Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts

17 May 2017

LEGO® Ideas 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V

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Blast off with Elspeth De Montes as she reviews the latest LEGO® Ideas set. Elspeth examines all the new interesting and printed pieces that come in this enormous set, and then describes cool techniques used in the build process.

LEGO Ideas set No.17, 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V has finally landed after a fairly lengthy wait in production orbit. The original fan designers Felix Stiessen (saabfan) and Valérie Roche (whatsuptoday) submitted their version of the Apollo 11 Mission Model to the LEGO Ideas platform back in August 2014 and achieved the required 10,000 supporters by November 2015. After passing review in June 2016, the final set is due in stores on 1 June 2017, with 1969 parts (a perfectly calculated number to reflect the year of man’s first steps on the moon) and a price tag of US$119.99/£109.99/119.99€. This is the largest set to be released within the Ideas theme to date, both in terms of part count and the model’s impressive 100cm final height... or length.

04 May 2017

NEXOGON: The Millennium Falcogon

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May the Fourth be with you... and for once, we actually have something Star Wars-related to share with you, courtesy of Kevin Levell and his penchant for nexogonal LEGO® spacecraft.

Whilst building the flying saucergon I noticed some familiar shapes, at least to my eyes: there was a passing resemblance to the “circular” main body of the Millennium Falcon...

Millennium Falcon LEGO model by Kevin Levell

30 April 2017

NEXOGON: Starglider

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We welcome Luc Byard back today with another exciting creation using LEGO® part 27255, giving us insight into how he came up with this sleek starglider.


It began with a Nexogon on its edge. The idea was to use it as the central piece and build a cockpit forwards from it and a tri-cluster of engines and wings back from it using the Nexogon to influence the overall shape.

26 April 2017

NEXOGON: The Inexorable

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Tim Goddard (Rogue Bantha on Flickr) is certainly no stranger to Neo-Classic Space creations but our parts festival using the new hexagonal LEGO® part 27255 is pushing him to greater heights. His latest ship, The Inexorable, now takes off...

For this build I started with a tablescrap (a small build, normally of no particular purpose, a bit like a doodle) and that turned into an engine. More detail on that in a moment, but first let's look at the main body of the craft.

17 April 2017

NEXOGON: Flying Saucergon

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Kevin Levell is back with another new creation using the LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™Combo Power shield, part 27255. Also, he's back on Flickr, so you can keep up with him after this parts festival is over!

As my previous builds had been, for the most part, geodesic, I wanted to start off at least by using the Nexogons as a flat building platform (of sorts). I had intended to do something other than another spaceship, but the Nexogon is just such a sci-fi looking object! Despite trying various explorations of the part, I kept being led back to all things sci-fi, in my failure to avoid another spacecraft I have built a flying saucer.

13 April 2017

NEXOGON: The Exalted Order

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Rounding off our run of the first creations by Gabriel Thomson (qi_tah on Flickr) using LEGO® Rotor, W/ 4.85 Hole (Design ID 27255) we have something altogether different once again!

So, I’m not that good at Space creations, but Nexogons seem made for them, so I thought I’d use the challenge to give the genre a go. I started off making a bulkhead doorway of some kind, but somewhere along the line it kind of morphed into a very large medal. A space medal… the Exalted Order of the Nexogon perhaps?


27 March 2017

NEXOGON: Hive

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Today, Li Li from MOC Recipes returns with another creation and beautiful geometric ideas using the new hexagonal LEGO® piece 27255 (Plate, Modified 6 x 6 Hexagonal with Pin Hole).

The Nexogon really reminds me of some sort of sci-fi beehive, so I created a large sci-fi colony.

26 March 2017

NEXOGON: White Rhino

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Today, for our parts festival celebrating the LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™Combo Power shield part 27255, we welcome back Christian Benito (a.k.a. Little Brick Root) with a wholly different creation to the building he gave us last time.

With my first model for the festival built and sent off, I had that intimidating tablescrap on my plate. I still wasn’t ready to use it, so I went back to the well and recreated an arcing shell from my Nexogons. It quickly became a shield in my mind’s eye. A really big shield. The kind of shield that a mecha would carry. So I built a mecha.


23 March 2017

NEXOGON: Mecha with drone detail

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Today we introduce Li Li; another of our featured builders in our parts festival using the new hexagonal LEGO® piece, 27255. Many of you will know Li from his website full of excellent building techniques, MOC Recipes, and if you don't - well, bookmark it now! Li has already sent a bunch of cool stuff and we kick off today with one of his models.

One of the first things that I wanted to build with the Nexogon was a mecha. This inverted triangular piece seemed like the perfect way to build a buff torso. So here’s my attempt.


20 March 2017

NEXOGON: Classic Space scene

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We left you on a bit of a cliffhanger when we showed you Kevin Levell's initial creations for our parts festival using the LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™Combo Power shield. Wait no more: let's blast off into Classic Space!

When I was building spheres for my NEXO Globeships, I heard the news that The LEGO Movie Sequel would be set in space. Surely this would mean 'Benny's space': Classic Space, the 'space' of my childhood? Suddenly my sphere needed to be a dome, a habitat or space lab for spacemen! (It’s probably pertinent to mention that I had just seen The Martian too.)

I’ll admit, I got a bit carried away after I had the ‘Hab/Dome’ built.


