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

04 March 2019

Contest: Build and Fix inspiration from Kev Levell

Posted by Admin
We are running a LEGO® building contest going on at the moment using the new spaceship hull piece from LEGO 4+ sets as the seed part. Prizes are The LEGO® Movie 2 sets. Hopefully your experiments are well underway and we've received many entries already. We're not revealing any until after the contest ends (8 April 2019) however our friend Kev Levell has sent us something to inspire you. (He has decided not to enter the contest.)

Now, although Kev has built us a spaceship don't think that this is solely a spaceship-building contest. Indeed we are primarily looking for inventive uses of this new element, so while spaceships are of course welcome you may prefer to build something quite different. 

I was lucky enough to get The LEGO® Movie 2 set 70821 Emmet and Benny's ‘Build and Fix' Workshop before Christmas. I immediately loved the new hull part (Design ID 43979) and ordered a couple extra of them as soon as I could. Affectionately, I’ve been thinking of this piece as Big Ugly Space Hull (BUSH), which amused me. Sorry.

I had been tinkering with a spaceship design using 43979 when I saw New Elementary post the “Build and Fix” competition calling for models that used this new element as a seed part. This is a very quick, very simple model using three of them to show how cool the BUSH is (for Classic Space enthusiasts at least).

16 January 2019

LEGO® MOVIE 2 review: 70830 Sweet Mayhem’s Systar Starship!

Posted by Admin
Our series of set reviews of THE LEGO MOVIE 2: The Second Part continues today with 70830 Sweet Mayhem’s Systar Starship! Ben Davies (ProfessorBrickkeeper) returns to examine another bumper collection of exciting parts.

One of the first sets revealed for the toy line and featuring prominently in the initial trailer for the film, 70830 Sweet Mayhem’s Systar Starship! has been one of the most anticipated sets for The LEGO Movie 2, thanks in no small part to its unusual design, wide assortment of teal bricks, and inclusion of several new-for-2019 elements.

Before examining all the new parts, let’s take a look at the construction of the ship and the finished model.

13 January 2019

2018 Parts Fest #1: Luc Byard's The Alchemist

Posted by Admin
One of the 2018 LEGO® elements that we sent to builders to investigate was the new minifigure neck bracket with four bar attachments (Element ID 6215458 | Design ID 36452). One of our talented buiders, Luc Byard, used it to create a walker mech and has now come up with another interesting creation based upon this unusual part.

This build came out of looking for a way to connect the two shafts that are at 90° to each other. ‘Easy enough,’ I said to myself but the placement is not as convenient as I expected. It’s a tight fit and I think I’m pushing tolerances but I managed to secure them.

27 December 2018

LEGO® MOVIE 2 review: 70821 Emmet and Benny's ‘Build and Fix' Workshop!

Posted by Elspeth De Montes
THE LEGO® MOVIE 2: The Second Part is assembling in cinemas in February 2019, and the tie-in sets have just been released in stores. 70821 Emmet and Benny's ‘Build and Fix' Workshop! is the second set we are taking a closer look at. It has 117 parts, including new Emmet and Benny minifigures, and is now available priced £17.99/ 19,99€/ US$19.99 at Amazon USA and Amazon UK as well as all usual retailers. 

70821 Emmet and Benny's ‘Build and Fix' Workshop! is particularly aimed at preschoolers and young builders. Such sets were previously branded as LEGO® Juniors, now it seems they just carry a large 4+ age mark. The Juniors moniker was introduced for kids who knew they were getting too old for DUPLO and wanted "grown up LEGO"; perhaps the name was dropped as they didn't want something marked as junior either?

Conversely, it seems no grown up is too old for this set.

14 December 2018

LEGO® Minecraft animals: Cat and Rabbit

Posted by Admin
Continuing his challenge to use the LEGO® Minecraft animal heads in original ways, Jonas Kramm takes a look at another two animals.

In today’s lesson about Minecraft animals we will take a closer look at the moulds of the cat and the rabbit. (If you missed my last class featuring the silverfish and chicken parts, you can catch up here.) We also have a guest builder, my friend Cole Blaq!


29 November 2018

2018 Parts Fest #1: Tim Goddard's BrickHeadz (and spaceships)

Posted by Admin
We sent a varied selection of new LEGO® parts from 2018 to some fan builders to build at home, and Tim Goddard (co-author of LEGO Space: Building the Future, plug plug) not only built at home but also down the boozer. Following on from his main builds that we posted two months ago, here are some fun extras.

On the second Monday of every month, London AFOLs hold a gathering in a pub near Euston station. Prosaically, the meeting after I was given this parts selection, London AFOLs had a meetup and that month it was a BrickHeadz-themed evening.

I went prepared, taking this sub-build which uses the interesting hooped minifigure accessory (Element ID 6207840|Design ID 35485) which is only found in LEGO Super Heroes 76100 Royal Talon Fighter Attack and 76103 Corvus Glaive Thresher Attack.

