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.

Miniature space Superbike — top speed 227 mph

Building anything tiny out of LEGO is always a joy — especially when you’re able to use parts creatively as something other than what they were designed for. Cole Blaq‘s hoverbike, which is modified heavily from a bike frame, has a few things that stand out. One is that jetpack that seems to be mounted at the back of the rider, but what really tickles my fancy are the telescopic fork tubes that utilise paint roller handles. Bring your own helmet if you’re up for a fast ride… no license needed where there are no roads built for it.

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It’s hard work but some droid has to do it

Nobody likes to do chores, but even a starship needs to be swept and dusted to ensure those grey space corridors are dust free for photoshoots. This fun little scene by TBB contributor Jen Spencer shows some Brooma and Waita droids helping out with the chores, albeit with a general lack of enthusiasm for their task. Jen’s little droids are adorable, with their cute pot bellies and Kardishan-esque booties.

The part used for their ‘assets’ is the dark orange 2×2 curved top brick, which is also the seed part in the ongoing ABS Challenge contest. And did you spot the ingeniously subtle use of the huge Airplane wing parts forming the walls and doorway?

The comical posing of the droids really makes this little scene for me; the Waita droid at the end seems to be struggling with his heavy plate of fruit. The poor Brooma droid on the lower floor is having to deal with a messy Cola spillage. I hope he has called for some back-up, ideally droids bearing mops and buckets!

The Retro-future is bright: a chat with French builder extraordinaire, Vincent Gachod [Interview]

This week we were able to sit down with Vincent Gachod from Toulouse, in the south of France. While balancing his job as the head of video production at a french university and raising two kids, he finds time to create some incredible LEGO builds. Let’s pick his brain and see what we can learn from this master of the brick.

TBB: How did you get into the LEGO hobby and what inspires you to build?

Vince: I started with LEGO in the mid 70’s with bricks from my brother’s collection. My first set was the 374 Fire Station of 1978. After my “dark age” in the 90’s, I came back to LEGO with my son and his first sets. I’m inspired by lot of influences (movies, animation, videos games, books, magazines, cars, architecture…) but I’m more inspired by the details : a car’s wheel, a plane’s engine or a vintage vacuum cleaner! I often start a MOC from a single detail like a car’s grille or an exhaust pipe. I spend a long time working on details.

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What we least expect is what nightmares are made of...

There’s something strangely familiar and yet haunting in this simple creation by Chris Maddison. Maybe it’s the loneliness of being in space or on a far-away planet that evokes the terror of the unknown. What horror lies ahead that seems partially organic and yet at the same time part machine that preys on an unknowing space explorer? Chris pulls off a frightful yet calming scene inspired by an artist who dreams up of things that preys on what we fear the most.

Angle-intensive starfighter, just waiting to be swooshed

There are wings and portrusions of unknown function sticking out of this starfighter by Perig Perig and I am totally cool with that. Unique shaping like this is becoming more and more the standard of spaceships lately, which is comparable to extremely detailed stonework in castle creations. There is a great balance of smooth surfaces and technical looking details, which together with great colour blocking and splashes of contrasting colours come together into a very memorable little fighter. It looks very swooshable too.

And very good presentation (combining two angles on the same photo) really invites a closer inspection. My only complaint is the “windshield”, which is not integrated very well into the white frontal area.

Horses in space!

French builder F@bz is well known for building fabulous sci-fi vehicles of every sort. His latest futuristic LEGO creation has some sharp, clean lines and a lovely pop of lavender. But what really caught my eye was the use of those Paradisa roof slopes on the rear of F@bz’s spacey drone.

In fact, those printed tiles remind me so much of LEGO Set 6419: Rolling Acres Ranch (and consequently, my childhood) that I cannot stop picturing these drones being remotely controlled by a crack team of horse scientists (via hoof-compatible controls, of course). Come to think of it, the shaping on this drone looks a little like a horse’s head and neck… anyone else see that?

Grasshopper touches down to support the troops

Close behind his recent space fighter, ZCerberus proves he’s on a Neo-Classic Space (NCS) roll with a similarly-themed support craft. It’s neat to see such a specialized spacecraft in minifigure-scale, and furthermore in those classic space colors. The builder incorporated enough functions and hidden features to resonate the inner child of any adult – including a compartment for a small ATV. This latest build is just one in a series of NCS creations by ZCerberus, and we’re told the biggest and best is yet to come.

Spaceship ticks the right boxes on the pre-launch checklist

After his interesting take on a methane-powered moon rover, Jon Blackford turns his attention to a more traditional interpretation of the future of space travel. This twin-seater spacecraft is a wonderful riff on LEGO’s Classic Space theme, with all the key elements of the checklist in place. Blue and gray color scheme? Check. Trans-yellow canopy? Check. Green and red navigation lights? Check. Black and yellow stripes? Check.

But what separates this creation from so many other Classic Space models is the wonderful level of depth and texture Jon has got into those wing panels. This is LEGO Space building at its finest. Couple the quality of the model with some excellent photography and you’ve got a memorable creation, despite the familiarity of its styling. Don’t miss this image of the spaceship coming into land, revealing more of the detailing…

Ares-3 off the drawing board

The friendliest looking starfighter you’ve ever seen has made the leap from LEGO Digital Designer to the real world. BobDeQuatre designed this ship three years ago in LDD and has made excellent use of several new bricks to take the design from “cool” to “really something else” during its translation to physical form.

The soft, bubbly white curves stand out against the blackness of space with flashy spectral pink and purple highlights, so at first you might miss the pair of giant, black-armored cannons on the front.
Take a moment to compare this ship to its original digital incarnation, since they’re very much similar ships built with very different styles.

Someone call for an exterminator?

I’m not fan of rats, cockroaches, and alien critters skittering around my spaceship, but I’m also not sure I’d like to have Djokson‘s character around either. He’s stocky, he’s menacing, he has a big gun and probably leaves a trail of aliens to match.
There is a lot of excellent color contrast in this build, with a few bright-colored pieces popping against the black armor and background. The blue hose caught my eye first, but then you look up and see the dark red eyes of the mask and suddenly the exterminator seems a lot less friendly. And be sure to keep four eyes out for some really excellent parts use on his alien trophy.

A blip patrols the executive corridor in Alpha Zero Niner

At first glance Jeremy Williams‘ Night Patrol might not look like much is going on, but this atmospheric space corridor with patrolling “blip” is fantastic. Simple yet brilliant, I love the clever use of the 1×4 spring shooter for the door details. Combined with clever creative lighting, the scene feels real. You can almost feel the silence, waiting for the whhhhhsht of the door as it opens and the automated electronic beep as the blip passes through. Then whhhhhsht the door closes again, leaving the corridor silent and empty once more.

The monstrous Vengeful Spirit

A “SHIP” is a large scale LEGO spaceship, specifically one of at least 100 studs in length (or height!). They are a popular theme to build, especially for convention displays. This specific SHIP by Tim Clark appeared at Brickworld 2016, but apparently the photos had to travel for seven months to reach the internet. Worth the wait? It sure is!

The builder has created quite a few SHIPs over the years, which you can see in his MOC Pages album, but this one is his largest so far at amazing 164 studs of length. It is also his first one that is not mostly light gray, which is a colour all too often used on large builds. Tim used many of his already tested techniques that he used in his other capital ships, but the larger scale called for new implementations of these techniques for more stability. The overall shape is what is the most important in large spaceships, and the Vengeful Spirit hits the nail on the head here. The small details like trans light-blue elements and turrets are the cherry on the top.

There are many more detail photos on the builder’s MOC page of the Vengeful Spirit, as well as the inspiration picture.