Making big LEGO steam engines that run is hard work. LEGO train track has very sharp curves which mean all sorts of clever trickery is required to make a steam train even get around it without looking totally stupid. Fortunately Cale Leiphart is quite an expert in it and shows off a lovely 4-4-0 locomotive (that’s eight wheels) from the Maryland & Pennsylvania railway. The presentation in front of the Twin Cities LEGO Train Club’s layout is pretty snazzy too.
From the narrow gap in the nose to the detailed tail, Jarek‘s A-Wing is a gorgeous little fighter:
If standard red isn’t your thing, perhaps you’d prefer sunny yellow:
Reader Chris McVeigh (Flickr) combines excellent photography with recent LEGO sets to tell a funny little story. Captioned “Trading Places,” Darth Vader trades places with Batman:
I think Batman got the better end of the deal.
To be perfectly honest, I’ve enjoyed the design aesthetic of the new Battlestar Galactica more lately than the story lines. Oh well. So when Bram Lambrecht combined the Cylon Raider with little plastic bricks from Denmark in 3vil livery, I was rather pleased:
Via Young Spacers.
Nickelodeon and LEGO are teaming up to host the “Built by Me” LEGO movie contest as part of the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival.
For your 2-minute (or less) movie animated with LEGO, you could win up to $25,000. w00t! Although Nicktoons is a kids’ network, I’ve taken a look at the rules, and the contest seems open to everybody.
You can download the Entry Form (632 KB PDF) and read the Rules & Regulations (1.1 MB PDF) on Nick.com.
Here’s the full press release:
CREATE A LEGO® ANIMATION FOR NICKTOONS NETWORK!
Nicktoons Network is working on the next Nicktoons Network Animation Festival…and they want YOUR animated short!
Are you a budding LEGO Filmmaker? Show off your talent by creating an animation using your LEGO brick collection! We’ll pick our favorite to be shown live at the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival in Los Angeles in October, and play it on www.nicktoonsnetwork.com/nnaf and LEGOclub.com. Plus, the Grand Prize winner will receive $25,000 to create an all-new animation for Nicktoons Network!
GRAND PRIZE: The “Built By Me” Movie Award!
The Grand Prize winning animation will be showcased at the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival and online. The winner will also receive $25,000 (twenty-five thousand dollars) to create a brand-new original animated short for Nicktoons Network using LEGO bricks and minifigures!FIRST PRIZE
One First Prize winner from each age category will receive a LEGO Premium Prize Pack!SECOND PRIZE
Two Second Prize winners from each age category will each receive a LEGO Prize Pack!CONTEST DETAILS
Create an original animated short 2 minutes long or less and send it to us. Entries must be submitted between July 15 and September 15 2008. All shorts must feature LEGO bricks, and you must own the rights to any music, sound and dialogue featured in your video.Contest is open to all ages. There are 2 categories: 17 and under, and 18 and older.
To enter the “Built By Me” Movie Contest you’ll need to download and complete the Entry Form and send it along with your animation.
WHERE TO SEND YOUR ANIMATION
Send your entry to:“Built By Me” Movie Contest
1515 Broadway, 38th Floor
New York, NY 10036Click here for contest details, rules & regulations, and movie-making tips to help you create your video!
Click here for more information about the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival!
ABOUT THE EVENT
The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival is back for its 5th year! Founded in 2004 to showcase the diversity of worldwide animation filmmaking, The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival is the largest multiplatform animation festival in North America. The festival features the best animated shorts from around the globe. Shorts selected for the festival have the chance to make it on-air, online and to be showcased at the live event in Los Angeles in October, 2008.Nicktoons Network currently reaches 50 million homes via cable, digital cable and satellite, and can be seen on Cablevision, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable, Cox Communications, DirecTV, DISH Network and Time Warner Cable.
With cherry blossoms, a waterfall, serene pond, and simple, elegant architecture, Nathan‘s Japanese tea house is an excellent example of the Japanese aesthetic ideal:
The tea house also has a lovely interior:
Nelson Yrizarry‘s Chinese Lion from the culture classic lion dance is easily recognizable as an iconic symbol of the Chinese culture. But I have to say that it look rather cute in its LEGO version and resembles candy, mmm sweet.
Daniel “DNL” from Flickr and Fascinating LEGO Model of the Day shares his most recent castle creation called Foyk Castle. I particularly enjoy the lush plant details that make this creation more attractive. Never underestimate the importance of landscaping.
Nnenn‘s latest work is highly original, featuring a string of five engines strapped to a glider. Check out this whimsical racer called the The Balkeesa.
UPDATE: Check out the new Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO Architecture sets.
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The LEGO Group announced partnership with Adam Reed Tucker of Brickstructures Inc. to launch LEGO Architecture, a series of replicas of worldwide landmarks. As stated by LEGO, this “is the first new business launched together with a member of the LEGO community using the LEGO bricks as part of the business.” Currently available are models of The Sears Tower and The John Hancock Center, with future landmarks from around the world to come. You can purchase the kits at select locations in Chicago. For more info, head on over to read the full article on BrickJournal.
Via BrickJournal
Bryan Hanonymous ,aka The Eggplant Wizard, relives the battle of Helm’s Deep in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings captured beautifuly in LEGO.
One of the things I love about Izzo is the building phases he goes through. Lately, he’s been on a bit of a transforming kick.
For several of his transformers (lowercase T), Izzo has included a diagram illustrating the stages of their transformation:
Izzo’s diagrams include a handy chart showing precisely how transformable each mecha is, ranging from “Fully Transforms” at the top to “Does Not Transform” down at the bottom. I suspect Izzo is being hard on himself with his low transformability rating. ;-)
Be sure to check out all six of Izzo’s transforming mecha on Brickshelf. Izzo also has a great roundup post of recent transforming mecha by other Japanese builders. You don’t need to read Japanese — just click the links!
