Tag Archives: Spaceships

The Adhara adheres to a Saturn V color scheme

Every SHIPtember, so many LEGO builders make a Seriously Huge Investment in Parts to turn out some truly spectacular spaceship-ery. And the Adhara by Tim Zarki is such a sterling representation of what these builds can bring. Clad in a grayscale color scheme, this SHIP is designed for long-range flights running on dual antimatter reactors. And clocking in at 118 studs in length, it features a number of wonderful techniques. I’m particularly fond of Tim’s use of the open Technic pin hole, adding important texture to dark gray panels throughout the creation.

The Adhara

Dogfighting Star Wars starfighters in LEGO form

It’s fair to say that the Star Wars prequels had a lot of ups and downs. Among the definite ups, though, is the opening scene to the third instalment, Revenge of the Sith. Spaceships! Dogfights! Explosions! Sassy Jedi! LEGO builder Thomas Jenkins has got us reminiscing about that scene with this ARC-170. Billed as the predecessor to the venerable X-wing, it’s a ship design I’ve always loved. Thomas is a dab hand when it comes to LEGO spaceships, so it’s no surprise to see some fantastic shaping mixed with admirable attention to detail.

But it takes two to tango dogfight! So to oppose the Republic starfighter, we’ve also got a Separatist Vulture Droid from the same builder. What I like the most about this one is the walking wing mechanism, achieved with clever use of Mixel ball joints.

In space, no one can hear you croak

Our amphibious friends have been making great leaps in the field of space travel, as shown by this LEGO model by Julie vanderMeulen. This ship, dubbed the Pond Hopper, was built to help frog-kind see if the water really is bluer on the other side of the wormhole. With a water-lily radar dish on the back, and gold accents throughout the build, any frog will be able to travel in style in a frog shaped cabin. So say it with me, folks: that’s one small step for a frog, one giant leap for froggy-kind!

Pond Hopper

Engage the forward flavor!

It’s been a while since a LEGO build has made me this hungry. Maybe that’s because I’m writing over lunch, or maybe it’s because Maxx Davidson‘s “Fish & Ships” is so delightful. Maxx is no stranger to creating tasty-looking ensembles involving French fries, but I’ve never seen a meal this swooshable before. Each part of the meal lends itself naturally to the ship, even the collapsible paper container for the ketchup, which serves as a thruster. The fries (sorry, chips) are simple but easily recognizable (and perfectly golden, as all good fries should be), while a series of irregularly placed elements like the “rock with claws” piece give the breading on the fish a tasty-looking crispy texture. Hungry? Better get yours soon; they’re going fast.

Fish N’ Ships

Convene the Covenant and start the Great Journey

A bunch of spaceships and speeders, driven by aliens, and all decked out in purple? This can only be a LEGO rendition of the erstwhile villains of the Halo series, crafted by the aptly-named Heretic Creations. The range of parts available in purple is not as limited as it once was, but the curves of the Covenant craft can still be very tricky to replicate. They’re admirably done here, though – especially the Phantom (that’s the big dropship on the left). Just as impressive is the way the aliens themselves are made. The feathers on the Hunters’ back are great, as are the helmets for the Engineer’s shell. But it’s the High Prophets of Mercy, Truth and Regret that really draw the eye with their gold headdresses!

The Great Journey has begun

As you might expect, Heretic Creations have plenty more Halo creations in their photostream – but you can also take your own Great Journey through our Halo archives to find even more.

Botanical Cruiser carries Earth’s plastic plants across the cosmos

While back-to-school sales, falling leaves, and pumpkin spice lattes might be the more recognized signs of autumn’s arrival, among LEGO fans, it’s the sudden appearance of massive spaceships in our feeds that we look for. SHIPtember is when builders race to complete a spaceship of at least 100 studs in length, aka a SHIP (Seriously Huge Investment of Parts). Space Kook is no stranger to the tradition, having participated for at least four years, even creating five SHIPs in a single month.  This year, Space Kook presents the LSS Kew, a Botanical Cruiser adorned with domes to transport Earth biomes to distant colonies.

SHIPtember 2024 - The Botanical Cruiser, the LSS Kew

Click to explore Space Kook’s impressive cruiser from other angles!

