Posts by David Alexander Smith

Taking inspiration from the next generation of builders

It never ceases to amaze me how inventive kids are when it comes to LEGO building; what they lack in technical skill they make up for in unbridled imagination. Builder Mishima has been tapping into his son’s own amazing ideas: a LEGO shark mech is an ingenious concept in anyone’s book! What I love about the upgraded model is how it diligently sticks to the unusual colour blocking and asymmetric features of the original build; the final adaptation revelling in these design choices. Yet, as cool as Mishima’s reimagined version is, the intellectual property rights probably belong to his son.

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Futurama BrickHeadz: Bender is great

Last month Palixa and the Bricks brought us a fantastic take on Futurama’s supporting cast in the BrickHeadz style. This time around, again working with her husband, she’s completed a second wave of models, depicting the TV show’s main cast in the same exquisite fashion.

See more Futurama characters as BrickHeadz

This vast LEGO space diorama is filled with amazing details and animated features

Sprawling across multiple base plates, this staggering LEGO sci-fi display is the brainchild of builder Marco den Besten. Taking inspiration from the Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun video game franchise, it depicts a bustling military complex and its numerous support vehicles, mech suits and space fighters. The glistening yellow, white and grey colour scheme, borrowed from a Nexo Knight shield, gives it a crisp and clean futuristic feel.

See more details and animated features of this huge LEGO space diorama

A superior interior with décor to die for

Clever uses of standard LEGO elements are a mark of a great builder. This elegant interior, of what looks to be an Edwardian-era hallway by Heikkei M, is a case in point. For example, the twin uses of the grooved 2 x 1 bricks create both zigzagged and vertical bevels on the staircase. Another simple design solution hides the diagonal joins of the banisters behind its pillars. The Art Nouveau lamps made from islander hair elements are superb too. This combined with the careful colour choice of dark green walls and a rather wonderful geometric patterned carpet, results in an exceptionally stylish build.

Built with ridiculous speed in mind

Described as the “biggest, baddest, most bulbous speeder bike”, by builder David Roberts, the Turbinia certainly lives up to its name. I’ve admired David’s work for a long time now, especially the way he mixes his humorous narratives with the knowledge of an engineering graduate. In this case the turbine element creates both the quirky nautilus-like shape of the vehicle, as well as hinting at the real-life mechanics of a centrifugal processor. Whichever way you look at it, this colourful model is a whole heap of gyroscopic fun.

A pair of super Soviet tractors

The Volgograd Tractor Plant, previously known as the Stalingrad Tractor plant, produced the workhorses for the Soviet era Russian farming industry. Short, snub-nosed and chunky, the DT-75 is an exemplar of sturdy utilitarian design. Builder Jakeof has created two LEGO versions of these unique looking vehicles, a DT-75 and a DT-75M.

Although small, they pack in the detail, especially in the case of the neat tread design and exposed engines. Together they stand as an iconic reminder of Soviet innovation.

An inhuman horror from another time

I’m fascinated by Mihai Marius Mihu’s latest Cthulhu themed creation. Featuring a red shrimp-like ‘old one’, whose beady white eyes and muscular torso resonates a sense of otherworldly grandeur. It’s a unique monster design that utilises some excellent modelling skills to creepy effect. The composition sees the demon towering over the diorama’s micro scale fortress, again hinting at an inhuman scale suited to its Lovecraftian subject matter. Working like a latter day Hieronymus Bossch, Mihai’s art shows us the uncanny potential of the LEGO brick.

Take a cable car to the clouds

One of the things I love about Alan Boar’s LEGO creations is the amount of time he takes to research his subjects. In this case it’s the Taikoo Ropeway, an early cable car system built in 1891 to link Hong Kong’s Taikoo Dockyard to the Taikoo Sugar Refinery. The finished diorama, built in collaboration with his wife and son, is rendered in an aesthetic reminiscent of Chinese landscape painting. Designed in monochrome, the Mount Parker setting is wonderfully accented with stylised brick clouds. In front of the clouds, a grey building frames the predominately white ropeway scene, helping to highlight a host of fascinating features.

Frankenstein: a monster made from many parts

Taking on the mantle of the good Doctor Victor Frankenstein, Dogod Brick Designs has stitched together his very own monster. LEGO bricks, as it turns out, are extremely well suited to depicting the square-headed Boris Karloff take on Mary Shelley’s doomed character.

Built in the sallow register of grey and black, the tragic creature’s heavy features are atmospherically lit from above to eerie effect.

A chocolate box cottage scene

The phrase chocolate box cottage is a peculiar British saying that dates back to a time when biscuits, toffees and other treats were sold in packaging depicting country idylls. Builder Emil Lidé has run with the idea, creating an archetypical black and white timber-framed cottage. From the bowed roof that meets at a pleasingly crooked LEGO chimney, to the authentic thatch made from an array of tan bars and clips, he’s captured the essence of the English countryside. I can just imagine taking tea in the garden with a slice of Victoria sponge cake, and in spirit, I’m in England.

Star Wars meets Tron meets classic 70s sci-fi art in this awesome reinterpretation of the Nebulon B

Some LEGO contests begin with improbable premises, and in the case of Grid Wars, that means building a Star Wars vehicle in the TRON aesthetic. Many builders would struggle, but the theme plays to Shannon Sproule‘s strengths. I’ve followed his work for many years now, long ago falling in love with his ability to capture the complex, often asymmetric beauty, of classic 1970s science fiction illustration.

In this case, his take on the Nebulon B escort Frigate results in a bold turquoise splash of abstract brilliance. Tapping into the original design’s unorthodox form, he imposes some dramatic angles and bold colours. Part spaceship, part Kandinsky painting, its an amazing testimony to what science fiction art can be.

Wolverine goes toe to claw with three sentinels in this gigantic LEGO creation

This epic LEGO diorama sees Wolverine squaring up against impossible odds; somehow you know your money’s still going to be on Logan though. Builder Joshua Morris notes that this sense of scale and danger was the inspiration behind the model.

The use of the knee-high walls and the devastated street do a great job of framing the scale and power of the three sentinels. Lower the lights and the menace–factor increases, the glowing eyes and chest plates setting the mood; looking to the entire world like the very best comic book illustration.