Monthly Archives: August 2010

Keep on trucking

Below is a guest article by Peer Kreuger (mahjqa). We asked Peer if he’d be willing to share his Technic expertise and do some guest articles for TBB. Hopefully there will be more to come.

Ornj!

Some people build trucks. Ingmar Spijkhoven (2LegoOrNot2Lego) builds mechanical masterpieces that don’t just work, the look great doing so as well.

Some of the functions: the truck is driveable, has suspension on all axles, liftable second axle, fully functional fifth wheel, a winch, and the trailer can split in two so vehicles can drive on and off.

Oh yeah. It’s all remotely controlled.

He has jammed everything so full of functionality that he needed separate pages for the truck, the trailer, and that doesn’t even include the wonderful excavator on the back.

He survived Troy for this?

Nothing quite brightens my day like a little bit of Greek history. And since Jojo‘s creation’s do such an excellent job illustrating European history, it’s no surprise that his rendition of Agamemnon’s homecoming is so lovely.

Snake Charmer

Here’s another creation that I don’t understand the name of. For whatever reason, Andrew Lee (Onosendai2600) named this mecha the Snake Charmer. Regardless of the name, I really dig this creation.

While the mecha itself is interesting, it’s the base that really makes this creation stand out. The base and plant life really add some great context to mecha. We get great contrast between the bright blue livery of the mecha and the burnt orange soil, with its strange alien plants.

Snake Charmer 12

BrickCon Film Festival Returns [News]

Lego Event BrickCon Convention

Photograph by Adam Hally

BrickCon is a scant thirty-five days away–but who’s counting? Not me, I assure you. As time for BrickCon (and the close of registration!) draws near, I wanted to point out one of the latest additions to the BrickCon line-up:

We are pleased to announce the return of the BrickCon Film Festival.

Awards and prizes will be given for the best films submitted, and the claim to fame till next year.

Films will be shown to attendees and voted on to determine the best.

They will also be shown during public hours exhibition if possible.

Submission guidelines:

1. BrickCon Film Festival reserves the right accept or not accept film submissions at its sole descretion.
2. Films must be your own original work.
3. You must be registered as an attendee to submit an entry.
4. 1-4 minutes is a good length, longer films may be rejected unless they are incredibly awesome.
5. Recommended file types are *.mov or *.mp4
6. The last day we can receive your submission is September 23, 2008 2010.
7. Contact Dave Ingraham (pull down) on our Contact Us page for information on how to submit your film.
8. You must be present to win prize (else prize will go to film with the next most votes).

Filmmakers agree that their film and/or clips from it and all other material related to their project may be used and/or published in the event program, the BrickCon Film Festival screening, the BrickCon website, rescreened at BrickCon and for any promotional purposes which the BrickCon Film Festival deems appropriate.

Submission of your film confirms that you have read, understand, and agree to the BrickCon Film Festival Submission Guidelines as stated above.

Good luck and happy filming!

I know there are some great filmmakers out there, and I’m pretty sure at least some of you are attending BrickCon. So show us your stuff!

Would you spend five weeks in a balloon?

Humans have long yearned to reach for the sky, and most certainly have achieved their goal many times over. Anna (nabeule1) has illustrated one such method, inspired by Jules Verne. Her balloon is simply eye-catching. The accompanying diorama adds to the effect.

Take Cover!!!

Brian, AKA Hound Knight, takes over no man’s land in this little vintage scene. I love the use of ice cream in this. Great Scene, Hound!

Lego World War I Fokker Tri-Plane Dr-1

Definitely not the lesser Wheevil

Mark Neumann’s (SnowLeopard) Wheevil quadruped mecha is a beast. Those menacing eyes and hydraulic cylinders on the legs are quite striking. Oh yea, and there’s that gatling gun too.

A tough choice

Peter Shutter shows us the pharaoh’s dilemma.

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Check out more great scenes such as this Star Wars spoof on Peter’s Flickr set.

Post Apocostrich!

I’ve seen quite a few humorous uses of the ostrich head, but this robo-bird by Stuart Delahay is taking things to the next level. The backstory on MOCpages is quite hilarious as well, you should check it out.

Fire truck from Fahrenheit 451

Bartosz Kacprzyk (the oneman) creates his version of the fire truck from Fahrenheit 451. I love the fitting retro-futuristic style of this vehicle and the plow, which I think makes the creation stand out. The warm lighting also adds to the presentation; we don’t need to see a pile of burning books to know that things are about to heat up.

The Battle of Cherbourg in LEGO

Immediately after the start of the Normandy invasion on D-Day, Allied forces began a battle for the strategic port city of Cherbourg that lasted more than three weeks. My diorama highlights the aftermath of the battle, when townspeople begin emerging from the rubble, while Free French partisans hoist the Tricolour above their safe house.

The Liberation of Cherbourg (1)

The diorama features an updated version of my M4 Sherman tank:

M4 Sherman tank - V2 (1)

For more photos, check out the photoset on Flickr, and you’ll be able to see this in person in just over a month as part of the Operation Bricklord collaborative display at BrickCon 2010.

Where do shoes come from? Containers!

Port Overall 1

Better late than never. Nate Brill (Shuppiluliumas) and PennLUG debuted this wonderful container ship and port at BrickFair2010. RAILBRICKS have already written at great length about it so I’ll spare the details here but I will add that I’m a huge fan of the old rundown port next to the much more modern one. Lovely!