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…
We love seeing the community taking old LEGO themes and making new creations where the LEGO Company stopped. Today’s examples are two mechs from Blacktron courtesy of SpirituInsanum. The larger, humanoid mech is my favourite here, but please let me know which one you like more.
![[MOC] Bla.K:Tron - Exterminator & Incinerator](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/media.brothers-brick.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/30323712995_a6c1a65dbf_z.jpg)
Remember to check out the builder’s photostream for more angles of each build. Here’s another shot of the bipedal one because I just can’t help myself:
Finally, I don’t know if this is intentional or not, but the larger mech really looks like a mixture of two official LEGO sets to me, namely 8970 Robo Attack and 70704 Vermin Vaporizer.
We get so used to bulky LEGO spaceships, often with realistically muted color palettes, that it can be hard to know what to make of something wholly and totally different. A Plastic Infinity has posted a bright green alien spaceship, with “propulsive flagellum” and claws for weapons. The repeated circular shapes and black spikes give the craft an insectoid feeling, tapping into our darkest fears.
The builder has also created a small group of escort ships that match the design of the mothership. I really don’t want to know what that forward probe does…
When preparing for a long-range mission in deep space, it is essential to have the best ship for the journey. That includes space for crew, supplies, and a lovely color scheme. This eye-catching ship by scottadges has all the right greebles. The color scheme works very well, and really helps all the detail work pop. It manages to be detailed, yet not busy, which is a delicate balance.
The Stanford torus was a design concept for a permanent space habitat for 10,000 residents proposed at Stanford University during the summer of 1975. Though not the only idea for a ring-shaped space station that would provide gravity to inhabitants, it’s one of the designs that received significant research from NASA. MSP! has created a microscale LEGO version, complete with buildings and landscaping on the ring’s interior. Mounted on an unobtrusive stand, this would look fantastic on any astronaut’s desk.
It’s tough to build a good-looking ship using only one color. It’s tougher still to build one that stands up against the original source material. Swan Dutchman‘s Harrower-class Dreadnought from the Star Wars universe does both. At nearly two and a half feet long, this LEGO battleship took over 5700 bricks and 5 months to build. It’s got the perfect amount of greebly-goodness, tons of miniature firepower, and a sleek style worthy of the Old Republic Empire.
I’m sure that Primoz Mlakar didn’t mean to minimize your childhood…but he totally did. He has built a series of microscale versions of the earliest Space theme sets. Each build is recognizable, and packed full of nostalgia.
Let’s take a look at some of these classic Space sets, starting with the iconic 928 Galaxy Explorer:
Click here for more Classic Space!