Yearly Archives: 2018

Microscale Apollo 11 is landing

Building the lunar lander module from the Apollo 11 mission presents a unique challenge: to create the base of the lander in gold, which traditionally has not been a very common color for LEGO elements. However, with the help of some newer pearl gold elements, tankm has accomplished this very nicely. The model almost feels like minifig scale, considering just how cramped the lander was. Some flower parts in light gray make perfect thruster nozzles (just like on the official LEGO Saturn V moon rocket), and I love the use of black roller skates as ladder rungs. Maybe we will get a rover to go with it?

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Registration for the Paredes de Coura Fan Weekend closes in 4 weeks [News]

Portugal’s premier LEGO fan event Paredes de Coura is now celebrating it’s 3rd year. The show is from June 8th through 10th, with setup on the 7th. Slots for AFOL attendees are filling up fast and registration closes on February 28th, so don’t delay! The registration fee of €100 includes 3 nights of boarding house accommodation and 3 meals per day for all 4 days. For an additional €25 you can also attend a special AFOL dinner on Saturday night.

From reports we’ve heard from fans who have attended this event previously, it’s not to be missed, not only because of all the great benefits included in the registration price, the amazing food and glorious location, but also the amazing club house with it’s own communal LEGO collection! I’m looking forward to my first visit there this summer and to meeting you all there.

The energy of tomorrow, yesterday

Steampunk is an always present theme in LEGO fan creations, and it pairs well with many different motives, from aircraft to architecture. Andreas Lenander adds to the latter with his recent build named Department of energy, a part of a larger collection of steampunk creations.

The building is a prime example of classic 19th century western architecture, with quite an interesting rooftop – a part often neglected. It appears as though the numerous technical additions were built on top of an older building in a time of disproportionately fast technological advancement. The multiple steam exhausts give a lot of character and the little touch of digital editing for the mysterious shine is a cherry on top.

Minnie’s Haberdashery from The Hateful Eight in LEGO

As the last place to buy a few essentials or enjoy a good nights sleep before continuing on your journey, Minnie’s Haberdashery is a key location in Quentin Tarantino’s movie, The Hateful Eight. Marion has built a replica view of the haberdashery in LEGO and it really is an amazing likeness. There are hanging dried herbs and vegetable swaying from the ceiling, a huge assortment of jugs, boxes, barrels, lamps and mugs scattered across tables, shelves and chests of drawers. I love the placement of certain key features; the large beam frames our view to the left and the stool and table are in the forefront with a chest of drawers and open wooden shutters on the right.

Comparison with the actual set from the movie is a must, although Marion has added a few blood spots as we would expect in a Tarantino film.

A splash of medieval color

This row of colorfully crooked medieval houses by Ralf Langer depicts his first attempt at building a custom LEGO creation. While it’s hard to believe a new builder’s first LEGO creation can be a masterpiece, it’s certainly possible but usually requires lots of studying other creations and experimenting with building techniques. Ralf has probably done plenty of both, and the result paid off beautifully. I like the style of using detached landscape elements to enhance the setting, which adds a lot of depth to the scene.

Never lace your shoes again! Introducing the LEGO Technic Self-Lacing Shoe

Yes, the future is now! No more tying your own shoes: Flickr user vmln8r has designed the “Self-lacing shoe.” Better late than never, Marty!

The design looks simple and requires relatively few parts. The single axle accomplishes the real work of winding the shoe laces taut. The genius of this contraption, I think, shines in how the powered components—Power Functions L-Motor, IR Receiver, and AAA Battery Box—wrap snugly around the sides of the shoe. The transfer of power bears attention, as the machine uses a series of gears, including a worm gear, to direct the twisting motion from the vertically-oriented L-Motor to the horizontal axle.

In case you’re wondering: yes, the contraption works! You can watch the self-lacing shoe in action in this YouTube clip:

LEGO IDEAS 21313 Ship in a Bottle now available with 60th Anniversary freebie [News]

Starting today, LEGO IDEAS 21313 Ship in a Bottle is available at your local LEGO Store and the LEGO Shop online for $69.99. We predict this set will be a popular one, so we are hoping LEGO has the appropriate amount in stock to handle demand.

For larger orders of $125 or more, the promotional set 40290 60 Years of the LEGO Brick is still available from the LEGO Shop, so this is a great opportunity to get both amazing sets if you haven’t already.

The best piece of junk in the galaxy

Star Wars celebrated its fortieth birthday last year, which was when this beautiful forced perspective by Jme Wheeler was built, within a 40-part series of builds for the Blocks magazine, telling the whole story of A New Hope.

I love the colours in the sky and the micro version of Mos Eisley is beautiful in its simplicity. The angle on the Millennium Falcon flying away is very expressive, with stormtroopers looking up at it, completing the scene.

All weapons online

These two spacecrafts by ZCerberus are geared up for intergalactic war. The missile corvette appears to be an armored and mobile unit with cannons mounted on the top capable of dismantling the enemy from multiple angles.

The battle frigate is a much larger and formidable vessel capable of dishing out a serious beating. Both spacecrafts feature a striking orange hull with white ID numbers. The white box pattern along with the dark orange stripes are subtle but well-incorporated design features. Prepare to be annihilated in style!

Always bee creative!

The new beehive piece, which appeared this January in a couple of the new City police sets, was wholeheartedly approved by LEGO fans. Its simple shape is instantly recognizable, yet it has some great potential for truly creative applications. Grantmasters starts exploring the new piece with this amazing little bee — and the beehive piece looks just fantastic here. By the way, the fairy wings piece contributes a lot to the bee’s adorable character.

Birth by brick

Do you ever look at a picture and think, “If I had a band, this would be the album cover”? If you share in my very specific type of daydreaming, this build by Leonid An should be on your shortlist. Titled “Birth”, it will probably remind many of the scene from The Matrix when Neo wakes up, but I’m far more interested in the meticulous part usage that went into making this little art piece so cohesive. The sides are built up with what looks to be hundreds of Technic pieces, and even a few wheels thrown in for good measure.

The centre pod is the obvious focus, using the old Bionicle Rahkshi pieces to make the middle oval. This is surrounded by layers of tentacle pieces, and I do mean layers. What isn’t immediately noticeable from this angle is the fact that the pod is raised up from the rest of the build. It’s better seen in the picture below.

LEGO Ideas 21313 Ship in a Bottle [Review]

A few weeks ago, LEGO announced the release of the first LEGO Ideas set in 2018, 21313 Ship in a Bottle, available at the LEGO Shop online. The successful LEGO Ideas project was originally submitted by Jake Sadovich and is a LEGO version of the classic concept of a ship in a bottle — a perfect mix of art and craftsmanship.

The set contains 962 pieces and retails for $69 (obviously with variations in other countries), which falls deep within the magic 10 cents per piece zone. However, you will need to judge the real value for yourself, as several hundred of the elements that make up the part count are sized 1×1 or 1×2, most notably the 284 1×1 round plates in translucent light blue.

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Ideas 21313 Ship in a Bottle