Yearly Archives: 2021

Leaving LEGO Masters S2: We sit down with the second place team [Feature]

The final episode of LEGO Masters Season 2 has aired. Three teams remain going in to the finale and they were given 24 hours to create any thing they desired. However, each model has to incorporate lights for a “day” look and a “night” look. The winning team will take home the $100,000 prize and rights to the title LEGO Master.

Today, our own Norm Harper sat down for a talk with the second place team along with our friends from Brickset, BZPower and True North Bricks.

Read on, but beware… Spoilers lie ahead!

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Got weird grody space-milk?

I’m no slouch when it comes to writing my own jokes. But sometimes you just want to seek out low-hanging fruit and let someone else do all the heavy lifting and joke writing for you. Thankfully, I found The Brothers Brick alumni Iain Heath to be both low-hanging and fruit. The Last Jedi answered a dubious question that no one wanted to know; how does Luke sustain himself on the remote, rocky, wind-blown planet of southern Ireland? It turns out he gets it right from the tap as illustrated with this creation that Iain made to look like an official LEGO set. (Don’t let that fool you, space travelers!) It features a Thala-siren, a weird marine mammal-creature with her huge rediculous udders flopping out there in front of God and everybody to see.

The title “Crazy Space Wizard Breakfast Assault” is hilarious. The milk on Luke’s face, Rey’s last name are all also pretty damned hilarious. Even the piece count of 420 may offer up a clue as to where Iain gets all his crazy ideas. See what I mean? The jokes just write themselves!

Minidoll parts you just have to have

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am an absolute fan of LEGO minidoll related themes. And yes, sometimes the sets are a bit too brightly coloured to blend in with your LEGO City. And yes, having minidolls next to minifigures in one creation can look a little bit odd. But the minidoll themes come with such interesting parts and most of them are minifigure compatible. In Hannah’s latest creation she used a couple of minidoll hair and headpieces that work perfectly for fantasy-themed minifigures.

The build itself ain’t too shabby either, it looks massive. But that might just be thanks to a little bit of photoshopping. The best part about the build has to be the gold arched gate door. LEGO has released a prefab gate door but that one simply doesn’t compare next to this brick build design by Hannah.

A cargo SHIP that really delivers.

SHIPtember is coming to a close and we’re beginning to see the results of everyone’s hard work. My Flickr feed has been full of really amazing WIP shots for the last several weeks, but the Bay of Biscay by Pascal is the first of the final builds that I’ve seen. And it’s an incredibly impressive way to start.

The ship has a unique profile, thanks to the use of crane supports to build its outer frame. Nestled within that frame are up to 60 shipping containers, carrying essential supplies for the interplanetary colonies. These containers are delivered down to the surface thanks to a fleet of tug drones, which can dock on the main ship for the long journey between colonies. It’s always great to see the functionality of a build like this thought through to that degree. I’d call it a massive achievement in microscale construction.

Leaving LEGO Masters S2: We sit down with the third place team [Feature]

Today, our own Norm Harper sat down for a talk with the third place team along with our friends from Brickset, BZPower and True North Bricks.

Read on, but beware… Spoilers lie ahead!

This Agat-4 sure is a brick

Personally, I’m a bit of a caveman when it comes to technology. Working with computers sometimes feels like interacting with a magic tablet controlled by a temperamental spirit that doesn’t like me. While I shudder at the idea of diving into code, I have friends that program games on old computers for fun. Understanding the finer details of the process might not be my strong suit but it’s easy to appreciate the process and results of their efforts. Especially when those friends often build their own computers as well. So I can’t help but think of them when I see a model like this. Builder David Strenzler, otherwise known as Force of Bricks, has built a LEGO version of a Soviet computer from the era of the Apple II and the Commodore 64. Let’s take a look at this beautiful model of the Agat 4 8-bit computer.

