Tag Archives: Spaceships

A Classic Space Paraflyer is a fun way to travel

LEGO builder David Roberts tells us the Classic Space Paraflyer is a fun way to travel over planets with any form of atmosphere. I’m inclined to agree, not based on my own experience, but based on the expression of the little space minifigure’s face. I mean, look how happy he is! You can’t be melancholy with a face like that. In fact, every last minifigure produced from 1978 to 1989 had this same exact smiley face. Whether they were robbing banks or laying up in a hospital bed they were damned happy to do it! While we may feature massive spaceships and elaborate castles, sometimes it is the little things that speak to us the most.

David’s fun little builds have spoken to us on several occasions. Here are all the times that we listened.

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The pieces are rare, the build is well done.

One of the joys of the online LEGO community is getting to see what other people build, but sometimes it’s just as fun to get to see what other people build with. That’s why this spaceship from Isaac Snyder caught my eye so quickly. I couldn’t immediately place the red fins that contribute to this ship’s retro-futurism aesthetic.

The tapering curve looks like something from a rocket designed in the 1950s. But what sets are those pieces from? Thankfully, Isaac shared the answer. Turns out they’re part of the Znap theme that LEGO launched back in the late 90s. A relic of another time that I had completely forgotten about. And Isaac has put them to perfect use in this swooshable starfighter.

LEGO elements have been in production for decades, and it’s unlikely that any builder has a collection that contains every part from every era. Let us know your favorite obscure element from outside the main LEGO themes that you like to build with.

The MK II Cylon Raider makes a swooshable comeback

2004 was quite the time. It was the year we fathomed the possibility that some of our friends and neighbors just might be Cylons thanks to Battlestar Galactica. Hot on the tail of that pivotal TV series, Rubblemaker has built a minifig scale LEGO MKII Cylon Raider. He’s captured the bat-like shaping and complex curves nicely. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Cylon Raiders here on The Brothers Brick so it’s neat, in a sense, when someone builds something long after its relevance has peaked. There are a lot of great new parts that weren’t available to us back when seeing a slew of these at LEGO conventions was as ubiquitous as used Toyotas. The builder tells us this model is 32.5cm long and 20cm wide and is made of 656 pieces, including the stand. It is also highly swooshable, which is important stuff when building LEGO spaceships.

Now, what is that song I hear? It’s like a weird version of All Along the Watchtower. Do you hear it? Maybe it’s just the bourbon. Or is it? While you’re mulling that over check out more Battlestar Galactica stuff in our archives.

The Antibody Intercept Craft

When invasive celestial bodies threaten the galaxy, a swarm of Antibody Intercept Craft is the perfect antidote. Duel auto-targeting laser batteries help these speedy ships clear infected skies with ease. Builder Inthert has spent two years slowly refining and perfecting this build, and the effort really shows.

Not only does the ship makes use of some impressive angling, but the overall design strikes a great balance between looking clean and sleek while still having tons of small details to take in.

There are the obvious big punches that catch your eye, like the swiveling laser cannons or the front tech detail above and below the cockpit. (Which reminds me a bit of the Ghostbuster’s Proton Packs.) But what I really get lost in are details like the asymmetrical set of three red lines about halfway up on each “arm” of the ship, or the yellow dots that pop against the black on the sides of the rear engines (made by sliding bars into backward-facing headlight bricks). It’s these kinds of choices that make the model feel like something that’s been really thought through and refined. Like the best starships of pop culture, this feels like a craft that belongs in a world with deep lore. And I’d love to visit it sometime.

Forget flying pigs, this one is interstellar.

This hulking beast of a starship is the T-37 Spayspigg by builder InterBrick. Inspired by the intense models created by Noblebun, Interbrick set out on an ambitious journey to create this greebly digital monster. Creative parts usage stands out at this scale with repetition being the name of the game. The nacelles to the side and bottom all share the same design with tubes, dishes, hoses, and minifigure legs creating the mechanical details of exposed engines sections. My eyes are drawn all over this model, noticing the various different techniques InterBrick used, but my favorite little detail of the nacelles has to be the white cowboy hats.

Riddled with super detailed engines, this ship could be a formidable racer or a frightening bomber. Either way, you’re sure to be left in the dust. The power of having hundreds of minifigure accessories is exemplified in these engines. Three styles of nozzles adorn the nacelles and main body of the ship. They share some interesting parts such as flippers, telephones, and snowshoes while more tubes, bars, and scuba tanks are used as part of the propulsion systems. The large central engines are a bit bulkier with ice skates lining the interior of the nozzles.

A truly monumental feat from InterBrick, the T-37 Spayspigg is an amazing build worthy of praise. It was great seeing that Noblebun even helped with the renders for this digital model. I love seeing the community work together!

