2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the first NASA Space Shuttle flight in 1981, and LEGO is marking the occasion by launching its biggest shuttle set yet. 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery rings in at 2,354 pieces and features the iconic orbiter on its most famous mission, STS-31. This 1990 mission launched the renowned Hubble Telescope, which is still in operation. The new 18+ Creator Expert set will be available starting April 1, and will retail for US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £169.99. LEGO sat down with Dr. Kathy Sullivan, a former astronaut who served as a mission specialist on STS-31, to reveal the set and discuss the mission to launch Hubble, as well as talk about engaging children in STEM and space exploration. The full interview can be viewed on LEGO.com/gobeyond. Watch for our full review of this set coming very soon, and check out the rest of...

Nowadays, custom chess sets built from LEGO are not at all unusual. It is after all the most popular board game and can be played over and over again without getting boring. It has also recently experienced a surge in popularity following the Netflix series Queen’s Gambit. Being easy to build from LEGO, it is something many builders do at least once in their life. Here, Daniel Barwegen adds his own flair to the arsenal of stylised LEGO chess sets. I was immediately drawn to the uniquely spindly pieces with the wide bases. Some pieces like the king and queen continue the design to their crowns, which are sharp and angular, and even the horse-heads of the knights include teeth and gears. I love that the pieces appear easy to grip, like straws and pencils, rather than not having enough space between neighbouring pieces. The textures on the rooks are also...

Cats are majestic yet silly creatures, and generally, there are a few habits shared between big cats and their domestic counterparts. Among those habits is what I call the cat stretch, a pose that requires both front legs extended while the cat’s backend is elevated. LEGO builder nobu_tary expertly recreates this feline posture with some small LEGO elements in his kitty mini-build. Very commonplace elements are utilized in this build; for instance, the front legs are minimally but accurately fashioned out of 1×1 cylinders with white cheese slopes serving as the paws, the cat’s head cleverly makes use of a few white 2×2 corner plates along with some tan 1×1 plates, cheese slopes, and semi-circle pieces. The rest of our furry friend’s body comprises of other slope pieces and tiles in tan as well as a tan cat tail piece. Surely this is a build that could be inspiring to both...

Do you feel a need for speed? Are your competitors feeling hungry? Fix that speed craving and make your rivals eat your dust as you speed along in Oscar Cederwall‘s LEGO skitter vig. Look at this speeder zip through the desert! It’s always great to see what sort of science fiction vehicles can be created, and this is no different. Using large blue pieces from buildable action figures was a clever idea, as was the decision to do an open cockpit. We’re able to see the figure, giving us a sense of scale with the dust clouds. Which, by the way, is probably my favorite part of this whole creation. I’m seeing how fast the driver is going and what kind of environment he’s in. This definitely shows Oscar’s talent! The post Super fast speeder zips on by appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Adam Jacobs

Anyone who is a fan of The Stormlight Archives novels will be thrilled to see Tim Schwalfenberg‘s LEGO take on The Chasm, a world in which the only source of light comes from cracks in the sky. This creation is jaw-dropping. I love the color transitions as the light darkens deeper in the canyon. It really adds to the sense of depth in this build. How far does it go down? Sure, you can count the brick height along the chasm walls, but all the detail poured into this build gives the illusion of being near-bottomless. The other detail I want to point out is the excellent plant work. From swampy saplings curing their limbs creepily to the vined flowers reaching upward for a glimpse of daylight. Like the color transitions, the way the vines wrap themselves along the rocky crevasse adds to the sense of how deep you are down...

When Marius Herrmann said he’d start a series of LEGO robots with a sense of style I said color me intrigued! Here we have “Sialia”-N1 Police Enforcer adorned in a sassy blue number from the Scala line. In order to get this jacket in this specific color, you’d have to have bought the super-rare Scala 3158 Christian in Tough Wear set. Because nothing says tough-guy like a light blue blazer! I’m rather smitten by the look, actually. This robotic law enforcer comes with a matching reconnaissance drone to ensure that you are also smitten by the whole ensemble. Not convinced yet? Then check out our archives where Marius always keeps it interesting. I’ll certainly be on the lookout to see what other fashion-forward robots he comes up with. The post Enjoy my jacket. You have 20 seconds to comply. appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Lino

Using only 101 pieces, Jonas Kramm creates a brilliant two-mast ship inspired by Käpt’n Blaubär. As you’d expect clever part usage abounds, but the best bit may be the rowboat that gets upscaled into the ship’s hull. The doubled white 3×4 curved panels for sails are brilliant as well, giving a great sense of motion to the build. There’s even a tiny masthead mermaid made from an orange bow and a a carrot top for a tail. The 101 piece limit comes from the contest rules for the RogueOlympics, and Jonas has pledged to be back with even more 101 element creations. Maybe these builds can help inspire you to try your hand at your own microscale building! The post I like the shipshape shape of this ship-shaped ship. appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Chris Doyle

February is behind us, and so another Febrovery also comes to an end. The month-long tribute to the classic space rover brought us many charming and clever space rovers, but there are still rovers trickling in and I couldn’t let these gems by Andreas Lenander go unsung. A good rover is not just about the vehicle, but the terrain it is built to traverse, and this one features a fractured surface filled with glittering jewels. But as Andreas says in the title of this model, it is all about the wheels, and these built wheels have bite. I’m talking about the tooth element used along the inner edge of the rims. And speaking of wheels, this rover comes with double wheels in front and enough ground clearance to deal with the most rugged ground the universe can dish out. The stark black and white colors and the lights make me think...

LEGO spider mechs aren’t too uncommon, but most of the time they give the impression of a machine with a lot of legs–after all, that’s what they are. But this one by Joss Woodyard is enough to trigger an arachnophobe. OK, technically it’s based on a Harvestman (AKA daddy longlegs) which isn’t a spider. But it’s still an arachnid, and with all those eyes and creepy arms and dripping….something–shudder–it definitely counts in my book. The green bits on the legs are the Technic wire clip, which you may have seen a lot of around here lately, since it’s being used in the latest Iron Builder challenge. The post A spider mech to give you the creepy-crawlies appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Chris (TBB Managing Editor)

Why would Brothers Brick alumni Iain Heath burn Borat’s slingshot mankini into our retinas when we had since 2006 to forget it? Well, it turns out Sasha Baron Cohen and his fumbling foreign alter ego are relevant again. Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (actual title is much longer) had come out in late 2020 and garnered three Golden Globe nominations. Mr. Cohen won the award for best actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy, for his starring role as the titular character. Rudy Guiliani, who also appeared in the film, won no such award because apparently, that wasn’t acting. Plus, Iain has a knack for knowing what is hot at any precise moment. We have like two hours to jump on that bandwagon before Iain moves on to the next hottest thing. So if we want to stay relevant, we pretty much had to publish this. Consider yourselves hip and enlightened. High...