Tag Archives: Spaceships

Luminous lunar orbit transport is the stuff of dreams

We’ve featured a few large LEGO spaceships for SHIPtember already this month, and with September over, there is sure to be more to come. But I think my favorite entry so far would have to be this lunar transport ship by Finn Roberts which — thanks to a beautifully staged photo — looks like a clear glimpse into our not-so-distant future, where cargo payloads and crew make regular round-trip journeys between the earth and the moon. The model makes great use of structural support like this scaffold part to ground it in current aerospace manufacturing. The heat-shielded crew capsules and the large solar arrays provide the perfect additions.

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Something for the space-racing fans

And here at turn 16, space-racing fans we have Brendan Mauro taking the lead! Mauro followed by Nice Part Usage! Coming up in third by a narrow margin we have Classic Space Nerd followed closely by Train Guys Are Jerks, A Wee Nip of the Good Stuff and Vintage 1×5! Why Is My Mom Using The Eggplant Emoji? is coming up in seventh place followed closely by Dad Probably Doesn’t Read This Stuff Anyway! This could still be anyone’s race, ladies and gents! What an exciting day at the races!

A little thought about big spaceships...along with a big spaceship

Large spaceships get the geeky type quite excited, and we LEGO builders are some of the geekiest. Over the decades, this has lead to a standardized criteria of what qualifies as a large space ship – 100 studs in length. While I do love every large spaceship out there (as the especially geeky type of person I am), I wonder if this criteria has started to impede creativity. With an annual celebration of large LEGO spaceships (also known as SHIPs) every September, the bricks of the world have been concentrated to bring us many elongated spacecraft that quite often measure exactly or just over 100 LEGO studs long. What about bulkier 90 or 80-stud spaceships that so rarely get made? On the other side of the coin, this cultural phenomenon has been a great source of inspiration to builders who may not have otherwise built a big hunk of space metal, not even a medium sized one! Another point is that this common perception of what qualifies as “large” is a uniting factor in the community.

The third side of this (apparently three-sided) coin are builds that are basically the definition of an elongated spaceship, but still manage to impress immensely! Anthony Wilson brings us a creation that has some amazing textures, negative space and colour blocking. What I love most about Anthony’s Pelicon-3 is the bridge area, with windows on either side, revealing a busy interior filled with trophy minifigures.

Ancient Aliens

I’m not saying it was aliens–but it was aliens! Builders Aaron Newman and Tristan Cain teamed up to build a close encounter of the ancient kind. Cleverly named “Parthenonsense,” the scene depicts a microscale Greek-inspired city being visited by a red “chariot of the gods.” The city itself is enjoyable to look at, with curved walls, a bridge, and buildings of varying heights. I particularly enjoy the UFO, which has a self-sustaining habitat under its dome. The beam of light over the lighthouse is a nice touch, almost as if the spacecraft is engaging in oneupmanship with its terrestrial subjects.

To learn more about the model, visit Aaron’s personal blog post on “Parthenonsense.”

I’m a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.

Fans of the short-lived television series Firefly will instantly recognize this LEGO version of Serenity built by Richard Van As. His model does a fantastic job of capturing the look of the sturdy, cobbled together freighter that was as much a cast member as her human crew. The model features an opening cargo bay door, rotating thrusters, landing gear, and docking for two short-range shuttles. The ship has several off-colored parts to represent the many repairs and replacements installed over her years of service. If you squint, you can almost see Wash’s collection of plastic dinosaurs through the cockpit viewport.

For more Serenity, you can build your own, or check out this shiny large scale model.

A new day dawns on Mars

Bringing a bit of far-future tech to the exploration of Mars, this Red Morn One drop shuttle by Rat Dude is a gorgeous take on a LEGO microscale spaceship. Alternating with smooth curves and intricate details, the carrier hauls a huge habitat to the Martian surface.

The ship is loaded with great textures, but one of my favorites is the old-school Bionicle feet, which actually made their first appearances on the first generation of Bionicle characters back in 2001. Appearing here in tan, they frame the engine thrusters and make a great repeating pattern with the landspeeder engines on top.

From the depths of space, something wicked this way comes

Back in 2017, Maelven teased the LEGO community with First Contact: The Drone. This small, intricate build fit in nicely with Maelven’s other vehicular creations, but would remain an enigma for years. Was it a spaceship? A creature? A bit of both?