Thinking outside the box can take you out of this world

The LEGO VIDIYO line has introduced some notably interesting minifigure DJs and a ton of printed tiles, or BeatBits, that interact with the accompanying music video creation app. As far as parts go, we’ll see what the future VIDIYO sets hold for us, but for now, we have the BeatBoxes. They’re curved cubes with clear bodies that attach to a large, 8×8 modified brick. Inside, a special element holds two hinged plates that display the BeatBits and a fixed horizontal stand for the minifigure. Recently these elements have gained some popularity and builders are showing off what they can do with them. Builder martin.with.bricks elevated his BeatBox out of this world, cleverly using it as the cockpit for a spaceship dubbed the VIDI-1. Bricks are stacked in various orientations to attach to the cube element and wrap around it. The lime green of the BeatBox base is accented by patterns built into the wings as well as vents on the sides and guns on top.

Inside the clear section of the BeatBox, Martin has used brackets, clips, and rounded 2×1 plates to create a seat, display, and controls for the Alien DJ. Representing “Extra Terrestrial Dance Music” according to the promotional images, this is a great minifigure design from the VIDIYO line. Continue reading →

SHIPtember starts earlier every year.

It’s that time of year again. The pool toys are being replaced by school supplies. The pumpkin spice cravings are growing more powerful. And the thoughts of LEGO fans are turning to SHIPtember. Every September, LEGO builders across the world create original spaceship builds using a Seriously Huge Investment of Parts. (Hence the ‘SHIP’ in ‘SHIPtember.’) This year, Jason Corlett has begun warming up his seriously huge shipbuilding skills with The Revolt, heavy-duty craft sporting tons of detail and cool play features.

With its twin front pylons and the angled rear section, the Revolt would look at home in any big-budget sci-fi franchise. In addition to the boatloads of tech detailing, the Revolt is packing retractable landing gear, a full interior with a bridge, and two cannons on each side that rotate together with the turn of a dial. Check out the video of everything in action below, and let us know if you’re planning your own SHIPtember crafts this year.

Unloading on Scarif with the U-wing that could have been

Star Wars and LEGO have gone hand-in-hand for quite some time now. Uncountable LEGO User Groups are centered around the very concept of building models based on the Star Wars universe. Suffice it to say, there is a wealth of models inspired by the galaxy far, far away. As many ships as there are in George Lucas’ fever dream of a series, a whole can of worms opens up when you look into the concept designs for some of the most iconic vehicles. This ship, built by Jan Südmersen, was inspired by a concept design of the rebel U-wing fighter from Rogue One. Quite different from the movie design on a few fronts, the main difference is the lack of wing-like strike foils. For those that aren’t hip, the s-foils were apparently used more for increasing the shield profile of the ship and less so for aerodynamics in an atmosphere. I doubt this big boy needs much help from some wings, though, as it looks like it can take a few hits without a problem.

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Eat your heart out, NASA

One small step for a minifigure, one giant leap for minifigure-kind. Builder Centuri Chan has created a fantastic spaceship to get the first two minifigures to Mars by 2028. Nostalgia certainly is a powerful force and the new buildable figures provided a perfect template for Centuri Chan to project their love for the Classic Space theme. This Minifigure Launch System, as dubbed by the builder, is a playful spin on the brick-built mega-figures that LEGO has begun to release. Littered with astronauts and robots, this crawler is on its way to the launch pad for further testing of this minifigure-inspired spacecraft. Two yellow pilots sit in the helmet, just above a wonderful, brick-built Classic Space logo while the rest of the crew tends their various assignments. I love the nod to Classic City sets and Octan with the white, red, and green tanks.

Checking out the back lets us see the boosters that Centuri Chan attached to the spaceman-spacecraft while also making us wonder what exactly the elusive orange spaceman is doing up there.

75,000 parts and six feet of sand green awesomeness

2021 has been a great year for sand green LEGO brick. But did you know that the celebration started well before the release of the LEGO Ideas 21327 Typewriter? Builder Jordan Morgan had already completed an amazing labor of love in that rare color – a 75,000 part, six-foot-long spaceship sure to leave you impressed. Featuring a fully detailed interior, working lights, and motorized functions, this build really lives up to the “Seriously Huge Investment in Parts” definition of “SHIP”. Keep reading for an in-depth look at this colossal creation!

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A Vic Viper worthy of royalty

Oh, the depths of space have so much to offer. As vast as the human imagination itself, nothing tickles my soul more than a great spaceship, especially one built from LEGO. Seeing how builders mold their abstract forms, creating engaging structures and silhouettes under the constrictions and limits of the LEGO system, builds a sense of absolute awe. Gaming fans of the modern era can escape into any number of epic worlds from Mass Effect to No Man Sky or the vast realms of Homeworld, EVE, or Star Citizen. As such, there is a wealth of designs that inspire wonderful builders around the world. This model was built by Carter Baldwin as a homage to a Hiigaran ship from Homeworld 2, but he diverged a bit from the original design. Take a look at the Imperial Interceptor, a marvelous Vic Viper for the Royal House of Sol. The stand-out color blocking achieved in this model depends greatly on the triangular tiles that hug the sharp edges of the ship’s body and wings. Contrasting the dark blue slopes and tiles, the gold gives the ship an eye-catching allure worthy of royalty.

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