If there are two things I love spending my time doing, it’s building LEGO and playing Halo. And despite a long-standing line of Mega sets, it’s the LEGO Halo builders online that I find myself in awe of. And none more so than HereticCreations! In case you couldn’t guess, this builder specialises in Halo creations, and in prolific fashion too. With a Flickr gallery containing over 800 photos, they’ve built everything from Flood-infested Covenant to enormous UNSC juggernauts, and plenty big and small in between. We chatted with Heretic about their journey into LEGO and the process behind their many builds. But first, we have to ask the most important question of all…

The Brothers Brick: So let’s start with an icebreaker: best Halo game, in your opinion?

HereticCreations: I think Halo 2 has the best story and music, but for the gameplay and art direction, I’d have to go with Halo 3. My answer for overall favorite could really be interchanged with any of the Bungie games, depending on my mood. I appreciate all of them each for different reasons.

TBB: Then to your LEGO creations. How did you get started with the hobby? Was Halo always going to be your ‘thing’, or did it happen naturally?

HC: I made some primitive Halo MOCs as a kid but I didn’t really know what I was doing. Most of them were my poor attempt at recreating MOCs I found on Flickr out of whatever parts I had on hand. I started my current collection of Halo models in 2021 because I had been annoyed for years that the Mega Bloks Cobra (released in 2013) couldn’t transform without effectively being disassembled and reassembled, so I thought I’d try making my own.

I just recently completed my 4th version of the Cobra, and I ended up returning to a similar design of disassembly for the turret as the Mega model used. Since starting this collection things have since gotten a bit out of hand and I am rapidly running out of space.

TBB: How does the design process work for you?

HC: I usually plan each model around a function/play feature I have in mind or around a specific part which has the right shape I’m looking for, and I typically end up revising them quite a bit after “finalizing” the designs.

I try to adhere to a distinct and strict color scheme for each faction which each have a pool of certain parts that get reused in order to create a greater sense of visual cohesion.

TBB: That’s interesting that your models are all playable not only in themselves, but with each other too. You already sound like a tinkerer – have you ever re-designed one model specifically to be compatible with another?

HC: After completing my first version of the Vulture gunship a few months ago I wasn’t happy with how it looked next to the rest of my UNSC vehicles so I decided it was time to redesign the faction. Some vehicles like the Hornet, Falcon, and Cobra were particularly over-sized and had to be shrunk considerably.

TBB: Where do you get your main references from? Presumably the games are a big help, but how do you choose which version of, say, a Warthog to build?

HC: I use a lot of pictures from the Halo Wiki; in some cases I have to go in-game to get the right angles. For some models I combine aspects which I like from multiple games, from concept art, or from Mega Bloks sets and make something that I think looks cool. For the Warthog I was less concerned about capturing the likeness from a particular game than I was with making something that resembled the Warthog at all, while including all of the features I had in mind. It needed to be small enough to fit in the hangar of my Albatross model, have functional suspension, a functional winch, seating for 3, and a rotating turret that can be swapped for different variants. I think it came out okay and it’s fun to play with, but there are definitely more accurate Warthog MOCs out there.

TBB: I notice you use a few custom elements in your builds (helmets, chromed cockpits etc). Were you ever tempted to use parts from the Mega Bloks/Construx sets?

HC: It’s important to me that each model is designed using 100% official LEGO pieces so that they can be built by anyone. Any custom elements I use are totally optional and only serve to enhance the appearance. I primarily use custom pieces for the minifigures and some custom pad prints and chrome elements for vehicles, however I have purist alternatives for all of them including the weapons.

The only time I felt tempted to use Mega parts was for the rear landing gear of the Falcon as it’s a pretty tricky shape to recreate with Lego while also being sturdy. However I eventually found a solution that I found to be acceptable enough with official parts.

TBB: Would you say that was your trickiest build, then? The Falcon?

HC: Aside from the landing gear the Falcon came together pretty quickly. I’d say the Albatross has been my greatest failure due to its instability and it languished in a cardboard box under my fish tank while I slowly harvested it for parts.

TBB: What’s harder to build: UNSC, or Covenant? Both seem to use some pretty limited colour palettes in dark green and purple!

HC: Covenant. The parts selection for dark purple is more restrictive. That’s not to say the parts selection for dark green is much better though, I’m still waiting on a 2×2 plate and a larger selection of basic bricks and slopes.

The biggest obstacle is designing vehicles compatible with the brick-built figures I use, as they tend to be oversized and more delicate than standard minifigs.

TBB: And finally, what’s your next big project, or something you’re working on at the moment?

HC: The Albatross is no longer under the fish tank!

Thanks to HereticCreations for taking the time to answer our questions – and especially for the awesome cover photo! Be sure to keep up with their work on Flickr and Instagram, and take a look through our Halo archives to see who else is here to finish the fight…

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