About Elspeth De Montes

Elspeth De Montes is Scottish but lives in North Yorkshire with her partner and twins. She is a LEGO Builder not a collector of sets, which in theory should make the hobby less expensive (ahem!) but monochrome collections can be pricey. You can see more of Elspeth's work on her blog or website and Flickr. Elspeth is also a bike lover; mountain bike, fixie, road bike, tri-bike (n+1=number of bikes I need).

Posts by Elspeth De Montes

LEGO Nexo Knights Merlock 2.0 iOS / Android App released [News]

The LEGO Group have released NEXO Knights Merlock 2.0 App for Android and iOS. The app is free and there are no in-app purchases (phew!). Don’t forget to read our review of the physical Nexo Knights sets, too.

Game back-story: The game is set in Knighton, a peaceful and beautiful kingdom, where amazing technology reigns supreme and life has been good for 100 years. That is, until the evil jester Jestro lets loose the ‘terrible lava monsters‘ from the Book of Monsters. Only the five knights from the Knights Academy stand against the invading hordes of ‘terrible lava monsters‘, with the help of the digital wizard Merlok 2.0 who controls the NEXO Powers. They can have their powers upgraded to defeat the ‘terrible lava monsters’…

Each of the NEXO knights come with their own shield, which can be scanned into the game to give their digital avatars new powers. The app allows you to upload the various characters’ shield codes and additional codes into the game to “upgrade your power“.

The codes are not only available by buying the NEXO Knight sets, according to the NEXO Knights FAQ, but also may be found in webisodes, mini-movies and many other places at Lego NEXO Knights Home. And, of course, they can be found in LEGO brand stores and on LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™ products. There is a power in each new episode of the LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™ TV-series and the LEGO Club Magazine.

I’m off to play the game on my iPad now and to go on a powerhunt to find out if I can scan and upgrade my powers via the TBB Nexo Knights review shield image!

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Disney Princesses as microscale Christmas ornaments

Every year Markus Rollbühler creates some new LEGO Christmas decorations for the tree, and he shared this year’s collection of Disney Princesses in microscale.

From left to right:

Leia and R2-D2
Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian (from The Little Mermaid)
Snow White and a deer
Tiana and Naveen (from The Princess and the Frog)
Elsa and Anna (from Frozen)

The details are fantastic at this scale, making the characters easily recognisable. I love Flounder and Sebastian, created using simple 1×1 tiles or plates with clips and 1×1 plates. Another favourite is R2-D2 who is simply a 1×1 Technic brick resting on a silver 1×1 round plate, two white minifig hands and a blue-based lever – inspired use of parts!

Thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, Princess Leia can be officially described as a Disney Princess too…

This is the droid you’re looking for

In perfect sync with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Singapore today, Jeffery Kong shares his 200 part R2-D2 build. Jeffery is well known for his LEGO creations with a uniquely Singapore flavour, but this time he has captured our favourite quick-witted astromech droid in LEGO form.

This small but perfectly formed rendition of R2-D2 has a great colour scheme, nicely curved shape and his legs move too; a perfect desk buddy for those Star Wars fans amongst us. You will have to make the ‘beep… blippity… bleep… whirr‘ noise yourself of course!

The cracks are showing along Route 66

As you cruise past this old diner located somewhere along Route 66 in your souped-up hot rod, it is clear that all is not well. I don’t know what has led to the scene in this diorama by Austrian builder Sanel Lukovic, but it seems that the derelict diner was abandoned in a hurry; that’s never a good thing!

The details that highlight the sense of abandonment are my favourite part of this diorama. Intricate features abound, such as the diner stool that has been knocked over, the broken window with a view inside, the can of coke that has fallen out of the rubbish bin, the broken, exposed fluorescent light tubes and the graffiti on the wall.

At first I thought the cracked road was due to an earlier earthquake but that doesn’t explain the whole story. Sanel tells me that far more sinister reasons are probably to blame…

NEXO Knights prototypes & development from LEGO designer Mark Stafford

Mark Stafford, a current LEGO designer on the new NEXO Knights theme, brought some 3D-printed prototypes and development parts to BRICK 2015 in London last weekend. NEXO Knights is the newest LEGO theme to be launched and is an eagerly anticipated Fantasy Castle theme with a sprinkling of Steampunk in the mix.

Mark brought set 70315 Clay’s Rumble Blade with him, but even more interestingly, he brought some 3D-printed prototypes and a series of development figures & parts to show the design process in more detail. The concept and final builds for Clay’s Rumble Blade show the significant changes that occur as the design progresses.

Click to see the rest of the prototypes!

I want to believe... it was all a dream

German builder Steinestecker has captured a common nightmare scenario in LEGO form with his series of alien abduction shots. The poor pyjama-wearing victim displays one of my favourite minifigure expressions, which can be interpreted as a ‘yawn’, but is more of a night terror scream this time!

The perpetrators in this alien abduction series are the Classic Alien minifigure from Series 6 of the Collectible Minifigure series; perfect with their passive expression and seemingly unresponsive to his screams. I hope the abducted victim wakes up before any experimentation or probing begins!