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Celebrating Paralympian Gold

Sporting the Netherlands’ colors in honor of their gold and bronze medals this August, this Miniland-style figure wonderfully captures the motion of a record-setting athlete. Clever building techniques allow builder James Zhan to construct the jersey and shorts into the figure’s body. Nice parts usage in the elements for the hair partner with the positioning of the arms to help sell the feeling that the figure is falling. The figure’s prostheses are posed for the furthest distance while their entire body is suspended with a clear stand.

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I think the world of LEGO

When it comes to finding creative uses for LEGO element 2417, the 6×5 plant leaf, Azurekingfisher is one of the best. Assembling that sphere had to be a labor of love, and the end result is certainly impressive. The choices of colors make for a vibrant hanging sculpture with plenty of texture and visual interest from the overlapping foliage. This ringed planet may not be from the Classic Space theme, but I think it could qualify for Classy space.

Curious to see what else Azurekingfisher has done with this seed part? Check our their other featured builds!

Cubes used to make cubist art. Seems legit to me

Art may be a very subjective topic, but Andreas Lenander knows the subject quite well. In a delightfully meta take on “Cubism”, they have incorporated LEGO DOTS cubes into the walls of a swanky art museum. The designs in the framed art are also quite lovely, showing the versatility of both Andreas and the DOTS tiles themselves. And that great bench and plant don’t exactly hurt the realism, either. This seems like a great place to stop and contemplate perspective issues and maybe enjoy a pricy beverage from the cafe. (Hey, the arts need to fund themselves sometimes.)

This build was inspired by design by Ryan Howerter, showing once again that great artists can build on each other’s successes. If you’re looking for your own sources of inspiration, might I suggest a stroll through our art tag?

A good crust makes the pie

As any baker knows, a good pie starts with the crust. Now, what a good crust is can be debated, but the creator of this culinary confection definitely did something right. Aside from the masterful latticework overlayed on the filling of translucent reds, builder Timofey Tkachev kneaded out a crispy crust of baguettes. This nice parts usage was made possible by wedging the baguettes onto flags built into the structure of the filling. A little friction helped place the rest, achieving a nicely textured outer edge to the pie.

Keyed into culinary display techniques, Timofey gave us wonderful details like sprigs of herbs, a dragon wing as filling oozing out onto the table, and stray bits of the crust where the slice of pie was cut.

If this has your mouth watering, check out some of the other desserts hanging out in the bakery. Just remember that, like the food in commercials, brick-built food is strictly inedible.

This Friends/Ninjago mash-up will leave fans of both themes wowed.

I think it’s a universal truth that fans love a good mash-up. Marvel and DC. Ninja Turtles and Star Trek. Transformers and Back to the Future. Smush two well-known properties together, and you often end up with something greater than the sum of its parts. That’s certainly the case here, with Michael Kanemoto’s take on two familiar LEGO themes. Friends and Ninjago fuse to become FRIENDSJAGO – a tale of BFF Ninjas, who have captured the airship of the evil warlord Ragamadon (that’s Regina + Garmadon). But Ragamadon would rather see her ship sink than let the ninjas have it, so she’s used her four swords to burst the ship’s balloon.

This alternate reality take Ninjago’s Destiny’s Bounty represents over 100 hours of build time. The entire model is three feet tall and nearly as long. But, perhaps most impressive, the build is suspended in midair on a single 1×4 Technic brick. Gravity-defying feet than I can only contribute to the combined powers of Spinjitzu and friendship.

“What If...?” Killmonger drones ready for action

Spoilers ahead! If you haven’t seen this week’s episode of Maevel’s “What If…?” on Disney+ then you’ll want to avoid checking out this awesome Killmonger drone from talented TBB alum Simon Liu. Otherwise, come take a look with us!

Originally designed by Killmonger as a school project, the Liberator combat drone reached its full potential in the hands of Tony Stark. The drones saw action against the armies of Wakanda but were ultimately defeated.

Simon must have built this quickly since the Liberator drone has only been seen on screens since Wednesday. This drone makes excellent use of dark green with white highlights. I love the shaping of the torso and arms, as they look pretty accurate to what we saw in the episode. That red eye is so intimidating and shows that you don’t need a super complex LEGO building technique to pull off a cool effect.