Monthly Archives: October 2012

If these are walkers...I want to get old!

So maybe I am a leg man…at least when it comes to ficticious 28th century machines.

Today’s feature is all about delicious stompy goodness. And since Hallowe’en is just around the corner it is rather convenient that in the Ma.K world these also tend to be creepy as well :D

Chris Maddison goes old school with a pod…that just so happens to have a nice sprinkling of Maschinen Krieger thrown in!

Kundschafter

The legs go ALL the way up on artpants’ Sandpiper! And at the top is a fantastic pile of parts combinations!

sandpiper

Bartosz superbly puts his unique style on the Raubtier, which is nicely balanced between comical and mildly creepy.

Ma.K Raubtier a

Now the next three are all great examples of the creative twist you can put on a common source material.

Keith Goldman not only provided the official quote of the Ma.K bricks group, but he also built this awesome HAF Ausfseher.

HAF Aufseher [1/3]

A Yates has been producing a tonne of great stuff, but his Nacht-Kafer really stands out for me. The shapes achieved are just fantastic!

[Ma.K] Nacht-Käfer

Fateheart FINALLY builds some Maschinen Krieger stuff…and I knew he would do it gloriously…his HAFS Super Gladiator doesn’t disappoint…unless of course you are the one that is being shot at :)

HAFS Super Gladiator

Nothing like a bespoke suit...

As Ma.Ktober has progressed, the most wonderous thing has happened…builders from all over have been creating Maschinen Krieger hardsuits of all shapes, sizes and colours. Considering that the hardsuits are the most prominent piece of hardware within the universe, it really isn’t surprising that there have been so many this month. But the quality and creative twists taken is certainly a nice surprise. Here are some of my favourites.

Will Page uses the Rebel Vanguard helmets to brilliant effect on his space-based suit.

Ma.K Monday

_Tiler’s Fatboy is wonderfully adorable, I just want to rub it’s little belly. The fact that it is so shiny helps too :)

T05 "Fatboy"

Tim Zarki goes to a larger scale to achieve a fantastically accurate representation of the bad to the bone SAFS Snake Eye.

SAFS Space Type II "Snake Eye"

D-Town Cracka also utilizes the Vanguard helmets, as well as, one of my favourite elements (the Bionicle mask/visor thingamajig) to create this AFS Skinhead…wouldn’t want to face this guy in a snowball fight!

A.F.S. (S) 'SKINHEAD' Mk. IV

Vincent also goes to a larger scale to build one of my favourite Ma.K suits, the Kauz. The slightly odd colourscheme looks fantastic…and I can’t get enough of hearts!!

Ma.k KAUZ 01

And last but not least, Nate Decastro produced an awesomely creative design in his SAFS Shogun…and presented it in a very Maschinen Kriegery way…

SAFS space-type SHOGUN

I really wish I could feature all the fantastic creations being submitted, but that would possibly be the longest blog post ever. So I will instead urge you all to peruse the brilliance in the Ma.K Bricks pool

The beauty of being LEGOLIZED!!!

I sadly have not had the time to neither participate in Ma.Ktoberfest as I had hoped, nor to blog the awesome creations from everyone else. So over the final week of the festivities I will try and make more of an effort to at least rectify the latter by featuring some of my favourites.

First up is LEGOLIZE IT MAN, who has been churning out some absolutely brilliant designs for the build challenge. Both the quality of the models, and the style of presentation have put a huge smile on my face everytime he posts something new.

His latest, the AZ ULF – Moon Bull is wonderfully hulking creation that bristles with a glorious combination of smooth curves and mechanical detail! Delicious stuff!

ulf

His Svend Repair Mech is a perfectly haphazard design with some great angles going on.

svend_1

And lastly, his Moon-Squito has to be one of my favourite models posted this year. It just captures the Maschinen Krieger aesthetic so perfectly!

moon-squito_fixed

Please be sure to click through his Ma.Ktoberfest 2012 set to see his other great creations, and alternate views

Ice Planet: A Decade Later

The denizens of the Ice Planet have grown a little more technologically advanced in the past decade, now employing mecha as they patrol their frozen landscapes.

Ice Spider 01

Ice Planet 2002 is probably my favorite Space theme, even though it’s completely outlandish. Can you believe it’s been 10 years since the fictional future in which Ice Planet was set? Although I never had much of it as a kid, its profuse bright neon-orange is forever burned in memory as a unique brand of nostalgic awesomeness.

