With so many high quality LEGO-compatible sets, from Cobi to BlueBrixx, it’s a great time to be a minifig!
If you’ve ever wanted to see the Delta Flyer from Star Trek: Voyager and a runabout from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine side-by-side in the same approximate scale... BlueBrixx has provided!
“My people call me K’uk’ulkan. But my enemies call me Namor.”
“I’m stationed up in the Gamma Quadrant of Sector 4. As a member of the elite Universe Protection Unit of the Space Ranger Corps, I protect the galaxy from the threat of invasion from the Evil Emperor Zurg, sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance.”
IYKYK ;)
The U.S.S. Rio Grande and the Delta Flyer ... the OTP we’ve been wanting to (star)ship all along!
Review of BlueBrixx’s Delta Flyer ... by the U.S.S. Voyager crew ;)
Tom Paris: Behold the Delta Flyer. Ultra-aerodynamic contours, retractable nacelles, para-metallic hull plating, unimatrix shielding based on Tuvok’s brilliant design for the multi-spatial probe, and a Borg-inspired weapons system.
Seven: Basic design elements are ... adequate.
Tom: High praise.
Harry Kim: If we used iso-magnetic EPS conduits in the plasma manifold, we could maximize the power distribution.
Tuvok: My shield designs could be successfully applied to a vessel of this size.
Captain Janeway: I’m impressed, but how quickly can it be built?
Tom: We could replicate the alloys and the new design components, use spare parts from storage. If we worked around the clock we could have it up and running inside a week.
[It actually took me about a day’s time in total to finish the Delta Flyer. There aren’t as many pieces as the Rio Grande model, but some of the steps are a bit trickier than just snapping two bricks together.]
Seven: I suggest we turn our attention to the matter of structural integrity.
Tuvok: Agreed.
Seven: Lieutenant Torres’ hull design is flawed. We should be using tetraburnium alloys instead of titanium.
[Once again, BlueBrixx did an excellent job recreating the basic structure of the Delta Flyer seen in Star Trek: Voyager. Unlike the similarly minifig-scale Galileo and Rio Grande, the bases of which were largely rectangular shaped, the Delta Flyer has a lot of sloping angles that the brickset designers could only replicate with building blocks through very creative and unconventional techniques. As a result, the Delta Flyer is not as clean-looking of a model as its minifig-scale predecessors. There are a few places where the adjacent pieces had to be positioned in a certain way to recreate the proper angle but left gaps and seams as a result. Not a bad trade-off in my opinion to get a brick model in this scale that resembles the onscreen Flyer so closely. Plus, when viewed (or photographed) from certain angles, the gaps are barely noticeable.]
Harry: I keep telling you, we’ve got to reinforce the hull with kellinite. That’s all there is to it.
Tuvok: Proposing the same flawed strategy over and over again will not make it more effective, Ensign.
Harry: Well, we’ve got to come up with something or we’ll never get this thing off the ground.
Tuvok: Unless we find a way to reconfigure the structural integrity field, the hull will incur microfractures during descent.
Tom: Microfractures, Tuvok. Doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll have a hull breach.
Tuvok: And if we do, I suppose these useless design elements from your Captain Proton scenario will compensate for the problem.
Tom: Hey, every one of these knobs and levers is fully functional.
Tuvok: And completely superfluous.
Tom: Maybe to you. I am tired of tapping panels. For once, I want controls that let me actually feel the ship I’m piloting.
[Some time later]
Irina: Vectored exhaust ports, accelerated driver coils. Your vessel must be fast.
Tom: Gets us where we want to go.
Irina: Check your scanners. You’ll see a comet on the other side of the asteroid field. I wonder which of our ships could get there first.
Tom: Sounds like a challenge.
Harry: Not that I’m endorsing this misguided exercise, but maybe we can even the odds. New impulse thrusters.
Tom: Now that’s the spirit, Harry.
[One notable characteristic of the Delta Flyer model that distinguishes it from the Rio Grande and Galileo is that the Flyer has a lot of movable features. These include the aforementioned retractable nacelles and pop-out impulse thrusters. There’s also the rear access hatch, the dorsal cover for the incorporated Borg technology, and a pullout bio-bed in the aft compartment. Fun!]
Special thanks to http://www.chakoteya.net/ for the Star Trek: VOY dialogue transcriptions from the “Extreme Risk” and “Drive” episodes.
