Monthly Archives: July 2019

A haunting image of the cleaners of ghost town Pripyat

The HBO Docu-drama series Chernobyl tells a chilling tale of the unfortunate events that transpired on 26 April, 1986. The Chernobyl liquidators, as they were called, were civil and military personnel dispatched to deal with the aftermath of one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents. If a picture tells a thousand words, this build by Red captures the essence of a weary and despondent liquidator in a single pose. The myriad clever use of LEGO parts used, especially for the headpiece, can be hard to make out, but if you look closely enough, you may spot things like a dinosaur piece or a stretched tire.

Pripyat 1986

Then along came an incredible LEGO artist, Ekow Nimako

As an avid builder and a contributor for The Brothers Brick, I have seen a lot of LEGO creations. I mean A LOT of LEGO creations. To put this in perspective as to what it is like to be an adult LEGO builder, I have a LEGO room in my home — most of us do, some more elaborate than others. Whether it be a corner of the laundry room, a repurposed bedroom, or an elaborate add-on suite built for this reason, we all have a dedicated space to build LEGO. A perusal of my phone contacts reveals that the vast majority of my friends are LEGO friends. We eat, sleep and breath this stuff daily. By now I’ve written a fair number of articles and am confident that I can at least amuse if not inspire or enlighten our readers. With all this in mind, you’d think there would be no one to baffle me and put me at a loss for words. But then along came Ekow Nimako.

See more of this amazing LEGO sculpture

This Y-wing is the bomb

There are some builders out there whose names are synonymous with quality, often in a highly specialized niche within the larger LEGO fan community. Jerac is one such builder, whose Star Wars creations are famous for their exceptional level of detail, down to the minutest of greebles, and their near-perfect scaling. His latest creation is a stripped-down Y-wing bomber with all of its parts showing, as was typical in the fleet of the Rebellion. I love the shaping of the cockpit, as well as all of the technical details on the back part of the craft. It is a difficult task to get the rear maneuvering rings looking good, but this version of the Y-wing has lovely round rings and even the little details that should be there. Can a minifigure-scale Y-wing be done better in LEGO? Perhaps, but I have not seen it.

BTL-S3 Y-Wing Bomber

Jerac’s builds are often a master-class in LEGO greebling techniques, with piece usages both expected and unexpected. By now, things like ingots and bars are old hat in spaceships, and even binoculars are expected; but the use of some of the binoculars here is a new one for me, at least: placed recessed into the ship so that only the lenses stick out, as Jerac has done here towards the back of the fuselage. The stretcher holder makes for some great cables or piping, and the use of minifig arms looks good, too, at the very back of the fuselage. And there are more handcuffs than I can count. All in all, this is one terrific spaceship, ready to drop some bombs on Imperial targets.

BTL-S3 Y-Wing Bomber

Doc Cog is really steamed!

The comic book concept of a multiverse is a cool thing. The heroes and villains you know are seen through a distorted lens, bringing new twists to established characters. Markus Rollbühler brings us a steampunk version of Spider-Man and Doc Ock that could easily fit into a sequel of Into The Spider-Verse.

Mech Monday #29: Doc Cog (Steampunk Spiderman)

Spider-Man is still pretty recognizable with signature torso and mask, but the red cloak gives us our first hint that things are different. Markus then makes use of rare parts to complete the look: the hat from the Toy Soldier and legs from The Lone Ranger’s Captain Fuller.

The foe that Steampunk Spidey is facing off with is Doc Cog, a twist on Doctor Octopus. The base figure uses no Doc Ock parts, instead taking pieces from more hard to find figures. There’s Hawkeye’s head, a helm and torso from a Retro Spaceman, and the legs of the Portal Emperor of Atlantis. Doc even stole Luke Skywalker’s cape.

Doc’s arms are the star of the build, of course. These steam-powered appendages make use of everything from throwing stars and daggers to minifigure crowns. My favorite element, though, is the classic use of ice cream scoops to represent the steam.

The cutest creature of the underground – Krtek

Readers from eastern Europe will instantly recognize this adorable critter from the Czech cartoon Krtek (which means “little mole” in Czech). Having read books and seen cartoons of Krtek’s adventures throughout my childhood, I never thought to see the character built out of LEGO. But when I saw this perfect recreation by Eero Okkonen, I went full “aww-mode”.

The Mole

The pose on the image is so iconic that one would hardly notice this is LEGO, were it not for a jagged edge here and there. Curved pieces capture the character’s shape very well, but my favourite parts are the red nose and the three long hairs on the mole’s head. As a master character builder, Eero has explored many different source materials and themes, but none quite as iconic as this one. Thanks for the nostalgia trip, Eero!

Longing for a return to Japan

Many years ago, builder aukbricks lived in Japan. Although they haven’t returned yet, there’s a seed of yearning that has grown into an evocative virtual creation. The central focus is a suitcase that contains a visit to a garden filled with greenery and sakura blossoms. The inside lid is a mosaic of more blooms and buildings in the distance; the blockier texture giving the illusion of depth from a slightly out-of-focus background. There’s also a guide book and a luggage tag that features features a brick-built Kanji for longing, a character which also carries the meanings of “yearn for” and “adore”.

