Monthly Archives: October 2019

Blast to the past with Generation 1 Transformers

Builder Alex Jones (Orion Pax) has a laser-focused talent to bring our favorite Transformers to life. They not only look great and recognizable in their humanoid form, but it takes skill to also make the same builds look fabulous in their alternate vehicle modes using LEGO bricks. This is not an easy task indeed and would likely take tons of hours of experimentation. These sets of builds feature; Autobots Ironhide, Cosmos, Mirage, and Powerglide each decorated with the unmistakable patterns and prints from the original box designs from the 80s. They certainly don’t make morning cartoons like they used to!

Autobot Ironhide

Click to see more Autobots in action

Unique take on a classic TIE Fighter

Despite its relatively simple design, it’s amazing how many different approaches there have been to building LEGO TIE Fighters, in both official sets and fan creations. The latest design to catch our eye, is Fuku Saku’s rendition.

tie

It’s interesting to see what features tend to be common among the various versions, such as the seemingly natural use of round corner dome top bricks to shape the cockpit. More interesting though, is what’s unique. While wings in LEGO TIE Fighters have often been made of brick, plate, or tile, this model takes them a step further and uses grille tiles to give the wings a more accurate solar panel texture. Another feature that’s often different, and is again here, is the design of the forward facing lasers. They’ve been represented by so many different parts in the past, and here they’re masterfully recreated using one of my favourite subtle decortative elements, the Technic 3/4 pin.

I’ll build about that tomorrow, after all tomorrow is another day

We see plenty of LEGO creations depicting scenes from movies. However, it’s less often we get a behind the scenes look at film production. That’s exactly what Marcel V. provides with this neat little diorama going backstage during the making of the 1939 classic Gone With The Wind. The scene shows Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler face-to-face inside a set which captures the feel of Tara, the plantation mansion in the movie. You can almost imagine the snide remarks and love-to-hate-you banter passing back and forth between the leads for the cameras’ benefit. The surrounding equipment is nicely put-together, with the lighting rig an obvious highlight. This is a fun little build and makes me want to see more “behind the scenes on the movies” LEGO creations.

LEGO film set movie studio

Fun fact: for the famous sequence in the movie where Atlanta is set ablaze, the film-makers actually torched the abandoned sets from 1933’s King Kong.

All aboard for some hot steamy action

Two builders who go by the names of Brick Rebel and Monstrophonic have put their noggins and considerable skill together to build this exquisite Steampunk city layout called LEGO Steam Company. What is Steampunk exactly? It’s a sci-fi sub-genre that takes into account if H.G. Wells and Jules Verne were right about their Victorian-Era visions of the future. Zeppelins, steamboats, copper robots and steam-powered trains abound in this genre where everyone from an airship mechanic to the mayor look fantastic in a top hat and copper goggles. The builders tell us this layout features an array of moving elements including a steam power plant with tall chimney, the Steam Rail (moving train/monorail), skyscraper with functioning elevator, the Department of Dirigibles (with working revolving door and searchlight on the roof), a ‘flying’ zeppelin with whirling rotors and cabin lighting. There is also a city park with a botanical garden, a restaurant with robotic waiters and various other buildings and figures in Victorian Steampunk style.

Lego Steam Company - Steampunk layout 2019 - Main

Click here to go full steam ahead and discover more.

Laughing all the way to the bank

There’s no stopping the insanity of the Joker at the box office, with it now surpassing the Deadpool movies to be the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. Though more fan builds will inevitably come, for now this build by Vincent’s LEGO Creation is likely as close as we’re going to get to a minifigure representation of the groundbreaking performance by Joaquin Phoenix, since we all know how LEGO feels about representing movies with that level of violence. However, you never can tell as we’ve seen how LEGO tackles more unconventional topics with convention releases.

Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there? #joker #legomoc #legobuilt #lego

Don’t call the LEGO police just yet until a full investigation is conducted

There’s more than meets the eye with this clever build by Maxim Baybakov. At first glance, you may get vibes of a noir scene of a minifigure murder taking place. While that may seem dark, the truth is hidden in the shadows of two figures seemingly beheading a LEGO minifigure torso. All isn’t what it seems.

