Yearly Archives: 2008

Dekotora by Nathan Proudlove

20+ years ago in Japan, my brother and I stared in amazement every time we saw a dekotora (from “decorated truck”). Of course, like their teamsters brethren here in the States, the Japanese truckers who drove these “art trucks” weren’t always the most savory of characters. Today, dekotora are apparently more popular than ever. There’s even a video game for Nintendo Wii.

Nathan Proudlove‘s entry for the LUGNuts Haulin’ Ass build challenge is an amazingly accurate LEGO rendition of these trucks from my childhood:

Like the trucks that inspired him, Nathan’s truck also looks great all lit up in the dark:

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Remyth gets into a bit of a skirmish

The last time we blogged Thomas Wunz, I noted his castle-building skills, observing that he improves with each new diorama.

For his latest, Thomas applies these skills to ApocaLEGO in a scene titled “Clash”:

The architecture is great, and the scene has all the elements of good post-apocalyptic LEGO (including the requisite telephone pole), but what floored me was this photo:

That’s a white car door that Thomas is using as a bandage being unwrapped. That right there is pure genius.

Lino Martins drives off with George Barris’ Li’l Redd Wrecker

Back in the 70s, customizer George Barris built comedian Redd Foxx an amazing custom tow truck called the Li’l Red Wrecker. Fast forward 30 years, and Lino Martins rolls out the chrome for his LEGO version of this weirdly cool vehicle:

BattleTech Battlemaster mecha by Andrew Lee

Andrew Lee takes his inspiration from an old BattleTech novel’s cover for his latest mecha. I love Andrew’s use of the LEGO Agents stickers:

Since we’re rifling through Andrew’s photos looking for stuff to blog, here’s a bonus microspace warship, Yen-lo-wang — one “bad mother”:

Zach picks up the pieces in his Forest Haven

Zach (BabyJawa) enters the Picking up the Pieces ApocaLEGO contest with this vignette titled “Forest Haven”:

Never underestimate the power of well-posed minifigs. For such a small scene, there’s a lot going on, with great landscaping underneath it all. I especially like the overhanging rocks above the pool of water.

Sailing the Steampunk Seas

SlyOwl’s latest creation combines two of my favorite themes into one sweet little ship. Crammed with all the fun details we have come to expect from this builder, this pirate ship sets off on its quest to plunder the Steampunk world!

Steam is hard, let’s go shopping

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.

LEGO Star Wars A-Wing Interceptor by Jarek

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:

Darth Vader has a tough go of it in Gotham City

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.

Bram Lambrecht proves that Cylons are indeed 3vil

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.

Win $25,000 in the Nicktoons “Built by Me” LEGO movie contest [News]

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 10036

Click 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.

Japanese tea house by Mister oo7

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: