Military vehicle master Andrew Somers has broken from his usual realistic style and built a neat futuristic space truck that wouldn’t look out of place among Last Days on Mars concept art by Christian Pearce. Along with the usual working suspension and steering, the build features working grabber crane, and lots of eye catching mechanical detailing. I love the use of the stickered space logo tile on the side of the cab as it provides a dash of color and a bit of realistic context to the build.
There’s definitely a creepy feel to this microscale LEGO scene — it seems that a little extraterrestrial tourism has led to a sudden drop in the population, as if something untoward has left a rather full looking graveyard on the ground and a large ‘not of this world’ city in the sky. Kale Frost has left the exact history of events to our own imaginations, but the title “After the Martians Came” suggests a post-apocalyptic exodus from Earth. I love the use of the stud shooter trigger for the headstones in the graveyard, and Rocket Boy’s rocket outfit gives a nice retro 1960s film feel to the scene.
A closer look at the ground shows that a surprising number of parts have been utilised to make this microscale scene. The street lamp is cute and the damage to the streets is another sign that all is not well in town.
CrashHelmets seems to be relatively new to the LEGO hobby. But his latest build, the Asp Explorer from the game Elite: Dangerous, makes be believe otherwise. The builder has managed to skillfully integrate some rather complex angles, making this ship a spot-on representation of the one in the game. Don’t overlook the excellent color blocking either, as subtle splashes of white and orange complete this build’s aesthetic.
It’s always exciting to see a great builder branch off into new themes. ZCerberus, best known for his giant fantasy castles, is making a new and impressive name for himself in the expanding world of Neo-Classic Space (NCS) with a number of creations we blogged earlier this year including his NCS fighter, dropship and rover. This time he’s recreated the classic 1979 LEGO Gaxlaxy Explorer, but with a very new and updated look.
This new and improved version stays faithful to the basic look of the original Galaxy Explorer, but packs in all kinds of fun details and design elements. The supersized engines and extra weaponry look great, while the blue/light-gray/trans-yellow color scheme is just as appealing as it was nearly 40 years ago. No doubt, this is a Galaxy Explorer for the 21st Century and beyond.
I’m sure most of you have seen or at least heard of Battlestar Galactica, the series created in the late seventies and re-imagined in the early 2000s as a three episode mini-series followed by a six-year stint on television. David Duperron is clearly a huge fan, creating a UCS scale LEGO version of the Colonial Viper MkII, the famous fighting vehicle that made short work of the Cylons during the Cylon War.
David’s LEGO version of the iconic Colonial Viper MkII from the early 2000s Battlestar Galactica reboot series features a cockpit that opens and full interior.
There is something special about LEGO’s retro space themes that makes people revisit them time and time again, and it’s probably nostalgia. One of the more popular themes is surely Ice Planet 2002 with its iconic blue-white-black and translucent orange colour scheme, and Tim Goddard has built an excellent microscale spaceship based on the 6973 Deep Freeze Defender, which he’s named Zycon V. It’s also tied closely to a collaborative story recently featured on The Brothers Brick: LEGO Space: ICE Titan.
The spaceship itself has nice shapes and a good balance of details and clean surfaces, as well as following the original’s colour scheme. Though I would have loved to see a bit more translucent orange included, and the curves may not fit into a 90’s inspired creation very well, those are minor points on an otherwise amazing build.
The Brothers Brick enjoyed LEGO Space: Building The Future — the book of wonderful sci-fi creations from rockstar Space builders Tim Goddard and Peter Reid. When the guys got in touch to say they’d penned and illustrated a new tale set in the LEGO Space universe, we got very excited. Even more so when they asked if we’d like to host the tale as exclusive downloadable content for our readers.
Click here to download a free PDF copy of LEGO Space: ICE Titan.
We picked up with the guys to find out more about the creation of this new chapter in the LEGO Space saga…
Click to read our interview with some of the creative team
If the latest LEGO Ideas set NASA Saturn V is a little too big for your shelf or for your wallet, we have the perfect solution. Jussi Koskinen has built a compact Saturn V that can still separate into the launch and mission stages, just like the official set. Jussi has taken care to ensure each stage has the correct number of engines and maintains the same separation function as the larger model. I am impressed with the shaping achieved, since making a cylindrical LEGO rocket can be a challenge.
As you can see, despite being small in size, Jussi’s mini Saturn V still looks the part when launched.
If you are looking for a drink or for futuristic company, the cyberpunk bar Fall by Revan New has you covered. There are many lovable details scattered all around, like hanging robot parts and technical detailing, but the cherry on the cake is the atmosphere. A few tweaks to the photo really makes you feel like part of the action. The minifig positioning helps too, bringing all of the shady characters to life.
If Arsia Prime looks as good in real life as it does in the pictures, sign me up! Just like The Martian, everything about this off-world arboretum is fantastically realistic. The terrain is gorgeous, offering a stunning variety of layering, subtly blended colors, and unique rock formations. Builder Ryan Howerter describes this simply as “a relatively near-future colony on Mars.” With the daily advances of space travel, these words may not be too far from the truth.
Master of the mechanized build Jason Allemann does it again, this time taking the new LEGO Ideas set 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V and incorporating lights and sounds using the PFx Brick, as well giving it a custom launch pad.
Jason’s other ingenious creations include an ever-toiling sculpture of Sisyphus, and the LEGO Ideas set 21305 Maze, which we interviewed him about last year.
E.T. was one of the first movies I ever saw as a kid. Steven Speilberg’s classic 1982 movie was an immediate blockbuster, surpassing Star Wars to become the highest-grossing film of all time—a record it held for eleven years until Jurassic Park. Jon & Catherine Stead have captured the animatronic Extra Terrestrial’s departure from our planet as Elliot, Michael, Gertie and Harvey (the family Labrador retriever) bid farewell at the doors of his spaceship.
The model is constructed on a 68 x 68 stud base. The nine-engine spaceship weighs about 1.45 kg, and stands 45 cm high with a diameter of 30 cm. The main spaceship structure was based on a 24-stud diameter SNOT sphere. The builders point out that the landing feet were a big challenge to build in a manner that would bear the large mass of the spaceship.
After pointing to his heart and saying “I’ll be right here,” E.T. leaves Elliott as the theater erupted into tears of sadness mixed with joy—a poignant depiction of one of the most famous scenes in movie history.