Tag Archives: Mecha

We all love a good LEGO Gundam or Macross mecha, but LEGO builders everywhere are also creating excellent models of their own designs. Have a look at them here.

A ray of inspiration

If you told me that TBB regular Moko had made a LEGO stingray mech suit, I’d think it was a suit in the shape of the flat fish. But never one to conform to expectations, Moko’s mech is actually piloted by a stingray, who looks right at home inside the blue suit, even sporting a HUD over one eye. As usual there are lots of great techniques and interesting pieces that make it worth your while to spend some time picking this one apart, but the best are the Hero Factory jumper shells used for the toes.

Stingray’s EXO-suit

It’s probably a bit of ostrich but...

Japanese LEGO builder Mitsuru Nikaido has a knack for turning any beast into a mechanized creature. This time the mighty ostrich gets the mech treatment. I’m loving the quizzical expression of this leggy bot. As always, there are some amazing shapes and build techniques here. This prolific builder’s growing bestiary is truly a sight to behold. Check out our Mitsuru Nikaido archives to see what I mean.

LEGO Mecha Ostrich_01

An unlikely mashup: the Kai Fighter

What happens when you’re building and grab a Ninjago fig instead of a TIE Pilot? Generally I toss it back and keep building, but I imagine TBB alumn Simon Liu runs with it, as evidenced by this Kai Fighter, a TIE-turned-mech that’s as cool as it is well done. Ninjago and Star Wars may not be the most common crossover, but after seeing this I can’t wait to see Lloyd Vader and Jedi Master Wu.

Kai Fighter

The age of men is over, the time of the Mecha-Orc has come!

Well, now I’ve seen everything! Direct from the imagination of Illia Zubashev comes this hearty band of LEGO orcs armed with a mech suit, a rocket pack, and one huge rocket launcher. I absolutely love the colors here! The greens of the orcish skin and dark tan of the terrain provide wonderful contrast with the safety yellow and of this troop’s equipment. Unorganized and organic patters interplay with neat black-and-white checkerboards and safety striping. It instantly signals that these devices are out of place in this setting. And yet, the hints of rust and a few haphazard patch jobs apparent on the modern equipment still anchors this scene in reality (or at least a reality where fantasy has been gut-checked by sci-fi). May this platoon have much success in its raid of the nearby kingdom of Cyber-Elves.

Rokkit Launcha Trakk.

The cleanest, green-est lines are on this LEGO Kantam Robo

Peeled from the pages of Crayon Shin-chan is this intense rendition of Kantam Robo by Moko. I’ve got to say, this robot sports some incredibly clean lines, utilizing a wide variety of studless slopes and tiles to adult-ify the character from the manga by Yoshito Usui. All the contours and sharp corners along the build help to add depth to a creation that’s primarily green, creating pockets of shadow and bright reflective surfaces. But my favorite bit has to be the detail put into the mouth grill of the mech. It utilizes, among other parts, the minifig shirt collar to get the perfect spacing. Overall, it’s a significant step up from Moko’s first attempt at the character almost a decade ago (which was already pretty awesome).

Kantam Robo

Puny meat sacks are no match for this menacing machine

I’ve been watching game footage from Atomic Heart, a shooter set in an alternate timeline where robots designed to be faithful servants of man go on a murdering rampage. This robot by Pohaturon would fit right into that world. Long gangly legs look more than capable of running down any meat sacks on foot or in their pitiful vehicles, and that radar dish can probably detect meat sacks wherever they cower in fear.

Pumi

This think tank will steal your tank engine

We’ve just had a whole month of themed builds in the form of Febrovery, but now we’re in March we’re going straight into another one. It’s Marchikoma! And who better to kick things off than Cole Blaq? This particular tachikoma (or think tank, if you prefer) draws inspiration from Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Sky, with a microscale city on its back. The link to the viaduct is particularly neat. Either this city exists as a massive turntable to turn the trains around, or it lies in wait for trains to stop before stealing them. In that sense perhaps it’s a bit more Mortal Engines than Studio Ghibli. Either way, it’s a great way to kick off the month. Why not have a look at what previous Marchikomas have brought us while we wait for more?

Old V.I.C.

Video killed the... Humans?

At first glance, I thought this LEGO TV mecha by Sebastien Racicot looked rather charming. Bright colours on the screen, big expressive eyes, and generally a neat idea for a robot-mecha-thing. But that was before I noticed the wasteland that it’s walking around in. And the ominous caption, which simply reads “LEGO robot TV domination”. Suddenly those big red eyes and grabbing claws look a lot more menacing. It makes you wonder if he might have listened to the Buggles one time too many, and killed a little more than the radio star. Although I’ve just remembered a ‘minifigure’ called Tee-Vee from the Alpha Team sets, so maybe this is just that character’s bigger sibling looking for him? Yeah, let’s go with that. That sounds much less scary!

LEGO robot TV2003

As fast as a mechanic snail

I love it when a really specific LEGO part gets used in an original way. The part I am talking about is the ‘Drone Charge Station’ disk from the Overwatch theme. To me, it is a piece that looks so specific it would be hard to imagine another use for it. For Isaac Wilder however this isn’t a limitation. Turning it into the home of a mechanic snail isn’t just smart, it is also cute as a button. Using minifigure spoons for eyes adds a lot to the cuteness factor. However, this still has me wondering if this cutie is as slow as its real-life counterparts.

Mechanical snail

This turtle is hard on the outside, slightly less hard on the inside

You say LEGO mecha animals, all I hear is Mitsuru Nikaido. Few builders have such a remarkably consistent style across so many builds. Some of my favourites in this series are deep-sea creatures; something about the exoskeletal style just really works for marine life. The venerable sea turtle is latest to be added to the menagerie. The white shell really pops against the dark grey of the turtle’s mechanical innards. Some of Nikaido-san’s creatures feature white heads to draw the attention that way, but in this instance I think the grey is a better choice. It emphasises the difference between the hard shell and the soft tissue underneath. Well, as soft as a mechanical turtle can be, anyway.

LEGO-Mecha-Sea-turtle_11

Mitsuru Nikaido’s creature mechs are as numerous as...well, rabbits!

I’m certain there’s a great joke in here somewhere about the abundance of Mitsuru Nikaido’s LEGO creature mechs and the mating habits of rabbits but damned if I can figure it out. While I may be tapped for jokes tonight, it makes me no less of a fan of this builder’s, by now, iconic color scheme and his amazing creatures both familiar and bizarre. Anyway, enjoy this cute bunny mech and check out our Mitsuru Nikaido archives to see what else this builder has miraculously sprouted. And if you have a better joke than what I’ve already stated then please let us know in the comments.

LEGO Mech Rabbit Mk2_06

An urban mech to spice up your next ceremonial occasion

I like my mechs to have a purpose, and the MA-3 Svipul from LEGO builder MySnailEatsPizza has some great backstory:

Armored weapons platform typically used for ceremonial purposes. While based on the mass produced MA-2 frame, the MA-3 is uniquely equipped to handle operations in cities. Its two Phase-Tech Power Trade-Offs are most often fitted with Phase Claws, though short range blasters are occasionally employed. The Svipul is piloted by Colonel Juergen Krenn.

Lore aside, I really enjoy the head design. The use of the Chakram minifigure weapon reminds me of the Ninjago 71765 Ninja Ultra Combo Mech. The transparent purple in the wrist blades is also a plus for me, as are the well-articulated feet and the inverted Bionicle mask in the torso. It looks like a great action figure to play with, too. Nicely done!

MA-3 Svipul

There are even more mighty mechs in our archives. Why not take a look?