Tag Archives: Steampunk

Looking at these LEGO steampunk models, you can almost hear the hiss of steam, the clank of gears, and the whirr of clockwork. The steampunk aesthetic isn’t all wood and brass, so be sure to check out all the colorful models alongside classic steampunk creations from around the world.

Cumulonimbus dead ahead! The “unsinkable” Skytantic

One of the most gorgeous airships to grace the skies has finally emerged from the distant clouds. This is the long-awaited Skytanic, built by Markus Ronge and alluded to in his equally epic-looking Maersk Pier, featured on The Brothers Brick last week. In Markus’ steampunk universe, the airship’s massive size was made possible thanks in part to the ultra-light steel used in its construction. When it comes to the characters involved in the ship’s construction, Markus once again gives them clever names. Hiram Lever is the designer behind Skytanic, which is in turn piloted by Captain Ulysses Wheeler.

From bow to stern, Skytantic looks phenomenal. The red, black and white hull is reminiscent of the ill-fated Titanic, while the gold trim helps give the finished model that steampunk vibe. According to Markus, the ship stands a whopping five stories tall, and each level looks distinct. The top level features a lively looking bar, and the royal cabin is directly below that. If you look carefully enough, you will also find what appears to be a tribute to the Jack and Rose “flying” scene from James Cameron’s hit film, Titanic (1997).

Click to see more of the Skytanic

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Maersk Pier is a majestic port that is sure to marvel all

LEGO and storytelling are a match made in heaven. As much as I enjoy building for the sake of building, I also enjoy LEGO as a medium for producing a narrative. Markus Ronge had me hooked last month when he shared a teaser poster for an upcoming series of story-driven steampunk builds. A few days ago, Marcus revealed the first part of his conceptualized world in the form of Maersk Pier, owned and operated by fourth-generation shipping mogul, Herman van de Maersk.

Bored with the shipping industry, Herman decided to build this majestic port to serve luxury airships and their wealthy clientele. As a steampunk model, Maersk Pier is breathtakingly beautiful and does a great job of blending Victorian-style architecture with steampunk fantasy. The extensive use of white works well and reminds me of marble, which witnessed a resurgence in use as a building material during the 19th Century Greek Revival period. Speaking of history, the model’s name is a clever nod to LEGO’s lengthy relationship with the Maersk shipping company, which has included a number of Maersk co-branded LEGO sets over the years.

See lots more photos of this amazing LEGO steampunk diorama

Steampunk LEGO chess set makes all the right moves

Board games have provided inspiration for a few creations, notably this impressive LEGO Settlers of Catan model from last year, but it’s always great when a builder takes on the challenge of putting together an entire chess set. Mishima has had a crack at a steampunk-themed set, and the whole thing has worked out brilliantly. The board is smoothly tiled with some nice clanky touches, but it’s the playing pieces which steal the show.

Click through to see more of this excellent steampunk creation

Return to an alternate Paris in 1889 with this sprawling steampunk scene

Like all great cities, Castor Troy’s steampunk Paris continues to grow. Previously we’ve featured Casotor’s models of the Colonial Office and the Louvre, both of which feature in the layout. This time around we’ve been treated to a new row of buildings running alongside Notre Dame.

Each contains the kind of beautiful architectural details we’ve come to expect, from the Egyptian Art Deco building with its innovative use of ornamental fencing for doors and gold claw elements to represent two opposing sphinxes, to the new maritime office with its wall mounted ship’s wheel. Let’s hope that Castor’s passion for development continues to see new wonders being added to this splendid city.

Fear the broadside of the mighty airship Bellonatus

Flying ships are certainly not uncommon among LEGO builds, going back to the heyday of LEGO steampunk and floating rocks eight or ten years ago. Mark Erickson has incorporated large LEGO boat hull pieces into a rather amazing flagship for his fictional Vermillion Empire.

