It’s probably safe to say that terms like steampunk and cyberpunk have entered into the common lexicon. Complex worlds, either created around clockwork and steam power or technologically permeated societies, have become pretty popular amongst mainstream society. But what about dieselpunk? Or its partner, skypunk? Thankfully, the nature of the monikers is to get the idea across pretty quickly. Personally, skypunk is one of my favorite concepts. Worlds full of floating fortresses, sky battles in agile, obscure fighter planes, or common people shlepping about on islands in the sky. Today, I want to take a look at the latest skyracer model by builder Sylon-tw.
Posts by Chris Burden
Don’t trust your eyes, its a deceptive disguise...
Let’s talk about LEGO and Transformers. When Transformers were first introduced in the 1980s, the LEGO system didn’t quite have the available pieces to recreate the complicated designs of vehicle-to-robot transformations. Fast-forward to today and it’s a totally different story. Armed with a slew of modern joints and plates, Librarian-Bot is pulling off designs that are more than meet your eyes.
It’s a simple idiot-proofing scheme that’s very effective. But no idiot-proofing can overcome a determined idiot.
The title is a quote from the novel Artemis by Andy Weir. It points out the wit of scientific redundancies meant to keep people safe and this suit is a testament in its own right. Space nerds like me have been blessed by the LEGO Group in recent years. Sets like the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander, the International Space Station, and recently the Space Shuttle Discovery, give the rocket scientists and astronomers in all of us a big thrill. There are so many iconic elements from the past that would make great sets but let’s take a peek at the future of scientific idiot-proofing with Spacemanship123’s NASA Artemis Spacesuit.
“There is nothing, absolutely nothing, quite so worthwhile as simply messing about on bicycles”
Cyclist Tom Kunich said it best. As an avid biker myself, I love a sturdy frame that can hit the trails without giving me a beating. Let’s go for a ride on the Liteville 601 by builder 1corn.
This build is mostly Technic pieces, which provided 1corn with plenty of rigidity in the frame, essential for a good mountain bike. It looks like the builder was dedicated to making this function with all the different orientations used to model the frame. You just have to appreciate its pragmatism.
“Come, my friends. The Ents are going to war.”
Without a doubt, the Two Towers is definitely my favorite Lord of the Rings movie. I have fond memories of going to a small town theater with my friend to watch it soon after it had come out. The contrasting story arcs kept my attention in a state of absorbant wonder though I honestly remember the scenes with Treebeard the most. There were plenty of accompanying Lego sets for the movies but in their wake, fans have created intense models of their own to celebrate their favorite scenes. Craig Jansen was clearly inspired by the Last March of the Ents while building this massive model of Treebeard, Merry, and Pippin heading to Isengard.
Just check out the parts Craig used in this model! The first thing I noticed were the eyes. Treebeard’s eyes, almost glowing in the dark of Fangorn forest, have a distinct presence in the film. Craig did really well with them here. I thought those are printed eye studs but upon closer examination, I realized they were black technic bushings with yellow flextubes cut to fit inside. Simple but brilliant, I must say. They give the model Treebeard’s striking glare.
Untold secrets of parts and pieces lay held between these aging pages...
The word greeble is well-known to any tenured builder. A technique used to add texture and detail to a model, greebling employs parts in interesting and fun ways. Depending on its purpose, adding greeble to a model can help randomize a texture, similar to The LEGO Movie logo, or to add specific detail like the engine pylons and power supplies in the iconic Y-wing. This month, some builders revived a theme from 6 years ago, “Greeble de Mayo.” A challenge for builders to greeble an 8x8x8 area during the month of May has resulted in quite a few great builds. Dan Ko finished the month with this alluring and mystic tome, magical pen, and ink well.
The fountain pen and ink well are both concise models. The pink jewel and harpoon hand give detail to the pen while the inkwell, a round tile inside of a golden dish, is a subtle but crucial partner. A great additional set to the main model!
