Nerdy About The Bricks
The creativity and ingenuity of the AFOL community never ceases to amaze me. Builder Dwalin Forkbeard has been building a series of space MOCs based on of all things viruses. This is his latest, based on tectiviridae, which is a DNA virus, those wonderful things responsible for such ailments as smallpox, herpes and chickenpox. To see a few other ships based on the microscopic contagion world click through to his photostream.
Check out this lovely beast by builder Jarac. The Y-Wing has always been a favorite of mine, just because it’s so “scrappy”. It was designed to look like a ship that had seen some action. It's outside cladding had been removed so many times that it was eventually decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. It also looked like it could take some punishment, and had dished out a fair amount too.
Builder MikeVd is back with a reimagining of classic space set 6985. And what better way to celebrate this iconic set, and contribute to a “box” themed event, than to actually construct the box it came in. All the scenes depicted on the box are little vignettes inside the box, making it a wonderful and whimsical creation.
This is so clever I can’t stand it. This transforming space base by builder chris office reminds me of the old Mattel and Micro Machines play sets. It starts as a pretty cool looking suit case, which is pretty ship-like already, with a classic space logo and plenty of greebs. But then you open it up and unveil a whole little space station world, complete with ships and vehicles, a landing pad, what looks like soil processing and even a bar! I could see a whole line based on this concept, with a different case for each theme, like a treasure chest for pirates, a trunk for adventurers and a crate for city.
I really dig this futuristic yet totally retro space taxi by builder ericteo_98, it looks like something right out of a movie. How awesome would it be to see this gliding through the sky against a sci-fi cityscape, dutifully delivering passengers to places we can only dream of. Of course this is the future, so the prices will be crazy too, but maybe the floor wouldn’t be nearly as sticky due to advanced material sciences (who am I kidding, we can’t have nice things).
When I was little, growing up to be an astronaut was all the rage. With our head in the stars, we dreamed about distant galaxies and meting aliens along the way. But this moc by Ralf Langer is nothing like that. This is not the colorful domaine of cute and friendly aliens from cartoons, and judging by the state of this facility the last thing these aliens are thinking about is having a good time. As this astronaut ventures deep into the alien compound, he might just send out one last message into the stars: “This is Brickley last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off”.
There have been no shortages of X-Wings built from LEGO, both official sets and fan made. It’s one of the most popular ships in the Star Wars universe so it’s no wonder. So you would think with so many built I would be totally over them, but I still get giddy when I see one. And when it’s as good as this awesome rendition of Luke’s starfighter by Swan Dutchman, I want to lock S-foils in attack position, if you know what I mean.
How would you like to look up and see this coming down your street? I think I’d be so conflicted between silently screaming and relieving myself in whatever I was wearing and total awestruck captivation I would be utterly paralyzed (and not so fresh). Builder Rogue Bantha shows us the intersection of nightmares and futurism (and also nightmares).
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is perhaps one of the most amazing scientific tools humans have ever built. I maybe strongly biased in that statement as I am a giant space geek, and have had connections to both the HST and ISS. What we’ve learned about our universe form Hubble over the last 29 years (launched on STS-31 on April 24, 1990) is mind blowing. We’ve better defined the Hubble constant (measure of the rate of the universes’ expansion), learned more about black holes, closer to home it watched the comment Shoemaker-Levy 9 crash into Jupiter, and looked father then we have before. 15,000+ peer reviewed scientific published scientific papers have been based on the HST’s over 150 terabytes of data. And this is a very high level pull from NASA.gov and Wikipedia . It was serviced five times by Space Shuttle crews, a very difficult task as Hubble orbits at the upper end of where the Space Shuttle could reach in orbit and it was not originally designed to be serviced! Luis Peña build a beautiful 1:42 scale model for ChileLUG’s upcoming display at the Planetarium of Santiago de Chile. The HST isn’t a very complex as far as scaled models go, couple stacked cylinders, add the solar arrays, antennas and the forward cover, and most people will recognize it. LEGO has included the HST in several sets even. However at this scale you really get to appreciate the size of the telescope and it is large enough to include some of the finer details, like the yellow trunnion supports that held it in to the shuttle’s payload bay, and some of the tubes and cables. My one tiny nit pic as a space geek is the aft trunnion supports are missing. Overall a fantastic model, and the use of one of Hubble’s amazing images as a back drop is a superb choice.
