If you love piña coladas, getting caught in the rain, and building intricate Lego recreations of famous sci-fi spaceships, then you need to get the Lego Guardians of the Galaxy ship (officially named Lego The Guardians’ Ship). It’s easily one of the nicest builds we’ve done, and the bright colors mix with a host of fan-pleasing little details to make every stage entertaining.

Of course, we expect nothing less from a ship that features in one of the best marvel movies of all time, though it’s worth pointing out that this model is of the Infinity War version of the Benatar – a reconstruction of the ship from the original film. It’s a pretty fantastic spaceship, but it just popped out of a spot on our the coolest sci-fi spaceships list by its predecessor, the Milano – although both Guardians of the Galaxy Ships each has a rather interesting story.

As always, when we tackled the Lego Guardians of the Galaxy ship, we went through our standard testing process. We timed our build, noted the length of each section, and asked a younger builder – in this case, a six-year-old boy – to participate and see how difficult he was to create. In all honesty, this model is recommended for builders over 14 and is aimed primarily at collectors (it comes with a display stand), but we found that kids would enjoy building it too.

If you buy it cheaper, we’ve seen it go on sale from time to time, but you’ll need to be very patient and keep an eye out for our best Lego deals hub. And to see more great Lego kits, check out our best Lego space sets guide.

Related: Lego Space Deals

Lego Guardians of the Galaxy ship review: Build

In all, the build took about 6-7 hours and we tackled it over the course of a week. There are 14 bags/sections in total, and while some are definitely more interesting than others, each has its own charm. Lego got tricky with this build and spaced out the fun minifigures to give you a new character during some of the less entertaining sections. And while recreating the wings may be the slowest part of the build, we were very impressed with the intricacy and detail in every part – right down to the controls in the cockpit, the coffee machine in the inside the living quarters and the misplaced donut left on one of the tables.

It’s a real pleasure to see how detailed this model is and how cleverly each section fits together to accurately recreate the actual ship. Nothing here feels forced or gimmicked – the curves are correct, the wing angles are correct and the proportions are excellent. The build really gives you an idea of ​​how much work it takes to recreate the Benatar.

The result, however, is a rather complicated build that uses lots of small pieces, panels, and interlocking sections. We found that our six-year-old tester could get to grips with some of the more intricate sections of the ship’s body, but – with the best will in the world – they got pretty bored halfway through, because the layering over the detail makes progress very slow. This one is definitely the best for collectors and adults, though older kids looking to build with their parents or siblings will still have a blast.

Lego Guardians of the Galaxy ship review: Design

Lego The Guardians’ Ship is a very faithful recreation of a surprisingly complex ship. Although it looks simple on the outside, there are so many nifty little construction tricks that give the model such precision. The way the wings attach and hold in place is very clever and the fact that you can access the interior through the cockpit and the top of the ship is a very nice feature. We might like the method of opening the top section to be a little more graceful (essentially you remove a section of the roof), but it works well and doesn’t spoil the aesthetics of the model itself.

The stand is necessarily sturdy and has a rotating section that attaches to the model, so you can tilt it to your liking depending on your screen. Overall, it’s a very heavy and solid construction, made up of several layers, so it’s unlikely to break if you push it or knock other Lego pieces against it. One of the issues we’re having with a number of models from the recent Star Wars Lego range is that they have fragile parts, which makes them harder to keep intact. There are no such weak points on the Lego Guardians of the Galaxy ship.

The minifigs you get with this build are all cool characters. You get Star-Lord, Thor, Teenage Groot, Rocket, Mantis, and a single Chitauri warrior. We would have liked a Drax too but… hey, this line-up is kind of fun. And we understand why Gamora isn’t pictured here (no spoilers).

Should you buy the Lego Guardians of the Galaxy starship?

If you’re a movie fan or just someone who loves cool Lego models, the Guardians ship is an absolute must. It’s bright orange, wonderfully detailed, accurately recreated, and sturdy. The display makes it perfect for collectors, although those with space museums are advised not to place it too close to Howard the Duck. We also really like the minifigs, as several of them are properly designed for this ship.

It’s a more complicated build, sure, but not impossible for young Lego fans. The main barrier to entry for those under 14 is the fact that there’s little instant gratification here – it’s a slow and steady model aimed primarily at adults. With 1,901 bricks and a good 6-7 hours to build, it’s good value for money (for Lego), especially since the end product is such a beautiful, iconic piece of sci-fi history. .

What else could you buy?

There aren’t many alternatives to the Lego Guardians ship. While you can buy plenty of space-themed Legos and there’s a whole range of Marvel builds out there, nothing compares directly. Marvel fans might want to try the Rise of Domo set, from The Eternals, which features a smaller ship but…it’s just not the same. It’s $90/£90and features a handful of Deviant characters and models.

We like the Infinity Gauntlet version, though, so if you’re a Lego collector and want a different kind of Marvel fix, this is probably the one for you. You can usually pick it up for $70 / £60, and it displays extremely well. For those who just want a cool spaceship, we definitely recommend the Discovery of the Lego NASA space shuttlewhich is a delightfully detailed vessel. Get it for around $199 / £160.