The Book of Greebles itself is quite detailed. A dragon-headed sword hilt adorns the spine while pearl gold clips and hinges are used to detail the brown binding. Roller skates provide focal points on the top and bottom at the tips of brown, curvy cattle horns. These details frame a magenta dome, accented by matching corner studs on the cover of the book. Textured bricks provide the illusion of pages but the bit of fabric sticking out is the clincher. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what set that particular cloth comes with or which minifigure it completes. All I know is it makes me think of vellum or some old type of paper, torn and worn, scribbled on by some ancient builder wanting to share their greebly secrets. Ultimately, that level of immersion is what really matters and I have to applaud Dan Ko on his work.
I imagine this model will be enjoyed by fans of Hearthstone, Magic the Gathering, or Dungeons & Dragons. It would make a great prop or token for in-game play, especially with role-playing, so Dungeon Masters with a love for building, keep this in mind! Your players will love them too!
“Many have said that. But you are the first I believe could do it!”
My birthday falls in May and this year was particularly special thanks to my good friend Michael, who asked me what I wanted for my birthday. We’ve taken to crafting each other’s gifts lately and he recently started building BrickHeadz as Capn Brickard on Instagram. With this in mind, I thought it would be awesome to have BrickHeadz for one of my favorite science fiction series, Stargate: SG-1. He gladly accepted the task and I eagerly awaited the results. So, in addition to becoming a contributor for The Brothers Brick in May, I was gifted these designs that I immediately wanted to share with TBB’s readers! Since they’re particularly special to me and I know the builder personally and could get some behind-the-scenes info, I want to go into a little more detail than our typical articles. Plus I want to geek out about Stargate a little, if you’ll indulge me.
Cruise through the galaxy with style and practicality
Spaceships are definitely my bag, man. Massive dreadnoughts to humble escape pods, I love every model from the unwieldy to the swooshable. Classic Space sets are near and dear to many adult Lego fans, being the formative theme that roped them into playing with little plastic bricks for the rest of their lives. In recent years, the theme has been revived by fans with redesigns of their favorite classic sets or new creations of their own thanks to the LEGO Movie franchise and their lovable, spaceship-obsessed character, Benny the Spaceman. Here, builder LegoSpaceGuy gives us a ship of his own design, the Explorer Cruiser.
Click to see more classic Space goodness
A magical catch with striking form!
Builder Eero Okkonen has a history of building some impressive figures. A master of brick-built poseable models, his creations are full of character and story. The eye-catching designs always pull my attention to his intriguing use of pieces and array of techniques. This model, Archchancellor Ridcully’s Catch, has a magic about it that makes it clear Eero was harkening back to the classic fantasy series, Discworld. This Archchancellor is the wizard, Ridcully, out flyfishing on a relaxing morning and he’s certainly made a great catch here.
In this fully posable figure inspired by Sir Terry Prachett’s Discworld series, Eero’s use of rounded hinges and plates really help with the mobility of the legs. Meanwhile, 1×1 clips and the newer “stud with bar” help to achieve awesome angles with the arms. The hands are a bit simple, sure, but they still seem to provide great grip and dexterity! Also, thanks to the scale of the model, the fishing rod minifig piece fits perfectly in this flyfishing motif.
There are lots of things to appreciate about this model, so take some time to check it out! From the cape to the brick-built fish complete with a splash of water and framed by cattails, Eero Okkonen once again shows his skill with LEGO. I mean, just look at that beard and literal handlebar mustache! Find more through the links or by checking out his Flickr and Instagram @eerookkonen.
Forget about cicadas! Watch out for the Wasps!
Builders love to show off their anime-inspired robots, mech-suits, and vehicles. Who can blame them? They’re just so cool! The classic Cyberpunk anime Ghost in the Shell sports tons of futuristic designs for inspiration. Last year, Marius Hermann showed off his model of the anime’s popular spider-bot, the Tachikoma. This year, he decided to bring us the wasp-inspired Jigabachi.
As always, Marius was quite selective with his parts to remain faithful to the original design. A white Bionicle mask is used to model a specific version of the Jigabachi’s cockpit. Minifigure hands in yellow and black provide detail on the tail as well as on the rotor mast. The color choices really pop! I mean, sand green is always a personal favorite but seeing the surfboard smoothing out the main body of the model is a treat! Printed 1×1 tiles add extra detail to the wing sections while bars and rubber bands come together as the Jigabachi’s turret gun.