The Brothers Brick

A collection of Lugpol members (Pit, Mrutek, Rasch, Ciamek, Glaz_Pimpur, Misiek, Zgredek and Kris Kelvin) have combined forces to produce this stunning diorama of the Eastern Front. The diorama is presently on display at Gdansk Town Hall and if I was near the area I’d certainly be checking it out.

The diorama is full of amazing details, wonderful buildings, decay, flora and excellent military vehicles. Kris has a collection of his shots and a lot of links to further shots in this set. This is my favourite diorama ever and sets the bar very high. I’m even more amazed that with so many cooks the broth is so delicious.

PS. If anyone can provide links to the other builders please post them below.

I’m not entirely sold on the big black gun but I like everything else about Jared’s (Freedom01) ‘Overture’ starfighter. Fabulous use of angles and insect fins.

Peter Norman (Swoofty) is usually more of a LEGO diesel man. But sometimes he’s a LEGO steam man and this is one of those times. It’s an ugly prototype made well.

Since we are blogging most of the top 12 entries from Hong Kong’s Lego contest at Ani-Com, it won’t hurt to post another one. Here is a scene by Tsang Yiu Keung (chiukeung) from Kung Fu Panda of Po and the Furious Five striking a pose. It must have been difficult to sculpt the characters at this scale, but their instantly recognizable features are a testament to the builder’s skill.

I’m not sure what prompted Alex Schranz (“Orion Pax”) to create a winged heart spilling blood over a pedestal, but I’m digging its novelty. Check out the overview of the entire creation on Flickr.

This micro-scale fortress is gorgeous and full of some nice techniques. The chainlinks at the top of the towers are a great touch, as is the green hairpiece standing in as a tree on the little island. Hats off to Sean & Steph Mayo! They are definitely builders to be reckoned with.

This wizard is a cute little bugger and I like him. Generally I frown on the use of old and new grey together as they tend to give an unfinished look to a build. However, in this case, it Dave & John Xandegar used the technique to create a nice mottled effect on the wizards robe.

I do wonder if he burned his hand a lot when he was learning that fire spell…

Our final Hayao Miyazaki tribute for the evening — and last post title in Japanese, for now — is this scene from My Neighbor Totoro by Andy Hung (andybear@hk), who lights up the night with an electrified Catbus in another great entry for the LEGO contest in Hong Kong.

The sleeping Totoro in the second scene underneath the main one is well worth a closer look:

Leo Chu (Bad Leo) takes a bunch of angular bricks and creates one of the most irregularly shaped entities in Hayao Miyazaki’s universe — the castle in Howl’s Moving Castle.

Unlike builders of previous LEGO versions of this castle, Leo places his in a lovely scene, complete with laundry drying in the wind. Like the other Hayao Miyazaki LEGO models I’ve posted today, Leo’s build is one of the top 12 LEGO creations in the Hong Kong contest.

Ericmok delivers even more Miyazaki goodness with his microscale rendition of Laputa from Castle in the Sky.

My favorite visuals in many Miyazaki films are the clouds, and Eric’s LEGO version of Laputa is one of the few to include this key element of the movie.

One of my favorite moments in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is not when Nausicaä fulfills the prophecy but when Obaba retells the legend. Hayao Miyazaki’s poetic lines reverberate through the fortress at the heart of the valley, and they bring chills every time I hear them in Japanese.

But the scene at the end of the movie is no less moving, built here in LEGO by Alex Hui, another top-12 entry for the Ani-Com Hong Kong LEGO contest.

I’m less convinced by the chunky Mehve, but the lit Ohmu tendrils and historical scenes on the side of the display more than make up for it.

UPDATE: Alex has posted a video showcasing his LEGO model:

Soren Roberts ([Soren]) was one of the earlier and most proficient builders of sub-minifig scale LEGO starships. His latest missile cruiser ‘Hammer’ is another fine example of clean lines, geometric shapes and controlled greebling.

I’m going to let this picture by Todd Wilder speak for itself. I need to go lay down because it’s making my head spin. If this could actually be built this way, I would need several of them. Too cool.

You can see the actual creation here. While it is cool, I think it is pretty wild how the kaleidoscope effect changes it so much.

You should check out his KaLEGOscope set. There are some other rather trippy things in there.

I grew up watching bits and pieces of 「宇宙戦艦ヤマト」(Space Battleship Yamato) at friends’ houses back in Japan, but I have to admit that my fascination with the series today is largely due to the fleet of ships rather than for any sense of personal nostalgia. I’m a sucker for LEGO renditions of the titular ship, and this version by Mark Rodrigues doesn’t disappoint.

Mark’s 1/250 scale Yamato took 4 months to build and represents his return to the LEGO hobby after a 4-year hiatus. I’d say the result was well worth the wait. The vessel is 45″ long and includes rotating turrets and opening wings.

Via Legobloggen.

I have no idea how I missed this. This sort of build is right up my alley, if you will. According to Michal Herbolt, the keeper of the lost chronicle secret (Archibald) was kidnapped and tortured for information.

The build is just beautiful. The different colored plates really add to the cobbled stone look, and the wood/stone combination on the main house really just works. Underneath, too, there is a rather unpleasant (but well built!) surprise.

Check out the rest of the flickr gallery!