Using the healthy stock of parts provided at the pub I ended the evening with this post-apocalyptic version of myself...

22 November 2018

2018 Parts Fest #1: Luc Byard's Walker

Posted by Admin
We sent a varied selection of new LEGO® parts to some expert fan builders for them to explore techniques and models to share with you. Here's one from Luc Byard (Flickr).

I love Tim; no-one can give you some really awkward LEGO® parts and say ‘build something with those’ quite like he can. The latest bunch included that new minifigure neck bracket with 4 bars (Element ID 6215458 | Design ID 36452) which looks cool… then you try and build with it!

My finished build is a micro Robotech-style walker. And with all that black, I just had to pair it with trans-yellow to give it a Blacktron scheme.


27 September 2018

2018 Parts Fest #1: Steve Guinness in space

Posted by Admin
We sent a varied selection of new LEGO® parts to some fan builders to explore techniques and models. This time we have the talented Steve Guinness: one half of the team who won Series 1 of Channel 4's LEGO Masters who now undertake commissions as The Brick Guys.

Clockwork Robots 

When I saw the 1x3 jumper plate (Design ID 34103) I liked the unusual pattern on the underside, as it has no anti-studs or pegs. The tiny triangles reminded me of teeth so I came up with these Clockwork Robots.


04 September 2018

(CW:HP) LEGO® BrickHeadz: Harry Potter, Frozen and Star Wars

Posted by Admin
The LEGO® BrickHeadz theme continues its domination of all known and imagined universes by bringing us collectable characters from some of today's most popular franchises. Sven Franic sees how this latest batch get along, including its introduction of a new template for smaller BrickHeadz characters. Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover HP sets. Read about our stance here.



I had the chance to review the first batch of BrickHeadz more than a year ago. I never would have guessed at the time that Marcos Bessa’s standard for chibi characters would gain so much popularity. There is a high standard of quality behind the sets, considering the price range. Despite their blocky outer appearance, it takes a lot of tiny slopes and tiles to capture the spirit of a character. All decorations are printed and applied generously, and the sets tend to come with a lot of freshly re-coloured pieces.



07 August 2018

LEGO® Ideas parts review: 21311 Voltron

Posted by Admin
Chris McVeigh takes a look at what makes up Voltron, Defender of the Universe; the newest set from LEGO® Ideas. Set 21311 has 2,321 pieces – including lots of silver ones – and is now available priced £159.99 / US$179.99 / 179.99€.

Leandro (Lendy) Tayag’s winning LEGO® Ideas submission blasts its way to market as 21311 Voltron. The towering robot defender comes to life by combining five mechanized lions, each which is a separate model in this set. So how does Voltron stack up (both literally, and in terms of new elements)? Let’s take a closer look!

12 July 2018

Alt Star Wars: Kev Levell's mothership and fighter

Posted by Admin
We set Kevin Levell an epic task: to come up with his own original build using only the parts found in the latest wave of LEGO® Star Wars sets. That's seven sets with over 3000 parts at his disposal! Kevin shows us today what he's come up with and describes the creative process.

The challenge was to build something from the newest wave of LEGO® Star Wars sets but throughout the building process, one of the biggest temptations for me has been to sneakily/subtly add to the available selection of parts from my collection. I have remained disciplined, using only the parts contained within sets 75206, 75207, 75208, 75209, 75210, 75211 and 75212.

I had a number of ideas I wanted to explore, and I experimented extensively with various building techniques along the way in order to try to realise some of them. What I have finished up with for my main build is a long way from where I started out.


26 June 2018

Sand Green Pete Machines: New turtles, robots and more

Posted by Admin
Who would have thought that not one but two of this year's LEGO® Architecture sets would provide the necessary 3x3 dishes for Peter Reid to create entire new fleets of his iconic robot turtles? Having analysed all the exciting new parts in 21042 Statue of Liberty, I simply had to send the Sand Green elements off to him to see what would happen.

Receiving the parts from New Elementary (along with some gentle bullying by Brickset) meant it was time for another robot turtle. It only seems like a week or two since we got Magenta ones. What a time to be alive.

Tim asked me to make a single Sand Green turtle, but one thing led to another and I ended up developing some additional models, which nobody asked for.

Mk II Liberty Launcher

27 May 2018

LEGO® Star Wars 2018: the parts

Posted by Admin
With the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, it's a timely moment to see what excitements the most recent batch of LEGO® Star Wars range has brought us in terms of new parts. We've challenged Kevin Levell to free-build using only parts from sets 75206 - 75212 inclusive and you'll see the results in the coming weeks; but before he built anything, we asked that he review the new parts from every set for you.

Seven sets. 3062 parts. 29 minifigures. 56 new parts.


For many, the main attraction of new LEGO® Star Wars sets are the minifigures, and across these sets there are a total of 29. This includes three weird looking dog things, Corellian Hounds I'm informed, and three droids.

