The Brick Show

It’s been said before and we’ll say it here again, the LEGO Ideas Ship in a Bottle, set number 21313, is one of the most impressive products yet to be produced in the line. It’s so intricate and “antique-looking” enough to earn a place of honor on a shelf-top.

One other awesome characteristic of the Ship in a Bottle (21313) is the fact that it’s highly customization-friendly, especially in terms of what you’d like to display inside the bottle. Several builders have already noticed this and decided to replace the default model flagship Leviathan with some other ship or vehicle.

Daniel Konstanski of Brick Fanatics has decided to put his own unique spin on the Ship in a Bottle (21313) by mixing it with one of his favorite LEGO System builds, the beautifully retro Skull’s Eye Schooner (6286). From the box picture alone, you know it’ll look great inside the display bottle for sure.

There is one problem, however: the default dimensions of the LEGO Skull’s Eye Schooner (6286) are too long and too tall for the Ship in a Bottle (21313) set to contain. Daniel solved that problem by scaling down the hull size by removing some bricks from the default build and adding elements that maintain the model’s original shape and color scheme.

Next, the sails were replaced by smaller LEGO-brick reproductions (plus reduced in number) and the rigging was done away with. Once completed, the shrunken Skull’s Eye Schooner (6286) was able to snugly fit in the 21313 display bottle, snugly enough to not require the Leviathan’s stabilizing tiles at the bottom.

Once finished, the result is as seen in the top image. It’s a beautiful and smartly assembled MOC that will certainly inspire other owners of the LEGO Ideas Ship in a Bottle (21313) to start experimenting with what’s inside. Visit Brick Fanatics for more photos of Daniel Konstanski’s Skull’s Eye Schooner in a Bottle.

Even as the latest LEGO Ideas release, Flagship Leviathan – Ship in a Bottle (21313) continues making waves in stores, the mechanics of having fan submissions being processed for a chance to become an official LEGO Ideas set continue unabated.

There may not have been any passers in the latest Ideas review round just last month, but there are always new and more submissions to the LEGO Ideas website that are competing to get noticed enough to get the prized 10,000 supporters mark that would put them up for a future review. The latest to hit that milestone’s a historical vehicle.

LEGO Ideas member JustOneMoreBrick must be very pleased to have hit the 10K support milestone for his submission, SR-71A The Final Flight. It’s a spectacular brick build of the famous Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird supersonic reconnaissance plane with NASA livery, depicting the last active aircraft of the line before its retirement.

For some added backstory, the Lockheed SR-71, introduced in 1966, was a cutting-edge image of the Cold War from the previous century. Used by the US Air Force for spy work, it was retired by the military in 1998, with two units retained by NASA for flight testing until 1999.

That last retirement year, specifically October 9, 1999 was the last time a Blackbird took to the air. JustOneMoreBrick’s design of the aircraft in LEGO is awe-inspiring despite the near-uniform black color scheme (barring NASA white and red). The details are exquisitely rendered and it even has a pilot minifigure.

The LEGO SR-71’s mechanical gimmicks include adjustable tail-planes, retractable undercarriage (landing gear), and cockpit for the minifigure. LEGO Techies will definitely love it. It’s still a ways off before we see SR-71A The Final Flight included in a batch of 10K Ideas entries for review, but at least its spot is secure.