Tag Archives: Spaceships

Escape in a escape pod. Guaranteed almost completely Alien free!

The Aliens franchise has seen its share of high and low points, but there are certain moments that have been well and truly integrated into the pop culture world. One of them is Ellen Ripley’s escape at the end of the first film aboard the Narcissus, the escape pod from the larger USCSS Nostromo. Michael Steindl has created a truly remarkable digital scale model of the craft, full of complex angles and movie-accurate styling. My favorite touch is the 1×1 round brick used to create the textures on the rear quarter panels, with a close second being the use of 1×2 ingot bricks along the engine exhausts. In space, they say, no one can hear you scream. But maybe if you listen close enough you can hear some applause for this build. But probably not, since physics doesn’t play favorites like that.

If you’re looking for more extraterrestrial-ly inspired treats, check our our Alien tag!

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This Star Wars X-Wing gets by with a little help from its friends

LEGO builder Tom Loftus had a mission that was almost as exciting as destroying the Death Star. That mission was to build a compact design T-65 X-Wing Fighter with engines that were three studs wide. A LEGO X-Wing is nothing new, but I think the look of the iconic ship was achieved nicely here. What sets it apart from some of the scores of X-Wings we’ve already seen is the use of sand blue for the canopy, which is pretty vital for that ship but alas is a difficult color to obtain in quantity or various shapes.

While iconic, building the X-Wing accurately is no easy feat but Tom does a great job of it as evidenced by these many views.

Tom is one of those builders that seek help and advice from his friends then uses it accordingly. In his write up he names and thanks a slew of friends who had helped out which is a class act, in my opinion. It makes sense because while Luke ultimately destroyed the Death Star, it was really a team effort and everyone got awarded for it at the end of the movie, except Chewbacca. hey, wait a minute! Doesn’t Chewie deserve some love? While you’re mulling that over, check out the other times we gave Tom Loftus some well-deserved love.

This cat’s really out of the bag

Recently we featured a group of spaceships that were born out of the Spacegoose Collab. And, yes, they were all amazing creations. But I love me some bonus builds, and Tom Loftus (Inthert) provides a stellar one with Space Cat. Described as “something of an encore”, this little feline is a perfect blend of fantasy and cat-attributes. Cat owners know how even the most upscale bedding is shunned by cats in favor of cardboard boxes, and this preference apparently extends to their choice of jumpship. And sure, that upcycled box is cute, and the almost-legal connection of clipped together quarter circle tile is ingenious. But look at that expression. Never before have Mixel eye prints captured the insanity of a frenzied midnight tear through the universe quite so well.

If this creation brightened your mood (or maybe if it didn’t), check out other humorous builds caught by our Funny tag!

Always take some precautions when playing around with hypermatter

Fans of the Classic Space LEGO theme may be quite familiar with the prolific builder, Tim Goddard. Known for challenging the limits of the LEGO system and showing us the possibilities, he’s given us another great build to appreciate. This new ship, Dragons Progress, utilizes unique pieces combined in a pleasing and simple color palette for tons of detail and greeble. From the nose to the pointy bits protecting us all from the hypermatter static build-up of the experimental engines, this ship has a wonderful form that breaks the mold of the Classic Space theme.

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The Tachyomatic Combine combines complex angles and interstellar build techniques

Well, I’m pretty sure Nick Trotta is from outer space or he’s been sent from the future to kill us all. How else could you explain LEGO build techniques of this caliber? This Tachyomatic Combine combines (how do you explain word association that good?) complex angles, futuristic aerodynamics, and interesting colors and textures. The end result is so cohesive you’d be convinced Nick visited the future. Actually, he’s taken inspiration from artist Weiyi Qin whom I’m pretty sure is also from outer space.

Care to see other angles and the inner workings of this mind-blowing model? I’m pretty much going to speak for you here and say that you do. Go on, click the link! You know you want to!

No seriously, click it. You won’t be disappointed!

Built for the fearless adventurer

Spaceship! I will always react that way to any swooshable model starcraft. Builders love to show off their knowledge of the LEGO system by the way they mold and craft the shapes of their starships. In addition, the eye-catching detail, or greeble, they add shows off some of their brick collection as well as their ingenuity in representing the elements of a spaceship. In this wonderful model, Starfighter Intrepid, builder seb71 shows off some of their skill.

Having a history of well-crafted spaceships, seb71 has brought us an eye-catching, sand-green design highlighted with white plates and tiles built cleverly into the wings and body. If you look at the structure of the Intrepid closely, you can see the various orientations the builder used to achieve their desired design. The stickers seb71 used add just the right amount of extra detail. I love the large white slopes in the wings, often used in the Imperial Shuttle sets. They work perfectly with the structure as well as the color-blocking.

