Tag Archives: Stephan Niehoff

Star Citizen Vanguard heads to the front lines

Stephan Niehoff revisits the sci-fi video game universe of Star Citizen, the oft-delayed but undeniably gorgeous space combat simulator.

Like Stephan’s Brutus gunboat we previously highlighted, this craft is a herculean LEGO creation packed with neat details and shaping techniques, and given the appearance of metallic wear with a dusting of chalk. If you look closely you can spot an inventive use of multiple orange flippers (aka Frogman’s feet).

The more I see of the game’s vehicle designs the more I’m reminded of Sky-Fi, a favorite sub-genre of LEGO fan building which features (sometimes illogical) flying vessels that repurpose familiar air- and space-craft design elements. The Vanguard looks to me like a very chunky offspring of the P-38 Lightning.

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So love has blinded you?

I admit it. I love the prequel trilogy of Star Wars movies. It is not for the scintillating dialogue or the powerful acting, though, impressive as those are. No, it is for the cool spaceships and the deeper look at life in the galaxy. There’s more to the thousands of planets than a few military bases and super-weapons, after all. One of those cool spaceships is the Venator-class Star Destroyer, used by the Republic. Fans of LEGO have been clamoring for years for a UCS (Ultimate Collectors Series) model of the ship, and, quite frankly, I’ll be surprised if they ever get it due to an anti-prequel bias. For now, though, they can be content with seeing this microscale version built by Stephan Niehoff. It’s got everything it needs: blasters, thrusters, greebles, and most importantly, the dual bridges and the dark red stripe along the top. Now it’s time to take out some Separatists!

Star Citizen fighter built in LEGO by German citizen

The SHIPtember challenge is in full swing, when LEGO builders around the world look to build large-scale spaceships of at least 100-studs in length. German builder Stephan Niehoff breaks the mold of the more common microscale capital ships with this highly-detailed Gunboat from Star Citizen. The model is minifig scale and very impressive, particularly as it was put together in less than 3 weeks!

The bold colour scheme really stands out, aided with some carefully placed stickers. Yellow lines accent the complex angles well, and the use of different grays allowed Stephan to achieve some nice details. My favourite areas are the nose, with its rich collection of guns and utensils, and the “air intakes”, with the pin connector construction above it.