Monthly Archives: May 2010

SF40 on Orange

The angles on this fighter by Phall Master are stunning, complemented by an unusual orange background. The wheel well around the front of the cockpit is a nice detail.

LEGO fighter

Great tip, Leigh!

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Stilty brings the beefy splat

I couldn’t pass up this sentry robot by Jas Nagra, especially after reading his pithy description: “Yes, they bring the beefy splat.” As Tyler says, they’d fit well in Portal or Half-Life.

LEGO sentry robot

Also, this real-life robot is extremely creepy:

Apparently, Boston Dynamics is Skynet.

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General Store by Profound Whatever

I just can’t get enough of the details and dusty lighting in this old fashioned general store by Alex Eylar (Profound Whatever).

LEGO profound whatever general store

I particularly love the little price signs stuck into and on top of the merchandise. That really makes it.

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What? You got something to say?

This mecha by Fradel Gonzales (Slice151) is fun and great by any standard. I particularly like the construction of the weapon on its left shoulder, and the way he posed it in a simultaneously brooding and challenging way. And the tan. I like the tan. It looks like it’s ready to take on the world.

LEGO slice151 bronte mecha

It’s named after his childhood dog, Bronte, that he pines for and still loves. That also is a great contrast.

Real life, including spending time with my real life LEGO friends, have been part of why I haven’t been blogging, so I figured I’d transition back into it by blogging a couple locals.

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Mythical monsters galore

Partially inspired by the LEGO Minotaurus game, Matt Armstrong (monsterbrick) started building micro mythical monsters almost two months ago and just hasn’t stopped. Each incorporates good micro work and angles, but my favorite monsters have at least one fantastically creative use of elements.

The first is Matt’s personal favorite, a Harpy.

LEGO monsterbrick harpy

His second is a Chinese dragon that has an impressive head and lower jaw.

LEGO monsterbrick chinese dragon

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Woof!???

dog

I’m really not sure what this dog by Chandler Parker would say but I feel it would more pithy than a simple ‘woof!’. Maybe it’s the canine equivalent of the Cheshire Cat.

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The Fastest and Funniest LEGO Star Wars story ever told

dzine123 brings us the full story of the Star Wars Trilogy condensed into ~2 minutes as told by a kid with one heck of a LEGO collection :)

EDIT: Regardless of the voice talent, this was actually created by LEGO, not “a kid with one heck of a LEGO collection.”

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No sleep ’til...

…Pax Brooklynstyle. This scene by Alex Schranz (Orion Pax) doesn’t need much description (and I’m not even sure what I’d give it). Probably the best forced perspective I’ve seen.

LEGO Shoes

As though that wasn’t enough he also posted some sneakers. As I have a theory that the Beastie Boys are secretly nerds I reckon they’d love these.

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No Tom Cruise in this Valkyrie

Please excuse the atrocious title but I liked it better than ‘Robotech VF-1A Valkyrie‘ and if I called it Robotech I’d get a bunch of people complaining that I didn’t call it Macross (and vice versa). It’s by Eric Druon (BaronSat), who is one of my favourite ever builders. Oh yeah… it transforms too.

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Soren Roberts: I don’t like the idea of being a reference – Boilerplate & Beyond Vol. 9 [Interview]

We’re nearing double digits in our interviews by Keith Goldman. For our more sensitive readers, today’s interview does contain some fairly strong language. You’ve been warned. Take it away, Keith!

LEGO Tourist BotMy next guest is a self described “SMOOTH, two-faced, lying bastard” whose models have been the definition of cool in the realm of sci-fi building for the better part of a decade.

I can’t think of a builder who’s been more often imitated than Soren Roberts, and as the cliché goes: never duplicated. Soren is the warrior of the wasteland, the ayatollah of Rock and Rolla!

I’m going to stop because he also has a severe allergy to flattery, daylight, and fools like me.

I sat down with Soren in his blacked-out ’71 cuda, as we prowled early morning downtown Denver Colorado looking for a guy he kept referring to as “That F’ing Girondist”. We talked about Studio Nue, why Snow Crash should never be made into a movie, and whether it is better to use a rusty spoon or a shoe-horn to remove your victim’s eye.

The Build

Keith Goldman: Talk to me about the concept of the “Third Artist” and how it applies to building science fiction models with LEGO.  What’s your best advice for somebody who already has a decent grasp of technique, but wants to strive for originality in sci-fi or any other creative genre?

Soren Roberts: The concept of the ‘third artist’ is pretty simple — the first artist makes something original. The second artist copies (or “draws inspiration from”, if you feel charitable) the first. The third artist repeats the work of the second because, hey, that’s what you do.

