Canadian John V (Lemelisk) makes his first appearance on this blog of brothers with his “Adnavik” tug boat. Named after a village on the Labrador coast, this Canadian Forces Arctic Vessel (CFAV) is accurate to its real world counterpart, with many playable features that would make a great official set.
TBB recognizes the importance of family on this day dedicated to mothers everywhere. Lego Admiral has been hard at work building up his force of Warhammer 40K futuristic killing machines and he has thoughtfully gathered them all together for a group-shot. The Valkyrie Assault Carrier hovers maternally above the tribe, and from left to right: Leman Russ Tank, Sentinel, Hydra Flak Tank, Chimera APC and the robust Baneblade Super Heavy Tank. Who can forget old uncle Baneblade?…lets just keep him away from the hooch this year. If you’d like to see close-ups of any member of the Imperial Guard family, Lego Admiral has thoughtfully included them in his photostream.
Being almost at the half way point of the R-Type & Beyond starfighter build challenge, we have seen a very nice assortment of brilliant builds of all sizes shapes and colours.
Here is a quick round up of my favourites so far.
Shannon Ocean brings his retro space style with this rockin’ entry.
Pasukaru76 has been churning out a tonne of builds in both micro and minifig scales, but this colourful addition has to be one of favourites.
Mike Yoder blows it out of the water with this behemoth.
Pierre E Fieschi created perhaps the most colourful entry so far, and it works so well on all levels.
HatRabies has been keeping pace with Pascal on the number of submissions with a continuing variation of a micro R-Type…with each post they get better and better.
There are plenty more brilliant creations, so please head on over to the submission thread if you haven’t already checked it out.
You still have a little over 2 weeks to join in on the fun…hopefully by that time I will have mine done too.
LegoMarat brings you some remote-controlled action tonight with his rendition of an Illinois Department of Transportation International 4400 tow truck. Not content to merely nail the shaping for the exterior, he also packed in a working front and rear suspension, opening doors, 6 motors, 3 IR receivers, and a battery box to bring it all to life. This model brings out the Tonka-Truck loving little kid in me and I want to take it out to the sandbox.
The rugged model also features a working fork that is capable of lifting a 2kg load. Don’t believe me?…check out the handy instructional video that highlights all the wonderful power-function driven features of the IDOT wrecker.
Zaberca Architecture is a firm committed to design excellence and sustainable building practices. Founded by zaberca in 2007, the firm endorses a contextual and purpose driven design philosophy which focuses on the process of design, rather than heroic architectural gestures, or specific stylistic expressions. Following an in depth analysis of context, climate and vernacular forms, the architectural firm’s projects are reflective of the client’s vision and offer environmentally sensitive solutions for a variety of situations.
With a collaborative approach to the design process, Zaberca Architecture emphasizes a dialogue with clients and consultants from complimentary disciplines to ensure a project’s multidimensional success. The arcchitectural firm is committed to producing quality projects that become one with their natural settings. With keen attention to material selection, Zaberca architecture’s buildings embody a language that weaves together the traditional and the modern, the natural and the built as well as the indoors and the outdoors.
Stephen 趙(Chao) (obscurance) makes his first appearance since 2009 on this venerable blog, with this gorgeous “Savoia S.21“. The S.21 is a fictional seaplane / fighter that appears in the anime Porco Rosso, directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
According to Wikipedia: “While the plane depicted in the film never existed, Savoia was an actual Italian aircraft maker which produced a considerable number of flying boats in the 1920s, during which the film is set. An actual Savoia S.21 even existed, though the fictional one does not closely resemble it—the Cant.Z 501 “Seagull” is probably the closest real-life match. As a matter of fact, Hayao Miyazaki is said to have drawn his Savoia S.21 from his childhood memories of Macchi M.33.”
Constant readers of the blog will no doubt be familiar with this model, as 4 outstanding builders have taken a shot at the Savoia over the years. When I discovered how often the Savoia had been featured I was tempted to send the draft to the trash can, but I enjoyed seeing the unique approach used by each builder over the years and hope that you will too.
Sweden’s Lego.Skrytsson is providing the power for Saturday’s broadcast with his “Transformer” diorama. Gabriel brings the substation to life with accurate detail and just the right amount of minifig action to keep it interesting and provide some color. The varied textures help to overcome the necessarily monochromatic style, and the overall result is both pleasing and a nice respite from the mostly violent dioramas I come across while looking for models to blog.
Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada for another bruising edition of Friday Night Fights! Tonight’s bout features two up and coming fighters in the always contentious Bantamweight division. Let’s go to the tale of the tape:
Fighting out of the red corner…from somewhere between heaven and hell…Nooreuyed and his “Teatro“.
And fighting out of the blue corner…The pride of Rockford College, Illinois…Julius No and his “Plastic Prison“.
As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding the outcome of this pugilistic endeavor by way of comment. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights, the judges scored the fight 4-2 in favor of Andy the D-Town Cracka
Friday Night Fights would also like to thank Chris Maddison (cmaddison), who is in the fight of his life against Bruce Lowell, for contributing to tonight’s broadcast.
If you are planning to attend Brickworld Chicago from June 12-16 but have not yet registered, you have until May 13 to do so before registration closes. Visit their website for registration info and important deadlines for attendees.
As I’ve noted in my recent reviews of Brickmania custom LEGO kits, making tracks look realistic can be challenging — LEGO’s own tracks are generally too wide, and using Technic chains is either too narrow or incredibly parts-intensive. Enter Brickmania’s new Kickstarter project — Brickmania Track Links: Custom Add-On for the LEGO System.
Here’s the announcement video:
Like train wheels from Big Ben Bricks, this project fulfills a need that LEGO is unlikely to meet any time soon — why create more-realistic track molds when the current ones will do? I’ll be supporting this worthy project on behalf of The Brothers Brick.
I am sure many of you will be looking forward to the annual Lego Military Build Competition. I know I am. I was a participant in 2008 and 2009 (with some success) and helped organise and judge it in the last few years. This year it is being run by Magnus Lauglo, D-Town Cracka, -Mainman- and Aleksander Stein, all of whom will be familiar to military builders and to long-term readers of this blog.
If you are interested, you should make your way to the special contest group on flickr for more information. The contest starts today and runs until July 10th. In previous years, the quality of many of the entries in this competition was excellent and I am eagerly looking forward to seeing the results this year.
I think it’s rather trite to say that something “doesn’t look like LEGO” — it’s a lazy statement and plays into the non-building public’s perception that “LEGO these days” is “overly specialized” and “doesn’t foster creativity.” Also, we try not to feature the same model twice.
Nonsense, all of it. Just look at this amazing dragon built by aurore&aube.
This new version includes much-improved horns, and arms posed as if the dragon were about to leap into the air.