Read on to see more views of this fantastic spaceship

Cat squadron, standing by!

Sometimes you and your buddies see something nice that you want to build in LEGO. It could be anything, inspiration is all around us. I (Mansur “Waffles” Soeleman) have a close circle of fellow builders that we like to call “vehicle dudes” and “teal squadron.” Consisting of Caleb Ricks, Gubi, Thomas Jenkins, Pande (Malen Garek), Tim Goddard, Tom Loftus (Inthert) and more, we get on a group call on Friday evenings and build. During this time, we discuss things that happen in the world of LEGO, Star Wars, and everything in between. It is during one of these remote group build sessions that we discovered artist Spacegooose and their colourful starfighter drawings.

It was their similarity to Star Wars ships that drew us into building them. Their varying styles and functions have enough similarity to belong to one group, and so our builds became a small collaboration. With blessings from the artist who eagerly awaits their designs in LEGO form, we decided to include our own artistic spin as well as matching the original artwork.

Click for detailed pictures and descriptions of each spaceship

In space, no one can hear babies cry

This LEGO spaceship creation from Jake Hansen is another entry in the Iron Builder Contest, this time having to use the Crane Grab Jaw LEGO piece. The piece is used well as reclining seats on the spaceship bridge, which is populated by four babies. The black hoses are a nice touch, reminding me of the early LEGO space sets, and the choice of orange and blue accents lighten the scene up without overpowering it. What appears to be a flux capacitor on the left side of the console is a nice touch. I’m curious what the mouse on the lower right is up to; maybe it’s cutting through the power coupling?

This anti-gravity Wipeout Racer has a checkered history

You may have heard the humorous adage that if you paint racing stripes on your vehicle it’ll automatically go faster. In the case of this LEGO anti-gravity Wipeout Racer by David Roberts that might actually be true. He tells us that this ship was first in its class partly due to its powerful engine pack and partly due to its color scheme distracting other pilots and causing them to crash. He goes on to explain that this led to a rule change where the team had to paint their ship in a more sober pattern and thus the success of the race sadly and predictably waned. The lesson learned here is that racing fans like crazy stuff and now we can’t have nice things. Speaking of nice things, this would not be David’s first lap with brightly-colored ships and other awesome stuff. Check out our archives to see what I mean.

In space, no one can hear crickets chirping

As a builder, I always strive to push the limits of LEGO building, with techniques and parts usage. Combined with my arts and design training, I’ve spent years studying elements and how they fit together. Despite my self-declared expertise, there will always be creations that just stump me. Especially small ones. Especially small ones built by my friend Tom Loftus (Inthert).

I first saw this spindly teal-and-white spaceship in person when we displayed creations together at the last English LEGO exhibitions before the COVID shit hit the fan. He explained to me in great detail how he built this small ship. He even took it apart and showed me an in-depth breakdown of how he built it. I didn’t understand a single thing. It’s like his builds have an IQ-lowering effect on me. Even two years later, after more and more breakdowns via calls and messages, I still don’t understand it. Do you though? I’m not sure, your mind may be just as blown as mine.

Check out more mind-blowing builds by Tom here!

This ship is barrels of fun!

While classic greys have their place, I’m a sucker for a vibrant color scheme on my spaceships. The Blue Barrel by David Roberts certainly doesn’t disappoint in that arena, with a checkerboard pattern of red and orange that really offsets the blue bodywork to make this vessel stand out. I love the smooth lines and the Technic gears in the nose.

The real treat, though, is when this baby comes in for a landing. Dave’s focus on this build was the development of hinged hatches and extendable landing gear. Fingertip pressure is all it takes to pop open the landing struts, but apparently, you’ll “need some fingernails to get at the legs and pull them out!” Truly, one of more obvious-but-still-clever uses of Technic rods I’ve seen in a while. Also be sure to spend a moment or two examining that innovative ladder. It doesn’t use standard stud attachments to hook onto the ship but rather uses 1×1 Tooth plate to hang on the cockpit rim.

Did this whet your appetite for more space-y goodness? Take a stroll through our archives for even more great featured builds!

Cruise through the galaxy with style and practicality

Spaceships are definitely my bag, man. Massive dreadnoughts to humble escape pods, I love every model from the unwieldy to the swooshable. Classic Space sets are near and dear to many adult Lego fans, being the formative theme that roped them into playing with little plastic bricks for the rest of their lives. In recent years, the theme has been revived by fans with redesigns of their favorite classic sets or new creations of their own thanks to the LEGO Movie franchise and their lovable, spaceship-obsessed character, Benny the Spaceman. Here, builder LegoSpaceGuy gives us a ship of his own design, the Explorer Cruiser.

Click to see more classic Space goodness