Tag Archives: Space

Training Day

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We all wonder if we’re on the right track from time to time. But perhaps if we put the brakes on a little and slow down, the journey might become more important than the destination.

Even Lego building can be part of this societal boiler room. An endless train of perfectly constructed and beautifully presented creations rolls past our feeds, a procession in which The Lego Car Blog is of course part. The pressure to create something that gets clicks, likes, and positive critique is all too real, and the destination – that perfect Instagramable shot – can often eclipse the enjoyment to be had in creating it.

Railing against this orthodoxy, Linus Bohman has decided to switch it up. Whilst playing with his daughter and bucket of Duplo, he noticed her railway track pieces; large, curved, and seemingly designed for a single purpose. But what journey could they provide if they were used… differently?

With no destination in mind, Linus started working with his daughter’s Duplo tracks, seeing where they would take him. And where they took him was to one of the most original and inventive creations we’ve yet publicised.

LEGO’s vintage blue and grey railway tracks joined their larger Duplo brethren, creating a swooping almost organic neo-classic spacecraft unlike anything we’ve seen before. A single mini-figure pilot drives the ship from a cockpit hung within the centre, whilst a robot co-pilot hides under the opening cover behind.

We think you’ll agree that Linus’ reached a spectacular destination, but we suspect the journey was – for him – better still. If you share his train of thought you can see more of the ship that emerged from it by clicking here, and you can watch a fantastic philosophical brick-based video on its creation by clicking play below.

YouTube Video

I’m Up in Space, Maaaaan!

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Finding time to build (or do anything) when you’re a new parent is tricky. Three years since he last uploaded a creation, Flickr’s Dvd has finally managed it, with the ‘help’ of his son, and in doing so allowed us to link to the greatest performance in Eurovision history. We might be biased. Anyway, TLCB’s blatant nationalism aside, even when it feels like trying you’re to reach the for moon, you can always build a rocket.

Support System

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Everyone needs some support now and then, even the perennially-smiling spacemen of Classic Space. And what better way to support them than via the perennially-smiling Spaceship Support Team, shown here at the wheel of their tractors, on hand with tools, refuelling, and a lift. Flickr’s David Roberts is the man in charge and you can see more at his photostream via the link above.

My Other Truck’s Also in Space

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LEGO’s new for 2024 Spacey Technic range is the mash-up we never thought we needed! It also features some superb new parts, which TLCB Master MOCer Nico71 has put to wonderful use though his brilliant 42180 B-Model.

Entitled ‘Space Garbage Truck’, Nico has redeployed the pieces from the official LEGO set to create a vehicle we hope mankind will have surpassed the need for when we’re inhabiting other planets… but seeing as our brightest minds are still creating such catastrophes as the disposable vape, perhaps that hope is misplaced.

Thus should space need clearing of mankind’s crap (It will. Ed.), Nico’s 42180 alternate has the answer. With a clever mechanically operated front-mounted grab, ingenious six-wheel steering, and a winch-based rear compactor mechanism, Nico’s ‘Space Garbage Truck’ is on hand to remove all the space-based detritus that will inevitably follow humanity wherever it goes in the cosmos.

Building instructions are available and there’s much more of Nico’s 42180 B-Model to see via his Brickshelf gallery. Click here to take a closer look, the second link above to check out Nico’s Master MOCer interview here at The Lego Car Blog, and finally you can watch his latest creation in action via the video below.

YouTube Video

Pew! Pew! Kablamo!

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Or alternatively – because this is taking place in the vacuum of space – silence… But we suspect even there you’ll still be able to hear appalling George Lucas movie dialogue.

Anyway, this nerdiest-of-all-scenes comes from Flickr’s Tim Goddard, and there’s more to see of his delightfully explody TIE Fighter and the X-Wing wot did it at his photostream. Nerd-out via the link above.

