David Hughes is building a series of wonderfully creepy LEGO skulls. They have a definite Mexican Day Of The Dead vibe going on with bold color choices and geometric patterns. Our hobby is generally dominated by minifig-scale models depicting scenes or vehicles — sometimes it makes for a pleasant change when we get these kind of larger-scale art pieces beautifully put together from good old-fashioned bricks.
Yearly Archives: 2016
Then & Now with Doris the aging minifig
TBB contributor Elspeth De Montes has been working on a fantastic series of scenes contrasting the life of a woman named Doris in 1966 and later in her life today, in 2016. Originally built for and published in Bricks magazine, Elspeth’s scenes are not only well-built LEGO creations, but also poignant and funny. She describes her Doris series thus: “On the left it is 1966 and she is a young vibrant lady in touch with the latest fashion, technology and trends. On the right, time has passed and it is 2016 and Doris has to cope with new technology, innovation and the changes in society.”
In Elspeth’s first scene, Doris happily tosses her rubbish out in 1966, but struggles to sort her recyclables in 2016. What impresses me most about this scene is how many LEGO trash cans in various colors Elspeth owns!
Click through to see all of Doris’s adventures through the years
Stunning LEGO A Link Between Worlds mosaic
While I have not yet played this particular title in the Legend of Zelda series, the LEGO mosaic version of Link in wall merged form built by Hans Demol is instantly recognizable. In game, Link can take the form of a wall painting to traverse the worlds and puzzles in interesting ways, and Hans shows this with a stacked plates mosaic style that works well for both the painted Link and the uneven brick wall texture.
In this close-up of Link’s face, you can see several different colors used to achieve the painted look.
Djordje creates the Makuta LEGO didn’t
It was a sad day when the beloved Bionicle theme was canceled for the second time. In comment sections far and wide LEGO was critisised for many things, but one specific complaint kept cropping up: there’s no Makuta set.
Thankfully our hobby is based on the fact that we can make whatever we want, including what LEGO didn’t have the incentive to create. Djordje has stepped up to provide us with this build which would not have been an official set for another reason: it’s massive.
A gentleman’s sidearm
A fantastic selection of primarily Technic elements come together in a LEGO double-barreled steampunk handgun built by nobu_tary. All kinds of interesting details are found throughout, such as the split paneling revealing the barrels, compass piece as some sort of gauge, and a thin wire trigger guard.
A dangerous race into new lands
I’m very excited to join the amazing group of builders over at the castle-themed, role-playing forum: Lands of Roawia. Castle is one of my favorite LEGO themes and lately I feel like I need a little push to actually sit down and build something. This chariot scene is my first LoR build and I had a lot of fun coming up with the main character. She’s extra grumpy and uses dark magic. The First Annual C.R.A.S.H. Games jumped out at me as interesting because it combines LEGO building with character creation using stats (along the lines of Dungeons & Dragons). The “Games” include a chariot race, archery, hurling, and a stealth maze run. I highly recommend checking out the forum yourself.
Pre-order new LEGO Dimensions on Amazon, some for 40% off [News]
As announced earlier this year, LEGO Dimensions is preparing for a new wave of Fun Packs, Level Packs, and Story Packs, all set to become available Nov. 18 this year.
Amazon is offering 40% off select sets in the new wave of LEGO Dimensions if you pre-order! Since the next wave has amazing characters from Adventure Time, The A-Team, Ghostbusters, and Mission Impossible (to name a few!), this is a great chance to order your favorite new characters.
Click on your favorite Pack to order!
71246 Adventure Time Team Pack
Click here for more LEGO Dimensions!
I fear nothing. All is as the force wills it.
The German-language LEGO Star Wars forum Imperium der Steine is hosting its annual “MOC Olympics” at the moment, and with the release of the full trailer for Rogue One this past week, we’re seeing a lot of great entries inspired by the forthcoming movie. TBB regular and all-around talented builder Cecilie Fritzvold has recreated the mysterious character Chirrut Îmwe in LEGO, centered on the scene in which he battles Imperial Stormtroopers with nothing more than a staff.
Cecilie says that she created the Stormtroopers first, since she thought they might be the hardest. Creating enough detail on the troopers’ helmets to make them recognizable at this scale is no small feat. Cecilie completes the scene with some solid forced perspective, including a minifig-scale Stormtrooper in the background (though she gives him taller legs to bring him into the same shape as the brick-built ones in the foreground).
Win a third copy of LEGO Star Wars Build Your Own Adventure signed by Rod Gillies [News]
It’s the third week of August, and we’re ready to give away another copy of LEGO Star Wars Build Your Own Adventure, signed by TBB’s own Rod Gillies, who designed all of the models in the book. To win the third copy we’re giving away, click here.
We’ll also send each winner a snazzy TBB T-shirt and other cool swag, but thanks in particular to Rod and our friends at DK for the books!
Rumble at Cordington Courtyard
This excellent LEGO courtyard scene by David FNJ reminds me of an ancient Greek temple. Probably due to those amazing round columns and the open air design of the building. All this scene is missing to complete the Grecian theme is a couple of nude sculptures. In addition to those great columns, the roof on this structure is also quite nice. I’m not sure how David constructed it. But maybe you can figure it out by looking at the bird’s-eye view photo for the roof details.
LEGO Peel P50 microcar is only missing LEGO Jeremy Clarkson [Video]
Peel Engineering on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea manufactured the P50 microcar at the height of Mod fashion in the heyday of “Swinging London.” Vimal Patel (vmln8r on Flickr) has lovingly handcrafted a beautiful blue LEGO P50 that’s fully motorized, with great curves that make the little “bubble car” instantly recognizable.
Click through to see an adorable pug dog play with this adorable LEGO car!
The Allied liberation of Venlo, 1st March 1945
Maarten W is proving himself the master of the LEGO street scene. We’ve previously featured his Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and desert market creations, but this WWII-inspired diorama is his best yet. It’s a recreation of the moments when Allied forces liberated the Dutch town of Venlo on 1st March 1945.
The damaged buildings are beautifully done, giving a sense of what the townsfolk must have endured as the battle raged around them. Maarten has included numerous small vignettes throughout his diorama, such as the American GIs interacting with the survivors.
The details of the left-hand house are particularly poignant — the remnants of the upper-floor telling a tale of shattered domesticity. And whilst I’m not a “dog person” myself, even I can appreciate the message of hope for the future as one of the townspeople finds his pet amidst the ruins.
