It’s always great to see a LEGO sci-fi model which looks vaguely “realistic” — ie. a projection of current tech or business activities into the near-future. With his latest creation Robert Heim tackles everyday interplanetary transport, and manages to do it in style. This Mack-branded space truck is a cracking model — all smooth white curves and engine grunt up-front, followed by a long train of cargo containers. The curve transitions around the cab are beautifully smooth — the sort of end-result that looks effortless but probably took hours of careful piece selection. Nice integration of the airplane cab and cement mixer parts — they look like they were designed to go together like this.
Tag Archives: Space
Defending the grey depths of space
In space, enemies can come from any side. And so rigorous armor is needed in addition to heavy armaments. Enter Patrick Massey‘s UNN-717 Olympia, replete with rows of chunky armor paneling and heavy turrets and a subtle submarine vibe (complete with rudder and diving planes). The nearly unbroken grey of the ship’s hull lends weight and scale to the model, helping it convey the ship’s monstrous size. And speaking of size, the LEGO model is no slouch either, ringing in around 3 feet in length.
Take a luxury cruise straight into the enemy fleet
The latest creation from Quy Chau is an intense and visceral spaceship with an interesting backstory of a luxury cruiser redesigned into a military spaceship. While I do appreciate the imagination, this begs the question of why anyone would perform such a refit.
There are so many insane angles on this vertical spaceship, achieved with slopes and wedge slopes oriented in all sorts of ways. The builder leaves many technic elements exposed, which feels very realistic and dirty, without a trace of a luxury cruiser design mentioned in the builder’s description. The vertical shape and cylindrical parts pointing in all directions are an especially welcome breath of fresh air in a world (in a universe?) full of needlesly aerodynamic spacecraft.
M:Tron – delivering to a galaxy near you soon
The M:Tron range of LEGO Space sets released back in 1990 never made any bones about the utilitarian nature of its magnet-laden fleet. It was all about finding innovative ways of lifting and moving its precious equipment cases around the galaxy. Tim Goddard, whose space work has become a regular feature here on TBB, has really run with this idea of transportation. He asks, how do you deploy your beautifully built M:Tron mech to the planet surface? With the M:Tron Pod of course.
Having had a close-up look at this build at Bricktastic earlier this year, I was mightily impressed by the lengths Tim had gone to, to make his Pod hexagonal. Of course it also has a fully functional hatch mechanism. Like so much of his work, it’s a splendidly detailed homage to one the LEGO Group’s most-loved themes.
This vast LEGO space diorama is filled with amazing details and animated features
Sprawling across multiple base plates, this staggering LEGO sci-fi display is the brainchild of builder Marco den Besten. Taking inspiration from the Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun video game franchise, it depicts a bustling military complex and its numerous support vehicles, mech suits and space fighters. The glistening yellow, white and grey colour scheme, borrowed from a Nexo Knight shield, gives it a crisp and clean futuristic feel.
See more details and animated features of this huge LEGO space diorama
Bringing back monorail
It’s time to turn back the clocks, then turn them forward again, as we travel to a retro view of the future where flying cars totally exist and all mass transit is in stylish monorails like this sweet LEGO version by Tammo S. With nifty brick-built lettering adorning the sides and a crazy bit of fantastic retro aesthetic with a prop and fins on top, this monorail is ready to guide us to the future. While my favorite design element is the rounded corners of the passenger windows, don’t overlook the fact that the cockpit is built at a crazy angle, which is no mean feat.
Built with ridiculous speed in mind
Described as the “biggest, baddest, most bulbous speeder bike”, by builder David Roberts, the Turbinia certainly lives up to its name. I’ve admired David’s work for a long time now, especially the way he mixes his humorous narratives with the knowledge of an engineering graduate. In this case the turbine element creates both the quirky nautilus-like shape of the vehicle, as well as hinting at the real-life mechanics of a centrifugal processor. Whichever way you look at it, this colourful model is a whole heap of gyroscopic fun.
TBB Cover Photo for November 2018
This month’s cover photo is brought to us by Devid VII. The scene, which features a lone spaceman in a hangar bay. Devid’s shot was taken while he was still building the setting for his final presentation of the awesome maintenance mech we featured, but what drew us to this work-in-progress scene is how well it highlights Devid’s meticulous detailing on the background.
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To felinity and beyond!
Cats are curious creatures and sometimes like to “help” with LEGO building projects. The results can be devastatingly cute, such as this photograph of a tiny kitten ready to take flight in a LEGO model built by MiniGray. The build itself is a nice example of futuristic aircraft with a large cockpit for special pilots of the furry kind. If you plan on sharing this image with your friends, brace yourself for a barrage of “AWW!”
A spaceship that resonates with us
Space builder Nick Trotta is one of the undisputed masters of minifigure-scale LEGO spacecraft. A fastidious perfectionist, Nick builds and rebuilds each of his models, tweaking every detail before finally letting the world see the finished result. It’s always worth the wait, however, as this new spaceship evidences.
The simple geometric shapes belie the ridiculous amount of engineering needed to achieve them. The technique that always grabs my attention (Nick has used it before) is the use of panels to create the white leading edge on the wings, cleverly hiding any unsightly joints and gaps. Plus, there’s the awesomely retro color scheme, with my favorite detail being the “health” bar on the ship’s nose beneath the cockpit.
Huge LEGO Daedalus from Stargate: who needs spaceships when another world is right through the gate?
With the immense popularity of the Stargate franchise in its golden age, one would imagine it penetrating deeper into the popular culture and consequently the LEGO fan community. However, it is very rare we see a creation like Rat Dude‘s Stargate SG 1 F304 Daedalus. The spaceship is a product of the later seasons of the Stargate: SG1, when the show matured into a classic sci-fi series instead of the earlier “soldiers versus aliens” approach.
There is a wonderfully military aesthetic to the Daedalus’ design, which Rat Dude has captured perfectly. All sorts of angles still come together in a boxy utilitarian design, captured in LEGO with slopes and wedge plates. Even the numerous studs do not look out of place, adding a texture where most builders would try to hide them. My favourite part is the stripe down the middle-back segment, made out of inverted 1×1 bricks, creating a unique texture.
A ship of LEGO odds and ends
Anyone who’s been following the adult LEGO builder community for a while knows that one of the things we love best is making novel use of seemingly “useless” pieces. And as far as these clever uses go, the more unusual the element is, the better. Vince Toulouse has dug deep into the bins of useless pieces and come forth with a striking spaceship made almost entirely of these oddities–a tugboat with a rugged utilitarian aesthetic. Vince points out a few of the more unusual elements for us, including the steering compartment made of a Fabuland caravan shell. We also spy a slew of other elements from the quirky Fabuland theme, as well as many other difficult-to-use elements like the skateboard ramp, elephant ear, and even the whole elephant head. See how many more oddities you can spot in Vince’s ship.
The ship isn’t just a vehicle for fun techniques, though. It’s also a great design, and the inside is marvelously detailed.
Click to see more of this ship














