Full Steam Ahead! Build Your Ultimate LEGO® Steam Machine
5
days leftAll aboard the steam dream! We’ve got the ultimate LEGO® building activity that will stop you in your tracks.
Inspired by the launch of the incredible LEGO Ideas River Steamboat (21356), we’re inviting you to embrace your inner inventor and build your own steam-powered masterpiece. Whether it’s a reimagined old-world classic, a futuristic flying steamship or something from your wildest imagine, the only rule is: your creation must showcase the mighty power of steam!
Next stop: activity time!
There’s no set track when it comes to creating your steam machine! You could rebuild an iconic steam train with a fresh twist, dream up a boat that sails through futuristic cities, or design an entirely new steampunk vehicle that’s never been seen before. Will it be a monorail with billowing smokestacks? An airship that rides the clouds? A hovercraft with a Victorian steam engine? The (steam) power is in your hands!
All aboard!
Ready to get moving? Make sure your creation is a vehicle that could carry passengers from one place to another. It could chug, sail, glide, fly or even crawl – it just needs to show how steam powers the journey!
Personal touches
Steam into our hearts with a design that is totally you. You could take inspiration from a real-life memory – like the first time you saw a mighty steam engine in action – or dream up something from your wildest steampunk fantasy.
You could even add moving pistons, turning wheels, a paddle wheel that spins or steam vents – dynamic, interactive features that make your steam machine seem the real deal!
How to enter
Once your build is ready, snap some photos and cruise on over to LEGO Ideas where you can give us a whistle-stop tour of all the awesome features you’ve included before submitting your build.
But wait! That’s not the end of the line, remember to look at other entries from fellow LEGO steam machine enthusiasts for inspiration too.
🗓️ Deadline
This Activity will be active until Tuesday June 24th 2025 at 6:00 AM EST.
⚒️ Acceptable Entry Content
- Although you're welcome to base your build on an intellectual property (IP) (such as Star Wars, Batman, etc) and use LEGO elements that only exist in IP sets (i.e. a printed cockpit only found in a LEGO Star Wars set), using IP related references or elements items in your build would limit The LEGO Group in potentially sharing your work on LEGO Social Media. Therefore, if you wish to potentially have your design featured, then make sure to keep it fully original and using generic LEGO elements only.
- We're interested to see builds that primarily use LEGO Brick elements.
- We are looking for images in a 1:1 (square) aspect ratio.
Entries related to the topics below do not fit our brand values and will not be approved for publication on LEGO Ideas:
- Politics and political symbols, campaigns, or movements
- Religious references including symbols, buildings, or people
- Sex, nudity, drugs, or smoking
- Alcohol in any present-day situation
- Swearing or profanity
- Death, killing, blood, terrorism, horror, or torture
- First-person shooter video games
- Warfare or war vehicles in any modern or present-day situation, or national war memorials
- Large or human-scale weapons or weapon replicas of any kind, including swords, knives, guns, sci-fi or fantasy blasters, etc.
- Racism, bullying, or cruelty to real-life animals
💻 ENTRY QUALITY STANDARDS
We still want your Activity entries to have a certain image quality, as it makes browsing them much nicer for all members. Therefore, please take note of the following image quality guidelines:
- Photo submissions must be in at least full HD quality (1080 x 1080) and in a horizontal 1:1 format.
- Although we encourage building with physical LEGO bricks, you may submit digital entries using Bricklink’s Studio, which is free of charge to download. You are also welcome to create digital entries using third-party LEGO CAD software.
- You may use photo editing software, such as Photoshop, to enhance your entry’s presentation.
- Make sure your photos are well-lit, not blurry, in a reasonably high resolution, preferably have a neutral background (no background clutter please).
- Please note, that any and all entry images, will be cropped to a square aspect ratio. Please be aware of this when you're trying to enter this activity.
📜 FINE PRINT
- You must be the original creator of all creative work you submit (the model, images, photographs, description text, etc.) and you must have the exclusive right to submit your model to this LEGO Ideas Contest. You may not submit a model or any other content made by, or on behalf of, someone else.
- By entering the activity, you agree to follow the rules on this Activity Brief page, and you agree to the LEGO Ideas Terms of Service.