19 March 2017

NEXOGON: The Enforcer

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We welcome another new builder to the parts festival today: Luc Byard (on Facebook and Flickr) who is an active builder in the UK and in the Eurobricks ‘role building game’ Andromeda’s Gates. Today, he approaches LEGO® part 27255 in a wholly different way.

No civilian disturbances in sector 12


15 March 2017

NEXOGON: Hangar & launch tube

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Duncan Lindbo returns today with this third set of creations in our parts festival using the LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™ piece Rotor w/ 4.85 hole, a.k.a. the Nexogon.


This build was inspired by a shape Tim built in his original post on the Nexogon's geometry. My original thought was that that would serve as a good base for a micro-scale train yard turntable, but trains aren't really my jam, so instead I built a spaceship hangar with a launch tube, inspired by the likes of Battlestar Galactica and EVE: Valkyrie.

14 March 2017

NEXOGON: Globeships

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One of my intentions when selecting builders for the NEXOGON parts festival using LEGO® part 27255 was to risk including people I'd never heard of. Kevin Levell used to build but that was eight or so years ago. However his renewed enthusiasm and ideas were so infectious, I just had to put him on the list! I'm already glad I did: here's his first bunch of creations for your enjoyment.

The Nexo Big Thing

An alien flies his old globeship...

 ...to his local ship dealer for a trade-in...

11 March 2017

NEXOGON: Space Marine Drop-Pod

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A new build for our parts festival from Duncan Lindbo (donutsftw on Flickr) today, using LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™Combo Power Shields (Design ID 27255) to fill an awkward gap.

Is it a meteor? A comet? No, it's a space marine drop-pod!

10 March 2017

NEXOGON: Mini-Reactor One

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Jeremy Williams (Bricking It on Flickr) has written for New Elementary many times and also took part in a previous parts festival. He's more excited about the Combo Power Shield than any other recent LEGO® part, and so he returns for our NEXOGON parts festival.

You may remember seeing my Reactor One model on Flickr last year, or 'in the brick' at Skaerbaek Fan Weekend or The Great Western Brick Show at STEAM. Well, I decided to use two Nexogons to create a miniature version of Reactor One!


07 March 2017

NEXOGON: Platform and Slugship

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Duncan Lindbo (donutsftw on Flickr) has completed his initial creations using part 27255, the Combo Power Shield from LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™. Let's start with two of them today.

Normally, I get referred to as "the mecha guy", since giant robots tend to dominate my displays at public events... but I welcome the opportunity to flex my creative muscles, and the NEXOGON parts festival has given me the opportunity to do just that!


04 March 2017

NEXOGON: M:TRON Nexoship

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The creations for our parts festival, NEXOGON, are now starting to roll in and today we have an effervescent creation from Neil Crosby (thevoicewithin on Flickr) from the UK. Click any picture to enlarge.

Built with the power of a Nexogon at its core, this little bubble of fun is used by the M:TRON crew to tool around a planet's surface having a good time. With a booming sound system in the back, and controls powered by the mind, you're more likely to see this bouncing all over the landscape than making a smooth flight.

25 February 2017

NEXOGON: Landing Platform

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Even before Tim Goddard (Rogue Bantha on Flickr) received the shipment of LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™ Combo Power shields I sent him for our new parts festival, he was busily playing with some that he bought himself!

[UPDATE: Want to know how the platform is built? Check out this recreation on Mecabricks by Oby1! If you use it in some way, please credit Tim Goddard and Oby1 for their great work.] 

So far on New Elementary we have explored a lot of the potential geometric options, so I am starting with something a bit different. I've effectively built a giant Nexogon and turned it into a landing pad. I added a bit of 'tanscaping' (landscaping built with Brick Yellow [TLG]/Tan [BL] bricks and slopes primarily on their side) and passed the photo to my good friend Rob Damiano who did some wonderful things to bring it to life.

NEXOGON Landing Platform. LEGO model by Tim Goddard with artwork by Rob Damiano.
NEXOGON Landing Platform by Tim Goddard with Rob Damiano. Click for larger view.

05 January 2017

Peter Reid's 'bar with towball' idea

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Our brief re-exploration of the LEGO® piece 3.2 Shaft W/5.9 Ball (Design ID 22484) seems to be turning into an unexpected parts festival! I was pleased to hear from Peter Reid with a new creation that uses this part. He calls it The Digital Ombudsman.

19 August 2016

Neo-Nexo Ice Planet Knights

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It fascinates me that, when planning the LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™ theme, the LEGO Group seemingly took inspiration from AFOLs. Specifically, the idea of building new models using the colour schemes of olden-day LEGO themes, such as the Neo-Classic Spacers do. The colour scheme the designers chose for Nexo Knights in 2016 clearly riffs on the LEGO Space theme from 1992 called Ice Planet 2002.

This made me wonder what a modern-day AFOL of super Space-building skills... say, Tim Goddard... might create for Ice Planet using Nexo Knights pieces. Thanks (once again) to the excellent support of the AFOL Relations & Programs team at the LEGO Group and Tim's incredible building skills, the idea has now come to fruition... so let's see how he got on!


I was given an interesting brief for this article: “the Nexo Knights range has a definite flavour of Ice Planet 2002: explore”. There is no denying the colour palettes overlap greatly; you just need a little white to mix with the blue and orange shades and you are almost there, albeit with a medieval twist to the theme. So I have created a few models investigating how the new pieces in the range can be used to add a bit of frostiness to spacey creations, how useful these new moulds are, plus a few other observations along the way.