SHIPtember!

Can't wait to see what develops this month in the SHIPyard. Some things have already been cropping up, such as this lovely vessel, the Geminon by Steve McLeod.

I prefer the green olives.

Chirs, AKA Ironsniper has been posting a lot of wonderful builds using the new olive green color that came out this year. His AR-7 GrassBlade is no exception. Clean lines, functional looking design elements and it fits a fig! Please go check out the rest of Ironsniper's builds, he is just as formidable a builder in other colors with limited palettes.

Febrovery is over!

Febrovery had a wonderful turnout this year with builders creating 267 spacey rovers, spearheaded by its prolific founder Crimso Giger, who alone pumped out around 56 great creations. Illustrious lego fad map maker; pasukaru76, quickly posted the completed graphic which is modeled after Set #6804 Surface Rover. Congratulations to all who participated!

Ma.Ktoberfest 2012

So October, Ma.Ktober is upon us once again. What is that you ask? A contest that occurs every October revolving around the Machinen Krieger universe, thanks to .Tromas, who has laid out all the guidelines here.

If this year turns out anything close to what last years competition did, it'll definitely be fun to watch and/or participate in.

So forget the Halloween MOCs, spill out some bricks and get your Ma.K on!

Photo credit goes to Fredoichi

Solid Fuel Starfighter

Earth - (BiS) ƒernald has built this wonderful Solid Fuel Starfighter which fits a minifigure under the front hatch. As with many posts here lately, it was built for the Real World Starfighters Contest on Flickr. This instantly reminded me of Voyager and the Apollo command modules. The dark orange works well as a substitute for the heat shielding and its mostly round shape is somewhat unique, especially for a fighter. The back view is well detailed and uses a few neat tricks. I am quite fond of the support structure for the turning thrusters and the lighting in the photo adds a warm touch. ƒernald also has quite a number of nice looking microbuilds on his photostream.

Comrade Rocks

Courtesy Soyuz R-a11 MARAUDER by nate_decastro

Kuiper Belt- (BiS) When in space, there are two things one has to look out for- enemy lasers, and space debris. While the tattered remains of spacecraft and the like can often appear, the most common form of debris is space rocks. This craft, the Soyuz R-a11 MARAUDER, has not only made peace with the rocks, it has been quite utilitarian in its design, and incorporated them! Not only would this craft be something formidable to run (physically) into, a skirmish with it would also be ill-advised. From the impressive panel-mounted turrets, to the hidden bombs on the underside, and the well-camouflaged radar dish/laser.

Ramming Speed!

Courtesy Tangent-Class Assault Carrier by Commander Hawk

Earth- (BiS) While starships and spacecraft are nice and all, nothing in the sky can match the brute force a tank can have on the ground. Massive weapons capacity, sheets upon sheets of armor, vehicle storage, and troop carrying capacity are all some of the great advantages to tank use. This lil' guy has the design of a tank, the slickness of a sports car, and the armaments of Rambo after a 50% off sale at the Weapon Store. The radar array on top is also worthy of note, as well as the excellent use of the Technic joint connectors.

Photon Lasers

Courtesy Bandit by pasukaru76 

Planet Higgs-B- (BiS) With the power of engines and spacecraft rising almost daily, and major discoveries being constantly made, soon we will enter the age of interspace travel. And with that, we will have to re-design our spacecraft, just like Pascal did with this MOC. The red cockpit really stands out against the minimal colours of the rest of the craft, and it appears to come in peace. But be careful not to ruffle the pilot's feather's else he decides to use it's ample armaments.

Voyager 2



Voyager 2 by Apojove

While it's not Sci-fi (Not counting the first Star Trek movie), this wonderful model of the Voyager probe by Apojove is certainly in space. He's included a great amount of detail and realism on the craft, and even included a nice display stand and engineer.

Project HAVE SHIVER

Justin Vaughn aka Mainman has created Project HAVE SHIVER for the "Real World Starfighter" contest occurring in the Starfighters group on Flickr. This industrial monstrosity is about as real world as it gets. Who needs aerodynamic and sleek spacecraft when there is no atmosphere to be aerodynamic in? Who needs wings at all? The copious use of flex tubing, lightsaber handles and droid arms makes for a more believable support structure than any prefab pieces could. Buffing the printing off the Naboo planet from set #9674 makes those pieces more universally usable than if they were left printed. Justin also has a few pictures of the loadout and descriptions of the different areas of the ship. I especially enjoy the back view as well. There's also a quite detailed description for the photo to match the details of the ship. I would definitely have to give this one of the top votes in the contest so far.