And now for the photos with minifigs:
Why is Namor piloting the Delta Flyer? If you know, you know. ;)
LEGO-compatible minifig scale Star Trek models by BlueBrixx: Delta Flyer, U.S.S. Rio Grande, and Galileo
“Rio Grande mission log, stardate 54072.1: we’ve run off course en route to Sector 12 and crash-landed on a straaange planet. ... Terrain seems a bit unstable. No readout yet if the air is breathable. And there seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere.”
Have you ever finished building a set and thought it was just a masterpiece of construction toy design and brick-based engineering that you could stare at appreciating it forever? ;)
One of my favorite details on the BlueBrixx runabout Rio Grande is that you can actually see the minifigs sitting at the helm from outside the front windows, just like at the end of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “One Little Ship” (although it was the runabout Rubicon in that episode).
How’s this pitch for the next LEGO Movie?
The LEGO Movie 3: Guardians of the LEGOverse
A mysterious ship appears near the outskirts of Bricksburg. Master Builder Wyldstyle leads a group of minifigs to investigate. After initially fearing that they’ll need to protect their universe from a multiversal brick incursion, our heroes eventually realize that other non-LEGO sets actually provide more opportunities for creativity and thus complement their world. They decide to use the ship and embark on a quest to seek out new sets, including those outside of the LEGO universe!
;)
Bricks. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the U.S.S. Rio Grande. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new builds. To seek out new sets and new themes. To boldly go where no minifig has gone before!
Review of BlueBrixx’s U.S.S. Rio Grande
The U.S.S. Rio Grande was one of the three original Danube-class runabouts assigned to Deep Space 9. It was the only runabout of the original trio to survive the full run of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series. Over the course of the series, the Rio Grande discovered the Bajoran Wormhole (“Emissary”), crossed over into the Mirror Universe (“Crossover”), carried a long-lost Klingon artifact (“The Sword of Kahless”), retrieved the Orb of the Emissary (“Shadows and Symbols”), and even singlehandedly destroyed a Jem’Hadar attack ship (“Treachery, Faith, and the Great River”)! A vessel with such an illustrious career deserves a tremendous tribute, and BlueBrixx fittingly has made sure that its Rio Grande model lives up to the distinguished runabout.
As with the Galileo shuttle, the most striking initial impression is just how closely this brick-built model resembles the onscreen Rio Grande, both in its exterior and interior. BlueBrixx has recreated just about everything that was depicted onscreen, even the rear sleeping and dining compartment (complete with a replicator!) that was only seen in one TNG episode (“Timescape”). Most impressively, the designers have also included things that were never seen onscreen, such as the specialized mission modules in the midsection and engine components in the pylons.
The build experience is best described as similar to running a marathon. Proper planning and pacing is a must. The runabout may look sleek and compact when finished, but this over-3,000-piece set is a beast and more than likely will take a couple of days to complete. I wouldn’t consider it a set for beginners, and it’s definitely not a set for kids. The build is still a very rewarding experience, especially when you finally snap on the top cover and start to hear the DS9 theme play in your ears (or maybe that’s just me).
Also, as the BlueBrixx product page shows, the set includes a rollbar that was seen on some runabouts. I’ve opted not to include this rollbar on my model because, according to Ex Astris Scientia and Memory Alpha, the Rio Grande was only equipped with this module in just 1 out of its 40 appearances.
One of the great things for me about brick sets is that you can inject your own creativity as you build. For example, I wasn’t crazy about building the toilet that BlueBrixx included in the instructions, so I used some spare LEGO bricks and custom minifig accessories to create an armory in its place. I think the armory turned out pretty well, and the LEGO bricks fit seamlessly in case anyone was wondering about compatibility.
Finally, with the Rio Grande model being in minifig scale, we naturally finish this review with obligatory photos of various LEGO minifigs checking out their new runabout:
My lasting impression of BlueBrixx now that I’ve built multiple sets of theirs: What’s becoming increasingly evident to me is that these sets are clearly a labor of love developed by devoted Star Trek fans. I’ve noticed many places where the designers could’ve opted for a simpler build but went with a more complex, intricate setup to match more closely the appearance of the onscreen ship as much as possible. For someone who’s waited a long time for Star Trek themed LEGO sets, it’s such a joy to see Star Trek building brick sets being made by people who really care about paying homage to the franchise and doing their best to recreate some of its icons. I look forward to many more BlueBrixx sets, especially more small craft in minifig scale! LLAP
The U.S.S. Rio Grande has arrived from BlueBrixx! I’m going to need a bigger shuttlebay. ;)
Steve: Isn’t the design of this spaceship a little ... old fashioned?