Roving Big

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Febrovery, the annual building bandwagon in which ground-based science-fiction vehicles take over Flickr, is complete for another year. Which means it’s complete here too, which is good news for TLCB Team – who are uniformly crap at sci-fi – but not before we have one final rover to showcase. And what a rover it is.

Measuring 117 studs in length and riding on eight enormous tyres from the 42054 Claas Xerion 5000 amongst other Technic sets, Scott Wilhelm’s ‘Ridiculously Oversized Vehicular Element Repository’ features remote control drive and steering (via XL and L Power Functions motors), a working cargo crane, five airlock doors, a retractable solar array, a fully fitted interior, and spectacular internal and external LED lighting.

More pictures are due to follow, but until they do you can check out this one at Scott’s photostream via the link above. Until next year, happy roving!

Moon Meth

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Cosmic Crystal. Space Speed. Galactic Gak. Lunar Cookie. It’s absolutely definitely not what is going on inside Thomas of Tortuga‘s exquisitely-rendered ‘Humbert Radar Vehicle’.

Board your Rocket Ship* to join the cook via the link above!

*Yes, we have just Googled slang words for methamphetamine and turned them spacey.

Colour My Rover

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TLCB Staff, being curmudgeonly bores, think that Rovers are old British cars of increasing mediocrity. The Online Lego Community however, thinks the word means something far more whimsical.

2024’s ‘Febrovery‘ – wherein dozens of extraordinary planetary exploration vehicles are constructed – is well underway, and we have another two wonderfully diverse rovers-of-the-spacey-type here today.

The first (above) is the delightfully hued ‘Greeble Transport Rover’, built to carry the tiny grey pieces that make up the most science-fictiony parts of spaceships. Ironically needing none itself, the ‘Greeble Transport Rover’ is instead a riot of colour, and there’s more to see courtesy of Febrovery veteran Frost.

Our second rover (below) forgoes the colour of Frost’s machine replacing it with earthy greys. Four sets of tracks and a great many triangles complete the utilitarian look, and there’s more to see of Horcik Designs‘ ‘Rover Expedition Ready’ at his photostream on Flickr.

Click the final two links above to see more of each rover, and the first if you fancy checking out the Febrovery building bonanza in full, where there’s not an old British car to be found anywhere. We promise.

Horse Tracking

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The early design philosophy of LEGO’s Classic Space theme was to take an item of mundane earthly equipment, paint it grey, and add a satellite dish. Cue Dump trucks, mini-diggers, floor-buffers, and – in this case – a horse-box and trailer.

Taking LEGO’s 452 ‘Mobile Ground Tracking Station’ (aka Space Horsebox), Flickr’s Frost (aka TFDesigns!) has rebooted the vintage set with parts four decades newer, to marvellous effect.

Opening the rear reveals no horse, but handily there’s an array of delightfully spacey equipment available to track one down.

There’s more of Frost’s fantastic 452 Redux to see at his photostream, and you can join the Classic Space shenanigans via the link above.

Cyber Monday

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Febrovery might be raging, but sci-fi builds don’t have to have wheels. Cue previous bloggee Rubblemaker, whose trio of M-Tron spacecraft update the vintage LEGO theme to a new, and frankly rather weird, place.

From left to right there’s the ‘M:OTH‘, designed to chop through vegetation like a giant space salad-maker, the ‘SALAMANDER‘, so called because it looks exactly nothing like a salamander, and the ‘CHOMP‘, which uses the power of crystals to harvest magnetic particles, much like Tina doing yoga in her van.

There’s more to see of each unearthly creation on Flickr, and you can make the jump to space via the links above.

Mega Rover

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Febrovery is back for another year, when the Online Lego Community comes together to build various planetary roving vehicles in innumurable styles and themes.

This is spaceruner‘s, a small 6×6 single-occupant articulated pick-up, used to transport various spacey items and/or whatever crystals LEGO have determined are part of the plot this week.

Oh, and it also comes with a gigantic 10×10 mobile command centre.

