The Brothers Brick

The iPod Racer by Matt De Lanoy may have seemed the epitome of LEGO geekiness — a good thing! — but this “Swallow podracer” by tbone_tbl is quite possibly its equal:

The podrace engines that represent King Arthur’s 5-ounce swallows tow a two-pound coconut pod, with the king’s trusty servant Patsy clopping along behind.

It remains unclear whether the swallows are African or European…

Thomas Benedikt unveils a most spectacular mega model from Star Wars: the Home One Mon Calamari cruiser. This 7 feet long creation features an integrated lighting system that adds an effect of unbelievable realism. I cannot imagine the time and skills involved in such a feat.

These impressive stats further confirm that this model will go down in LEGO legends:

- Piece Count: 30,500
- Length: 260 Studs or 208 cm or 6’10” (82 inches)
- Width: 48 cm (Max)
- Height: 28 cm (Max)
- Weight: 52 lbs (Approximate)
- Material Cost: $5500 US.

Visit MOCpages to read about the designing and buiding process of this incredible creation.

For more pictures, check out the gallery on Brickshelf.

Thanks to Shannon Young for the awesome find.

Just today, BrickForge announces 11 new items available at their shop; adding to their community of 64 unique minifig accessories.

Staying true to their roots BrickForge offers three new fantasy-style elements; the Goblin Sword, Goblin Shield and Sorcerer Staff, which provide opportunity to equip villains as they rise up against the allied forces of good.

Next are two historical accessories – the Tribal Sword & Tribal Spear are perfect for arming your indiginous natives as they defend their villages against invading conquistadors or plundering pirates.

Further down the list a new Equipment category was added to accomodate a few more utilitarian devices. The Nightstick helps keep the peace while the more menacing Crowbar may be used for more….salacious nefarious purposes. The Microphone is a simple way to showcase your favorite musical idol or give that city creation more hustle by adding a custom news crew.

Finally, a new sci-fi inspired weapon joins the MegaGun to help balance things out. The Plasma Blaster is a compact personal defense device, great for alien invasion or cosmic justice. And rounding out the release are two items bound to become fan favorites. A new backpack called the Particle Pack adds a bit more detail to an ordinary minifig and features a rear, hollow connection point as well as a side-mounted connection point and peg desgined to accomodate a variety of hoses or similar elements. The Particle Gun is a type of hand-held wand, rumored to discharge deadly streams of energy. The Particle Gun is also built with standard connection points – promoting modularity and allowing it to holster onto the Particle Pack.

Be sure to stop by BrickForge and check’em out and stay tuned for another Brothers-Brick exclusive review coming soon!

Aaron Dayman (CBLA Member) may not be the champion of the sun, but it looks like his Treeman creation probably is. Just look at how huge it has grown! I know that I blogged about another ent creation a few weeks back, but I just can’t get enough good organic looking creations. Maybe it’s because I find that style difficult to build myself. Anyways, it looks like the posability on this sucker is really good.

I keep faving and bookmarking each new creation from Rong Yiren but failing to blog them not because they’re unworthy but because I like his next creation even more.

But enough delay! Rong’s mechanical gorilla is stunning — full of personality and life. The mechGORILLA’s expression is almost wistful…

Rong has also been delving into the ocean for inspiration. His “solar whale” Aku Aku is no less gorgeous than his mechGORILLA:

Aku Aku may have to run the other way if pursued by the Hammerjack:

I Scream Clone heads for the depths of the sea with this fantastic depiction of Davy Jones’ Locker from Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Kit Fisto minifig works very well for the nefarious Davy Jones himself, while Jones’ pipe organ is well-built indeed.

Please excuse the Asimov reference but I couldn’t resist using it for such an adorable Neo-Classic Space robot. Shannon Sproule (Ocean) shows us how to truly go retro.

LEGO fans here in Seattle still unconvinced that the new Power Miners color scheme is “realistic” need only look out their windows on recycling day each week — the new natural gas-powered trucks are exactly the same color as Bob Newill’s walker:

Check out more photos of Bob’s walker in his LEGO Power Miners Walker photoset on Flickr.

Don’t miss this adorable little bucket robot:

James Turley (Turkguy) has been working on a podracer for FBTB’s contest, and what a solid bar-setting entry indeed! The nonagonal design of the engies is a rare technical treat and the red stripes on it are just gorgeous.

If I understand correctly, Corfe Castle station is going to be the centre-piece of Carl Greatrix’s new train layout. If the rest of the layout is even half as good (and I have no doubts it will be) it promises to be one of the best.

In other news, congratulations are in order for Carl for his new position designing models for TT games.

Thanks to Ed Diment and Bill Toenjes for the heads up. This one snuck through my flickr browsing.

The action and buildings in SlyOwl’s are expectedly excellent, but what impresses me most about this pirate diorama is the base:

The angled water with flotsam and jetsam in the foreground meshes neatly with the dock in the background. More photos in SlyOwl’s Tortuga gallery on Brickshelf.

Via those diligent TFOLs.

Matt De Lanoy (Pepa Quin) combines three of the world’s most popular brands — Star Wars, Apple, and LEGO — in a mashup that is sure to be a strong contender in the FBTB Podracer Challenge.

