Oh, how the tables have turned!

There are millions of galaxies far, far away. And while some of them include droids and wookiees playing holochess with holographic alien pieces, others may hide, well, hideous aliens playing the same game making small figures of wookiees attack defenseless protocol droids. This epic diorama by Brickwright is utterly remarkable in so many ways. Besides its brilliant idea, the aliens themselves are very decent copies of the models from the movie, not to mention an extremely spacious and detailed interior of the Millennium Falcon.

Kintan Strider and Mantellian Savrip up close.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out Brickwright’s Flickr gallery to see what other aliens are aboard of the famous freighter!

LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of NASA unveiled [News]

Back in February, we shared the news that LEGO Ideas chose Maia Weinstock’s Women of NASA project as one of their newest additions to the LEGO family. Today, LEGO is unveiling 21312 Women of NASA, available November 1. The primarily minifigure set has 231 pieces, and will retail for $24.99 USD.

21312_Box1_v39

The model, similar to LEGO Ideas 21110 Research Institute, includes four minifigures based on real-life NASA pioneers: astronomer and educator Nancy Grace Roman; computer scientist and entrepreneur Margaret Hamilton; astronaut, physicist, and entrepreneur Sally Ride; and astronaut, physician, and engineer Mae Jemison.

21312_Top

21312 Women of NASA also includes three mini-builds illustrating three areas of science including programming software for the space program, a model of the Hubble Space Telescope and a mini Space Shuttle Challenger with three removable rocket stages

21312_Prod

More photos and info about 21312 Women of NASA after the jump

What does the millennium fox say?

With the release of the new Star Wars 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon it seems like everyone just lost their minds and interstellar space is now cluttered up with countless falcons. Miro Dudas makes a good point: why falcons and not a fox? Fox makes just as much sense as a falcon in intergalactic travel! So, why would you fly a piece of garbage when you can choose this fluffy orange beast?

Millennium Fox

Mankind’s gift to the seas from which life arose

It’s easy for LEGO builders to focus on the happy, shiny world of little plastic people surrounded by fake plastic trees, but builder Emil Lidé doesn’t shy away from making a powerful statement with his latest LEGO creation. Did you know that every piece of plastic ever produced (yes, including all the ABS that LEGO is made from) will continue to exist indefinitely in the environment? That there is a floating patch of trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean hundreds of thousands of square kilometers in size? Emil uses LEGO as a medium to remind us of the impact that our modern lives have on the planet we live on.

Garbage in Paradise (5 of 5)

As much as I love the message that Emil’s creation conveys, it’s also an excellent LEGO build on its own merits. The tranquil beach scene above the water contrasts harshly with the waste beneath the waves, from the usual tires and barrels to bicycles and even a washing machine.

I’ll take that Falcon with a splash of bricks

Most people may not think so, but LEGO builders really are artists in their own right. The medium that they choose to express themselves in is simply tiny bricks instead of the traditional tools of oil and canvas that we see more often. The traditional approach of interlocking these bricks is the expected aspect of it, but a more unusual approach is the loose placement of bricks, such as this spread by city son.

Millennium Falcon Painting

This design is a breath of fresh air to the overdose that the Millennium Falcon is getting recently due to the largest set ever being released by the folks over at Billund (plus a couple of major contests inspired by the venerable freighter). What stands out with this piece of art is the colorful, celebratory effect showcasing the Falcon in flight. It almost looks like a splash of rainbow paint in pop-art style.

Drive with reckless abandon in the LEGO Technic Halo Warthog

YouTuber Nico71 presents a LEGO Technic model of the iconic Warthog light recon vehicle from the Halo games. With working quad-wheel steering, RC controlled driving, rotating machine gun turret barrels, and suspension, his Hog truly is beauty and the beast. Watch these and many more impressive functions in the video below.

Nico’s Warthog is discussed in detail, with building instructions, on his blog.

Have I seen this spaceship somewhere before?

YT-1740 is designed to be a fast and agile light freighter, only half the size of the Millennium Falcon and shaped like an arrowhead.  Builder ZiO Chao has supplied her with three powerful engines and two pairs of long-range antenna on its sides. The builder points out that you may recognise features from other ships in the Star Wars franchise: The Defender-class light corvette from the Old Republic era, the Ghost from Rebels, and also Kylo Ren’s command shuttle from Episode VII. The red string pattern is a nod to Homeworld, and the shape of engine comes from the battleship of Gundam.

YT-1740 Arrowhead

The detailed minifigure-scale interior has everything you could wish for — a medical room in case of inter-galactic mishaps, a meeting table for planning those all important missions and a crew resting area for a cold beer and a laugh about the latest crisis. The builder has put a handy label on the locations so that we don’t get lost finding the way to the bathroom at night.

YT-1740 Arrowhead Interier

F is for friends who do stuff together

While many lament the fact that LEGO no longer holds the SpongeBob SquarePants licence, it does open the door for builders to make up the difference. George Panteleon has done just that with a rather unusual build. Not only has the tiny character of Plankton been blown up into a much larger build, but there’s something strange going on if you zoom in.

Sheldon J. Plankton

Yes this Plankton is made up of 143 smaller Planktons, those being the official printed 1X1 cylinder bricks. There’s also good use of the Yavin 4 pieces from the Star Wars  planet set.

Creations for Charity 2017 sale starts now [News]

The annual Creations for Charity sale has just started, and from now until the end of November you can buy a custom Lego creation to raise money to provide Lego sets for underprivileged children. Visit creationsforcharity.org to learn more about the organization and find out how you can donate a creation.

Take a look at some of the items for sale this year and keep in mind that new creations will be added regularly until the end of the fundraiser on November 30th.

Creations for Charity store now open!

The future of details is now

There are times when a LEGO creation is futuristic because it is a spaceship, robot or another sci-fi element. There are other times, when the build itself is futuristic in its construction techniques and concepts. This spaceship by Nick Trotta is one of the cases when these two aspects intersect. LEGO creations keep evolving and advancing with time and this one is at the cutting edge for sure.

Heavy Light mk/5

From complicated angles to unique solutions for round shapes, there is a lot to see on this little spacecraft. The best and most progressive parts, though, are the technical details like hoses and gears, carefully enclosed by surrounding panels. So many different colours would not look good in most cases, but Nick has balanced them into a pleasing colour scheme.

For more inquiring readers, the builder has a video showcasing his creation in detail.

Sometime it’s fun to be the third wheel

Vince_Toulouse is a master at creating LEGO vehicles that combine an old-timey look with a futuristic style. The builder’s newest creation, the “Meteor 3x”, has a couple of great quirks. It’s inspired by an imaginary vehicle, the “Sonic Yellow,” and it makes use of a large Duplo part for the end of the smoke coming out of the pipes. Aside from that, the shaping of the main body is brilliantly smooth and the two-tone colour scheme really makes it stand out.

Meteor 3x

Orange is my new telehandler’s color

Kirill Mazurov has no mercy when it comes to motorization of his own builds. The latest Merlo ROTO Telehandler is just about 80 cm/31 inches long, but is fully packed with 14 Power Functions motors. There is literary nothing this monster isn’t capable of, not to mention his formidable telescopic hand which reaches the height of 83 cm/32 inches once fully extended.

Lego Technic Merlo ROTO Telehandler

It’s not hard to guess the major donor of pieces for this monstrosity was the glorious 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The fresh-looking curved 3 x 13 panels at the back of the body create very smooth curves, which can hardly be expected in such a heavy machine.

Lego Technic Merlo ROTO Telehandler