Daedalus

Is it weird that when I see a really cool ship like this my first thought is to imagine it mounted to a pylon in front of a green screen with a big motion control rig swooping a camera past it, then the shot that would result from that motion control pass? This is the Daedalus, by builder Rat Dude, and I want to see it in a movie! The detailing is exquisite, with a perfect blend of large and small detail to convey the scale, and just enough studs to let you know it’s LEGO.

Leading A Ragtag Fugitive Fleet

Check out the latest from Brandon Griffith! The Galactica here is built from over 29K bricks, is 47” long, has custom printed bricks, custom lighting and took over 300 hours to build. I had the distinct honor of lighting and photographing this baby late last month and it’s a wonder to behold in person. Brandon and I spent several happy hours and used practically every light in the studio. It was like living in the pictures from Apogee I stared at for hours as a kid. It took great restraint to not break out the green screen and motion control equipment and get some spectacular space shots, but our time was limited. Click through for many more pics of this sci-fi legend.

Metropolis In Space

I’m naturally an optimist. Despite the seemingly downward spiral humanity seems to be in recently I like to think we’ll make it to another enlightened age, one of exploration and beyond the bounds of this planet. Something like the future envisioned by builder ranghaal with this excellent metropolis in space. Imagine day to day living in this cylinder in the stars, looking up to see more “ground” above you, it would be dazzling.

Starman And His Roadster

This is officially the first SHIPtember 2018 build we’ve featured on BrickNerd. Now I know what you’re thinking, “hey, that’s a car, not a spaceship”. But take another look, this is Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster and Starman, who is presently cruising through our solar system. Assuming the battery is still good we can assume he’s still listening to Space Oddity too. Nice build brickfrenzy.

Chilly Exploration

On a distant, frozen world, intrepid scientists endure sub zero temperatures to research renewable energy and explore. Builder Norton74 revives the sub-theme Ice Planet 2002 with this awesome exploration vehicle. It makes me feel like it’s 1993 all over again. I was busy making the switch from creature effects to digital, and getting married, so wasn’t buying much LEGO, but I remember admiring these in the stores. None of the real sets were nearly this cool though.

"Lock S-Foils In Attack Position"

Builder Jerac confirms something I've been saying for years, that the X-Wing is not a simple ship. Despite the twenty or so iteration from LEGO itself, they're still struggling to get this ship right. It has compound curves, gentle slopes, thin wings and other aspects that make it a challenge to build. Despite these hurdles, Jerac has succeeded to a level, especially at this scale, that I haven't seen before. Now cut the chatter Red 2, accelerate to attack speed...

Habitat At The End Of The World

I haven't fully wrapped my head around this colossal creation by builder Aliencat, nor have ever understood the fascination with Fabuland. But I do appreciate some fine building, and this is some damn fine building. Everywhere on this craft (lander? Ship? What do I call it?) there's loads of detail and implied functionality. From the accordion ramp to the drop down egress you can tell there's some thought going into how this thing works. Click through for many more pictures.

The Valzaleer

This beautiful craft by builder AdNorrel would be right at home in Episode IX in my opinion, it just has a Star Warsy vibe to it. Especially with that nifty bit of lighting and photo editing on the first image. Is that Bespin I see in the distance? I hear they have excellent carbon freezing capabilities there.

DT-92 Dropship

This looks like a shot out of a movie, so I'm instantly fascinated of course. Ben Smith's dropship and APC look totally ready for action on whatever distant planet they're about to descend upon. I like to think it's some sort of rescue mission, where a hostile alien encounter is about to happen. But it's just as rad if they drop in, drive around for a bit, stop for some donuts then call for dust off.

Very Small Space

What is space? When you say the word most people travel about 60 miles up in their mind and see stars and satellites. But space is just space, be it between planets, between houses or between cells. Builder Dwalin Forkbeard shows us what exploration looks like on the nano level with Invader T3 Phage. And I've been fighting a virus since last Friday, hmmmm.

