LEGO Canadian Seaspan Polar Icebreaker Model
I'm proud to present my single largest LEGO model commission to date! Recently at the Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards, we celebrated the launch of a one-of-a-kind vessel that stands out from the rest.
Measuring in at 11 ft long, and 2 ft wide, this built-in-Canada polar icebreaker is made entirely out of LEGO bricks.
The impressive build is the result of over 520 hours of construction (not including hull design, brick sorting, and planning) by LEGO artist Paul Hetherington Artist, with digital hull design by Lego certified professional Robin Sather (Brickville DesignWorks).
Designed in collaboration with Seaspan's engineers, the model mirrors the Canadian Coast Guard’s future heavy polar icebreaker — down to its bridge, lifeboats, engine room and more.
Built with over 152,000 Lego bricks, the ship model will do more than help to visualize the real polar icebreaker currently under construction— it will help inspire future shipbuilders.
On this project I partnered with LEGO Certified Professional Robin Sather. We started the design phase by deciding to make each internal floor of the vessel 7 LEGO bricks high. This would accommodate the height of a LEGO Minifigure and helped us determine how long the model needed to be.
Next my partner on this project Robin Sather, drafted up a digital design of the outline of the ship and later he used a digital program to map out the shape of the hull in LEGO form. Once we had this information in place we made our best guess on how many LEGO bricks and elements we would need to order. Once the bricks arrived it was up to me to spend the next 6 months designing and building the ship’s exterior and interior as well as creating the ice and underwater landscaping.
Early on we decided to include the surrounding ice and ocean floor. These elements were crucial to help to support the ship model since we were only building one side of the vessel. They also offered the opportunity to show some of the science and Coast Guard missions that would happen on and around the ship.
The model was built in 6 sections to allow for transport. The main structure is in 4 sections, and the super structure is built in 2 sections. The sections were built from the bottom up and lighting was added as I built. I really enjoyed doing research to try and get the colors and shapes of the machinery as accurate to the prototypes as possible. There are lots of fun scenarios happening in the model. I hope that you enjoy exploring all the details in the model and are inspired to learn more about ship building and science!
The model is on permanent display at Seaspan’s office located in North Vancouver, B.C.
Photo taken by Mike Savage.
LEGO Canadian Seaspan Polar Icebreaker Model
I'm proud to present my single largest LEGO model commission to date! Recently at the Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards, we celebrated the launch of a one-of-a-kind vessel that stands out from the rest.
Measuring in at 11 ft long, and 2 ft wide, this built-in-Canada polar icebreaker is made entirely out of LEGO bricks.
The impressive build is the result of over 520 hours of construction (not including hull design, brick sorting, and planning) by LEGO artist Paul Hetherington Artist, with digital hull design by Lego certified professional Robin Sather (Brickville DesignWorks).
Designed in collaboration with Seaspan's engineers, the model mirrors the Canadian Coast Guard’s future heavy polar icebreaker — down to its bridge, lifeboats, engine room and more.
Built with over 152,000 Lego bricks, the ship model will do more than help to visualize the real polar icebreaker currently under construction— it will help inspire future shipbuilders.
On this project I partnered with LEGO Certified Professional Robin Sather. We started the design phase by deciding to make each internal floor of the vessel 7 LEGO bricks high. This would accommodate the height of a LEGO Minifigure and helped us determine how long the model needed to be.
Next my partner on this project Robin Sather, drafted up a digital design of the outline of the ship and later he used a digital program to map out the shape of the hull in LEGO form. Once we had this information in place we made our best guess on how many LEGO bricks and elements we would need to order. Once the bricks arrived it was up to me to spend the next 6 months designing and building the ship’s exterior and interior as well as creating the ice and underwater landscaping.
Early on we decided to include the surrounding ice and ocean floor. These elements were crucial to help to support the ship model since we were only building one side of the vessel. They also offered the opportunity to show some of the science and Coast Guard missions that would happen on and around the ship.
The model was built in 6 sections to allow for transport. The main structure is in 4 sections, and the super structure is built in 2 sections. The sections were built from the bottom up and lighting was added as I built. I really enjoyed doing research to try and get the colors and shapes of the machinery as accurate to the prototypes as possible. There are lots of fun scenarios happening in the model. I hope that you enjoy exploring all the details in the model and are inspired to learn more about ship building and science!
The model is on permanent display at Seaspan’s office located in North Vancouver, B.C.
Photo taken by Mike Savage.