Daily LEGO: Discovery and Leonov from 2001 and 2010

There are few ships as cinematically majestic as the Discovery from the movies 2001 and 2010 and its successor the Leonov, so you can imagine how I was blown away by these display-quality models of the two ships made from LEGO.

Not only are they made from a reasonable number of standard bricks (for 6-foot- and 3-foot-long models) but they feature articulating parts, interior spaces, and LEGO display stands. In short, everything a spaceship nerd could ever want from a model*.

Discovery: Each pod bay door in the command module is attached using a pair of magnets and can be easily removed. Three retractable platforms allow each pod to slide out for launch.

The top of the command module can be removed to reveal the detailed pod bay and habitat centrifuge, the two of which can also be separated. The radar dish is fully posable and exhibits the full range of motion that is seen in the movie.

The ship and stand can be separated into four major sections for transportation. Disassembly and assembly can easily be done in less than a minute.

Leonov: The main antenna and docking clamp are fully posable. The docking clamp can be seen with a section of the Discovery's spine, illustrating how it attaches. The last image shows the internal motor and gears which drive the central armature.

Each project is illustrated with a gallery of images, LDraw plans, and parts lists. That means the only thing stopping you from making one of these bad boys is some brick shopping and about [mumble] hours of free time.

Hat tip to Gerry Williams.

* You'll have to provide your own crazed LEGO AI central computer.