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.

Two-foot tall LEGO Spyrius mega robot is ready to crush all enemies

Who remembers Spyrius? It was a small LEGO space theme released in 1994, and featured red and black wheeled mechs piloted by droids and humans. Builder Spaceruner has created a new supreme commander for the Spyrius legions, in the form of a mighty mech named Behemoth. This giant robot of doom stands nearly two feet tall (56cm) and can crush all who stand in its way with its 10-wheel drive.

Clearly, Spaceruner’s Behemoth takes its design cues from the official 6949 Robo-Guardian set, and just like that set, the Behemoth is loaded with play features. Spaceruner intended this model to be played with, not to collect dust on a shelf. He’s built the model around an extra sturdy Technic frame designed to withstand the rigors of play, and I already want to drive it through a Unitron monorail like some giant space robot Godzilla. If the outside is impressive, though, just wait til you see what Spaceruner has packed inside. Continue reading →

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Women of NASA is the next LEGO Ideas model [News]

Announced today, the Women of NASA project by Maia Weinstock is the next set in the Ideas line. This project was selected from a group of 11 other ideas that had gathered 10,000 supporters between the months of May and September 2016. Pricing and availability for the Women of NASA set are not yet available.

Exploring Trappist-1f with Toby Turtle’s exoplanetary submarover

Galaktek continues his long-running series of mechanically inclined animals with a turtle named Toby on an interstellar mission to the newly discovered planets of the Trappist-1 system a mere 39 light years from Earth. The builder says, “Unfortunately, when the NASA contract asked for an “amphibious” rover, they may not have considered how a turtle would look at it…” With wheels that fold into the rover’s body, and a color scheme reminiscent of the LEGO Ideas set 21306 The Beatles Yellow Submarine, it looks like Toby is in for a groovy spacey adventure.

Hovering across the apocalyptic gunk

Curved silver elements lend a nice retro chopper feel to George Panteleon‘s hoverbike, but it’s the smart use of sand green pieces to depict a post-apocalyptic sewer which grabs the eye. The tentacle tip makes for a perfect outpouring of skanky muck, and the soccer pitch part creates a great impression of a thick gloopy liquid in motion. I love when builders pay as much attention to the surrounding scenery as to the central model in a scene — it makes all the difference between a decent image, and a standout one.

One small build for a man, one giant leap for LEGO fan-kind

It is said that you can give anyone a canvas and a brush but only an artist can make it come alive. Same goes for LEGO bricks; you can take a bunch of bricks and put them together, but it takes true creativity to bring those bricks to life. Master artist Chris Maddison does it ever so elegantly and skillfully with only a single color, re-creating man’s first footstep on the moon. It’s so iconic and recognisable that it doesn’t even really need any introduction. It’s really a lesson and inspiration for builders in capturing the simple essence of the subject.

Dutch students present prototype satellite design built from LEGO to the European Space Agency

Students at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, including LEGO builder Rinse, had an opportunity to present a prototype satellite design to the European Space Agency (ESA) at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. With a LEGO builder among them, the student team used bricks as their design medium for constructing their 3D prototype. The LEGO model has a hexagonal shape, and the solar arrays don’t require any additional support to remain extended horizontally.

I once built an 11th century Romanesque castle from LEGO for a university humanities course. How have you used LEGO in your own higher education?

Speeder bike contest ends in less than a week!

Just a reminder that the annual speeder bike contest, run by the good folks over at the LEGO Speeder Bikes Flickr group, is drawing to close at the end of the month. We’ve seen some great entries so far but there is still time to get your rear in gear and build some awesome bikes! There are great prizes up for grabs, donated by The Brothers Brick, as well as all sorts of other swag!

I see a spaceship and I want it painted black

Black is one of the basic LEGO colors and one of the most common among all types of pieces. But owning a colossal amount of black parts doesn’t mean you’re good at building in black. Timofey Tkachev shows us how one should treat the color by using nearly a hundred various parts available in black. Arches, handlebars, even windows — you name it. Actually, I’m not sure if there is any LEGO piece in this ship that is used ‘regularly’. This is why Timofey’s creations are so captivating to examine.

Lunar rat rod rover ready for science and racing

One of the most active builders in the current Febrovery building month, Billyburg presents us with another Classic Space inspired rover — and this one is also a hotrod! What appears to be a bare internal combustion engine (how that works on the moon, I do not know) is excellently made — just enough detail to be interesting, yet simple enough to look clean and streamlined. The best part might be the white stripes in the tyres, but equally don’t miss the syringe piece as the antenna on the radar arrays.

Spacecraft or mecha? Why don’t we have both?

It’s always interesting to see minifigure-scale vehicles that can transform and look great in both modes, like James Zhan’s spaceship/mecha hybrid. I enjoy the angles throughout the fuselage and minimal greebling on the prongs, focusing on a beautiful overall profile.

Much like a Vulture Droid from Star Wars, the prongs on James’s ship fold downward as the legs of a mecha. The well-hidden arms and feet fold out, making mecha mode look just as interesting as flight mode.

Designate a target and the Nautilus will light them up

Two years of hard work went into the construction of this 1.75 meter long spacecraft/gun platform built by Alexander Safarik. The size is impressive, but the plentiful interesting details and beautiful lines make his build one of the best LEGO spaceships I’ve seen. I don’t know how long I’ve scrolled back and forth studying the craft at the highest resolution, noticing another great parts usage or detail with each pass.

Be sure to explore Alexander’s Flickr album showing more views of his massive creation as well as photos detailing the building process over its two year construction.

Little space rover packs a big punch

Sometimes big things come in small packages — especially highly explosive things. This adorable little space rover built by Pascal for FebRovery no doubt packs a serious wallop with its integrated missile launcher:

The smiling minifigure is absolutely fitting. As the builder suggests, who wouldn’t be happy driving a rocket equipped go-kart?