As much as I enjoy the type of classic mecha we post here all the time, it’s also nice to run into something that’s a bit different from the norm. Aaron Williams (m_o_n_k_e_y) asks, “Have you ever started on a MOC and ended up with something completely different?” Therein, my friends, lies the joy of building with LEGO!
I can’t discern any sort of purpose for Aaron’s “Blokhead.” It lacks giant guns. It doesn’t have enormous lifting arms or tools. But it sure looks confident.
Here’s another old-fashioned writing instrument to follow up my last one.
The building team calling themselves BricksBen (Benjamin Cheh & Jeffrey Kong have built an adorable little typewriter, not just with a great retro look but full of novel parts uses and solid building techniques.
To achieve the even slope of the keys within the case, Benjamin and Jeffrey used headlight bricks:
See more photos on BricksBen.com.
And since this isn’t something inspired by a movie or video game, I’m happy to suggest you head on over to LEGO CUUSOO and support this project. In the meantime, I may need to build one of these for myself…
We often admire buildings and spaceships for having a “detailed interior,” but it’s not often I get to say that about a LEGO computer. This Apple II Plus (or Apple ][+ if you want to get technical) by Chiu-Kueng Tsang (chiukeung) certainly recreates the look of this classic computer from the era before Apple made its first Mac.
But I’m most impressed that Chiu-Kueng even built the internal hardware — perhaps a bit of that whopping 48 KB of RAM.
Thanks to John Baichtal over at MAKE for the tip!
Antonio Toscano has created a stop-motion animation LEGO version of the trailer for the upcoming J.J. Abrams sequel to his Star Trek reboot.
Thanks to reader Andrea via our Facebook page.
It’s actually quite hard getting LEGO ruins to look right — it’s not as simple as knocking a few bricks out of the building you’ve just made. Kyle (K.Kreations) blows a big hole in his building and shatters the windows to recreate the look of a ravaged city in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
I also like the realistic details on the buildings’ roofs, often overlooked by builders even though we usually view and photograph LEGO models from above.
See more photos on MOCPages, where pretty much everything lately is apparently an entry for the MOCathalon. (Can we just assume that now? Yes, I think so.)
Amazon.com has discounted 9516 Jabba’s Palace
(Via FBTB.)
And if you’re still looking to complete the current Tatooine collection, 75005 Rancor Pit
Continuing our batch of “How did we miss that?!” posts from photos submitted to the new TBB Cover Photos group on Flickr, here’s a lovely rendition of Abu Simbel in Egypt by Kristi McWii (customBRICKS).
Kristi uses minifigs for the monumental statues of the seated pharaoh Ramesses II.
Watch the latest video from BrotherhoodWorkshop for another funny installment of life in Middle Earth beyond the books and movies. In this video, the Goblin King from The Hobbit takes on one of those nasty cave trolls from Lord of the Rings. You get to decide who wins this epic battle.
Be sure to watch both endings.
Whoever does Gollum’s voice is a dead-ringer for Andy Serkis. Wow…
Someone said recently that we don’t feature enough scenes — just models. That seemed like a fair criticism, so I’ve tried to keep my eye out for interesting LEGO photos that don’t necessarily feature a model, as such. This photo by Hayden certainly fits the bill.
We’ve gotten so used to highlighting “well-lit” models on “clean” backgrounds (our words, and how subjective they are!) that I suspect we’ve passed over some nice atmospheric shots like this one.
One of the MocAthalon categories this year is to build a medieval inn. Julien Andries (Julandrius) has built one full of character and detail — from the battered tile roof to the splotched walls and rough stonework.
Our TBB cover photo “inbox” is yielding a number of gems we’ve missed. Dutch builder Stijn Oom has built a cargo ship in a style dear to my heart, with fantastic asymmetry and excellent color blocking — particularly the white stripes that span most of the length of the vessel.
![3H-5 [Alasie] - Cargo Transport Vessel](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/media.brothers-brick.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/8516713148_e894659323.jpg)
Stijn says this is his first micro-space ship, so I’m hoping we can look forward to many more in the future.
We may be guaranteed never to see official Ghost in the Shell LEGO models, but that doesn’t stop LEGO fans from building their own Tachikoma, Fuchikoma, and other “Think Tanks” during what is now the annual Marchikoma challenge.
Chris (Ironsniper) puts the new olive-green LEGO elements to good use with his own entry, full of great shaping despite the limited parts palate.
The light and dark grays Chris uses for the non-olive portions are a great example of using different shades of gray to mimic different types of real-world metals — a subtle type of color-blocking missing from less-sophisticated builds.
