The Brothers Brick » Military

Drone Combat Scout Helicopter 18

Dan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:05:33 +0000

I don’t know why, but I’ve been on a real dark-bley building kick lately. That means I seem to just keep adding creations to the Iron Mountain Legion’s arsenal, which is starting to turn into a largish group. This time, it’s another dual-rotored helicopter. I just love this configuration, even if the blades don’t mesh.

Some may say that building all in one, neutral, color is “easy” and perhaps a “cop-out” to avoid having to think about color I say that while this may be the case, it still looks good. It also makes sticker usage come to the forefront, as that’s where most of the contrasting color (mostly white in this case) comes from. There is a little bit of yellow and blue on this sucker, but apparently none of the photos are of that side of the chopper.

It also turns out that trying to photograph something with even a tiny bit of yellow on it against a yellow backdrop is a disaster.

Stilzkin Igniz rolls across the landscape

Andrew — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:39:27 +0000

This tracked transport by Peer Kreuger (mahjqa) incorporates a Power Functions motor to journey straight over boulders and trees — well, at least very large pebbles and tall grass blades.

I’m especially impressed with the treads. Built from individual Technic elements, they don’t just use the LEGO treads that come in sets.

Naturally, there’s a video of this articulated beast in action:

Mini Me?

Dan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:59:28 +0000

Working in a theme requires walking a fine line. Repetition of forms and thematic elements is necessary to tie all the creations together, but it’s easy to go overboard and be duplicative. I’m not sure whether I found the right balance with my new tank or not. You can see it below with its big brother.

When I started building this little thing, I intended it to be a comically tiny scout tank, like this. As I worked on it, though, it became clear that this would be too small that it would be too absurd even for this theme. I changed the tank to a remote tank, and that seems to work OK, even if it is a cop-out.

Building decay

Nannan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:47:10 +0000

For those builders of post-apoc, military, or realist city, here’s a technique shown on a creation by Marin Stipkovic that shows a nice effect of building decay. The multi-shades of plates mimics the exposed bricks while the gray simulates broken concrete. Looks useful!

Liberating France, one brick at a time

Andrew — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:28:24 +0000

Occasionally, I take a break from blogging and actually build something. For my most ambitious creation to date, I present “Fox Red: Omaha Beach”.

My D-Day diorama features the following vehicles and weapons:

Yes, that’s dark blue water. (I do believe I’ve mentioned before that I like LEGO Agents…)

Naturally, I couldn’t resist the urge to turn a few photos into black and white Robert Capa-esque shots.

See my full photoset of Fox Red: Omaha Beach pics on Flickr.

Ugly!

Andrew — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:12:46 +0000

This pair of vehicles by Carter Baldwin may be the ugliest we’ve featured here. Carter’s new NATO “Jackal” LRV is a chunkified slice of awesome, but that troop transport is just plain wicked.

Makoto Zero – Sky Fighter

Dan — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:21:33 +0000

This is micro-scale at its absolute best. When I saw a thumbnail of this build by Fredoichi, I thought that it was minifigure scale. I can’t think of a more impressive feat for a creation at this scale than to read as bigger and more detailed than it is.

Red Zephyr

Dan — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:19:59 +0000

Is the Crimson Skies fad coming back? If the Red Zephyr by Jonhall18 is the start of the comeback, sign me up.

This plane has a great feel of bulk in all the right places. I like the airfoil shape of the wings, and the bubble up at the front of the fuselage adds a great touch of the fantastic.

Remote Armor Team

Dan — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:13:25 +0000

I was lucky enough to catch a foul and evil virus while at BrickCon last weekend. I was sick all week, but I’m finally feeling well enough to do some blogging. Several of the things that caught my eye during my illness have already been covered by other contributors here, but at least one is still unblogged. Tyler Clites’s (legohaulic) Remote Armor Team.

Some people (like Tyler himself) may think that I like this just because of my well-known soft spot for the combination of tan and dark gray. While that’s certainly a part of it, the hover tank has a great look to it. In fact, it reminds me of some concept art that I’ve been wanting to build for months. Whether or not the same inspiration was there, I’m glad someone has built a hovertank in this style.

Compartmentalised geeks

gambort — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:48:25 +0000

Making a good mecha is hard. Making a good carrier is hard. Making a good carrier that carries a good mecha all snugly folded is really hard. Fortunately Aran (Cole Blaq) managed to pull it off.