LEGO Steampunk
Both futuristic and retro, the steampunk world is truly one of a kind, a bit like the medieval era ⚔️. It blends the aesthetics and technology of the 19th century with science fiction elements.
Its books, films and shows take place in an alternate reality where technological progress is not powered by electricity, but by the steam engine.
Put simply, steampunk mixes the architectural style of the Belle Époque with retro-futuristic technology.
Steam is therefore at the heart of this utopian / dystopian universe (depending on how you see it).
The technology of this world is usually as advanced as that of our modern world, but it uses steam as its power source instead of electricity 🔋, gas 💨 or oil 🛢.
Steampunk technology therefore takes on a retro look that recalls the Industrial Revolution.
As Douglas Fetherling put it so well, "steampunk is a genre that imagines how different the past might have been if the future had come sooner".
I LEGO Steampunk City MOC
Two AFOLs, Brick Rebel and Monstrophonic, pooled their considerable talent and skills to build this superb steampunk city layout called LEGO Steam Company.
So what exactly is steampunk? It is a subgenre of science fiction that assumes Herbert George Wells and Jules Verne were right about their visions of the future in the Victorian era.
Zeppelins, steamboats, copper robots and steam trains abound in this genre, where everyone from the airship mechanic to the mayor looks fantastic in a top hat and brass goggles.
The builders behind this collection of sets tell us the layout includes a series of moving parts: a steam power plant with a tall chimney, the Steam Rail 🚂 (a moving train/monorail), a skyscraper with a working elevator, the Airship Department (with a revolving door and a working searchlight on the roof), and a "flying" zeppelin with spinning rotors and cabin lighting 💡.
There is also a city park with a botanical garden, a restaurant with robot waiters and various other buildings and characters in Victorian steampunk style ⚙️.
It's great to see a builder / designer with a very different take on the phrase "having your head in the clouds" ☁️. Marcel V drew inspiration from the talented artist Chong Fei Giap, famous for his enchanting cityscapes. Beautifully photographed with nimbus mist swirling around the stilts of the towers, and with a cable car system 🚠 to get around, the model truly captures the identity of this other world.
Still, we can't help wondering how the residents manage to pin their clothes on that hanging clothesline. It's quite intriguing, but our eyes are too busy scanning every tiny detail!
We head back to Paris in 1889 with Castor Troy's latest addition to his take on the city in the steampunk era. The Ministry of the Colonies features a striking combination of black, white and gold, with some lovely architectural details.
No expense was spared on this particular office, which features a number of fancy gold elements, such as the ornamental fences and the Ninjago swords used in the roof on the far right.
The builder of this MOC also created a large selection of minifigures to populate the streets of his utopian city.
Like every great city, this steampunk version of Paris designed by Castor Troy keeps growing. In the next photo you can see buildings standing alongside the imposing Notre Dame Cathedral.
Each of them contains the kind of gorgeous architectural detail we've come to expect, from the Egyptian Art Deco building with its clever use of ornamental fences for the doors and gold claw elements to represent two facing sphinxes, to the new maritime office with a ship's wheel mounted on a wall.
Let's hope Castor's passion for LEGO sets and building bricks keeps giving birth to new wonders in this splendid city or on his Flickr page ⌨️.
II LEGO Steampunk Mech
Steam-powered military "walkers" are an essential part of the LEGO steampunk building genre, and the one by Carter Witz is a great addition to the lot. A spindly tripod with touches of dark red among the grays. The functional leg joints support a well-detailed body, full of texture (and weaponry).
The top of this mechanical beast reminds us of a classic Prussian-style spiked helmet, the "pickelhaube". It's one of those LEGO creations where the presentation adds enormously to the overall effect.
The base is simple but well done, and adding marching minifigures (or at least ones that look like they're moving) beneath their mechanical companion gives a sense of scale that the central model alone might lack.
And dropping in that wolf is a masterstroke, instantly creating a feeling of mystery, danger and otherworldliness.
III LEGO Steampunk MOCs
1 LEGO Steampunk Batman Batcave
Jonas (Legopard) is quickly becoming one of our favorite builders. Not least because he shows talent across many themes, like his series of vignettes based on the first Jurassic Park movie or Steve's house from the series Stranger Things.
His latest build is this excellent conversion of the Batcave into the very essence of steampunk style: the superhero Batman in a top hat (which still sports two small LEGO bricks mimicking bat ears), standing next to his famous and very charming Batmobile, ready to go patrol the streets of Gotham City!
We love the use of chrome / metallic helmets to form the destructive wheel rims of the Batmobile. Let's just say it makes a change from the usual LEGO Batman sets.
Marvel Comics has its multiverse: alternate realities where the heroes you know are reimagined as something new. DC Comics does something similar with its own characters, usually with very dark takes on them.
But sometimes these stories can just be good fun, and if you're really lucky, you get to enjoy one of them in the form of LEGO building bricks.
