Posts by Chris Roberts

Speeding through the desert

This high speed LEGO speeder bike by Charlie screams fast! Bright red and sleek, the bike stands out from the rocky desert landscape below. Not that you would be able to see the landscape going at these speeds! While it doesn’t use a lot of parts, they are all well-chosen and flow together nicely. I especially like the use of the white rubber bands as pin striping while also acting as structure. The rocky ground below is also a wonderful combination of brick-built chunks and loose parts which give a very organic feel and accentuates the bike well. I’m always a fan of terrain to complete and build and this does a great job!

The RED Snake II

Checkpoint reached! Game saved.

The best feeling after finally beating that tough level is to bask in the peaceful tranquility of the save location. Tom Loftus recreates this feeling with this wonderful LEGO game checkpoint. Some great techniques going on here — the fluffy floating clouds and the little three wheeled companion rover are superb. The gems scattered around are a great touch and I admire the dedication it must have taken to balance all of those around the build. The inspiration for this build is a brand new 5×5 curved plate, used here upside down around the central tower.

Checkpoint

Check out more interesting uses of this new part from our friends over at New Elementary. Now onto the next challenge!

Massive brick with a sick secret!

Large-scale LEGO bricks have been done many times in the past but this gigantic brick by Tommy Frost takes it to a whole new height. At a 22x scale, Tommy was able to achieve a high level of detail, going as far as adding the raised LEGO logo on the top stud and even the small slit below the side stud. This particular brick is referred to as a headlight brick (or sometimes Erling brick) and is one of the earliest elements that enables sideways building, called SNOT (studs not on top) building. A wonderful graffiti-style art on the side gives a hint as to the secret that this large brick holds.

Removing the LEGO logo on top reveals that this SNOT brick doubles as a tissue box! A wonderful play on words and a fantastic model! Check out more views below.
Continue reading →

Discovery in the crystal caves

LEGO caves have been done before but not quite like this one from Jake Hansen. His use of various blues and greens for the water is great! All the lovely angles of the various rock columns give this a very interesting organic feel. The pops of color with the red and pink crystal formations liven up the darkness of the cave. You might even spot some pink frogs lurking in the shadows! Jake went all out using the red windscreen Iron Builder seed part for this last build of the round.

The Crystal Caves

Don’t steal this bunny’s eggs

Happy Easter! Jake Hansen brings us this fantastic LEGO Easter Bunny who’s a little more protective of his eggs than usual. This was built for the current Iron Builder round with the seed part being the red cockpit piece used here in the ears. Jake brings out a lot of character, proving that complicated building techniques are not needed to create a great story! That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything interesting going on here though. Check out the use of LEGO rubber bands as the stripping on the eggs and the black minifigure wands for whiskers! I especially love the use of the pink heart tile on the nose. Great composition and superb use of colors round out this great build!

Easter Bunny

That is one suave bird!

Right out of 1940’s Disney animation comes this LEGO rendition of José Carioca by Koen Zwanenburg. This dapper parrot looks wonderful in brick form and is full of great part uses! The hands use minifigure legs as fingers, elbows, and shoulders. Green cloud plates make up part of the fluffy feathers on his legs. My personal favorites include the stack of shell parts as the lower part of his beak and the white snake part used as wafting smoke! His trusty top hat and umbrella are faithfully recreated here as well!

José Carioca

Clean, mean, flying machine

Back from a small hiatus, Blake Foster brings us this beautiful LEGO spaceship! Color blocking is on point in this ship, with subtle reds and yellows peaking out of the black, white, and light grey. The dark zzure takes this that much further and ties the whole build together.

Jackknife Gunship

Continue reading →

We all live in an iron (builder) submarine

LEGO expert Jake Hansen dives deep into the his Iron Builder duel with this Ponyo inspired submarine! His signature color mastery and clean lines abound in this build. The teal tentacle parts create a sense of motion as seaweed waving in the currents over the brick built sea floor. The seed part for Iron Builder this round is the red cockpit part used here as fins. Keep an eye out for more builds using this seed part in the coming weeks as the Iron Builder round progresses!

Ponyo Submarine

Living room of an Iron Builder

It’s always such a joy following the Iron Builder‘s duels as each entry deserves careful attention. One of Joe‘s first builds was this lovely modern living room. His use of the red windscreen seed part is superb! It’s used to create a variety of objects including couch pillows, drapes, a hot air balloon, and a dress. The rest of the build proves why he is competing at this level. I especially like the glass coffee table in the center of the room! And don’t look too closely or you might just discover an odd portrait of Woody on that wall. Wish Joe well in his fight for the Iron Builder crown!

Modern Living Room

No lie about this LEGO cake!

I wouldn’t advise taking a big bite out of this LEGO cake by Martin Gebert! This was built for a 101-piece challenge, and each of those hundred and one parts are used well. From white frogs and unikitty tails on the frosting to an obscure Scala flowerpot, this cake’s parts usage is pretty sweet! The layers of various chocolate and raspberry jelly filling look delicious and the flowing frosting tops it off wonderfully. And the cherry on top? It’s a dark red minifigure helmet.

Piece of Cake

The Black Sparrow

Streaking though the sky comes the latest LEGO creation from French builder F@bz! Clean lines and great parts usage are present throughout this flying ship. The angles on the wings use a wonderful old slope brick with studs on the slope. The splash of purple and yellow really pop and the light blueish gray of the engines give great contrast to the deep black of the wings. I particularly like the use of the large rotor blade running down the center of the fuselage.

L'Epervier noir (01)

At the top of the mountain

LEGO builder Jake Hansen brings us a beautiful mountaintop pagoda. His color palette is unique and fits together effortlessly. The use of the candle element in bright green as bamboo stalks works well, and the lavender foliage on the tree contrasts nicely with the teal roof on the pagoda. The simplicity of the large slopes and curves in light bluish grey to create the boulders is a refreshingly clean take on rock work. There are plenty of interesting building techniques used in the pagoda itself as well, including the brick-built door and the curved roofline.

The Peaceful Pagoda