So for my latest creation I wanted to return to this theme that I haven’t built a model for since I was a kid. Inspired by Brian Kescenovitz’s stunning NAILHEAD mecha, I set about building a cold-blooded mecha fit for the Ice Planet. I’ve also been talking a lot with other fans about how much photography affects a model, so I figured I should put my photos where my mouth was. This was probably one of the more fun builds I’ve done in a while, and I hope you enjoy it.

Legends of the Sea marble maze

I’m a sucker for anything with, well, suckers. A while back, Chris blogged an amazing marble maze project on LEGO CUUSOO by Jason Allemann (True Dimensions). To celebrate the fact that his project recently reached 2,500 supporters, Jason posted a version customized with a nautical theme.

Marble Maze (Labyrinth) - Legends of the Sea

This is one of the things I love about this project (and why I featured it in my list of 5 LEGO CUUSOO projects that need your support) — the basic structure of the LEGO mechanism supports customization and expansion.

You can help this project become an official LEGO set by voting for it on LEGO CUUSOO.

Fantastic Aircraft Models by Sydag

I was looking through flickr user’s Sydag’s new aircraft models earlier, and was shocked to discover that we’ve never featured any of his stunning airplanes here before. Sydag has been building some of the best small aircraft to be found, including this latest pair of Hawker Sea Furies, decked out for the Reno Air Races. Be sure to check out the other photos of them, as Sydag’s included lots of terrific details like folding wings and a de-cowled version.

Furies Unleashed

While I’d love to highlight all of his planes, this lovely version of Porco Rosso’s plane from Miyazaki’s film grabbed my attention in particular. It looks spot on, and the display is wonderful.

Savoia S.21

Videos from Brickworld Ft. Wayne 2012

Josh Hanlon from Beyond The Brick posted videos of displays and interviews at Brickworld Ft. Wayne, which took place about a month ago. Check out the YouTube playlist for all the videos from the event.

Then & now: Kaitimar updates his Blade Runner Spinner

We first featured this sleek Spinner from Blade Runner by Gorazd Vahen (Kaitimar) more than five years ago. In the intervening years, Gorazd has tweaked his model and added some excellent virtual decals.

Spinner-final version

The most notable improvements are the police lights, as well as a sleeker and smoother rear behind the cab. It’s always interesting to see how builders continually improve their work, and for those who hadn’t seen it before, I hope you like Gorazd’s Spinner as much as I do.

Dinner is served, Mr. Frog

I love just about everything Bruce Lowell builds, but his latest creation goes beyond the wonderfully realistic and artistic models we’ve come to expect, into the real of the truly adorable.

MMM, Dinner!

Bruce’s red-eyed tree frog is certainly cute, but so is the ill-fated fly.

Kunde Naval Shipyards capital ship gantry by Pierre E Fieschi

Following his awe-inspiring Arc Hammer earlier this summer, Pierre E Fieschi has posted another massive, ground-based vehicle. Standing at over a meter tall, Pierre’s shipyard gantry has all the intricate detail of a Fieschi masterpiece, combined with a truly impressive size for a microscale LEGO model.

KUNDE CAPITAL GANTRY

The model’s large photo is worth exploring. Can you spot the tiny LEGO man?

Cube Comparison – LEGO Rubik’s Cube

Jameson built a thing. Or rather, inspired by cheap dice on Bricklink, he built himself a Rubik’s Cube. Given the amount of variations on the cube in general, I thought it was a real one from the thumbnail on Flickr. Impressive!

I want to see more creations using those dice pieces. They’ve got some amazing potential applications.

Enter the FUN HAUS! A celebration of life ... through death!

Continuing our coverage of great LEGO models debuted at BrickCon 2012, Paul Hetherington just posted his FUN HAUS! building, which won “Best in Town.” (Paul has a serious winning streak going — he also won Town trophies in 2010 and 2011, and won our “Best Apocafied Building” prize during Zombie Apocafest 2009 for his Turns at Midnight carousel.)

FUN HAUS!

Paul’s funhouse was inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) celebrations, as well as the work of artist Pooch. The building features moving cars as well as letters, so the video is well worth a watch.