Take a look at this miniature version of Batman and his Batmobile by Breado's Bricks. Batman always has a ton of resources, so what if he'd leaned into glitter as much as into flying rodents?
You might end up with the steampunk version we see here.
Decked out in gold chrome elements and bricks, a cape and cowl, and a bulletproof vest, this Batman may not be stealthy, but he is certainly shiny and sparkly, very "pimped out"!
2 LEGO Steampunk Airship
At CreatiBrick, we love the research MOC builders put into finding new and creative ways to use large LEGO pieces. Peter Ilmrud does it brilliantly in his Steampunk Airship.
His skill with small LEGO bricks can't be overlooked (for example the smoke rising from the top), and it would be a fantastic creation even without its abundance of large elements, but it's those big pieces that make you say: "oh cool, I've never seen them used like that before" or, if you're steeped in LEGO fan lingo, "NPU" (Nice Part Usage).
Let's dive into this flying ship (inspired as much by the sea as by the sky) and look at some of the parts used here. The most obvious are the planets (this is Bespin from set #9678) used to look like balloons.
Another easy-to-spot piece is the dragon head used as the ship's figurehead.
A closer look reveals the well-integrated use of a Ninjago Airjitzu propeller serving as the rear engine, 4 Juniors boat bows used to support the wing propellers, and windows taken from TIE fighters (Darth Vader's or the classic TIE fighters).
The last example of part usage we'd like to highlight is the upside-down tires used to form the smokestack (which looks gorgeous, by the way, with smoke rising out of it).
Check out the photos Peter took from different angles and see what other interesting building techniques he used on his flying ship!
The next creation may well be one of the most beautiful airships to grace the skies of a world blending steampunk and LEGO. It's the much-anticipated Skytanic, built by Markus Ronge. In Markus's steampunk universe, the airship's massive size was made possible in part by the ultra-light steel used to build it.
As for the characters involved in building the ship, Markus once again gives them names (if you look at his Flickr page you'll see he builds a story and a whole universe across his creations). Hiram Lever is the designer of the Skytanic, which in turn is flown by Captain Ulysses Wheeler.
From bow to stern, the Skytanic looks phenomenal. The red, black and white hull recalls that of the Titanic, while the gold trim gives the finished model a steampunk, retro-futuristic look. According to Markus, the ship stands an impressive five decks tall, and each level feels distinct.
The top level features a lively bar, and the royal cabin sits just below it. If you look closely, you'll also find what seems to be a tribute to the scene of Jack and Rose standing at the bow of the ship in James Cameron's movie Titanic (1997) 🚢.
3 LEGO Star Wars Steampunk
For a change from classic LEGO Star Wars sets and minifigures, we invite you to rediscover the most famous ships of the trilogy, reimagined in retro-futuristic style (trust us, it's well worth a look)!
The AT-AT is a monstrous machine in the Star Wars universe, but it is incredibly slow and cumbersome, and it is threatened by relatively small cable-firing Snowspeeders.
However, that doesn't make it any less cool, and it won't stop LEGO builder Markus19840420 (whose creations you can also discover in our LEGO Star Wars MOCs article) from recreating it in basic bricks as a steampunk machine.
OK. Maybe the steam engine will make things even harder for this all-terrain giant and give it almost no chance of surviving on Hoth ❄️, but chances are the Snowspeeders are coal-powered too, which levels the playing field, right?
The model uses a number of elements from the LEGO Technic range, which makes this AT-AT replica look closer to and more realistic than the original.
The real challenge of this round was to come up with a steampunk LEGO AT-AT in just seven days, and in that short week Markus 1984 packed in a number of details that define a steampunk machine.
While it may not be practical in the "real" Battle of Hoth scenario, Markus1984's interpretation is impressive nonetheless. Just look at it and notice the clever Gatling guns 🔫 fitted to the AT-AT's chin.
The speeder bike of the Imperial troopers based on Endor (the forest moon) is instantly recognizable! Yet the balloon gives it a unique steampunk twist. What stands out most, though, is the way the pilot is dressed.
It can't go faster than 6 to 12 mph and yet he's wearing a helmet and goggles! It's that touch of humor that makes this builder-made kit a little beauty in LEGO bricks!
The last Star Wars / steampunk ship we're showing you is a rather excellent take on the Jedi Starfighter, here called the Jedi Steamfighter!
This build would make an excellent LEGO set, but before we see one like it in the LEGO Store, we'll have time to lose our hair!
The structure follows that of the original Jedi Starfighter, but with many more bricks, small bricks and special elements that add detail and depth (greebling) to the ship.
The cockpit is also particularly interesting: instead of a glass canopy, the designer of this MOC, Zach Clapsadle, chose to leave it open.
The cockpit is made with LEGO pipes, which must surely give this fighter pilot better visibility!
After this tour of steampunk creations ⚙️ and LEGO building bricks 🧱, we'll see you in the next article! See you soon, AFOLs!
