Monthly Archives: November 2009

Firefighting LEGO Unimog reveals the joys of complicated builds

Moritz Nolting (nolnet) beat me to it, but I don’t begrudge him this awesome Unimog.

LEGO fire Unimog

What makes Moritz’s Unimog extra-cool is the extra ground clearance he achieved by building the chassis studs-down.

Cyber Monday LEGO deals from Amazon.com

We weren’t especially impressed with the selection of Black Friday deals on LEGO last week, but Amazon.com is making up for it a bit with some pretty good deals on LEGO today, “Cyber Monday” (when many people buy online for the holidays).

Overall, there’s 20% off select LEGO, but some of the best deals are on items normally excluded from other sales, like LEGO Star Wars and MINDSTORMS NXT.

Head on over to Amazon.com to check out the deals.

Dragon Unit Zero One [Updated]

I believe that the best builders are always trying out new techniques and new styles. For my latest creation, I tried to really push myself to do something new, and ended up well outside of my comfort zone.

I’ve never really worked with orange before building this mecha. I’d also never used multiple ball joints to create a spine in a mecha before this attempt. In addition, this was an attempt at a style of mecha, based on existing art, that I’d never attempted before.

Dragon Unit Zero One

I haven’t made up my mind yet as to whether this was really a successful build, but I do know that it’s done. I’m really curious as to what people will think of it.

[Edit] I got some great suggestions to improve the Dragon Unit from a variety of sources. Thanks to an ample dosage of peer pressure from Andrew Lee, here’s the MK II version.

A Beautiful Harpy

Rob (dasnewten) is at it again, building a great looking star fighter. It has a style reminiscent of classic Star Wars ships, a mix of angular and textured. The shape is also quite similar to his much-lauded Naganata, I guess we’ll call them variations on a theme.

G4 Harpy

VHE-665 Halog

Martin is giving us a nice taste of micro scale space. His new Halog frigate has some cool features. I especially like the use of hinge bricks to create a surface texture, a technique I hadn’t seen before. I’m also keen on the launch bay (or whatever it is) on the front of the ship. The photos are are on Flickr, but there’s more description here.

VHE-665 Halog

Beware the wizard wheelchair!

I know I’m a pathetic sucker for any creations based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, but it’s impossible to resist another of Sylvain’s (captainsmog) dioramas. Aside from the tie-in with my favorite author, this uses a variety of both sophisticated and simple techniques to create a detail rich scene. Plus, it has a wizard’s bad ass (not a town near Lancre) wheelchair almost running over a watchman.

LEGO Discworld captainsmog Windle Poons wheelchair

Windle Poons isn’t my favorite character, but this is just a good all around medieval city scene. I especially like the weeds growing through the textured cobbles, the drain pipe on the left, and the wooden roof.

Vinnidan Interceptor

One thing I really like about the Homeworld universe is that it inspires a lot of great LEGO creations, all with a unifying aesthetic (stripes!), but that also provides builders with enough flexibility to add their unique touches of their own. Kurt Vinnedge (vìnn) gives the Taiidan his own spin, resulting in the Vinnidan Interceptor:

LEGO Homeworld Vinnidan Interceptor

Felix finds Atlantis

Felix Greco (gipmetro) is excited about the upcoming release of the LEGO Atlantis sets, as am I. As sets trickle into stores, Felix may be the first to build a creation of his own design — this lovely submersible:

LEGO Atlantis submarine

The submersible is accompanied in its undersea endeavors by a certain Artimus Rhodes:

LEGO Atlantis diver

Black Friday deals on LEGO for 2009 [News]

Tomorrow is Black Friday, which means we Americans head out with our bellies still bloated from Thanksgiving dinner and stand in line to buy things. If that’s not really your thing (or if you just want to double up on LEGO shopping fun), here are a few deals from the Web.

The Official LEGO Shop $10 off purchases over $100, $20 off $200, and $30 off $300, plus free shipping on any order over $99. LEGO tells us that the Sales and Deals
icon page will also be updated with several items on Friday.

LEGO Brand Retail

Toys R Us is offering Up to 60% off on over 100 online-only Cyber Deals from November 26 through November 28.

Toys R Us

For a complete rundown of brick-and-mortar deals, head on over to FBTB. We’ll also update this post as we run across other deals.

You know what cars these days are missing? Fins and flames

My wife and I are dreading the inevitable death of Stormtrooper, our ’93 Honda Accord with 220K miles on it. She hates all post 1993 cars and she squeals with delight every time she sees any classic cars with fins, flames or hydraulics. Appropriate that some exceptionally good models have turned up as part of the I Wanna Be Like You challenge at LUGnuts. The first is Lino M’s 1960 Ford Starliner complete with thoroughly cool interior.

LEGO Lino M 1960 Ford Starliner

Not coincidentally, the second model is Ralph Savelsberg’s (Mad Physicist) because he is the honoree of the I Wanna Be Like You challenge. This 1951 Mercury, which uses some phenomenal techniques to create the green flames is quite striking.

LEGO Mad Physicist 1951 Mercury flames

Because I live in Southern California, I’ve been looking for a hot rod with a Virgin of Guadalupe on the hood, but have failed so far. If you know of one or built one, drop me a line.

Happy Thanksgiving to all y’all in the US. Go eat some pie! Mmmmm, pie.

Black Fantasy Attack!

No other title better describes what’s going on in this diorama by David Simmons. This is what happens when you’re out in a remote part of the galaxy and “a godless shape appears out of the blood red darkness, lurching with a sickening, yet inexorable slither towards our brave spacemen who stage a desperate but futile battle.” Check out the details shots in the gallery and scroll down to see a frightening ending.

LEGO Black Fantasy Attack

Brickvention 2010 coming to Melbourne Jan 23-24 [News]

Registration is now open for Brickvention 2010, the Australian LEGO convention put on by Brickventures. I attended last year’s Brickvention and it was an impressive display. The public crowd on the Sunday was ridiculously huge. I’ll be there and I hope more of our readers can attend.

Brickvention is an annual convention and exhibition of LEGO® brand building bricks presented by adult hobbyists from around the Australia.

Brickvention 2010 will be held over the weekend just prior to the Australia Day Holiday (January 23rd – 24th) in Melbourne, Australia and promises to be an exciting event.

  • Join us to view hundreds of models created by LEGO® Builders from around the nation.
  • Build with LEGO® parts at our Building Zone.
  • Purchase LEGO® sets, parts and minifigs.
  • Win Prizes!

Similar to previous Brickventions, this year’s event will feature presentations, games, competitions, trading, and of course models by LEGO® fans from all over Australia. With much so more space available, the 2010 Brickvention promises to be even bigger and better than previous years!