Fast forward to 2019, and the reveal of First Contact: Ktulu Awaken! We finally learn where the drone came from, but we’re left with even more questions than answers. Described as a “scary alien thingy” all we know for sure is that it’s huge. Clocking in at just under 100 studs, this monster of the space lanes appears to be part squid, part Reaper from Mass Effect, part battleship, and maybe even a little electric guitar thrown in for good measure. Whatever its true nature, it contains some really excellent building techniques and part usage.

Red Technic panels provide the suggestion of mandibles, while the rest of the red hull sweeps back in well-constructed curves. Touches of white detailing in the body echo the biologic greebling, tying the whole build together. The use of a tan dome for the central “eye” also works really well (if that is an eye). The underside has a very organic feel, with the repetition of Bionicle feet and other tan elements giving a very lobster-esque vibe.

Whatever the true nature of Ktulu ultimately is, there’s no denying it’s an awesome creation.

Swoosh in space in style

I love spaceships. I might not be Benny the 1980-Something Space Guy, but I was born in the 1980s and my name is Benjamin. I used to build spaceships all the time from my modest LEGO collection, mostly small, single-seat fighters. This spaceship, built by seb71, hits all the things I love about spaceships. It has elegant lines, attractive curves, a coherent color scheme, enough greebly texture to be believable, and massive propulsion units; it looks perfect for picking up and swooshing around while making engine vrooms and blaster pew-pews and running around the living room. I mean, everyone does that with a spaceship when they are done building it, right?

In addition, it has great striping, lovely integration of sloped bricks and different angles, and the single-seat cockpit that brings me back. Of course, this is way bigger and way better than anything I built as a kid. While smaller elements give satisfying greebles, like the gear rack and the macaroni tube, the real star of the show is the hot air balloon piece as a reactor cover. It works perfectly. I love that the reactor is still visible underneath the housing, too. The twin-pronged fuselage gives the ship a distinct Vic Viper feel, making me hope that we’ll see more from seb71 around NoVVember.

It’s not faster than you need, it’s just faster than you’re used to

The Muscle Car of the Future — that’s how Blake Foster describes his latest LEGO creation. It’s a perfect fit for this beefy beast of a speeder. This thing looks like it’s bursting with engine power, and along with the lovely colour blocking, it’s bristling with functional-looking greebles. Check out the fins on those intakes up front, and the wonderful curved piping which creates a common design element across both the front and back sections visually tying the whole model together.

Even better, Blake’s speeder appears to run on fuel provided by everyone’s favourite mega-corporation, Octan…

The future of space travel is looking good

We have already seen one Tesla launched into space last February when the SpaceX Falcon Heavy blasted off, but it looks like this super-sleek personal spaceship by GolPlaysWithLego just might be a Tesla from the future, that has traveled across time and space from a human colony on Mars. This stylish ship is the perfect blend of form and fashion and is full of great details. One of my favorites is the revolver between the two rounded white accents on the front.

The model makes excellent use of one of the windscreen parts from the Speed Champions theme. I honestly can’t decide whether I like the slim contours of the body more or the fin-riddled engine assembly. In any case, this is one sleek spaceship.

Lower the deflector shields and fire photon torpedos!

NCC-2112 USS Jefferies may not be based on any particular ship in the official Star Trek canon, but it probably should be canon. I particularly like how Ben Smith designed the placement of the auxiliary engines swooping forward like a Klingon Bird of Prey instead of the traditional Star Trek ships we typically see. Points also scored for a primary hull that’s closely shaped like a saucer, as that’s as good as it’s going to get with the limitation of a LEGO build angles.

And if that isn’t cool enough, Ben’s made a secondary starship made for planetary exploration and landing.

A Pegasus is more than a work horse

Impeccable maestro of the LEGO sci-fi/space genera Blake Foster seems to not be able to sit still after completing his massive four-year project, the Ugly Duckling. This time, while sticking to his tried, true and tested style, he has created the Pegasus Class Anti-Frigate Attack Fighter. His somewhat iconic, solid dark bluish grey greebling creates the feeling of a substantially sound craft. The white with red pinstripe enclosed paneling is stark in contrast yet strikingly vibrant.

Click to read more about the Pegasus