Miss Utopia

I love the retro-future look of this dashing young lady by builder Kingmarshy. Meet Miss Utopia, pioneer of the future, exploring the solar system with her trusty robotic companion, GD-801. They both look ready for adventure, and for the cover of a classic 50's sci-fi pulp novel or movie poster. Wherever it is, I want to follow that adventure.

Alien Construct

As if being on a strange world lightyears from home wasn't disconcerting enough, now your team has come across this structure in the middle of the jungle. I'd give that about a 8/10 on the pucker scale. It might be easy to glance right over this MOC by Blufiji. From the thumbnail it is deceptively simple, but really look at that structure, it's futuristic and ancient at the same time. Look at the trees, familiar and totally alien all at once. There's a lot of subtlety going on here.

Medical Frigate

I've always loved the Nebulon-B, from the first moment I saw it on screen in the Empire Strikes Back I was intrigued. It was designed by my dear old friend Nilo Rodis, inspired by an outboard motor. The description for this MOC says that it's "original creation by dranac modifications and photo by one case". I will say they make a hell of a team, because this is an outstanding model and presentation.

Battlestar Galactica

Following the premiere of Star Wars way back in the 70's there was a sudden and prolific flood of sci-fi, most of which was pretty bad. But there was one shining star (pun intended), Battlestar Galactica. It's the only one with any staying power, enough so to build a loyal fan base. Fast forward a few decades and that same fan base was capable of spurring a reboot, expanding the universe and bringing it to a new generation of fans. One long time fan is BrickNerd's own El Barto, who has constructed this beautiful beast. She's 140 studs long and weighs almost 30 pounds. Check out the contours and complex compound curves on this, it's a true labor of love.

Exo Onesie

According to builder Wami Delthorn, Exo Suits are not for babies, at least that's what the images say on Flickr. I'd say judging on how this turned out, that's not really the case. This baby is clearly a skilled builder, and the suit fits just fine, so why not? Sure he or she caused a little mayhem at first, but wouldn't anybody?

Rover

I don't know what I love more, this excellent little rover diorama from builder Tigmon74, or the fact that his title and description is "Intergalactic, Planetary... Planetary, Intergalactic. ~Beastie Boys". I don't remember a rover being in that video, but I appreciate it replacing that damn song from Godspell stuck in my head this morning. Another dimension, another dimension...

B-59 Blacktron APC

Builder Norton74 is bringing back Blacktron in a big, black way. Check out this intimidating beast, the B-59. It's equipped with six wheels, machine gun, a rotating turret and loads of other features. It's based on the U-59 Explosive Truck from Joe 90, a British series that I need to go learn more about. Check out the awesome video below for more features of this marvelous build.

Space Battleship Andromeda

It's nice to see a SHIP appear on the scene in a month that's not September, when there's so many the signal to noise ratio makes it hard to feature them. What would not be nice is to discover this beast by builder lysanderchau bearing down on you in open space. Heave to and prepare to be boarded, you're no going to win that fight.

Leviathan

Some day I suspect we'll have colossal ships like this one from builder I Scream Clone roaming the galaxy and beyond (if we don't blow ourselves up first). I have to wonder what the men and women on these journeys will experience, what they will see and do. And if any of them will fight a Gorn just outside of Santa Clarita...I mean another planet.

ISS

Right now, as you read this, there are brave people speeding at just under 5 miles a second approximately 250 miles up in what is essentially a bunch of bus-sized tubes connected together. The overall size is about a football field, in a never ending free fall around the planet. You can see it with the naked eye if you know where and when to look, and it just blows my mind. I'm talking about the International Space Station, and it's a wonder of human innovation and exploratory spirit. While this version by builder Jussi Koskinen is an order of magnitude smaller, it's still pretty amazing. The attention to detail is fantastic, and the presentation is stellar, pun intended.