SHIPtember comes around sooner every year... In, er, August?!

Now see here, ktorrek. We’ve seen your latest Seriously Huge Investment in Parts (SHIP), and we’re seriously impressed. Even more so to hear that it’s your 17th (!) such LEGO build; heck, we even featured one of the first ones some 11 years ago. But your calendar is a month out! SHIPtember – the annual build-a-spaceship-longer-than-100-studs challenge – doesn’t start for another week and a half yet. We were still mentally preparing ourselves for brick-built behemoth season! TBB Towers has been thrown into disarray by that clean colour-blocking and those awesome triple fins! Let’s file this one under SHIPtember: Early Access…

DVE-21 Minriel

In all seriousness, we always look forward to SHIP season here at TBB – and ktorrek’s build is a great way to start. If you’re looking forward to it too, why not see what we’ve featured from previous editions of SHIPtember?

Cruisin’ for a bruisin

TBB alum Mansur Soeleman is back with a heavy-duty LEGO cruiser that can dish it out with the best of them! Using only one technic plate, a slope, and two plates with bars, Mansur has built a gun turret that he’s peppered across the ship. I count seven visible, can you find more? Be sureake in all of the fascinating greebling between the armor panels on ship. And speaking of armor, gander at the tiny rounded indent just below the command deck, to the right of that turret. Mansur has added some extra texture using a pair of finger hinge pieces from yesteryear, likely to reverse the stud direction in the span of a plate. But, the star of the armor show is the 8x1x3 slope. Mansur has used six of them just on this half of the ship to create the angular and geometric paneling. With all of that done, all that’s left to say is “punch it”!

HSY Vausi-class Cruiser

Albatross dropship soars the sci-fi skies

The Albatross multi-atmospheric carrier ship is a brutalist beast of aerospace engineering dreamed up by concept artist Theo Stylianides and recreated here in LEGO by Vitus Barth. The massive dual-colored wings look incredible and pose quite a structural challenge for the builder. Vitus does a great job matching the form of his inspiration while making some creative choices with color that enhance the build as a LEGO model, such as making the top of the craft in tan and using black for the impressive “orbit breaker” thrusters and intakes.

Albatross

We first featured Vitus’ work back in 2007 and it’s great to see he’s still creating and sharing amazing sci-fi builds.

Learn how to build spaceships like a true master AFOL [Instructions]

There are some LEGO builders who, every time they present a new build to the world, have us scratching our heads wondering how on earth they’ve made those pieces fit together like that. For no one is that more true than Nick Trotta, whose spaceships feature frankly mind-bending ways of connecting things together. Have you ever wanted to see how he does it? Well, he’s just released instructions for one of his models, so you can do just that! This spaceship was featured here way back in 2018, and it still looks just as good now as it did then. You can build your own using the instructions over on his website!

Resonance: Instructions available

And while you’re here – why not take a look through some of his other builds that have graced our Nick Trotta archives since the Resonance made its first appearance?

Massive LEGO spaceship is over 5 feet long

Canadian LEGO builder Jean-Philippe Leroux has built a massive LEGO spaceship with a suitably impressive name! The Empress took over 24,000 parts to build and weighs over 43 pounds. If you like sci-fi bits and bobs, The Empress has it in spades; so let’s look at the engines back to front. For sports fans its got minifig skis and snowboards. For the handy-folk there’s saws. After the robot arms, there’s stud shooters and the old 1×8 bar. Finally, towards the front, there are robot binoculars and zipline handles. And that’s just the engines!

The Empress

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Think wasps are only good for being a nuisance at picnics? Think again

Wasps are something of a bête noire when it comes to animals – they’re probably the least liked of all the insects. Having been stung by a fair few in my time, I’d have to agree; but if anything is going to change my mind, it’s Shamisenfred‘s innovative LEGO interceptor. Christened the GUÊPE (French for wasp, or more literally, WASP), it’s said to be a craft with “erratic, unpredictable movements”. Yep, sounds very on brand. And speaking of which, I love the use of the chevron-shaped wedge pieces to create the ship’s body, as it mimics the hexagonal nature of wasp or bees’ nests. I bet it still packs a sting, though…

"GUÊPE" interceptor