The Brothers Brick

Given that so much steampunk is Victorian, much of it seems very British. By using blue Imperial Soldiers minifigs, Andrew Horvatits’ “Colonial Steampunk” creations could be French or even American. (Just imagine steam-powered war machines at the Battle of Bunker Hill!)

Here’s Andrew’s colonial walker:

And his colonial flyer:

My series of Japanese historical and legendary characters stalled when I couldn’t figure out how to make the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu’s hat (image from Wikipedia; click to read Ieyasu’s biography):

Nelson Yrizarry has solved this problem with a unique combination of pieces, and I also like Nelson’s solution for a folded fan:

Since I posted his first “Crysilon” ship a couple of weeks ago, Mark Stafford has continued posting vehicles and vessels in his new Space faction. Now, he reveals exactly where Crysilons come from in a wonderfully illustrated LEGO comic:

Jamie Neufeld gets steampunk. He proves this by distilling the steampunk aesthetic down to minifig scale. For a building style that relies on hoses, gauges, boilers, and an overwhelming amount of detail, this is no small feat.

Here’s Jamie’s U.S. Air Cavalryman:

And his Zeppelin-robbing thief:

Head on over to Classic-Space.com to discuss Jamie’s creations.

(Thanks to Linus Bohman for the tip on this one.)

Some of you may have noticed that I added a new site to the list of LEGO communities over on the right. Joining the likes of Classic-Castle.com, Classic-Space.com, and From Bricks to Bothans, Mecha Hub is the new home for a growing community of LEGO mecha builders.

Administrator Bryce has high hopes for what Mecha Hub will be, including:

* repository for Lego Mecha models.
* dynamic resource of current builders.
* historical resource of past builders and contributions.
* dynamic how-to source for Lego Mecha builders.
* community driven knowledge base.
* platform with which to show new Lego Mecha creations.
* close knit community with active forums and feedback.

Best of luck to this new community! I would encourage those of you who build in this genre to join, and those of you who don’t to visit the site for some great inspiration.

A somewhat slow LEGO day took me to Technorati, where I found this (via eclecticism):

Yes, he’s probably a hound dog, I wouldn’t call him “high-classed,” and I’m fairly confident he’s never caught a rabbit, but Steve Bishop has put the new Robin hair (from the Batcave set) to good use with an Elvis Presley minifig:

Also See Steve’s Elvis in a new vignette on Brickshelf, part of his ongoing “Great Moments in History” series.

Moko has updated one of his old Brickshelf entries to create a cool, futuristic bike:

Here’s Moko’s inspiration for this bike:

I see the resemblance, but they’re very distinct, and both interesting in their own way (one cool, the other cute).

(A side not for those of you following along at home: Moko tends to upload pictures in batches to Brickshelf, but he’s always building new stuff. If you want to see his latest creations, check out his blog, “The LEGO Way.” It’s in Japanese, but like so many other Japanese LEGO blogs there are lots of pictures.)

A cool creation isn’t the only thing necessary to get what you’ve built noticed. Good presentation, lots of pictures, and even a clever name can help. Brickshelfer Legohaulic proves this with a spaceship called the Speedy Investment, piloted by none other than a rich alien named Dr. Deposit:

Legohaulic also posted a space pirate’s ship:

Naturally enough, here’s the pirate holding up Dr. Deposit:

Hilarious!

Linus Bohman has posted an entry in the current Joe Vig contest that just (ahem) blew me away (via VignetteBricks and Brick Brick):

What’s so cool about this vignette is that Bohman has built the whole thing in black and white, just like the movie (Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove). The only elements in color are Joe Vig. Great work, Bohman!

Wow, I have been out of the loop for the last week or so. But now I’m back and ready to blog again! Anyway, while perusing Brickshelf, I noticed this incredible mosaic of Darth Vader and I had to share. So here it is!

Chuybregts’ nifty Vader mosaic:

What made this jump out at me was the fact that it jumps out at you! Done all on black, unlike most mosaics, Vader’s head appears slightly 3D. Very cool and “most impressive”.

Here’s the gallery if you want to see it, but there’s only the one pic.

Edit: Here are more pics of the Mosaic in progress! (thanks to sean mykael for the link!)

And here is a page of instructions that chuybregts made for this creation.

Soren Roberts has posted an awesome Zaku mecha from Gundam:

From the chain gun to the pink eye, this beauty is full of fantastic details.

Leave comments on Flickr, or check out the full gallery on NeutronBot.com.

A year ago when I launched “Dunechaser’s Blocklog,” my blogroll included just a handful of other LEGO blogs, such as LEGO-BINGO and VignetteBricks. As I’ve become aware of more blogs and new blogs have been launched, this list has grown to include nearly sixty Japanese blogs, nearly fifty in English (in the nav bar on the right), and several in German, Portuguese, and Spanish.

With so many of us blogging about our hobby, some overlap is inevitable. Sean Mykael has given this some serious thought over at Brick Brick, and has proposed an excellent LEGO Bloggers Code. So, let’s head on over there to discuss, shall we?

I always liked clicking my WarCraft and StarCraft units repeatedly to see what they’d say. Some pretty hilarious stuff after about ten clicks (especially Ogres). Anyway, Flickrite jehkay has posted a cool little SCV:

What I like about LEGO creations based on StarCraft is that the low resolution on reference pictures gives the builder a lot of freedom to create unique solutions and interesting details. In jehkay’s SCV, I especially like the new wheel well thingy surrounding the driver.

I profiled Japanese blogger xeuren’s American Comics Lego Archive over on PPB late last year. Xeuren recently posted a nice photo review of 7783 Batcave. Perhaps I’ve missed a review in English elsewhere, but xeuren’s review includes several great pictures of the new set, including the new minifigs:

The set also includes Batman and a henchman (for a total of seven). I think Robin (black pompadour!!!) and The Penguin (purple stubby legs!!!) are fantastic, but I’m not so sure about Alfred — as xeuren also says, the expression on his face seems a little dandyish.

I’m really torn between this set and 7785 Arkham Asylum. I still don’t have a black Batman minifig, and both have some great villain minifigs as well…

Anyway, head on over to American Comics Lego Archive for more close-up pictures of this set, as well as xeuren’s own custom superhero minifigs.