BT Panorama

Built by granada_turnier, I found this Blacktron Panorama to be a fairly brilliant build. The greenish background for the composite shot was a great choice to offset the colors of the ship. For those who were around when the only space theme fell under the Legoland moniker; now known as Classic Space, this ship retains much of that classic styling. yet incorporates just enough modern techniques to set it apart. It immediately reminded me of set #6894 - Blacktron Invader probably due to the trans-red wedge plates on the nacelles.

Click on all sizes to really get the full effect of the composite shot. The photostream also has lots of cool old cars, tractors and other vehicles for those who like reference material for "real world" mocs.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scan

Courtesy ECM ship "Oddity" by Karf Oohlu

Deep Space- (BiS) While many of the satelites and spacecraft we've been seeing recently are for the real-world starfighters contest, it appears that this one is spurred on by imagination and creativity. Or, atleast, that's what the space program directors would WANT you to think. While it may not be completely clear as to its purpose, it's still a mighty-fine looking spacecraft. The sensor arrays, spalashes of blue, and excelent engine use are all part of what make this craft great. Plus, It's got FINS!

Yellow River

Courtesy ISA Yangtze Partol Frigate by Hawk

Titan- (BiS) While sleek, sporty, eye catching starfighters and curvaceous command ships may be what we envision of the future, the current reality is that satelites have gone the furthest distance from Earth while still being in the realm of current feasibility. This great satellite, the Yangtze, seems to be an attack drone, programmed to fight off threats to the Earth from above the skies. With an elegant half-stud offset between the dark grey cheese slopes near the back of the ship to the excelent forward section, this craft makes an amazing Lego spacecraft!

Boeing C-15 "Strike Eagle" lunar starfighter

The "Real World Starfighter" Contest is really heating up lately. This offering by Shannon Sproule is rooted heavily in early NASA design aesthetic. Complete with a moon rover, the contest entry is visually nostalgic and functional, with just enough stickers to make the markings blend into the built. As with some other recent MOCs, this also incorporates the Death Star elements in a clean and efficient manner.

Blue Devil

Courtesy LL-104 by Fazoom

Interplanetary Zone- (BiS) While it may not be prudent or useful in space, aerodynamic design begins to take real meaning when re-entering the atmosphere of a planet. Plus, it'll draw the admiring eyes of space travelers from all around. The LL-104 is the newest ship from the NCS shipyards, and from initial sales numbers, the designers got it right! Not only does this MOC have amazing editing, the blue, trans-yellow, and grey play together in front of the eye in the most pleasing fashion. Not to mention, it looks fast!

Space Mace

Courtesy NSM-MOC008 by oursblancgroschat

Pluto- (BTT) Bad guys need ships too. Darth Vader had the Death Star, The Borg had Borg Ships, and HAL took over the Discovery One. As far as baddie ships go, menacing shapes, big lasers, and large spikes go a long way to asset your dominance over the lesser man (or machine). This beauty of a death machine has all of those great aspects, from its lionfish-esque spike pod, to the large dual laser at the front and the engine hub at the back. The gray scale body, embellished with trans red specks breathes malice, and the rest of the ship is enough to make the most soulless baddie smile.

Swallowtail

Courtesy Swallowtail by .Jake

The Swallowtail by .Jake looks very nice, particularly near the back end. I really like how he left most of the studs exposed on the wings, too many builders try to tile everything, leaving blocky edges on wedge plates.

A Hop, Skip, and a Leap

Courtesy AFS 84 Jackrabbit by Jeffykins

Uranus- (BTT) Throwing together a spacecraft is a no-go. It takes careful planning, attention to detail, and an active imagination. When it all comes together into one craft, it will probably look something like this. The sleek, downward angled cockpit makes a smooth transition to the wings, and then the engine section. The weaponry smoothly integrates into the craft, without it looking too last-minute and unplanned. Combine that with a no-nonsense pilot and plenty of fuel, and you can accomplish just about anything you need to- for a price, of course!

Falling Skies

Courtesy NCS LL-1776 by OUdaveguy98

Neptune- (BiS) While sleekness can often be a great factor in separating the good MOCs from the great, this amazing spacecraft by OUdaveguy98 has enough smoothness to make it great eye-candy, but enough jaggedness to make it believable as a rough-and-tumble NCS ship that could hold its own in a dog fight. The blue colouring creates a great standout from the grey, while the trans-yellow cockpit and bumblebee stripes give it that NCS flair. And it comes with cup holders, standard!

Black and White

Near Earth Orbit- (BiS) This little space panda doesn't have ANY qualms about blowing your craft out of the vacuum, just as long as it's been ordered to. With pinpoint accuracy, this starfighter from Bam207 doesn't disappoint visually, especially with shaping. The monochrome colour scheme is reminiscent of the Space Shuttle program, and it doesn't looks SO strange as to be outside the dimensions of reality.