About Polywen

See Paul's own LEGO models on Flickr.

Posts by Polywen

Tom the Ant

Of course your first thought would be, “A Bug’s Life,” but beyond that, this little creature by Riccardo Zangelmi is a beautifully delicate creation. It is elegant in its minmal use of elements. I can imagine a series of vignettes based on the adventures of Tom the Ant. I wonder if it’s inspired by Tom Sawyer?

Tom the Ant

Behold, the Power Cosmic!

Andrew Lee’s (onosendai2600) most recent offering in his Iron Builder Challenge with Simon Liu (Si-Mocs) is an amazing Bionicle version of the Silver Surfer. The challenge is for each builder to create models utilizing a “secret” ingredient, much like Food Network’s Iron Chef competition. In this case, they are using the Silver Bionicle Weapon Air Katana. Andrew has re-purposed them to make the Cosmic Surfboard of Galactus’s Herald. All that you know is at an end.

The Herald

Excusez-moi.

I just wanted to share a little doodle that I hope becomes a useful meme. Feel free to use and repost should the proper situation arise.

 

 
WhineColor

Dystopian Vision: Reatus Societati

Ludgonious delivers a great vignette depicting a futuristic, dystopian prison in which “highly sedated prisoners pay their debt to society by continuously donating blood and plasma during their sentences.” This scene makes great use of elements, new and old, in all the little details.

Reatus Societati

Moko has the Midas Touch!

Moko must have depleted his entire stash of chromed LEGO elements to make this bling-ed out mecha. All I can say is, “Oooo, shiny!” As a side note, I have heard that chromed elements cost 20 times their non-chromed counter parts. Pricey!

King Gold

To Infinity and Beyond

Daedalus Zero G Drop Suit

For a long time now, I wanted to do something with the Galidor head I had. My idea was to build a mecha or hardsuit around it. The result: Daedalus Zero G Drop Suit. As it was taking shape, it started feeling like a version of a Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger. It features the domed helmet, retractable wings and jetpack, big res chest button, communicator on the right gauntlet and a laser on the left gauntlet.

Daedalus Zero G Drop Suit

TICO Mini Bricks. The New Tiny Kid on the Block.

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During my recent trip to Taiwan, I came across a new line of micro brick construction toys called TICO. It appears to be a Taiwan made clone brand of the Japanese brand Nanoblock at only half the price. I bought a set, #3010 Battle Robot (RxB) for NT$180, which comes out to a little more than $6 US for around 80 pieces.

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The elements are very tiny and are rather difficult to handle, requiring a great deal of fine motor control. The instructions are straight forward, however, they use a technique of hi-lighting the pieces used in the current step by showing the pieces a shade lighter.  This is a problem when the set includes 2 shades of grey, creating confusion as to which shade of grey is needed at which step.  Secondly, the elements have no way of locking the studs of a connecting element on the long axis of an element, allowing the element on the underside to slide around.  This creates a lot of play in the construction, making it somewhat difficult to line pieces up correctly.

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The final model is very loose and fragile as it has many one stud connections.  The overall construction is less the sturdy, lacking in overlapping elements to lock things in place.  If micro bricks are your thing, TICO Mini Bricks are an affordable alternative to the pricier Nanoblock.  According to their website, TICO appears to have licensed sets for Totoro, Angry Birds and One Piece, which are all very popular in Taiwan.

Life Size Minifig Blaster is Full of Win!

You know a creation is awesome when the first thought that pops into your head is, “I want that!” Brickthing made a life size version of the new double barreled Alien Conquest blasters for the MOC Olympics. Lego should seriously consider making life size versions of these things.  Pew pew.
Life-size Minifig Weapon -Side

 

Couple this with Norbert Labuguen‘s Hero Factory built life size Alien Clinger, I think we’ve a great new meme bigifying things!

 

CCISD2012 LEGO Cosplay Alien Clinger 068

Hylian Shield: +5 to Awesomeness

Fans of the Legend of Zelda will immediately recognize the Hylian Shield, a must have when crossing through the Goron Mines. Remi Gagne (Bolt of Blue) has masterfully recreated the Twilight Princess version. The shield emblems are spot on and brilliantly executed.

Hylian Shield

Izzo’s VEX-8000

Mecha Master Izzo brings us the VEX-8000 (Versatile Equipment) industrial type mecha. Izzo’s creations are so stunningly brilliant, it’s difficult to even describe how amazing they are. This one does not disappoint. Pay special note to the mecha’s “gun” which appears to be more of a massive industrial drill tool. I would give anything to see this in person one day.

 
VEX-8000_06

Ride Armor X4 Is One Sweet Hardsuit

I love mechas and hardsuits. Gregory St’s Ride Armor X4 is a real standout hardsuit. Evolved from his previous version “Fatboy,” the current version has wonderful proportions. Gregory St packs in a lot of great design into a small creation, which, trust me, isn’t easy to do. Maybe it’s just me but this creations screams “Buzz Lightyear Mech” to me.  To infinity and beyond.

 
Ride Armor X4

Look toward the sky, there be dragons...

Aurore&aube, who seems to specialize in amazing creature creations, has made this most amazing dragon.  The shaping of the head is genius and note the organic feel of the wings created by mixing various technic elements.

Toward the Sky 004