Tag Archives: Spaceships

A sure hit of a spaceship

It’s so hard to pick a favourite LEGO spaceship designer, since there are so many awesome ones out there. If I had to though, you can be damn sure Nick Trotta would be on the shortlist. His spacecraft simply never miss. Appropriately, this latest ship’s namesake – Astraea – is the Greek Goddess of precision, among other things. There’s so much to love about this ship I don’t know where to start! Nick’s trademark mastery of angles is on display in the boosters, wings and scaffolding around the cockpit. Speaking of which, this is a unique design featuring opposed windscreens, whose smooth round lines are a great focal point among all the sharp angles elsewhere. And the colours! Sometimes less is more with colour, but the judicious use of it here makes this model detailed without being cluttered – a fine balance. And a fine creation it is too!

If you like this (and come on, who wouldn’t?) you’ll love everything else we’ve featured from Nick.

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Gearing up for an imperial dogfight

There are a lot of great LEGO TIE fighters out there. So many, in fact, that Matt (Classic Brix) decided to do something a bit different and build one at a slightly reduced scale. And boy, does it pay off! It’s a super model with some of the parts choices giving it a very distinct style. The standout is the use of a gear wheel to give the window its signature octagonal frame. But take a closer look! This gear actually has studs with bars slotted into it, to allow the ball shape of the cockpit to be recreated. It’s a frankly genius solution!

It’s all about the angles

When we last featured builder David Roberts, we spotlighted their angular racer – a small, compact build that feels like the seed part used in this new Parallelogram Flying Car. There are several cool building choices to call out here -the unusual (yet successful) decision to split the number four across the angled side panels, the great angles that nestle into that large yellow canopy, and the overall color scheme that feels like a tribute to Classic space, rather than being a part of that world.

From the rear, you can see a great chunky engine, and some hose work that adds a nice touch of mechanical grit to the otherwise sleek and polished vehicle. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to take this one out for a spin!

There’s a whole fleet of great LEGO spaceships in our archives. Why not check them out?

You can fly high, even underground

Duncan Lindbo knows that any mode of transport is valid if your tunnel is wide enough. The T-22 Tunnel Viper races through the dark recesses in search of ore, lost miners, or just a good time. The brown railing of the cockpit calls back to LEGO’s Rock Raiders theme, but the constraction parts help give the ship some unique personality all its own.

Command and control your space

NPU, or Nice Parts Use, is the fan term for taking an unusual and seemingly single-use LEGO element and cleverly incorporating it into something else. It’s rare to see the NPU ethos applied to expensive electronic components, however, that’s exactly what TBB alumn Benjamin Stenlund has done with the 9V battery box controller on this Vic Viper, positioning it so the infrared emitter becomes a cool cockpit. Of course, don’t miss the carrot blasters on this greebled entry to the Novvember fan challenge, too.

The big Beluga of our dreams

I’m certain no one asked for this big assault VTOL called Beluga. But clearly LEGO builder ReD M is a master at bringing us what we’d love to see but never knew we wanted. Whether it be the shaping, intricate details, or striking color scheme, this hefty gunship is very suddenly the object of so many LEGO fans’ desires. It’s like something out of all the best sci-fi movies ever made. With its parameters established long ago by a legendary and influential builder who has passed some twelve years ago, there is a certain look to the Vic Viper. Click the link to check out how this big Beluga fits into it. And as tradition goes, these Vic Vipers are almost always exclusively built in NoVVember. What a great way to honor a fine tradition. We’ll surely be on the lookout for whatever else ReD M builds.

A bomb delight

LEGO spaceships come in a shapes and sizes, and yes, colors too. Red and white and lime green may be an unorthodox choice, but in this little bomber by Jonas Jensen looks mighty spiffy in the tri-tone scheme. There’s oodles of fantastic parts usages to ogle here, too, but the best might be the white 2×2 foam holder behind the lower wings.

A sizable selection of small spacecraft

It’s almost advent calendar season, which means LEGO fans the world over will soon be assembling some tiny spaceships from Star Wars and the MCU. But Tim Goddard has gotten a jump on things by crafting his own fleet of miniature spaceships. Despite their small size, there’s lots of cool shaping and detail to be found. From the minifigure videogame controller used as wings to the green and red thrusters on an Octan ship, Tim has crafted a fleet of microscale marvels.

Yellowfin: does what it says on the tin

LEGO spaceships sometimes get named after animals. Perhaps a creature insired the ship in question, or maybe it’s just a name like mantis that just sounds cool. Chris Perron has taken the name of a yellowfin tuna and used it in quite a literal sense with this colourful craft. It certainly bears more than a passing resemblance to a fish. The colour gradient on the fins stands out, but I love how the colour blocking goes even further to get the fish appearance across. If you squint, the trans-red cockpit looks like the gaping mouth of a fish, with the white its lower jaw. Of course the big dishes on the side look like eyes. I might be reading too much into this – perhaps Chris just wanted to make ship with yellow fins. It can’t be a coincidence though can it?

This is the Jedi starfighter you’re looking for

You don’t have to travel to a galaxy far, far away to see Koen Zwanenburg‘s LEGO build of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s starship from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. One of the sure things about the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy is the beauty of the spaceships zipping around the galaxy. This take on the Delta-7 Jedi starfighter does the on-screen ship justice. Every angle is present, and the color scheme has just as much pop. I’ve always loved the green accents in the Republic color palette–it really gives the ships something special. Koen captures the different layers of the ship seamlessly. I really can’t stop looking at this build! Of course, this has always been one of my favorite ships from the Star Wars franchise… I can’t wait to see what ship Koen takes on next.

Space Pirate-ship Keuppia

Presumably named after an extinct genus of octopus, the Keuppia by Builder BetaNotus is also inspired by an ancient expansion from 1994 of the Star Wars role-playing game. The Discril-class attack cruisers from Cracken’s Rebel Operatives may not be canon now but their general shaping was similar to the model that BetaNotus crafted in their honor. Like the once Imperial vessels which fell into the hands of brigands and thieves, this ship is “crewed by pirates seeking fame, fortune, and unsuspecting merchants,” as the builder puts it. Originally built for BrickFair Virginia 2021, there are a slew of techniques used in the shaping of this craft. BetaNotus covered almost ever crack and angle while also creating a frightfully armed front end. The grill slopes used at the front could be large vents or textured armor, either reads well, but the triple gun arms are real heavy hitters. I could see why pirates would like such an craft as it would be great for running down ships and disabling their shields while taking plenty of hits of its own.

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Snowspeeding like it’s 1999

Does this picture look familiar to you? If you answered yes, you’re either student of LEGO box art, or you’re a LEGO Star Wars fan of a certain age. That, or you’re a fan of 2bricks‘s work. Not content with building an iconic Star Wars vehicle, they’ve gone ahead and replicated the box art for the original snowspeeder, released in the very late ’90s. The resemblance is uncanny, and very well executed – even the AT-AT leg in the background is made of bricks. Let’s take nothing away from the speeder though! The way all those angles come together at the front is just *chef’s kiss*. Nostalgia be damned – this is some upgrade compared to 1999!