SHIPtember '23: The Final Countdown
You heard that right, SHIPtember fans! Everyone’s favorite annual at-least-100-stud, Seriously Huge Investment in Parts, month-long build-a-thon is drawing to a close. But it’s not too late, even if you haven’t started yet. Got some vacation days to burn? Good at faking an illness (cough cough)? Then you’re ready to get to it!
But if you’re just curious about who’s built what so far, you’re in luck. We’ve got a preliminary round-up of this year’s SHIPtember builds, plus some exclusive, behind-the-scenes commentary from the builders themselves!
USS Alliance
Kicking it off, we start with Ryan Olsen. Ryan kind of got an early start this year since he was planning on taking his finished build to BrickCon. He started with some renders back in August, but that’s totally within the rules of SHIPtember.
As long as you start and finish within a month, no more, it’s cool. This allows, for example, students going back to school, away from their bricks, to still participate.
Ryan: “USS Alliance is my second SHIPtember build styled in a future ‘United States Space Navy’ theme and my eighth entry into SHIPtember overall. The shapes of the ship is inspired by the USS Saratoga build from Red Spacecat in 2014. Still one of the best SHIPs ever made! I'm thinking a space aircraft carrier may need to be next?”
A classic panel-on-frame design, the style has been a staple of SHIPtember builds for a decade now, if memory serves. Reference photo here. Gotta love the Photoshop skills on display! Lighting, shadow, scale and focus; all quite convincing. Nicely done, Chief!
The Pike
Next up, we’ve got Dutch builder, Klaas de Wit, who’s normally focused on Medieval themes in the LEGO medium, but this year he tried his hand at spaceship design. But why?
Klass: “For the last few years in September, I always saw the most beautiful and imaginative spaceships passing by. But as a lover of the Middle Ages, I often got no inspiration to build one, too. Until this year, in a VIP package from LEGO, I received two orange space helmets. That, combined with momentarily having no idea what exactly to build for castle, was enough to win me over.”
What I found to be the most interesting aspect of his build was the interior—not something we see too often in this challenge! Bridge with coffee cups-Check. Passenger seats-Check. Warp plasma conversion relays-Check and Double Check. (The deuterium storage tanks really should have more shielding, but I’ll give him a pass on that one.)
There’s even an observatory! Why might that be, you ask?
Klass: “This summer I read Malacandra (C.S. Lewis, highly recommended!) in which Ransom, the protagonist, is amazed at the amazing view through the spaceship window. That gave me the idea for the observatory in my spaceship.”
Nice to hear that people are still reading! And, more importantly, finding inspiration for SHIPs!
CIS-Lunar Space Tug
Now we’ve got Space Kook, with his Duplo-scaled mash-up with all sorts of things going on in there. Even an upside-down Space Shuttle! (I would have posted more pics, but this is the only one he sent me.) There’s a cool shot of the pilots here. So what’s the deal with this SHIP, anyway? Glad you asked!
Kook: “A fellow builder on Discord asked the community if anyone was up to building with every Brick scale (i.e.: System, Duplo, Quatro, etc). I could not get my hands on any Quattro but I chanced upon some LEGO storage boxes, which are actually compatible with System! I also have Modulex so I decided to gather not just every scale that I could, but additional building types (Technic, Scala, Galidor, Fabuland, etc.). I used the Duplo set 10944 as inspiration and took it from there. I had a lot of fun building a Space Tug, and felt that the storage boxes make for great ready-made transport containers.”
With all those different scales and themes, it comes together in a cohesive unit. Ready to terraform the moon. Or at least build a shopping mall with a LEGO Store…
There you have it, gang! A smattering of SHIPtember builds thus far. And like I said, it’s not too late to join the fun! Head to our LEGO contest and challenge round-up for all the details!
Have you ever built for SHIPtember? Is this the first you’re hearing of it? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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