Mark’s ship uses custom-printed sails cut to standard LEGO size, but the most impressive part of the ship is all the gold detail, both surrounding the cannon ports and at the prow of the ship, where a mighty ram is ready to impale enemy ships.

Finding Nemo is easy – he’s in his car

Hot on the heels of one LEGO vehicle inspired by The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, along comes another brick rendition of Captain Nemo’s steampunk automobile. Lego Fjotten‘s version comes in screen-accurate white, and features the trademark six wheels and beefy split bonnet. A surfboard piece provides some smart curves up-front, and the rear tapers nicely. The presentation of the model is excellent — the cobbled street and the black ironwork of fence and lamp-post add a suitable Victorian-era feel.

A Steamtastic Special Delivery

Thanks to builders like Roland Skof-Peschetz, the age of steam is alive and well. According to Roland, this the K&K Luftpost uses this flying postal vehicle to deliver mail to the most remote locations of Austria. Upon seeing his quadcopter, the positioning of the four blades instantly reminded me of commercially available drones. Amazon, take note…We would like to see this quadcopter used for your Prime Air delivery service!

Check out more deatils on this Air Mail craft below

An inventive picture of a past that never was

This inventor’s workshop building by Pieter Dennison has a wonderful “realistic steampunk” feel. There are enough quirky and clanky touches on display to inject a touch of the fantastic, but it’s all grounded in a grubby Victorian-era earthiness — the dark tones of the base, the subtle patches of faded colour set into the walls, the haphazard tiling on the roof. There’s a nice sense of activity and everyday life amongst the surrounding figures, but the winning detail for me is the wonky telescope poking out from the attic.

An extraordinary LEGO car for an extraordinary gentleman

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie received mixed reviews — a shame if you were a fan of the comic series on which it was (loosely) based. However, the production design was a definite highlight, with some amazing steampunk-styled creations popping off the screen. Martin Redfern has taken inspiration from the film’s rendition of Captain Nemo’s automobile to create this stunning car. Sleek retro lines are complemented with neat golden trim and some impressive grunt up front — all coming together in stylish steampunk fabulousness…

Click to see more of this great model, including the detailed interior and engine

Mortal Engines’ Salthook mining town recreated in LEGO [Video]

Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines is the first book in a series of novels set in a dystopian future when Earth has been denuded of its resources and cities like London wander the landscape on enormous treads consuming everything in their path. The steampunk novels have inspired numerous LEGO builders over the years, with the Traction City / Crawler Town collaboration displayed at BrickCon among the best. Alexis Dos Santos joins the ranks of the best LEGO crawler builders with this stunning recreation of Salthook, a mining town that appears at the beginning of the first book and features prominently in the trailer for the upcoming Peter Jackson movie.

The treads are fully functional, and Salthook can be steered with a Power Functions remote control. There’s so much detail in this wonderful LEGO creation — let’s take a closer look.

See more photos and a video of Salthook in action

From a bright and breezy future

Sometimes the visions of the future put forth by LEGO builders can be a little grim — bleak technologically-dystopian vistas, often rendered in shades of dark grey. Here’s an altogether brighter view of the future from Tammo S. — one where we’ll be zipping around the skies in pastel-coloured hovercars. The shaping on this thing is great — all retro curves and smoothness. But it’s the colour scheme which really makes it pop — the white and light blue is distinctive and striking, and the isolated golden highlights add a touch of class.

The energy of tomorrow, yesterday

Steampunk is an always present theme in LEGO fan creations, and it pairs well with many different motives, from aircraft to architecture. Andreas Lenander adds to the latter with his recent build named Department of energy, a part of a larger collection of steampunk creations.

The building is a prime example of classic 19th century western architecture, with quite an interesting rooftop – a part often neglected. It appears as though the numerous technical additions were built on top of an older building in a time of disproportionately fast technological advancement. The multiple steam exhausts give a lot of character and the little touch of digital editing for the mysterious shine is a cherry on top.