LEGO MS-14A Gelgoog mechaAnd in science fiction, especially TV and movie science fiction, you’re lucky if it’s just the work of the third artist — more often it’s the fifth or sixth.

The best advice I can give is to build a clip file of all your influences. Every image you see on the net or in a magazine — if you like it, save it. And it can be anything — I have all kind of pictures of industrial machinery and pressure vessels, but I also have abstract paintings and typography to draw on.

For a while I was drawing a lot of inspiration from early steam warships. And so on.

If you want originality, try to move as close as possible to direct, first-artist inspiration from your surroundings. 99% of science fiction is designed to look like other science fiction, but that one percent stands out and often has a huge, disproportionate influence. It’s really hard to design a future cityscape that doesn’t at least obliquely reference the L.A. skyline of Blade Runner, or worn spaceships that don’t reference Star Wars, because those images were so striking and became so fundamental to our concepts of future cities and spaceships.

KG: You have an art and design background, how does this inform your building?  Also, give me a basic concept or two that you think other builders without your background could practically use to make their building better.

SR: Probably not all that much, beyond the expanded vocabulary — I don’t have a lot of experience in three-dimensional media, so I’m winging it. It informs my color choices, but I’m subject to the same constraints of part availability as anyone else. You can’t really teach a critical eye, just set up the conditions for someone to learn it themselves.

Two of the biggest things I know are how to do the background on someone who inspires me and having a pretty solid process. Being able to dig up more work by someone, or find their inspirations, is tremendously valuable — it lets you pick their brain for ideas remotely. Having a process is just nice for a lot of reasons — speed, certainly, but also for exploring potential alternative designs. I tend to build a lot of details beforehand, and to build several versions of a section I’m stuck on, and pick the version I like. Keeping up the momentum of a build is important.

LEGO microscale Fleet Carrier Endurance

So, yeah. Do the research on your influences, and have a process that minimizes frustration.

More of Keith’s interview with Soren after the jump: Continue reading

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Caveat Emptor

If you look on eBay at any time you may see people selling custom instructions or custom LEGO sets. While it’s generally not for me I can understand that some people might want to make some money out of their hobby and this is one way to do so.

What you may not realise is that some of these people sell custom instructions or sets of models that are not theirs to sell. I’ve discovered two cases of people selling my work and am aware of others becoming victims of the same unscupulous actions. This is really bad behaviour. Everytime someone does this it makes people less inclined to give their instructions away for free knowing that someone else may profit from their generosity.

This morning Tim David alerted me to this sales announcement (do not buy) from eBay store DJs-Treasure-Box (Paypal account markjohnson4111@msn.com) who is selling instructions to my Koef (pictured above) and my Cuban Alco as well as James Mathis’ center beam wagon and I’m fairly certain some more works of his as well as some by Tom Cook.

My first thought was to write eBay an email to complain but knowing how this sort of thing works I figured that would be a lot of hassle for little reward. Besides which the victim isn’t really me as I’ve already given away instructions for free. The victim is the buyer. So I figured I’d alert any buyers who read TBB to this dishonest practise and make sure they don’t get ripped off.

It also presents me with an opportunity to make people aware that this is not a rare practise and that they should always search Flickr, RAILBRICKS and Brickshelf for free copies of instructions before making any purchase on eBay. Also ask the seller if all models are original creations by them. If they lie and you find out then you have a case for dishonest sales practise.

Also, if you spot anyone else doing this please alert me so I can name and shame. If we don’t buy from these parasites then they may stop their bad behaviour.

See comments for other sellers to avoid


EDIT: As there hasn’t been a comment for a while where the author had read the post I’m locking comments to avoid more misinformation and keep my blood pressure low. If you’d like to report any other sellers who I should name and shame please let me know via email.

Also the sales have been pulled by eBay. Thanks to William Noetling for encouraging me to use the eBay VeRO system

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Online-only LEGO Star Wars special deals May 3 & 4 [News]

The LEGO Shop online is having a two-day promotion (May 3 and 4), with deals on several sets, free shipping on orders over 75 USD (50 GBP and 55 euro), an exclusive sticker sheet, and a chance to win one of two Boba Fett minifigs. Yes, this offer is available globally.

7754 Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser is on sale for 30% off, while the UCS Millennium Falcon is 25% off.

Also 25% off is 10195 Republic Dropship with AT-OT Walker:

Here’s a look at that unique bronze Boba Fett minifigure:

Bronze LEGO Boba Fett minifig

The sale and special promotions end in 48 hours.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.