Yes, spaceruner’s entry for this year’s Febrovery includes a rover (and several other small craft) within its enormity. Manned by a crew of eight, with a vast interior, landing pad, crane, plus a wide assortment of tools, vehicles, and other space-related accompaniments, spaceruner’s astonishing Spyrius ‘CX-1 Basilisk’ is one of the most impressive sci-fi creations we’ve ever seen.

A spectacular array of imagery showcases the creation superbly, and there’s more to see of spaceruner’s rover (and the mobile command centre if that’s what you’re into) on Flickr. Click the link above to make the jump.

Technically Roving

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The annual space-based buildathon that is Febrovery is here for another year, in which a myriad of mini-figure scale lunar rover of all shapes, themes, colours and sizes will join the thousands already present in the long-running Flickr group.

Previous bloggee Nikolaus Lowe is roving rather differently however, having built his Febrovery entry in Technic-figure scale. It’s also rather contemporary looking, owing more than a little of its aesthetic to the 1971 ‘LRV’ (or ‘moon buggy’), the only actual manned lunar rover to exist.

Working steering and a constantly rotating radar dish are included, and you join Nikolaus technically roving at his photostream. Click the link above to get your rove on.

Gander at This Goose

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As the long-suffering sci-fi fans who frequent this site will know, The Lego Car Blog Team are uniformly crap at understanding, explaining, or writing about spaceships.

Fortunately today though, The One and Only Mr.R – builder of this splendid example – has written rather a lot about it. Which we’re going to pinch.

A ‘G-005 “Goose” Light Courier Ship’, it comes from the early days of space trading, “when there was high demand for light couriers to deliver messages, products, and passengers between star systems… Those early days of trading may be over, but some mercenary crews continue to fly these ships… While courier missions may be harder to find, the crew of the Goose is ready to tackle them in order to continue living a free spirited life in the cosmos”.

Which means it sounds like that guy in the battered minivan you see most days delivering parcels in your neighbourhood. But in space.

No matter, because The One and Only My.R’s design is fantastic, with complicated angles meeting beautifully, yet still appearing utilitarian and nondescript, excellent brick-built lettering, and a truly wonderful interior, complete with cockpit, sleeping quarters, kitchen, life-support equipment, bathroom, and airlock.

There’s loads more of the ‘Goose’ to see at The One and Only Mr.R’s photostream, and you can place your interstellar delivery via the link in the text above.

Prime Mover

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When space travel finally becomes commonplace, we’re pretty sure it won’t be star-fighters or giant space robots occupying the void. No, it’ll be humble utility vehicles, ferrying stuff from somewhere to somewhere else, so that Jonathan from Dallas can get a new cat scratching post by tomorrow lunchtime.

Cue spaceruner’s excellent ‘FT23W3’, a ‘Futuron Worker Class Utility Spacecraft’ complete with a crew of three, an on-board last-mile delivery vehicle, and a big yellow crate full of pointless Amazon Prime orders.

Apart from needing a crew (the space delivery ships of the future will surely be drones), we reckon spaceruner’s creation could well be an accurate window into the not too distant future of seriously boring space travel*. There’s more of it to see on Flickr, and you can click the link above to choose your shipping option.

*Why else would Jeff Bezos be going up there?

Once You Go Black…

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Flickr’s Rubblemaker has appeared here at TLCB several times with various sci-fi builds that we don’t understand. His latest creations are apparently his favourites to date, and seeing as they all have very big guns indeed, who are we to disagree?

Entitled ‘Blacktron Fleet 2023’ and with names including ‘Ballista’, ‘Mohawk’, and ‘Bulldog’, each is a fantastic example of a genre of which we know nothing, but we do appreciate in our ignorance.

Cunning techniques, clever parts usage, and a paint-scheme straight from the baddie playbook make for an impressive fleet, and you can go black at Rubble’s photostream via the link above.