14 May 2018

Shanghai Pete: New turtles, weapons and ships

Posted by Admin
Regular readers will know that Peter Reid loves fresh turtle. He's been building them since 2004 and his LEGO® Ideas Exo Suit set also included an official – and legal – version of the MkIII M364 Turtle. It’s one of this Neo-Classic Space fan’s most popular designs and as the years pass by, the key parts to build the turtle become available in new colours. Peter always seizes on these opportunities to add to his turtle army, so when the 2018 LEGO Architecture set 21039 Shanghai introduced the 3x3 radar dish in Bright Reddish Violet [TLG]/Magenta [BL] (Element ID 6217587|Design ID 43898), we knew we just had to get Peter a copy to see what he’d make this time. Click/tap images to view larger.

“The Shanghai set is great. It's got five magenta 3x3 dishes, which means I can finally make magenta robot turtles. As per tradition I've experimented with a couple of heavy weapons: the Twin Heavy Blaster and Armoured Quad Cannon.”

12 May 2018

The History of the Space Turtle

Posted by Admin
The best-known LEGO® model by British AFOL Peter Reid is his Exo Suit, but everyone who bought the official LEGO Ideas version, 21109 Exo Suit, knows his Space Turtle just as well. The turtle has been around much longer, having appeared in the bestselling book he co-created with Tim Goddard – LEGO Space: Building the Future, as well as thrilling thousands of children at LEGO fan shows as a part of his extraordinary Turtle Factory display piece.

We are going to reveal a new turtle exclusive for you here at New Elementary but for context, let’s first look back at the history of the space turtle and ask Peter to take us inside his universe where the robot turtles are hard-working, loyal mechanoids, created by the manufacturing giant Anodyne Systems. The M364 turtle has been deployed on numerous Federation outposts where they perform a wide range of duties, and upgraded M450 units are widely used throughout the corporate security sector.

25 March 2018

LEGO® Ideas 21314 TRON: Legacy

Posted by Admin
The latest LEGO® Ideas set 21314 TRON: Legacy is available from March 31, 2018 priced £29.99/ US$34.99/ 34.99€. It depicts the iconic race between two light cycles and is based on the 2010 film which is a sequel to the technically ambitious 1982 original.

The original submission, by fans BrickBrosUK from Devon, proposed one light cycle and minifigure. Even though this has been expanded to include another light cycle and two further minifigures, it's still a small set at just 230 pieces. And of course, you are building the same vehicle twice. Thankfully it's an ingenious build; clever in its compactness and some interesting connections. But as ever, we are here to discuss the parts!

30 October 2017

PdC Parts Festival: More from Peter Reid

Posted by Admin
Today brings the final post in our current parts festival giving you inspiration for using new LEGO® pieces. Last time, Peter Reid and friends gave us Neo-Classic Space micro spaceships but today Peter's creations are more more eclectic. On that note, where better to start than with a...  

Krablaxian Death Snail

A heavily armoured, bio augmented cybernetic warrior snail, with blip pilot.

Parts used: 2 x 30925

26 October 2017

PdC Parts Festival: Classic Space micro ships

Posted by Admin
Our latest parts festival is nearing its end but fear not, we have some models from Peter Reid and his pals, using the parts he took home after attending our final session. Although he rarely makes instructions of his work, Peter has listed which of the new parts he used in each model, so you can get hold of the ones you're less likely to have.

LL611

This first model, a Neo-Classic Space (NCS) micro ship, was made during the New Elementary workshop in Portugal. I wasn't sure I'd be able to make anything decent in an unfamiliar building environment, but it turned out fine; after one or two false starts I had this little beauty in hand. I managed to safely bring it home and put the ship in a safe place, ready for photography. I immediately lost it, and had to recreate it from pictures taken by the lovely Miguel.

Parts used: 2 x 29120, 2 x 29119, 1 x 25892

14 October 2017

PdC Parts Festival: "Oops, Wrong Portal"

Posted by Admin
At the Paredes de Coura (PdC) Fan Weekend in Portugal we ran a live 'parts festival' workshop and afterwards, some participants took the new LEGO® parts home to continue experimenting. Alexandre Campos (the Ambassador for PLUG, the Portuguese LEGO User Group) is usually a LEGO Technic builder, so it's a good thing that our parts festivals are all about challenging people! Alexandre sent us this build using the parts and explains how the parts inspired him.

"Guys, I think we got the wrong address. Could you open the portal back home? Uh, guys? Guys?..."



05 July 2017

Bricktastic 2017: Event videos

Posted by Admin
I shot a couple of quick videos on my phone at Bricktastic, the LEGO® show in aid of Fairy Bricks.

It was an awesome event! As you can see, plenty of people, but also plenty of space to move around. This was a deliberate move by the organisers to ensure people didn't get stressed by the crowds or feel they couldn't stop and stare at something for ages... like these amazing models....