Check out this smart LEGO space rover scene from Sad Brick. The mining vehicle itself is an excellent example of quality microscale building, creating an impression of detail and realistic function with the use of only a handful of parts. But it’s the quality landscaping in tan bricks — tanscaping, if you will — which really impresses me. Don’t miss the tracks left in the dust behind the rover’s wheels — brilliant.
Amazing builds can result from one builder’s style influencing another, which is the case with this “Firestorm” starfighter by Tim Schwalfenberg. Tim tributes his spacecraft to Nick Trotta, and I can spot similarities with Nick’s Cloudless 3V especially, but with Tim’s spin on it.
Overall, the Firestorm has a great design to it, with interesting angles to the fins and stabilizer at the ship’s rear. When it comes to the details, I particularly like the gray pipe (or perhaps a cannon?) along each forward prong, and the two side engines with a 2×2 array of square panels, which appear to be minifig Thor’s hammers with the hammerheads facing upward.
The best thing about LEGO sets in the 1990s? Well, ok, besides all the awesome themes likes Ice Planet and Dragon Knights. Every LEGO set came with a miniature catalog, either a folded single page or a half-sheet booklet, and besides just advertising new sets, they included dioramas showing all the sets from a theme in action on a cool bit of scenery, like this Castle diorama from 1995. Builder Pixel Fox is creating some amazing images that bring back that nostalgia. LEGO catalogs need to do this again.
I’m reminded of the aesthetic of bosses in the Mega Man series with BobDeQuatre’s rad firefly drone. The flow of opaque white windscreen pieces from head to tail, as well as hot air balloon panels over the thrusters, complement the mechanical details and links to give a great overall living yet robotic feel.
Pico van Grootveld‘s latest spaceship is a smart little model. The building techniques and bricks usage are on point — wheel hubs and dishes creating a selection of smooth curves. The stark color scheme works well, particularly against that lunar backdrop, and the presentation is simply perfect. Too often LEGO space builders can overdo the photo-editing on their images, leaving models marooned in a sea of garish lens flare. Pico gets it just right here — subtle effects providing the streak of engine trails, and colored spots on the twin weapon prongs and the drone’s central eye. An eminently swooshable design, presented well — this is my kind of space building.
David Roberts mashes together two great LEGO building styles in his latest spaceship. GARC (Galactic Asteroid Racing Circuit) and the Vic Viper standard collide here to eyecatching effect. Whilst the twin cockpits are smart, for me this model is all about those stunning wings. This is surely another example of a LEGO spaceship influenced by Chris Foss.
Rob has been putting together a great little series of LEGO robots, each with a different designation and function. The building techniques are good, with some smart connections and solid color choices, but it’s the presentation of the models which really sets these creations apart — detailed technical spec sheets accompany shots of the bots in action.
Click to see more of the A.R.C. Bot
While I’m more of a fan of LEGO space vehicles, I do know an amazing building creation when I see one, and this Classic Space tower by Wami Delthorn has all the right notes of a brilliant, detailed build. As a control tower for your Classic Space astronauts, it’s complete with classic grey colouring and the yellow translucent window panels.
The build sits on a hexagonal base, giving a different twist to your usual 4-sided box. The picture is a bit deceiving, but this thing is quite tall! You can see the little space minifig at the bottom for a better sense of scale.
Just as impressive is the inside rooms and the working lift, both of which you can see in this short video:
Let’s return to the 1970’s for a moment. Japan faces a serious economic crisis, President Nixon resigns from office, and rock-and-roll music has never been cooler. Back in present day, grobie built these sweet LEGO creations to honor two rock bands from the psychedelic “Me Decade.”
First up, we have Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)’s spaceship from their Out of the Blue album cover and an accompnaying Jeff Lynne minifig with acoustic guitar. You have to admit, that custom ELO paint job is downright groovy. Next up, we have Journey’s spaceship from their Escape album cover. This build also comes with a short-sleeved Neal Schon and the ship even has detachable scarab wings! Can you dig it? I can.
Don Wilson asks an interesting question… What would LEGO Space look like if it happened today? There are a bunch of new colors and parts available since the Classic Space heyday and Don puts some of them to effective use in his latest spaceship design.
The shift from Classic Space’s regular blue to dark blue immediately creates a more serious feel. The classic inspiration is clear, but there’s a definite evolution towards a more dangerous and slightly sinister look. As for the build itself, I particularly like the “greeble sandwich” design of the front prongs — a nice layer of complex detail held between the plates of the hull. The shaping on those swept-back wings is excellent, and the use of the hexagonal stud shooters as engine exhausts is magic…
As regular readers will spot, this craft has twin prongs at the front, a pair of wings, and a central cockpit and tail. That can only mean one thing — it’s a Vic Viper, and NoVVember must be just around the corner.
Deep into Ma.Ktober and with Novvember almost upon us, we’re still not quite done with SHIPtember yet! Most of the giant LEGO spaceships we’ve featured over the last few weeks have been lengthy, horizontal ships. LEGOLIZE IT MAN goes in a completely different direction with this huge vertically oriented spaceship mounted on docking clamps. I love the repeated circular motifs in white, along with the angled black section at the rear.
Note the minifigs for scale. This is actually a vertically oriented, minifig-scale starfighter rather than the typical microscale battlecruiser. Very cool indeed.
We all know how crucial a reliable suitcase is, especially when you’re travelling overseas or even to another planet. No matter what you take with you and how far you go, all of your belongings will be safe with these cool sci-fi cargo containers by Matt Rowntree.
Solid and brutal, Matt’s containers are a case study in the creative application of LEGO stickers, and seem to hail straight from the GARC universe. Together with great some great brick-built color patterns they create some terrific designs. And I especially love those alien-looking hieroglyphs – who knows what’s inside…
