery). I love rovers. And what better way to combine winter with rovers than a solid Ice Planet 2002-inspired rig like this one from the appropriately named Frost? It’s got giant wheels that are really erasers (perhaps it erases its own wheel marks from the snow?), the glorious trans-neon orange canopy, and the can’t miss blue-and-white color scheme. Some stickered pieces from the Galaxy Squad make some nice details, and I love white greebles. The coral highlights set it apart though, which is good because this is on Ice Planet 2003, not 2002.
A new LEGO spaceship from Nick Trotta is always worthy of note, and Firebreak, his latest, is an absolute belter. The shaping is a beautiful collection of angles and curves, making clever use of tiles and a bewildering array of sideways-building techniques to keep the lines smooth. But it’s the color scheme and the ingenious striping which grab the attention — look at the white highlight outline on the asymmetric engine intake, a fantastic piece of LEGO engineering. The angled snub nose is also great, adding a touch of malevolence by invoking attack helicopter styling. Finally, the use of black and chrome for the functional-looking greebles is inspired — a nice change of pace from the “standard” LEGO spaceship greebles in light or dark grey. This is one of the best LEGO spacecraft we’ve seen for a while. I’d recommend zooming in for a closer look at all the quality building involved in its creation.
