As February comes to an end, it brings us the final rovers of FebRovery 2016. Jon Blackford has probably got the most stylish couple of rovers in the whole galaxy.
Although, the flatbed’s curves may get all the attention (which they undoubtedly deserve), be sure to have a look at the loader’s arms — a beautiful example of how to get an impressive result with just a few plain gray pieces.
And some adventures lead us to our destiny. Dwalin Forkbeard built the iconic wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia that leads to the magical land of Narnia. Though the professor’s home on the back side of this build could use some more furniture and maybe a rug, I’m in love with the Narnia scene and the wardrobe itself. The snowy landscape and those coniferous trees are stunning and the new LEGO satyr makes for a perfect Mr. Tumnus.
Dwalin captured a beautiful, out-of-focus-foreground photo of the wardrobe and beyond, presumably depicting the Pevensie children’s first glimpse of Narnia. He also built an 8 by 8 vignette version of this build for a sweet contest over on Eurobricks where you can win an entire set of the new Series 15 Collectible Minifigures, including the Satyr and (everyone’s favorite) Left Shark! The contest ends on March 10th so there’s still time for you to follow Dwalin’s lead and submit an entry or two of your own!
Andrea Lattanzio has a talent for building awesome LEGO vehicles, and his latest build is almost too hot to handle. The original Fire Truck is a’67 Chuck Miller’s Ford C-cab and was designed as a custom car to win prizes at car shows. Andrea’s LEGO version manages to be just as cool hot as the original.
Andrea included chromed parts to give the vehicle that special shiny hot rod feel, but his fire truck is made purely from genuine LEGO parts. I particularly love the shiny V-8 engine and the pipes leading to the exhaust — as a chick, it’s not often I can say an engine is a thing of beauty! The ladder is created with 3mm hose and reddish brown minifig hands to ensure the correct dimensions — great attention to detail, Andrea. Also, the build has a nice mix of Fabuland accessories, such as the axe and fire helmet used to match the scale of the vehicle.
We’ve blogged Andrea previously on TBB, and it’s definitely worth taking a look at his Green T – 1923 Ford Model T, 1932 Ford roadster and, my own personal favourite, his VW Transporter getting an overhaul.
The apocalypse is now. Civilization is gone. Chaos prevails… Sector AT.10 is the ultimate refuge for cut-throats, savages and punks. Only the most ruthless will survive…
Tim Schwalfenberg has masterfully crafted this dark scene depicting a fallen world often envisaged by pessimist spirits like myself. The choice of dull colors throughout the work helps a lot with the atmosphere. The recycled container, shabby ventilation system, disorganized structure and lying junk perfectly sums up a world without order. The hooded characters present an uncanny and unwelcoming ambiance. But don’t be intimidated! It’s just a perfect work of LEGO which we all should enjoy!
Most of the builds we see posted by LEGO Castle builders are, well, LEGO castles, and those that aren’t are often half-timber medieval taverns and houses. Aaron Gomez delves into the Iron Age with a Druid working magic in a stone circle — frankly much more interesting to me than yet another post-Roman, pre-Renaissance something or other (yawn).
While I don’t necessarily disagree with Aaron himself in thinking that the edges under the dark green leaves could have used some smoothing, the megaliths in the circle are wonderfully built — particularly the dolmen near the top of the photo.
I can’t believe it’s been more than six years since we’ve blogged a LEGO mosque. The intricate, geometric designs of Islamic architecture all over the the world — from Córdoba to Jakarta — would seem to lend itself particularly well to LEGO. This wonderful structure by brickbink represents a section of a mosque, with a minaret in which the muezzin is calling a diverse group of people to worship.
Only a handful in the past ten years? It seems to me like the world needs more LEGO mosques.
While Gundam mechs (LEGO or otherwise) aren’t exactly known for their bulkyness, this creation by
Andrea Chiapella is exquisitely thin while still looking powerful. This particular build is based on the Gundam GN001 Exia which has some decidedly complex angles to pull off. I think you’ll agree that justice was more than done here.
I hope we get a view of the back, as the Exia has an equally complex look there.
Ryan Olsen has a whole fleet’s worth of space navy goodness standing by to defend the planet. These spacecraft have an impressive sense of scale despite the tiny size of the models, a trick accomplished by the extensive use of textured bricks, grilles and hollow studs. There’s good use of hinges and minifig “hose handles” to create cannons for the smallest of the ships.
The colors look realistic (if that’s even remotely sensible to talk about in terms of a space navy!) and the implementation of the scheme across the assorted craft looks great. Overall, these are nicely-built models coupled with classy photo-editing. Good stuff all round.
The truest test of popularity is whether or not someone can recognize your costume after 50 years. That’s no doubt the case with this famous monster-bashing Japanese television icon, Ultraman. Built by Jan Lego, this ultra-pose-able figure is actually based on the more recent manga series design, but he nonetheless kicks just as much monster-butt with more style to boot.
Packed with detail, Jan’s Ultraman is a prime example of a well built brick figure utilizing form and shaping to its fullest advantage. If you want to see dozens more views of this beauty, head over to Jan’s Ultraman album–you won’t be disappointed, although overconfident kaiju may be.
Jonas has found his sea-legs and built a glorious tall ship named Taurus. There are no biblical flood warnings ahead as this ship was built to sail the LEGO seas only. Who could predict the ship would encounter a sea monster, perhaps even the Kraken herself, from the depths of the beautifully sculpted trans-clear waves.
As well as the fantastic sea monster and brick-built icy sea, Jonas has added some great details to Taurus. I particularly love the anchor (why use a LEGO anchor when you can build your own?), the ship’s bell at the front and the cute little cannons that might as well be tooth picks facing up against the Kraken.
Jonas’ ship is not the first to encounter a Kraken or sea monster during a voyage, it seems to be a recurrent issue for LEGO ships:
If you love cars, you can’t go wrong with taking a stroll through Calin‘s photostream. Doing so will lead you to models such as these two below — a low-riding VW Beetle with superb engine detailing called “Salty Bug”…
And something that looks more like a Hot Wheels (but it’s LEGO, so it’s much better)…
Seeing these really makes me happy that you can get yourself a similar build in an official set. 75875 Ford F-150 Raptor & Ford Model A Hot Rod comes with a modified Ford Model A (say that 10 times fast) that not only looks the part, but has printed door pieces ablaze with flames. I imagine this set is going to be very desirable for that alone.
Castleheads born in the 80s are very likely to have drooled over the conflict between the Black Knights and the Wolfpack. I was an avid supporter of the Black Knights as they occupied large castles and had massive firepower including a ship. Wolfpack renegades were just the icing on the cake.
But every faction requires a challenge so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I rebuilt the poor old 6075 Wolfpack Tower into a stronghold and added a little bit of a fantasy twist. I hope you enjoy the result!
