With all the talented LEGO builders out there, cool techniques are constantly showing up in our feeds. However, it’s not every day that I’m so intrigued that I bookmark the page. Thanks to Joost van Velzen (MejoliDesign), I have a new trick I have to try! This ship is nice by itself, complete with moving landing gear and ramp, but the real head-turner is the use of 2×3 light bricks and a little bit of centrifugal force. Read on to see how!
Click to see how this awesome technique is achieved!
The latest LEGO spaceship by Theo Bonner is exactly the kind of build that instantly feels familiar. I paused to figure out why—and the answer was right there in the build’s description. Not only is it a Star Wars fighter (specifically from the Teal Squadron), but it’s also inspired by WWII airplanes! And then it hit me: the shape, the proportions (just look at that massive “nose” in front of the cockpit), the engines—it all makes sense.
But it’s the front that steals the show. The intricate, multi-layered design around the engines instantly sells the concept. At this point, the only way to improve it would be some weathering—maybe a few oil stains and a touch of paint chipping for that battle-worn look.
Seven years ago, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi hit theaters worldwide, and the world has never been the same since. Not because it’s a somewhat polarising film among the fanbase – but because it inspired LEGO starship phenom Tom Loftus (AKA Inthert) to create a model of the bulky Resistance Bomber from the opening sequence. And it’s only now that we finally get to see the fruits of that labour! It’s a fantastically detailed model, as per Tom’s usual sky-high standard. It’s some way bigger than the set LEGO made of it too, even though it uses some of the same printed turret dishes.
That LEGO set (75188 Resistance Bomber, if you’re curious) is infamous among enthusiast circles for the late addition of a character named Finch Dallow – a name that strikes terror into the hearts of minifigure collectors. (You can read why here.) And sure enough, he’s present in this model too! He and his crew get a fully decked-out interior. Even the structural elements of the fuselage look to be accurate to the movie. That’s 7 years of hard work well spent, if you ask me!
It’s not like Tom has only been working on this since 2018, though. You can see what else he’s been up to in our Inthert archives.
Few LEGO builders can deliver a sci-fi scene as well as the infamous Tim Goddard. And he delivers yet again in this beautiful scene set in the Star Wars universe. On a landing platform set out on the water, we spy a Shipwright-in-training testing out their new engine designed for propulsion in the air or water. With the crew observing an Emberfeather Crane, a sign of good luck on this final test flight. With so much detail in the scene, I think my favorite inclusion is the return of one of Tim’s builds from last year, standing tall in the background.
Nick Trotta might not be the most prolific builder, but every one of his works is a masterpiece of color, geometry, and innovative use of LEGO elements. For style and technique, Nick sets the gold standard for LEGO spaceship design. Nick’s latest craft is the R-104 Metal Heart, a ship inspired by the classic R-Type shoot-em-up video games, characterized by the massive wave cannon and many fins for maneuverability. Clocking in at 4,021 pieces, the ship is one of Nick’s most elaborate builds to date.
The best LEGO ships take advantage of slopes and SNOT (short for “studs not on top”) parts to create shapes and angles that are plausible as aerospace engineering while keeping that “swooshable” fun form factor of a kid’s favorite toy. In Nick’s build, every seam enhances the ship’s smooth lines. Modules connect in ways that defy logic. To see how Nick pulled off this slick exterior, you really have to see the ship from the inside. Thankfully the builder provides a detailed video of the build process.
Click to see Nick’s build process on this amazing ship!
LEGO Star Wars fans of a certain vintage may remember a set named 7754 Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser. I certainly do – to this day it’s one of my favourite sets. But that remains the only rendition in the brick of Home One, the Rebel Alliance’s de-facto headquarters in the Return of the Jedi era. Even then, it was only the inside! In 2025, we get to see the MC80 depicted in all its bulbous glory thanks to 75405 Home One Starcruiser and its 559 pieces. Part of LEGO’s fledgling Starship Collection, it is available for pre-order now for US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £59.99, and will ship out from January 1, 2025. After that date you might also be able to find it on sites like eBay or Amazon. Will this be another entry into this writer’s pantheon of favourite sets? Read on to find out!
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Click here to read our full review!
Right now, one of the biggest LEGO Star Wars sets you can buy – one of the biggest LEGO sets full stop, in fact – is the colossal 75367 Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser. But what to do if you don’t have the funds or space to make such an investment, yet still want a brick-built Republic capital ship? Well, for a fraction of the footprint, you could pick up the 450-piece 75404 Acclamator-Class Assault Ship starting from next January 1! This midi-scale vessel is a fraction of the price, too, with pre-orders open now for US $49.99 | CAN $64.99 | UK £44.99 (oh, and it might show up on eBay or Amazon after its release date). But just because it’s cheaper doesn’t automatically make it a good deal – read on, and see if we think it is so…
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Click here to see our full review!
“Constructed around a massive particle cannon and also equipped with ion guns and anti-fighter turrets, these destroyers decisively end space fleet battles with overwhelming force.” Victor K‘s description of his Conviction Crusader lets us know how menacing the ship is, but the description stops short of describing how cool the ship looks. There’s no “up” anywhere, with plates and bricks being stacked in all directions. The bulky, angular engines face one way, while the main lines of the hull are perpendicular. The result is a craft that looks right at home in space, where “up” and “down” are mere suggestions.
If you don’t like needles, then you’d better hide from this LEGO Vic Viper by Maxx Davidson! This shark-nosed spaceship can make you comfortably numb with whatever is in those giant syringes, while the stethoscope radar can hear you at extreme range. Much like Bionicle before it, this whole build is inspired by pills, so Maxx gave it a classic red and white color scheme and even made the wings out of foil packets! Maxx is a great builder, so if you want to see more of his found-object builds, check out his archive here!
Whenever we get the chance to feature Lech Kulina we get a clinic on fantastic LEGO building techniques. Lech has built amazing model of a fictional near-future space capsule, named for Sagittarius the centaur, that could transport astronauts around the inner solar system. With a build this detailed, you might have expected Lech to make good use of stickers, but he’s elected to use official LEGO bricks for everything. That means that all the red and black outlines around the hatch, viewports, and “4’s” are made from panels and brackets.
Click here to learn the secrets inside this space capsule!
The heyday of cosmonauts at the bleeding edge of space exploration might be history, but science fiction imagines an alternate timeline where the space race never ended. LEGO builder Duncan Lindbo drew on this alt-reality for his SHIPtemeber creation: the Gazprom Samovar-class tanker ship. Designed to resupply Soviet outposts on Mars, the massive vessel is armed with turrets to protect its precious liquid cargo. The mix of curves, girders, and all of that lovely sand green perfectly extrapolates ’60s space race tech into the future. I love the cluster of engines, angled out like Vostok rockets. In a month of stellar SHIP’s Duncan’s Samovar is steeped in skillful techniques.
If Duncan’s alt-future take on Soviet tech has you curious about the historical precedents, comrade, reflect on this LEGO Soyuz capsule, also built in sand green.
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.