I’ll set the scene for you: The wind is still howling, the worst of the storm as passed but it’s not quite over. The station is in ruins, all around you is destruction. Seven months of work, all gone. You and a handful of Alpha Centauri engineers are huddled in the “panic pod”, the E26 Crew Emergency Shelter. While there’s enough M5 ration packs to last a week, your future is uncertain, and this is on everyone’s mind as you all stoically look at each other. The lights flicker in the pod, and everyone instinctively looks at the fuel cell monitor, the LCD is cracked, but it still functions, it flashes a grim message…”Vapor barrier compromised, safety protocol initiated”. You all know what that means, less than 12 hours of heat and light, this pod just became a coffin. As you all wrap your head around this heartbreaking reality you hear a muffled, rhythmic pounding. As you cautiously peer out of the single view of the world around you, a small round window with scratched 4 inch sapphire glass, the sound becomes louder. In the distance, obscured by flying dust and debris, a shape emerges from the haze. A large, bipedal figure looms ominously, but instead of fear or dread, you can barely contain your joy. “It’s Lenny!” you exclaim as the other crew members shout out in excitement, you are saved.
It seems that the 1980’s classic spacemen have developed a sense of entrepreneurship and have decided to expand their ventures into space mining. With a crew this large and a fearsome machine, it is unquestionable that Andreas Lenander’s astronauts are on their way in making a multimillion credit business. It would seem that their skin color has also changed. Weird. Probably all that alien space dust.
When you hear the term “micro build” it instantly conjure images of tiny structures tediously built at a very small scale. But what if you’re building something that is in it’s very nature massive, like a planet? Then even if it’s micro, it's still pretty big. That’s the case with this MOC by builder justin_m_winn, it’s massively micro, and you need to see all the pictures to get the details, click through for more.
INT. COLONIST SHIP: DAY
As the seemingly vacant ship rumbles through the emptiness of space we move through it’s corridors. There is no sign of life as we pass through empty rooms. The sounds of the ship are distant, deep and resonant. As we move into the cryo chamber the sound shifts, a hint of life. A hissing is heard as the lights slowly fade up, followed by an electronic chirp. A small display on the front of each pod flickers on, rows of text flash by as a system self-check runs, followed by a status display with vital statistics and three blinking words: CRYO REVERSAL INITIATED…
Yeah, I want to watch that movie too. Nice work Pete.
Builder Ben Smith is back with another stellar Starfleet build. Welcome aboard NCC 1503, The USS Fontana. Seeing this ship, especially these well crafted composite shots of it, immediately puts me in a Star Trek mood. I can hear the music, sound effects. I can see the motion in my imagination, they’re right out of a movie, and I want to be in a darkened theater right now watching it.
Can’t a pilot repair his craft in peace? If you’re tired of getting mauled while making minor repairs off world consider a Spinshot 2600™ auto turret. The Spinshot features an ARM96a processor and cutting edge AI to keep you safe. With motion, thermal, computer vision and audio sensors, it’s watching your back at all times. With a .002 second reaction time, high torque neomidium actuators and a full 360º sweep, it’s got the capability you’re looking for. The Spinshot 2600™, firepower with a brain.
I don’t know why I can’t just say “check out this cool ship by Legohaulic”, I just can’t help myself sometimes.
Every good story needs a good villain, and the Klingons have always been pretty good villains. While the Federation may be only interested in exploring strange new worlds (and hooking up with the local babes, let’s face it), the Klingon Empire is having none of that. Just try to enter the neutral zone and you’ll be staring down a few of these bad boys. This is the Klingon Battle Cruiser, by builder Ben "Spaceship!" Smith, it’s here to blow you up. Qapla'!
What does one call a collection of robots? A gaggle? A flock? I’m going to propose the official word to represent a mechanical gathering, a “tinker” (make this happen, I’m counting on you all). Builder Rogue Bantha has assembled quite a collection of robots here, and has invited us all to pick our favorite. This is really no small feat, and despite staring far too long at this image I’m afraid I’m not up to the task. I cannot pick just one, so I’ve decided not to, you can’t make me (remember this day when our robot overlords come, when I was inclusive and did not play favorites).
I see sci-fi vehicles pretty much every day (and mechs, so many mechs) so it takes something special to stand out. The color combination and unusual shape of this otherworldly vehicle by builder VolumeX caught my eye. And unless this thing is exploring an especially yellow planet, it’s going to stand out wherever it goes.
When you need things hauled you call a trucker, when you need things hauled in space, you call a space trucker. I love the flowing lines and retro-futuristic feel of this intergalactic big rig by builder Robiwan_Kenobi, it would be right at home in a Jetson’s cartoon or the Fifth Element (with a considerable amount of grudge applied of course).
Don’t you sometimes feel the urge to speed across a desert planet, leaving a trail of alien dust behind you? If so, this speeder by David Roberts 01341 is perfect for you! This massive turbine speeder bike looks like it was pulled straight off a podracer. But knowing podracing, it is safe to assume that this speeder will be stolen to make a podracer instead! Just remember, what happens in the Outer Rim stays in the Outer Rim.
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