Those earbuds are brilliant.

Chris Wunz (Wuntztwice) has built a cool little flying car. I love retro-futuristic stuff, and this car captures that aesthetic very well. He’s also built in some cool features, like the rotating hover engines, and a very detailed cockpit.

Christophe Bongay built a bone-crushingly brutal creation called the Krabouillator. It looks deadly, and I sure don’t want to be on the business end of this thing.

Chris B has recently posted a couple of small robots/hardsuits that have a lot of style. He has achieved some really cool shapes and details at a small scale. I especially like the head and shoulder winglets on the yellow one. Based on their names, there may even be a third one in the works.

There have been a lot of really great starfighters posted online lately, and this one by Johnny (Dr. X) is certainly no exception. One thing that does make it different, is that it’s not an entry for the “Show us what you got” contest over on flickr, for which I am a judge. I’ve been trying not to show any bias by blogging about entries, which has been rather frustrating. I was glad to see this ship, which is pretty cool, wasn’t an entry for the contest (he already entered something in the contest).

There’s a neat explanation for the fins that pop open on the side of the ship, revealing a radar array, that has a clever realism to it that I like. More importantly, though, it just looks cool, it reminds me a of a cobra fanning its hood.

I neither know nor care if this is new. I think it looks great so I’m blogging it. Nice work Ulimy.

There’s something inherently funny about advertising a sold-out product, as Peter Edwards does with a hand car from Big Ben Bricks in this video:

The video features a fantastic Technic bridge long enough to span a LEGO Amazon:

In most niches of LEGO there are a handful of builders who have really pushed building. Any list is, of course, going to be quite personal but hopefully can give a good idea of what can be achieved. On The Brothers Brick we tend to focus only on new models but this can neglect some older builders whose influence is still felt. To redress this we hope to intermittently present ‘X of the Best’ posts to showcase the ‘leaders’ in any given niche.

LEGO aircraft design presents some unique challenges. The models are typically based on real prototypes and usually have multi-directional curves which are extremely challenging to represent in LEGO. Here are four builders that I feel have really pushed LEGO aircraft building and that I always find myself going back to when I need inspiration.

• Klaus Dobisch (gallery EDIT: now eastpole too): Klaus has been building incredible aircraft for many years now. His attention to detail and, in particular to keeping his designs smooth is particularly impressive. 
   
• Mike Psiaki (mpsiaki): With his ability to seamlessly use multiple techniques in a single model Mike offers a wealth of incredible designs, each of which offers many ideas for other builders. 
  
   
• HIEN (HIEN): While not as prolific as Klaus or Mike, Hien packs in a huge amount of accuracy in his tiny models. 

  
   

• Ralph Savelsberg (Mad Physicist): Ralph is, in my opinion, the king of profiles. His effort in getting every angle just right really shows and, particularly in his new models, his windscreens and cockpits are excellent examples of what can be done with a bit of sculpting. 
   

The 30th anniversary celebration of Classic Space continues over on the Neo Classic Space website.

Pete Reid built a design by nnenn for the collaborative LL-989 Wildfire:

nnenn himself pits a pair of Heavy Interceptors and a Troop Support Sled against an alien species known as the Ugokin:

Ian Grieg captures the essence of 891 Two Seater Space Scooter with his LL-892 Skimmer, while I paid homage to 886 Space Buggy with my LL-997 “Craterbuster” rover:

Mark Kupietz builds vertically for LL-938 Supply Ship:

Keep an eye on neoclassicspace.com throughout the rest of the month for even more great creations inspired by vintage LEGO Space sets.

It’s been a while but I finally managed to build something I’m kind of happy with again. I basically set out to avoid any of the standard starfighter shapes although of course it’s not wholly original. Hopefully this heralds more models from me. I’ve been feeling very rusty.

Moritz Nolting (Nolnet) experiments with incorporating the power functions RC system into the smallest truck he can make to produce a creation that’s both functional and visually authentic. I really like how the bulky battery box is cleverly incorporated as the cargo container of the truck.

Check out the Youtube video showing the truck in action and see it do a wheelie.

Brent (thwaak) has built what looks like a flying submarine for the Pony Express. I love the sort of whimsy that can go into a steampunk creation, and this is a great example. It even has a periscope! The mix of colors on the hull is a nice touch too, it looks like a mix of wood and metal.

Actually, Nathan Proudlove has entered the FBTB 2009 Podracer Challenge, but a random Episode I reference seemed to work better. No?

Nathan used light bricks from LEGO Creator sets for the energy binders. The dark blue and black color scheme contrasts nicely with the lighter highlights.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Classic Space, Holger Matthes has created an XXL or Miniland-scale version of 894 Mobile Ground Tracking Station:

Not only are the vehicles and minifigs larger-than-life, Holger has faithfully reproduced the Classic Space baseplate. And check out that brick-built Classic Space logo!

See more photos of this great LEGO creation on Holger’s website, Brickshelf, and Flickr.

In case you’ve missed it previously, here’s a scaled-up version of LL-924 next to the original: