Monthly Archives: August 2013

Friday Night Fights (Round 17)

Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada for another bare-knuckle edition of Friday Night Fights! Tonight’s bout is a rematch of the most recent Iron Builder battle; a chance for redemption or utter humiliation with YOU the public as the ultimate judge instead of a panel of highly acclaimed turbo-nerds. Let’s go to the tale of the tape:

Fighting out of the red corner, from The Great White North…“Punchy” Pascal (pasukaru76) and his “Ferroconstructosaurus“.

And fighting out of the blue corner, from “The land of green shins“… Gilcélio “El Guapo” Chagas and his “Star Wars“.

As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding the outcome of this pugilistic endeavor by way of comment. On the last record breaking edition of Friday Night Fights, the battle of Hipster vs. Manga-Nerd, Mike Dung emerged the battered victor by a narrow margin of 10-8. Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!

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.

LEGO Fan in Sad City

This video reminds me of a T.V. commercial from a big pharmaceutical company hawking its latest antidepressant medication. Maybe that’s fitting, considering how many fans build to relieve stress and in some cases to help fight depression. I’m not sure which cure is cheaper, but I know which one has fewer side effects. According to the builder, Denmark’s Anne Mette Vestergård (Anne Mette V), “Sometimes the everyday life seems to be sad and grey like in this town. But not for the AFOLs who lives there. Making LEGO Creations is his bright spot in his everyday life.. The build is not photographed in black and white, nor is it digitally manipulated but rather built with gray-scale parts, much like a portion of the recent Wizard of Oz diorama featured on this blog of blogs.

The music is a perfect match for the video, although it does make me want a Friday night martini, which shouldn’t be too hard to find in Vegas. Welcome to the weekend.

Oscar the Grouch

Iron Builder competitions have a way of bringing out some crazy creations…suppose that it the whole point of them. Sean & Steph Mayo prove once again that they have mad LEGO skillz with their adorable Oscar the Grouch.

Holy SHIP!

For those of you just crazy enough to try and build an entire SHIP in 30 days, may be interested in checking out this little contest/challenge that Simon Liu has organized.

Here is a brief synopsis of the challenge at hand:

SHIPtember
One Month.
One SHIP.
One Hundred (plus) studs.

Rules:
Build SHIP must be 100 studs or longer between September 1st and October 1st. That’s it!

How do I enter?
Simple! Start building your SHIP starting on Sept 1st, and start posting WIP shots as you go so everyone can all praise your guts for building a SHIP in a month!
WIP and your final glory shots should be posted in the LEGO SHIP group:
www.flickr.com/groups/the-shipyard (HERE!)

What about [insert standard ship critiera]?
We don’t care, as long as it’s a 100+ studs and you build it all in SHIPtember we’ll be happy…
Though there will be Trophies for people that build a really good SHIP… ;)

Trophies?!?!
Yup. Trophies. There will be a number of custom trophies that will be awarded in various categories. Categories will be Judged by a cabal of SHIPists who are not participating in the building (or will not be eligible for trophies/prizes). And there will also be a limited of Engraved/Printed Badges for participants

Engraved/Printed Badges!?!?
Yup, we got those covered too. What’s a trophy without a nice engraved brick? And we got some extras for SHIP Builders, and maybe a few for non builders.

Wait? why are non builders getting prizes too?
The way I see it, SHIP building doesn’t have to be a solitary affair. It seems to be one of the few builds that people typically post WIP shots leading up to the final completed SHIP. Furthermore comments and critiques offered by the larger community may actually be incorporated into the final SHIP. So I’m hoping all builders and those that can’t build will help encourage the courageous few who will be attempting to build a really cool SHIP in a month.

For further information and discussion head on over to the contest thread in the SHIPs: WIPs & Discussion flickr group.

The Fabulous Flanker

Way back in the eighties, I bought a book about Soviet combat aircraft that contained two grainy photographs of the Soviet Union’s latest air-superiority fighter: the Su-27, which received the NATO code-name Flanker. At the time, this was very exciting, because the Cold War hadn’t ended yet and very little was known about this fascinating aircraft. That changed only a few years later, when the Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended. Russian aircraft manufacturers could no longer rely on large orders from the Soviet Air Force and started offering their most advanced fighters, including the Flanker, to foreign customers. Because of this, an ever growing collection of different versions of the Flanker was regularly displayed at airshows all over the world, often in oddball camouflage schemes and performing jaw-dropping maneuvers.

Everblack, whose F-15 Strike Eagle was featured here earlier this year, has now built a nicely shaped scale model of one of the latest versions on offer, the Su-27SKM. It is a multi-role version of the basic single-seat fighter, intended for export customers. The particular jet he modeled is the demo aircraft used by the manufacturer. It carries an interesting combination of air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, which is used at airshows to demonstrate the aircraft’s versatility. My favorite feature is the camouflage, which is a faithful reproduction of the white, grey and black color scheme of the demonstrator.

Two Heads Are Better than One

The first thing that caught my eye about this mecha, by Garry_rocks, was the fact that it appeared to have two heads. Closer inspection revealed that, in addition to two heads, it also has two operators. There are plenty of modern day military vehicles with two operators, but it still came as a surprise to see it in a mecha. It looks like a fun build, and I only wish that all these parts really came in this color!

Oribital launch is go!

I see a lot of rockets and spaceships, and a lot of bases and landing pads, but I don’t see cool scenes of things using controlled explosions to escape gravity nearly often enough, and I’m guessing you don’t either. LukeClarenceVan‘s diorama satisfies admirably with what must surely be the most picturesque launchpad in the world. I’m not sure what the backstory is here, but I’m guessing this is the hidden lair of Bond villain.

Brickfair Va 2013 Military highlights

Some of the great models that were on display at Brickfair Virginia have already been blogged here in the last few days. I haven’t posted much of anything recently myself, because I’ve been taking a vacation in the US and have been traveling around since before Brickfair. However, today I have a little time to share some of my favorites from the show. Since the models I took to the event were in the military theme, the military tables were more or less my home for the duration of the show and I’ll highlight some of the builds there for now.

The guys I hung out with the most, Matt Hacker, Evan Melick (Legosim), Corvin Stichert and Aleksander Stein, built a collection of military vehicles, mostly based on existing vehicles, with a few fictional near-future vehicles thrown in for good measure. The quantity was impressive, but it was the quality that impressed me the most. Almost all of the vehicles have working features, such as opening doors and hatches or suspension. Even though they were built by four different people, they all seemed to fit very well together.

As good as these were, the award for best military vehicle went to the M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter built by Christopher Jenkins (Jenkballs), which is well deserved as far as I am concerned. I saw this model a few months ago and liked it then, although the photo wasn’t all that great. Seeing the vehicle with my own two eyes makes all the difference, however.

The M1070 is the standard heavy hauler for the US military and is used to transport M1 Abrams tanks, for instance. It is not the most common choice of subject, but I like trucks and have long been thinking about building one myself. This model is superbly done, with every detail painstakingly built out of tan elements.

Also on display was a collection of models from the Battle of Gettysburg. This famous Civil War battle took place 150 years ago this year. The ‘Defense of Little Round Top’ diorama, by Gary Brooks (Gary the Procrastinator), won the award in the ‘Best Historic’ category.

Little Round Top is a rocky hill South of Gettysburg. A counterattack by the defending 20th Maine Regiment against Confederate troops was a pivotal moment in the battle. There is nothing I don’t like about this diorama. It’s the sort of model where you keep noticing new things as you turn around it. The landscaping is fantastic. The hill looks muddy and slippery somehow and that is no small feat.

These were just some of the highlights at the show for me. I spent a lot of time meeting other builders and looking at their models. I still have dozens of photographs to go through and will highlight some of the other models that I saw in the next few weeks.

LEGO Cthulhu rises from the depths

Carl Merriam displayed an awesome build of Cthulhu at Bricks by the Bay. Check out the use of snake tails as mouth tentacles and dinosaur bodies as hands. You can read more about the creation and see more pictures on the feature article from Tested.com.

A Castle Black

No, not that one. You won’t find Jon Snow here–at least, not unless he’s being tortured by the orcs and trolls who do live here. This grim fortress by Hrczs1 is a terrifying jumble of textures and sharp pointy bits, and looks properly befitting to the dark wizard who commands it. Be sure to check out the rest of Hrczs1’s photostream: this first-time TBB’er has loads of cool stuff, including this awesome midi-scale battleship.

“Your test times show you are going too slowly.”

I have to admit that I’ve never played the popular video game Portal or any of its sequels, but I like to think I know a good diorama when I see one. I’ve been entirely too verbose this weekend, so I’ll just let this lovely image by eldeem do the talking. I will say that I really like the lift-arms under the platform, and the placing of the various elements in this shot is perfect.

According to the Ryan you can even actually play this course yourself, if you’re into that sort of thing.

The Companion Cube featured in this diorama was designed by Gaelen Mibeck (MooseBot) and used with permission by the builder.

As always it has been a pleasure being your weekend DJ here at TBB. Until next time, the long distance dedication line and the first time caller line remain open.

Cyberpocalypse Now Redux: The BrickFair Virginia Extended Cut.

A few weeks ago, Brother Andrew took us on a trip through Cyberpocalypse as it was presented at BrickWorld Chi-Town. A few weeks later the diorama was presented in its entirety for BrickFair Virginia, and it is my distinct honor to bring you extended coverage of what is without a doubt my favorite sci-fi diorama to date. Carter Baldwin and BroLUG manage to accomplish what is perhaps the most difficult aspect of collaboration; the seamless merging of diverse builders into a cohesive scene. When looking at convention-driven collaborative projects in person or online it is typically very easy to tell where one builder’s work stops and another begins, but such is not the case with Cyberpocalypse.

The influences for the project should be obvious to any fan of the genre; William Gibson, Blade Runner and Akira to name just a few, but I was surprised to learn that BroLUG also cites Kowloon Walled City as a major inspiration. Who knew the Bro’s were so literate and talented at beer pong too? Instead of me rambling on about the wonders of collaboration, I will provide excerpts from the Cyberpocalypse exit interviews conducted earlier this week.

Carter Baldwin is the somewhat reluctant Captain of BroLUG, a non-geographical club which seems to be equal parts RoninLUG, KeithLUG and a high-school Lacrosse Team. Carter (he’s the one in the photo with the nerdy Firefly shirt) was still loopy from the weekend’s shenanigans but with a little coaxing he was able to focus long enough to share his thoughts on the whole cat-wrangling endeavor.

“Throughout this project there were three things I found indispensable; concept art, caffeine, and noise rock…This display was definitely the most ambitious Lego project I’ve ever undertaken. Considering how poorly it could have gone, I’m beyond pleased at how well it all turned out. As much as I like to think that I run the show the real stars are all the contributors. I want to give particular props to Nate Brill and his builds inspired all of us to push our boundaries.”

Read the full article after the jump!