As a slight aside, as soon as I saw these scenes, I immediately remembered a photograph posted by TBB favourite Chris McVeigh back in 2012. To me, Chris’ build represents the eerie ‘prequel’ to the abduction series created by Steindecker…

The Houses of Parliament debut at BRICK 2015 in London

The Palace of Westminster, known to most as the Houses of Parliament, has been built in 1:650 scale by Rocco Buttliere. The model is making its debut at BRICK 2015, which takes place at the London Excel, December 11th-13th.

Rocco Buttliere is a fourth-year student in the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology and his amazing 1:650 scale builds, depicting famous skyscrapers and landmarks, have been the main focus of attention. His collection includes models from eleven global cities including Chicago, New York City, Dubai, Paris, Los Angeles, Toronto, Shanghai, Dallas and of course, London.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign all 43 of Rocco’s models are making their way to London and will be on display at BRICK 2015. You can find out more about Rocco and his models, including digital downloads of his work, on MOCpages.

Think with your feet...and run!

TBB has encountered a new species of alien thanks to Jake RF and they seem to come well equipped with breathing apparatuses, radios, weapons and leg pouches filled with…well, let’s just say that I don’t think it’s snacks and a can of soda…

Jake has maximised poseability by using Mixel ‘ball and socket’ components for the main body joints (shoulder, elbow, hip, knee). The Aliens’ feet are created using Star Wars Battle Droid heads and torsos. Their hands use the Battle Droid torso and arms while their head also utilise the droid’s head and torso. The side view shows the strange functionality of using droid heads to form feet — I bet they can scale walls better than Spiderman! I love the added breathing apparatus attached to the “mouth” area: it is clear that these aliens are not from our World.

Maybe they come in peace…

Fancy a little hot sauce with your mushrooms?

This lava-tastic creation by Thorsten Bonsch is inspired by an online role-playing video game called The Elder Scrolls Online (“ESO”) and is the second ESO-inspired build we have showcased. The first was Thorsten’s mammoth 11,000-piece creation called The Dolmen.

The game landscape captured is called Stonefalls and is described by Thorsten as “…a mainly grey and barren region in Morrowind, dominated by giant mushrooms and streams of lava…“. I have not played the game, but Thorsten certainly captured my attention with those giant mushrooms and the beautifully depicted lava flow. The LEGO colour palate is utilised perfectly to show the ebbing heat of the lava flow. Note the minifigure standing centrally, helping to give a sense of scale to the gigantic fungi!

Hot stuff…

Futuristic automobiles take off... and hover

In the future imagined by Polish builder Jerac, the younger generation cruise around in yellow hovercrafts while the ‘dad-taxi’ family car looks a little bit cooler than your average Toyota.

Firstly, we have the Aeris, the 4-person family car for collecting the groceries and taking the kids to the movies. Even Jerac has to admit that this is “slightly more luxurious” than the average family car (they must be from the nicer side of the City). Honestly, I’m not trying to sell you this car, but take a look at the rear – the building techniques used are fantastic!

Next, we have the Athame, a hovercraft aimed at the cool kids who yearn for a sportier, faster, more eye-catching ride. This hovercraft has the added adrenaline rush of a transparent floor – definitely not for the feint-hearted. I love the shaping of the front, very nice curves.

Sadly, the exuberance of youth means that the Athame is sometimes exposed to more ‘aggressive driving manoeuvres’ and the resulting vehicle breakdown requires a futuristic rescue truck. Here we have the Cobbergoot Hoverlift-3. The Hovlift-3 has a great extendable lift at the back, to cater for even the largest of future hovercrafts, and collapses neatly to allow a more streamlined look when not it use.

Despite being a (relative) ‘youth’, I think I will stick with the luxurious Aeris as my future car. That transparent floor on the Athame is just too much excitement for me…

Needle Town...sew perfectly balanced

The Colossal Castle Contest continues and Polish builder crises_crs brings us this perfectly balanced creation entitled Needle Town.

Needle Town is an entry to the Microscale Medieval Life Microscale Castle MOC category, in which entries must be built on a 16×16-stud or smaller plate.

Crises_crs has balanced this entire castle town on a tower of 1×1 light blue grey plates that rise up from an island. I love this unique take on building within a 16×16 plate, certainly an eye-catching entry. In addition, the angled wall that encircles the town has a fantastical feel, like one of Saturn’s rings around the ‘planet’ where Needle Town rests. The coloured houses and touch of greenery gives plenty of detail although my eye is constantly drawn back to that foundation tower of 1×1 bricks!

Han Solo’s “cocky” weapon of choice

Star Wars is clearly a hot topic at the moment and Rhys Knight has created his LEGO weapon of choice, Han Solo’s DL-44 Blaster.

The BlasTech Industries DL-44 heavy blaster pistol was a powerful sidearm from the time of the Galactic Civil War. It was the weapon of choice for Han Solo and the Rebel Alliance and also wielded by Luke Skywalker throughout The Empire Strikes Back.

Rhys’ 1:1 model has a raised scope, and he shared with TBB that as the model is primarily black, he wanted there to be a clear separation. He notes that the ‘fiddly’ aspect of the build was the rear of the telescopic sight as it had to be circular, but also flare out. The trigger guard is actually upside down, and is attached to the grip via Part 60470 (1×2 plate with double clips) and attached to the power cell via a simple slot for the guard.

Best part for me — it cocks!