Hallowe'en 1

Click to unveil the mystery murder

Target kicks off pre-Black Friday deals with free $10 gift card on select LEGO purchases [News]

Target is running a pre-Black Friday promotion from now through November 23rd offering a free $10 gift card with select LEGO purchases of $50 or more. The list includes quite a few sets from Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker including the A-Wing we just reviewed as well as a few LEGO exclusives like the Stranger Things set.

Target typically sells some sets at less than MSRP, so adding an additional $10 back can add up to a significant discount. Target also offers free shipping on orders more than $35, so that should apply as well. Click the banner above to browse the LEGO sets available at Target.

Springboard your adventure in this mechanical grasshopper

Hop around! Hop around! Hop up and up, and get down! In devising solutions for building robots, it’s sometimes best to start with examples found in nature. When Moko set out to build his latest LEGO mech, he looked to the springy grasshopper. Moko’s model is both an excellent representation of the insect and has just enough metallic bits to make it feel mechanical. Hopping power is provided by the legs’ robust hydraulic system, while the black pistol feet likely give it the ability to stick to nearly any surface.

Hopper

Preserving analog recording devices in plastic

Chungpo Cheng takes us back to early ’90s with a trio of classic pieces of recording technology, including a 3.5″ diskette, cassette tape and VHS tape. These formats are prone to degradation over time and, in many ways, are more fragile than paper documents. Chungpo has faithfully immortalized them in LEGO-form…or has he? Sadly, the bricks we have today won’t be the same forever. Case in point; those white bricks tend to yellow over time, especially with prolonged exposure to heat and UV light. Some bricks can also become brittle with age and crack under pressure. I’ll tell you who doesn’t crack under pressure, though – Chungpo Cheng, that’s who!

FD&Videotape&Audio Tape

Judging by the attention to detail, it’s clear that Chungpo respects magnetic media as much as LEGO bricks. The VHS and audio tape have reverse sides that embody the age-old Blockbuster rental mantra, “be kind. Please rewind.” Don’t forget to repeatedly hit that tracking button either.

FD&Videotape&Audio Tape

A Shining example of LEGO ingenuity

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Maybe what Jack needs is to take a break and play with some LEGO. Then again…maybe not. Timofey Tkachev brings us a twist on an iconic image from The Shining with “Here’s Johnny!” An instantly recognizable Jack Nicholson breaks through a door…but since the door is made of LEGO, he’s using a brick separator. Because of course he is.

Here is Johnny

There’s a lot to love about the build here. Elephant trunks have just the right shaping for Jack’s eyebrows, and an energy effect wave makes for a great bit of unkempt hair. Tiles are used to great effect, with quarter circle round tiles shaping the nose, and white half circles forming his insane grin. The really scary part of this build, though, is that somehow it just took a single evening to put together. That’s spooky fast!

So many spaceships! It’s heaven for Benny.

If you’ve been following The Brothers Brick lately, you may have seen some sci-fi builds by ZCerberus. He had an awesome entry for SHIPtember, a cool spider walker and, most recently, a Classic Space vehicle. Now he’s back and bigger than ever. In my article on the SHIPtember build, I expressed hope that the fleet would continue to expand, and he has delivered in a delightfully orange way. The one on the far left is the previously-covered SHIP, but the rest are nearly as impressive size-wise and equally as detailed and heavily armed. I love the editing job with the cool space background and all of the ships flying together.

Fleet1

See more details of the fleet

Captain Nemo reporting for duty.

Majestic and mysterious. Those are just a few choice words to describe this LEGO model of Jules Verne’s enigmatic submarine captain by Eero Okkonen. Nemo, or Prince Dakkar, pilot of the equally mysterious Nautilus submarine, is adorned with gold trim, and that olive green turban even has a nautilus tile in front. By far though, the star of this build is his richly textured mustache and beard, made from such choice parts as Star Wars pistols, minifigure hands, and “raven” wings. He would make a fearsome foe indeed.

Captain Nemo