Natasha: We could use a little “old fashioned.”
Our gallant crew lands on a planet where imagination becomes reality! Wenwu (intentionally?) manifests a Terracotta Army. Fortunately, the Avengers have plenty of experience fighting an army of enemies.
“Eyes up. Stay sharp. You get hurt; hurt them back. You get killed ... walk it off!” - Captain Rogers
“Let’s see what’s out there!” - Captain Rogers
Fun fact: the Star Trek and Marvel universes have had 2 crossover events in the comics. The X-Men met the crew from The Original Series in a 1996 one-shot comic and then encountered The Next Generation crew in a 1998 book. Could we see a crossover with the Avengers and a crew from one of the new Star Trek series someday?
Review of BlueBrixx’s Galileo Shuttlecraft
Ever since I was a kid and saw the first LEGO space themed set, I hoped that there eventually would be a Star Trek theme. Alas, despite LEGO adding licensed sets from many pop culture franchises like Marvel, Disney, and Jurassic World over the years, there was never a Star Trek set. That all finally changed recently when a German building bricks maker called BlueBrixx started selling officially licensed Star Trek sets! As I’m partial to minifig scale vehicles, the first set I chose to get was the Class F Shuttlecraft.
BlueBrixx doesn’t seem to have a U.S. based retailer, so this set came straight from Rodgau, Germany and needed to clear customs. 17 days after placing the order, my wish of having a Star Trek LEGO-type set has finally come to fruition!
It’s been a few years since I’ve built a brick set, but I was able to finish this shuttle in 2.5 hours. Even though these weren’t LEGOs, the build experience was completely indistinguishable from building with LEGO bricks. The pieces fit together just like LEGOs do. (This is likely because LEGO’s patents have expired and now other companies can make brick pieces exactly to LEGO’s specs.)
What impresses me the most is just how closely the brick model resembles the onscreen Galileo shuttle from The Original Series. It’s a good thing that shuttle was so blocky in appearance, but it’s also a testament to BlueBrixx’s attention to detail in what they chose to re-create in brick form. The pieces fit together very tightly, making this model very sturdy ... except for its nacelles.
The nacelles are the only weak point in the model. As in, literally, they’re a weak point because the front 1/3 of the nacelles have a tendency to disconnect if you accidentally put downward pressure on the model’s bow. This is because the shuttle model actually rests its full weight on the nacelles. Without anything to support the shuttle’s front half, the nacelles’ front sections bear a lot of strain at the segments that contact the surface. This minor shortcoming doesn’t detract from the model at all because the nacelles hold together just fine (surprisingly well, all things considered) as long as you’re careful about where you’re putting pressure, which is a consideration of any brick-built model really. You could also solve the problem by placing something (such as an extra brick or a small display stand) underneath the forward bow to support it.
Being in minifig scale, the model naturally has an interior that can accommodate them. There are no minifigs included with the set, but as with the onscreen shuttle, there are seats for up to 8 figures and some standing room behind the helm too. Interestingly, the Class F shuttle is officially listed as having a crew complement of only 7, so perhaps the extra seat is intended to be for one of the pilots when then they need a break. :)
The interior is every bit as detailed as the exterior and accurately replicates what was seen onscreen to the extent that is possible in small plastic bricks. There is also an aft compartment that I don’t believe was ever seen onscreen and is not accessible from the main compartment unless you remove the door. That could present an opportunity for creativity: customizing the space using other bricks, which I look forward to trying at some point.
Of course, what’s the point of a minifig scale vessel if you don’t put minifigs in it? Here’s a random group of minifigs from various LEGO themes checking out the Galileo! As the first photo shows, the exterior access door on the port side is easily removable, which is another nice touch. I also like how, when viewed from a certain angle, you can see the pilots from outside the front windows.
In conclusion, this Galileo shuttlecraft brick set was well worth the price and the shipping costs/time. The model is a great addition to any LEGO collection and pretty much a must-have for anyone that also happens to be a Trekkie!
BlueBrixx has announced that they will be releasing a Danube-class runabout in minifig scale so that’s definitely going on my shopping list when it becomes available! ;) LLAP