Tyler and I present our third collaborative build of a sanctuary in the sky called Mirage. For this project, we took on the challenge of building a large diorama without a baseplate. The result is a 7′ X 7′ creation composed of over 150 modular octagonal platforms. The building process started in January and the finished model with will be shown at Brick Fiesta this weekend. You can learn about the backstory by following the teasers we posted.
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Fire or Renewal: A History of the CSS Howland Survivors on Numereji
As we head into the summer building and convention season, we’re pleased to bring you a genuine, original science-fiction short story and concept art to serve as inspiration for Numereji 2421, written and illustrated by Brandon “Catsy” Bannerman.
We’re keeping “building standards” pretty loose right now, with the exception of tan as the primary background color for the landscape and white for salvaged ship sections. Follow the discussion in the dedicated group on Flickr. In the meantime, happy reading!
“See the stars,” said the recruitment holos, brimming with high-saturation images of well-fed colonists farming an expansive homestead under a sky with multiple moons. “Find a new life in the Stellar Diaspora.” To the inhabitants of Old Earth, it was a compelling argument — Sol 3 was, in the parlance of the time, a “dump”. Two centuries of industrial civilization and a population of billions staggering inexorably towards a Malthusian terminal scenario had turned the planet into a concrete and steel wasteland of cityscapes — a place where a gallon of clean water cost more than a day in a simsense VR pod, solitary living quarters were an expensive luxury, and blue sky was a thing of old twenty-first century threedys. Day-to-day life on Earth was defined by escaping from it as much as possible — and space was the ultimate escape.
Thus began the Stellar Diaspora: mankind’s search for a new home worthy of the name. It began with the generation ships, colossal megastructures the size of a spacescraper intended to support hundreds of families at sublight speeds on the long journey to the nearest extrasolar planets with hydrogen in their spectral lines. But with the invention of the Cheyden faster-than-light drive, the number of worlds with the potential for colonization went from less than ten to more than a hundred virtually overnight.
The Love Boat captain cruises BrickWorld
Actor Gavin MacLeod, best known as Captain Stubing of The Love Boat, made a stop at Brickworld this year. His purpose? To pay a surprise visit to certified Lego professional, Ryan McNaught, who had built a super-sized replica of the Pacific Princess, the ship used in 1970s tv show.
You can also see Ryan’s work in his Flickr stream.
Ent Misbehavin’
Hideous puns aside these Ents by Shannon Sproule (Shannon Ocean) are brilliant. Apparently you’d know this if you were at Brickworld 2011.
Avant Garde Paris
I make no secret of my love for people who build off the grid. This version of Paris in the 1930s cleverly builds to a curve. What’s more impressive is that it’s a collaboration between three builders: LegoManiac (LM), Captain Spaulding and 74louloute for the recent Fanabrique convention. Très bien!
Cars Roundup
There are too many fantastic entries this month into LUGNut‘s Cars, Too theme, so I do believe I’m just going to list my favorites here, in no particular order. We are, after all, big fans of all things Pixar here at this humble blog.
So! Onto the cars.
Tim Inman, with Giselle Grocery Getter:
Peter Blackert, with Ramone:
Peter Blackert, with Ramone’s sister, Coral:
Nathan Proudlove, with a LEGO Chatterphone (While not in Cars, necessarily, this one DOES figure into another Pixar favorite!):
Die Roboter – Moog in LEGO
Moog synthesizers helped revolutionise music. The Arvo Brothers LEGO MiniMoog captures the retro futuristic look of these iconic instruments in an incredible way. Fabulous.
EDIT: In my haste to blog this I completely missed (as pointed out in the comments) that there is actually a working MIDI interface in this. Which makes it 198.2% better.
When Worlds Collide
Ted Andes calls this ship an M-Wing Viper, and sets it in the Star Wars universe. I can’t help but see some Cylon Raider in the shape, though, and the Viper name also reminds me of Battlestar Galactica.
All talk of provenance aside, this is just a well built ship. The wings blend smoothly between parts with lovely effect. Then there is the sticker usage, just enough without going overboard. In addition, the stickers on the windscreen knock that piece in a completely different direction than I’m accustomed to.
Dot your i’s
Fat Tony 1138‘s concept fighter resembles the letter “i,” which was done intentially to qualify for FBTB’s alphabet fighter contest.
Will you be my Honeybadger?
Adrian Florea integrates “useless” parts like Rahkshi back covers and aircraft doors in a beautifully sculpted ski-fi flyer called the Honeybadger.
The Infernal Lake
There are good builds and there is good presentation, but they don’t always go together. Chris Malloy has them both, no question about it. With this creation he takes us on a fascinating adventure across an infernal lake, aboard a gloriously improbable craft.
This was built for Forbidden Cove’s monthly seedpart contest.
Alysia, a girl and her skates
Mike Nieves has quite a distinctive style and I have come to expect a high level of quality in his creations. However, this one raises the bar. I am impressed all over again. Not only is this girl beautiful, she is fully articulated, including wrists, fingers and feet. I have to say that this one blew me away. Well played, sir, well played.
