The Brothers Brick

Bryce McGlone‘s masterpiece sculpture of the famous Swiss surrealist HR Giger‘s Li II finally makes its way to the builder’s gallery after being featured on BrickJournal and at BrickCon among other places. The sculpture is based off a toy sculpture by McFarlane Toys.

Nick Dean‘s clever vending machine dispenses more bang for your buck. The ammo clips and military supplies are encased in two window pane pieces. This delightful checkpoint is a perfect item to own in your military base.

Jarek’s (Jerrec) microscal space Gesha Freighter is the latest marvel in microspace engineering. Using the tipper bed piece from set 7798, Jarek craftly simulates the hull of the freighter while creating an illusion that the model is much larger, when my inspection estimates it at around 11″ long.

With photo-editing, you can see the freighter in various industrial colors. Unfortunately it is impossible to actually make the model in any color other than green, since the tipper piece is only produced in that color.

Rong Yiren has just posted another one of his incredibly unique creatures, christened “The Gremlin”.

If so, you’ve got coulrophobia. You should also stay away from Lino’s entry in the Fear and Loathing Challenge. He calls it “I Scream”.

Following quickly on the heels of our post about how to get your LEGO event announced here on The Brothers Brick, Adrian Florea has just announced the first-ever LEGO fan event to be held in Romania.

Here are the details:

Name: Lego fan Expo -First ever AFOL event in Romania
Location: Palatul Copiilor Republicii str. nr 23. Cluj-Napoca , Romania
Time: December 3-7
Hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Contact: spacemonkey_adi@yahoo.com

And here are a few words from Adrian in Romanian:

Va invitam la prima expozitie de LEGO organizata de fanii LEGO din Romania. Evenimentul va include pe langa exponatele alcatuite din colectii si creatii personale, concursuri cu premii si activitati.

McZargald of CATpit construction has posted a couple of really great Vic Viper fighters for NoVVember. The stripey one above is called Moorish Idol after a fish. It doesn’t have the traditional pronged front of a Vic Viper, but I think it’s way cool.

Crusade is equally stripey, with nicely sloped jet intakes:

As part of the service on The Brothers Brick we like to promote LEGO related events so that our readers have a chance to look at LEGO in real life (yes, there is stuff outside the Internet). With many readers from all around the world (OK, not all around but covering a good portion of it) we are in a position to reach people that may otherwise be unaware of events in their neighbourhood.

However we are rarely the right people to give out details of events as we are not involved in their coordination. Nor do we speak most languages so cannot give information in most local dialects. As such we rely on “press releases” from these events to convey information in the most accurate manner.

So what do we mean by a ‘press release’? As a general rule it should include the following

• Dates and locations.
• A brief summary of what the event entails.
• Information about public/open days.
• A link to a website or email for contact.
• DATES AND LOCATIONS. I’ve seen it forgotten more than once.
• A flyer or logo image available in different sizes. We like 500px wide here but it should be no taller than 600px.
• The same again but in the local language where applicable.

Try to keep it short but it doesn’t have to be terse. Remember you’re selling your event to people so a little bit of excitement doesn’t go astray. IT WILL BE AWESOME!!!! is probably too much excitement.

Once you’ve written your “press release,” send it our way using the Contact Us page.

So, that’s how to get your LEGO event announced.

Thanks!

Jordan Schwartz gets everyone in the mood for pirates with his latest and largest creation depicting a peaceful harbor invaded by plundering pirates. There’s plenty of action floating around this scene, but most impressive is the pirate ship, which is a spectacle in itself.

Check out Jordan’s creation featured on LAMLtv with a clip of the builder explaining his work in person.

Allister McLaren (Captain_Underpants) has a novel take on near-futurustic piracy. The solar and wind generators are an excellent touch and the islander boats give it a plausibly rickety feel. Given the fondness of media companies to misuse piracy and their access to those in power this could prove all too prescient.

Besides being a special effects artist behind some of your favorite movies, Guy Himber recently entered into the frenzy of LEGO building after an inspiring BrickCon experience. I’ve not seen fans come out of their dark ages with such stunning creations.

Above: a giant steampunk automaton and a fantasy victorian pipe organ, both in minifig style.

I really like Guy’s innovative combination of Bionicle elements with standard LEGO bricks. To him, these parts are reminiscent of “the NeoVictorian flavor with their small pistons, mini rivets and swooping/rounded shapes.” Also interesting is the repeated use of the blue bubble canopy, which seems to mimic an energy source and adds a nice touch of character to his style.

Below: an underwater boat and a steam carriage.

If you’re a Flickr user, you can add Guy as a contact by clicking here.

Fabrice Pathier (Four H) from Vimeo made an ultra snazzy fashion show clip featuring designs by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac displayed on LEGO minifigs. I have not seen smoother LEGO animation than this; it’s truely top notch work.

For the November LUGnuts Fear and Loathing challenge, Ralph Savelsberg faces his fear of fire, heights, and loud noises with this FDNY (Fire Department, City of New York) ladder truck. The ladder itself extends, and the truck is covered in Ralph’s signature stickers.

See more of Ralph’s fire engines in his Fire photoset on Flickr.

As autumn gives way to winter in New England, Mike Crowley gives us another Snowblowerman vignette. This time around, our hero wages battle not against flakes but against leaves instead, thereby earning himself a new nickname — Leafblowerman.

Naturally, there’s also a potential love interest:

As much as we’d like to, The Brothers Brick can’t attend every LEGO event that takes place throughout the world. That’s why it’s great to rely on all the LEGO bloggers out there who attend events in their area.

Members of a new LEGO club based in Zagreb, Croatia recently launched their own blog, Kockice, and they’ve covered KockeFest, which took place on October 18 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Check out the full write-up and more pictures on Kockice and the Kocke Klub site.

(With additional thanks — and an apology for the belated post — to Marko.)