Monthly Archives: June 2013

Brickmania Track Links gets funded, adds stretch goals [News]

With only seven updates to supporters and a lack of constant coverage from certain quarters (I’m looking at you, TBB — oh wait, that’s us), the Brickmania Track Links Kickstarter project has hit its funding goals, enabling Dan Siskind to add stretch goals for the remaining funding period between now and June 8th, this coming Saturday.

Available add-ons include these custom-printed minifigs:

Brickmania custom minifigs

…while the stretch goals include alternate colors (below), T-shirts for everyone, and more:

Brickmania Track Links alternate colors

Brickmania Track Links T-shirts

Brickmania instructions on thumb drive

I’ve already supported this project on behalf of TBB, and I’m looking forward to trying out the custom tracks on all my recent armor and sharing the results when the finished product arrives later this summer.

But if you’re hearing about this for the first time, you still have a few more days to get your pledges in.

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.

Not for the Xenophobic

Zemata gives us a look at the decidedly otherworldly: a creature from a planet where insects have the mastery. It’s a fantastically created diorama, with vivid colors and an interesting shape. Plus, it lights up.

Oh no, not again

“Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now.”

If this means nothing to you, then you’ll probably not get what this vignette by Stefan Schindler (Brainbikerider) is all about.

If you don’t get it, I suggest you get your sorry behind to the bookshop (or log on to your favourite on-line bookseller) and finally get yourself your own copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. What kind of nerd are you?! Seriously. Be ashamed.

I often try to find things to blog by people who haven’t had their MOCs featured on TBB before, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to pass up the opportunity to blog a model dedicated to one of my favourite books. I love the simple but very effective way in which the scene suggests motion by having stripes in the background and it could be just me, but I think the sperm whale actually looks a bit surprised.

The Mountains in the Distance

Here’s a fun scene by Mattius Xavier. I always love a bit of good forced perspective in a model, plus I don’t see that old school dragon nearly enough. This is a very nicely composed shot, and shows what you can do without any fancy photography tools, and only a bit of clever building and skill.

Sendak Space Lines

Apparently today is the day for LEGO designers to be rockin’ the primary colours, well this time it is Mark Stafford’s (lego_nabii) turn to take the spot light. Over the last several days Mark has been posting a number of his older models to his flickr stream. They have all been fantastic to have a gander at, but his SSL freighter from 2006 has to take the cake as the coolest so far.

…oh yeah, this was based on Peter Elson’s artwork from the Terran Trade Authority Handbook, but you probably already knew that.

Skis, Guns and a big LEGO Fan

The pedant in me is very happy that Karwik has, after many years, given me the designation of a rad ski-mobile (technically an aerosan) I built way back when. He’s also given all of us an absolutely excellent LEGO rendition of the NKL-26 which totally puts my older one to shame. And since you need to be freezing in your boots to use this thing, I promise not to complain about the 10C minimum on this Winter’s day…

Shriek of the Fell Beast

This sculpture of the Fell Beast by captainsmog captured the ferocity of this menacing creature from The Lord of the Rings. Having the creature pose on the sharp rock formation gave the model a much more dynamic appearance.

And a Chickamauga rises from the ashes.

Mike Yoder has been working on a Confederate sidewheel steamer for the last few weeks. However, after a catastrophic fall last week it was uncertain whether the model would be finished. But Mike pushed on despite the hardships, and I think the results are worth the pain and suffering.

Easily the neatest feature for me is the working engine.

Mad Misterzumbi

LEGO designer Adam Grabowski (Misterzumbi) is obsessed with cars. Adam has taken a break from posting photos of beat-up Fords to post some rather excellent custom LEGO cars from the Mad Max series of movies.

Adam isn’t afraid to sticker the heck out of his builds, nor to paint a brick here and there if it isn’t available in the correct color. The end result is gorgeous — Max’s Interceptor.

The Ford Landau from The Road Warrior is covered in paint, about which Adam says, “The paint will never come off. Those bricks are ruined.”

M:TRON vs BlackTRON Micro-style

Its itty-bitty size and sheer level of cute should not detract from the seriousness of space. Right? Or something like that.

This micro-battle by Filip Soukup (FilipS™) is all sorts of eye-catching. It’s instantly recognizable.

An appropriately sized pet for Hagrid

Kevin Ulrich of BrotherhoodWorkshop has continued posting hilarious short movies animated with LEGO. His latest takes a break from the Lord of the Rings to hit not one but two other popular LEGO themes. Check out the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=z4OARND31d0

The Ancient Watchtower of Amon Sûl

Here’s Jonas’ (Legopard) take on Weathertop. I always enjoy seeing a fan’s version of a movie/book location that LEGO has already made into a set. For obvious reasons, it’s unfair to expect LEGO to produce a decently priced set that can match the complexity of what fans build, but nevertheless, it would have been fantastic if the official set had been anywhere near as cool as this one.

EDIT (AB): Yes, yes, we blogged this last week, too — but I like Chris’ contrast with the official set, so enjoy this one twice, at no extra cost to you!