Henrik Hoexbroe calls this 50’s station wagon — “Wooden-style panels, two-tone body paint, white-wall tires, painted matching hubcaps, panoramic windscreen, partly covered rear wheels, huge metal bumpers, grotesque Texas-style longhorn ornament.” But Henrik’s LEGO rendition of this vehicular monstrosity is stunning. The color combinations and overall lines turn something ugly into a thing of beauty.
It’s great to be corrected when the correction reveals that I’ve missed something awesome. I said in my last post about Si-MOCs’ microsocale Prometheus) that I hadn’t found another LEGO version of this great ship, but Niki Dregant has in fact built a much-larger version:
At this scale, a whole lot more detail is possible, including lots of mechanical detail on the engines. Like the micro version, Niki’s larger version can land on its rotating nacelles. Since this is still somewhere around mini/midi-scale, my challenge to build a full minifig-scale version still stands.
Thanks for the tip, Fredo!
I saw Ridley Scott’s Prometheus a couple weeks ago, and I’m still a bit ambivalent about it. I appreciate the cosmic scope that makes the Alien trilogy (yes, I said trilogy) seem decidedly minuscule, but it left me more frustrated than anything else. I don’t necessarily need all my questions answered by a movie, but I hate being jerked around.
Nevertheless, I fell in love with the ship herself the moment I saw USCSS Prometheus in the first trailer. With influences evident from Ron Cobb and Chris Foss, it harkens back to the great sci-fi ship designs of the 70’s and 80’s while taking us firmly into the future.
Catching up on LEGO, I’ve been surprised that nobody’s built a LEGO Prometheus yet, so I was pleased to find this great microscale version that Simon Liu (Si-MOCs) built and posted after he got back from BrickWorld:
Simon’s Prometheus is complete with rotating engines, and I like the LV-223 landscape in which he places the hovering ship.
Perhaps one of you out there is planning on building a minifig-scale Prometheus for BrickCon 2012. I’d definitely love to see that. Better get building!
Today is pioneering British computer scientist Alan Turing’s 100th birthday. Turing was instrumental in developing early computers, and worked during World War II to successfully crack the German Enigma machine. (Sadly, Turing was prosecuted for being gay in the early 1950s and committed suicide soon after, at age 41.)
One of Alan Turing’s key contributions to computer science is the concept behind his Turing machine, “a hypothetical device representing a computing machine” (according to Wikipedia).
Jeroen van den Bos & Davy Landman of CWI in the Netherlands write:
Abstract models are just that, an abstraction of something. In order to really show how simple the fundamental model of a computer is, we have developed a physical implementation of the Turing machine, using LEGO Mindstorms NXT.
Here’s a videos of the machine in action:
LEGO Turing Machine from ecalpemos on Vimeo.
Read more about the LEGO Turing machine on the team’s website.
Registration is now open for BrickCon 2012, October 4th through 7th, 2012 in Seattle (“our fair city”), Washington.
As always, the private convention runs a full four days, from Thursday through Sunday. The public exhibition happens on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets for both are available through BrickCon.org.
And as we’ve done every year since 2008, The Brothers Brick will be organizing a collaborative display. Enough people said things like, “Oh, now I get it! You gonna do it again next year so I can contribute?” after seeing our Numereji 2421 layout that we’ve decided to say “Yes!” and try it again this year. More details to follow over the course of the next few weeks.
Artist/engineer Theo Jansen has been creating fantastic “kinetic sculptures” for more than 20 years. I was mesmerized the first time I saw a video of the Rhinoceros Strandbeest in motion several years ago. Now, Dutch industrial designer kvanb has created a working LEGO version of the Rhino and posted it — with Theo Jansen’s blessing — on LEGO CUUSOO.
Those familiar with the original sculpture will certainly be impressed by the likeness, but I literally gasped (to my wife’s surprise and alarm) when I saw the LEGO model walking in this video, shown here with Theo in his workshop:
Here’s Theo Jansen’s original Rhino, for comparison:
I would love to see this turned into a real LEGO set. I hope that approximately 10,000 of you out there will agree with me.
While I haven’t been able to spend a whole lot of time online the last couple months, I’ve managed to squeeze in an occasional build or two.
For weeks, I’ve been feeling a bit blocked on new ideas, but finally found a combination of color (orange with dark gray accents) and shape (rather bulbous) that I liked, inspired by the design of the little vehicle on the right. One baseball game later, I had a nicely swooshable gunship in my hands, followed by a couple tiny drones.
