The M-Tron would do anything to protect their magnet production, up to and including using force. And if you ever wondered what they would use, have no fear, for Isaac Snyder has you covered. His life-sized M-Tron blaster is full of great details like laser sights, a working trigger and of course, a magazine attached with magnets! No need to take my word for it, you can watch the video below.
Mark Erickson is most well known for his castle scenes, but recently his builds in clearly superior sci-fi themes have been showing up some of the most experienced science fiction specialists. I love the facial expressions Mark has chosen for each of these intrepid explorers. The foremost astronaut — Captain Simon Lou — seems to be smiling nervously as he tries to persuade the Bug Beings that they mean them no harm, while the white astronaut seems to be yelling “I told you this wasn’t the right way!”.
The use of the red buckets in the honeycomb structures is perfect, and to top off this scene Mark has used a mist machine to create an eerie atmosphere. This build is another entry to the ABS Builder Challenge, so check out the Flickr group to see more builds using the red bucket seed part.
It’s great to see how collaboration between LEGO and the AFOL community can bear fruit. In conjunction with the Hong Kong LEGO User Group (HKLUG), LEGO has produced an instruction booklet and promotional giveaway models to coincide with the launch of the 21309 NASA Saturn V. Buyers of the Saturn V will receive the limited edition booklet and bricks to build of one of five designs contained within it.
See all of the Hong Kong mini-builds after the jump
Have you ever wondered where Neo-Classic Space minifigures come from? Well, Wami Delthorn has captured a certain Dr. Clarke at work, creating what I can only assume is the next generation of Neo-Classic Space crew members. Most of the NCS LEGO creations we feature here are spaceships in the the usual combination of blue and gray, with the requisite pops of red and yellow. But this interior scene fits right into that aesthetic, with masses of greebles on every surface, illuminated by some excellent lighting.
For those who require a spaceship in their NCS posts, here’s Wami’s LL-527 Rapier fighter (in lovely blue and gray, with pops of red and yellow).
Start your engines and race on extraterrestrial courses with a Mario Kart-inspired LEGO space kart built by Luigi Priori. The skeletal aesthetic of the game’s karts is well emulated in Classic Space colors.
My favorite view of Luigi’s model is the detailed engine and massive exhaust pipes in the rear…
It’s always great to see a first-timer in the online fan community introduce themselves with as sweet of a build as Michael Kanemoto has done with his Chrysalis spaceship.
The builder says he spent a few hundred hours over the past couple of months perfecting his design, and I’d say the effort was well worth it. This is a gorgeous and sleek spacecraft featuring all kinds of clever design details. The colors look great and the launch pad has a nice retro look to it. But the coolest touch may be that the builder has also replicated the ship in microscale.
Given the shared building blocks of matter and the uniformitarian geological processes likely occurring all over the universe, it seems fairly likely that future human explorers will encounter landscapes similar to our own on distant worlds. Mark Erickson has built an excellent gulch that would look right at home in the American southwest. But the builder says that this is the planet Zosma 4, with an M-Tron mining crew trundling along under the watchful eyes of a certain Captain Simon Lou. While the little M-Tron vehicles will probably evoke a certain nostalgia for LEGO Space fans who came of age in the early 90’s, I’m much more impressed by the realistically layered rocks — truly lovely.
The Near-Future LEGO Starfighter contest is prompting the creation of some lovely realistic-looking space vehicles. This entry from xiei22 is a cracker — all angled shielding, sharp colour blocking, and nice functional touches. Good photo editing too, depicting the ship in its role as a Martian patrol vehicle.
You can see even more of the model’s fine details in this cool schematic image. It’s worth zooming-in for a closer look, especially of the cockpit interior and those chunky-looking railguns…
The somewhat obscure new hexagonal NEXO Knights piece, appropriately named the “Nexogon”, keeps inspiring people to use it in all manner of creative ways, an effort supported by New Elementary’s Nexagon Festival. Lisqr joins the fun with a very charismatic space-themed microscale city scene. There is much lovable texture throughout the build, but the best thing must be the masterfuly limited colour pallete. Light blue and translucent light blue accent the gray very well, making the creation pleasing to look at, an effect that is enhanced by the photography. Another point of interest is that the “Nexogon” is not the only hexagonal element of the build; the central tower achieves this shape with the use of 1×2 30-degree slope pieces.
Normally, my obsessive nature would freak out about incorrectly attached LEGO bricks. Yet somehow, despite the way LEGO 7 has created the jaws of these sublime simian spacemen, my clutching disorder doesn’t seem to mind. These cheeky chimpanzee’s heads have been created using only a handful of bricks, yet convey a huge amount of character. One transparent dome helmet and stylistic articulated space suit later, and you’ve got yourself a moon monkey. Double that and add a hexapedal all-terrain moon buggy and you have a scene that could elicit a smile from anyone.
There’s no stopping Tyler Clites when it comes to building remarkable and just plain mind-boggling spacecraft. In a similar vein to the awe-inspiring alien vessel we featured a while back, Tyler presents us with another beautifully spherical craft in the form of this futuristic Russian starfighter.
The unique shape is the star of this creation, but there’s so much to appreciate here. The touches of gold, olive and white add just the right amount of color to what is otherwise an appropriately drab and utilitarian palette. The retro, “lo-fi” look of the vessel is a fantastic design choice, as if this intergalactic starfighter was built using Soviet technology from the 1960’s. Like Sputnik, but with one big frickin’ laser.
Many of you have probably seen the official LEGO Milano 76081 from the new Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, or maybe even read our review of the microscale Milano which LEGO is currently giving away. Tyler Clites liked the ship so much, he made his own custom 3000 piece minifig-scale version with full interior! At 2 feet wide and a foot long, Tyler has recreated the unique shapes and curves of the craft with some very clever building techniques; the “beak” of the ship looks fantastic, and he has captured the swept back wings and feathered ailerons with style.
Tyler also teamed up with The Brick Show to show off all the details in his model:
https://youtu.be/cnMKd_RzSb0