Longing

Stepping into the garden, you can imagine a walk along the cobblestone path leading to the bridge over the stream. It feels just as peaceful and relaxing as you could hope for.

Longing

Consisting of nearly 6,500 bricks, this digital build only uses parts in LEGO-released colors. Longing may be a dream, but it’s nice to know it could become reality, too.

Sydney gets an Ice Planet make-over

Ice Planet 2002 was a short-lived LEGO Space subtheme from 1993 through 1994. The year 2002 has since came and went and we have not had manned missions to other planets, icy or otherwise. Despite the theme’s short shelf life and failure to predict history, its dynamic blue, white and trans-neon-orange color scheme captivated builders for decades to come. So much, in fact, that Aido K’s local LEGO Users Group put the challenge out to give any modern LEGO set the Ice Planet 2002 treatment. Being the consummate Aussie that he is, Aido went with the Sydney Skyline 21032 set.

Ice Planet Sydney

Now the world has a new creation it never knew it needed but is better for it. It turns out Aido seems to like the challenge of making something out of official sets as evidenced by this previously featured creation based on the Green Lion from this Voltron set.

War Machine buster is bursting with style...and serious weaponry

Mech builder extraordinaire Kelvin Low goes by the Flickr handle chubbybots, which aptly describes his sometimes chunky building style. Kelvin also has a knack for re-imagining and rebuilding official LEGO set mechs with stunning results. They are often much more detailed than then their official LEGO counterparts, such as this Hulkbuster sized War Machine. Kelvin’s model not only looks great, but it is highly poseable, with a fully loaded arsenal of guns, rockets, and cannons.

warbuster rework4

Hidden throughout the model are several transparent red plates that complement the transparent red 2×2 round plate with rounded bottom used for the main reactor. I think that Rhodes is set up to give Thanos or anybody else who gets in his way a serious run for their money.

warbuster rework1

You’ll flip for my flippers!

It’s been said that puns are the lowest form of humor and are often a sign of brain damage. Well, call me brain dead because I featured this particular creation based in part on thinking up that title. Not seeing the genius of it? Then I challenge you come up with a better one. While you’re mulling that over, check out this scuba diver by Djokson. His name is Dr. Renaud and he is accompanied by his BUBBLE assistant drone.

Dr. Renaud

Plenty of creations have featured the ubiquitous and streamlined modern brick separator but few have featured the older bigger, clunkier ones. The former comes with nearly every set nowadays but the latter had to be purchased individually. Djokson managed to get his hands on at least two older ones, and the result proves that they are not only good for prying up those pesky 2×4 plates but you can also use them to propel yourself through water.

While the genius of this post’s title may be a subject of hot debate, the coolness of this builder’s work surely is not. Be sure to check out his previously featured office companion and Umi the Jelly for more whimsy and wonder.

Every piece is useful in chess and in LEGO

If you love strategy games, it is likely that you enjoy chess, one of the oldest strategy games out there. When I was in high school, a group of friends and I got together to play chess every Friday, but I must admit that I showed up mostly for the Twizzlers and chips and salsa. Judging by his excellent LEGO rendition of a chessboard, Chris Maddison seems like the kind of guy who would have shown up to show people up with skillful moves and clever endgame strategies.

Chess Set

This is a very handsome and elegant board and set of pieces, with virtually no studs showing except for the eyes and throats of the knights. The anti-studs at the top of the rooks look great, but my favorite piece is the king, with a simple yet effective cross atop his crown. The SNOT (studs not on top) board looks perfect for playing; I could easily see myself being checkmated in three moves on it. Perhaps it is time for me to dust off my old chess set and start playing again; or better yet, I could build myself one like Chris.

DUPLO riot police crosses a thin blue line

DUPLO is an excellent way to engage the minds of 2-5 year olds and to introduce them to “regular” LEGO, which they would likely play with once they get a little older. The larger pieces, simple construction, and cute scenarios are ideal for little hands and developing minds. But leave a youngin’ watching a certain…animal-named news station unsupervised for fifteen minutes, and they may raid the stash of smaller bricks to build adorable DUPLO riot gear to keep the adorable DUPLO zebras from playing with the adorable DUPLO giraffes. A builder who goes by the dubious name of Paddy Bricksplitter shows us the way with this DUPLO riot frame.

Duplo Riot Frame

Plenty of LEGO System, Bionicle, and Duplo parts are mixed (you can do that, you know!) to construct this admittedly coherent mech suit armed with a high powered water cannon, tear gas launcher and a heavy duty shield. When your DUPLO denizens get too rowdy, you can bop them on their adorable DUPLO noggins with the baton. Justice is served, poopy-heads!

Friend or foe, I’d like to know

At first glance of this strangely serene scene by Thorsten Bonsch, it seems this pair of poorly armed passersby facing off against an insectlike robot have bitten off more than they can chew. While it is not clear whether the robot wants to help them disarm peacefully, or separate them from their arms literally, one thing is clear… There is more to this model than meets the eye; It was inspired by Tales from the Loop, a series of illustrations and short stories by Swedish artist Simon Stalenhag.

Tales from the Loop

Thorsten captures the delicate but strong appearance of the multi-segmented limbs, as well as the large industrial elements of the robot’s body depicted in the inspirational source material.