Will you think me strange if I admit that I hadn’t decided whether this was a large-ish microscale ship with supporting micro-vessels or a mid-size gunship with drones by the time I was ready to upload the photo? I’m actually still not sure…
I had the privilege of visiting Korea three times while growing up in Japan, but unfortunately I was too young to remember much. Which is a shame, because I would love to have seen the Sungnyemun, or “Gate of Exalted Ceremonies,” in Seoul. LEGO recently announced that this gorgeous structure — sadly destroyed by fire in 2008 — will be released on June 1st as part of the LEGO Architecture series.
Here’s the full press release:
Sungnyemun has stood in the heart of South Korean capital since 1398 as one of the most complete examples of Joseon Dynasty architecture. It is listed as the country’s foremost National Treasure.
“Sungnyemun survives as a symbolic marker of a lost place in time,” says the architect and designer of many of the LEGO models Adam Reed Tucker. In capturing the essence of Sungnyemun in LEGO bricks Adam looked at the aesthetics rather than engineering, especially the use of colours, patterns and materials that define the ‘spiritual DNA’ of a culture.
Construction of Sungnyemun started in 1396 and was completed two years later. Further alterations and renovations continued over the next 600 years. In 2008 the wooden structure was completely destroyed by fire and it is expected that the restoration – using traditional hand tools – will be complete at the end of 2012.
LEGO Architecture products feature well-known buildings, and the work of important architects. Aimed at inspiring future architects, engineers , designers and architecture fans around the world, the range contains a booklet featuring step-by-step building instructions prefaced by history, information and photographs of each iconic building, its design origin, its architect and its architectural features.
The LEGO 21016 Sungnyemun will be launched officially at the Danish Pavilion during the EXPO 2012 exhibition held in Yeosu, South Korea. It will be available for purchase from June 1 in LEGO brand retail stores, LEGOLAND Stores and online at http://shop.lego.com/. The product is designed for ages 12+ and includes a booklet with facts and history about Sungnyemun. Recommended retail price is $34.99 in the US and €34.99 in most European countries.
FateHeart has been churning out new mecha with such regularity that I’m beginning to suspect he has a secret assembly line (or sweat shop) in his LEGO space. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite, so I’ll go with one he’s overhauled several times, with marked improvements with each iteration.
I’ve been bookmarking his mecha for months, but I’m shocked and ashamed to realize that Dan was the first to actually blog him just over a year ago. To fix what we’ve missed since then, here are a few more of my favorite mecha by FateHeart:
Jordan (AK_Brickster) packs a wealth of wonderful details in this LEGO Castle diorama.
You can see the details best in this close-up, which showcases the melting candle, hunting trophy, and stained glass window.
If you live in the Seattle area like I do, you can see this diorama in person at the LEGO Store in Bellevue, where it will be on display for the next month or so to highlight creations from members of SEALUG.
The third-quarter LEGO sets are now officially out, led by both the new LEGO Lord of the Rings and Marvel Super Heroes sets. If you buy $50 from the LEGO Shop between now and the end of the month, you’ll get an exclusive Hulk minifig that’s not available in any set, for free. And you’ll get the original Frodo minifig movie poster with any LEGO LOTR order.
Having *ahem* cheated and picked up some of these sets at a local brick-and-mortar store on Sunday, I can attest to the awesomeness of a tiny Gandalf and even tinier Frodo — with suspenders! — in 9469 Gandalf Arrives.
Here’s the list of all LEGO LOTR sets that are out now:
Here’s a closer look at Helm’s Deep:
Finally, just when you thought the current LEGO Castle theme was (mostly) dead, LEGO has just released a new 853373 LEGO Kingdoms Chess Set.
Main Hulk minifig offer link for US readers:
For our Canadian readers:
And for our UK readers:
Disclaimer: We do this to pay the bills, which are very real thanks to several hundred thousand wonderful readers like you out there who loyally visit Brothers-Brick.com every week. :-) Similar deals may or may not be available in other countries.
DeTomaso Pantera (DeTomaso77) recently began posting some seriously gorgeous LEGO representations of British birds that I just can’t pass up.
My favorite is this adorable robin named “Bobby,” complete with the handle of a spade to perch on.
Beyond the beautiful birds themselves, what I love about these is how DeTomaso has presented them in a variety of settings, like “Gloria” the goldfinch, complete with a nest, perching twig, and lovely piece of suet.
DeTomaso promises to post more birds, so keep an eye on Flickr and MOCpages for updates.
Thanks for the tip, Bruce!
