Monthly Archives: April 2013

Chinook, RAF-style

Compiling lists of parts that people would like to see LEGO make is a popular pastime on LEGO-related internet forums. However, sometimes it is overcoming the limitations of the available parts that makes building with LEGO worthwhile and the end result remarkable. Case in point: this Chinook HC.2 built by Simon T. James, known in the RAF as a `Wokka’.

Chinook HC2: door-to-door delivery (9)

Like his Merlin (which was blogged here last year) he built it in dark green. This is a decent match for the colour the RAF paints its helicopters. The parts palette may be growing, but it is still a fiendishly difficult colour to build with and the `Wokka’ doesn’t have an easy shape to start with.

And now for something completely different: Love Llamas

“Love Llamas“, for all you lovers out there on a Saturday night. Thank you delayice.

love llama

Take me back to the shack!

Brick Vader brings us back down to earth with this subdued gem, simply titled “Mediteranes Haus“. I could ramble on at length about how great this model is…talk about techniques and tedious details, but the hour is getting late in Vegas and these broads want to dance. Additional photos are available here.

Description

SF-36 Aethon

It seems like you can’t stop the sci-fi action today, you can only hope to contain it. Submitted for your approval, the “SF-36 Aethon” star-fighter, courtesy of Stefan Schindler (Brainbikerider). The design reminds me a little of Rob dasnewten, but Stefan puts his own unique spin on things. It is a good thing I don’t have access to this model because when I look at it I feel an irresistible urge to throw it across the room like a dart.

SF-36 Aethon

The Devil is in the Details

TBB first-timer Forest King (KingBrick) recently finished construction of his “Kodiak MK V air tug” and it is anything but boilerplate. There is so much going on, in fact, that I had trouble wrapping my mind around this model until I took a gander at the Killzone concept art that inspired the build. While the “Kodiak may have a few rough edges I appreciate that Forest is eschewing current trends in sci-fi building and blazing his own trail.

Kodiak LIV

Space Invaders

I love the classic Space Invaders era shape Don Wilson (Ghengis Don) has going on in this LEGO starfighter. In general it has a nice old-fashioned feel without looking like something from a bad 80s cartoon.

TD_109

Soviet Lunniy Korabl (LK) moon lander

Parallel to the American Apollo moon program, the USSR also worked toward landing their own Cosmonauts on the moon. Even though the Soviet program had enormous success with their unmanned Lunokhod rover, the manned program was ultimately canceled before Cosmonauts could be launched.

Kei_Kei_Flic has built a LEGO version of the LK lander, complete with a view of the little planet we all share hanging in the background.

LEGO-Soviet-LK-MoonLander-00-00

Check out lots more of Kei’s pictures in the photoset on Flickr, illustrating all of the accurate technical details he built into his LEGO model.

Hands Up!

This nimble robot by Spudbricks looks ready to rob–or perhaps arrest–anyone who comes across its path. I love the contrast between that menacing AI head and the adorable robot boots.

T-55 "Shoto"

How many times can you put two LEGO bricks together before they break?

Every LEGO brick has its limits. We see plenty of building techniques that stress bricks in various ways, but nobody has answered the question, “How many times can you put two bricks together and take them apart before the bricks fail?” Phillipe Cantin decided to find out.

The answer: After running his machine for more than 10 days, the LEGO bricks finally failed after more than 37,000 repetitions.

Via MAKE.

Previously: How many LEGO bricks stacked vertically would crush the bottom brick?

The LEGO Build-it Book: Amazing Vehicles, out Jun 2013 [Exclusive Excerpts]

No Starch Press continues building a library of LEGO books this year with their forthcoming The LEGO Build-It Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles, due out on June 22. The book features LEGO vehicle designs by Dutch builder Nathanaël Kuipers and Swiss builder Mattia Zamboni.

The book will feature step-by-step instructions for ten vehicles that you can build from the same LEGO bricks, ranging from a stroller to a rescue truck.

To whet your building appetite, we have an exclusive preview of pages from the instructions for the Off-Roader, Go-Kart, Muscle Car, Street Car, and Rescue Truck models (click through for large photos).

The LEGO Build-it Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles (p. 117)
The LEGO Build-it Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles (p. 15) The LEGO Build-it Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles (p. 22)
The LEGO Build-it Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles (p. 23) The LEGO Build-it Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles (p. 34)
The LEGO Build-it Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles (p. 35) The LEGO Build-it Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles (p. 38)
The LEGO Build-it Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles (p. 39) The LEGO Build-it Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles (p. 116)

The LEGO Build-It Book, Vol. 1: Amazing Vehicles is available for pre-order from Amazon.com and No Starch Press.

The Marine Air-Ground Task Force, on station over the landship Pugnacious

I love it when two builders play off of each other, posting an escalating series of LEGO models, whether part of an semi-official “build-off” or just a casual coincidence of when they both happen to be building in a similar theme or scale.

A week or so ago, Karf Oohlu posted this lovely — and heavily-armed — microscale “landship” dubbed Pugnacious.

The Assault Landship 'Pugnacious'

Stijn (Red Spacecat) responded today with a formidable force of his own, led by the massive U557-Warthog hovership. I say “massive” not because the model itself is huge — it can’t be more than six or eight inches long — but because all the detail and the accompanying smaller vehicles leave you with an impression of immensity.

MAGTF Groupshot

Perhaps this might have been best saved for Keith’s next “Friday Night Fight,” but I have to ask: Who would win?

The Lonely Tree

I spotted this the other day, and simply needed to share. There are some brilliant trees floating about in the general LEGO universe, and I love spotting techniques that add character, brilliance, and stand out amongst the others.

Enter the Lonely Tree, by Luke Watkins Hutchinson (Derfel Cadarn).

I love the way the tree twists and turns.

You can see more of his beautiful builds (landscaping, building detail, take your pick!) here!