About Dan

Dan Rubin has been an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) since he became an adult. He joined the larger AFOL community on LUGNET in 2003, and that was also the year in which he attended his first BrickFest. Dan largely builds space MOCs, so it should come as no surprise that he is also the Main Admin of the forums at Classic-Space.com. He is also the creator of the Galactic Inquisition space theme. Dan has been a member of the LEGO Ambassador program since the third cycle of the program. Read more about the program here. You can check out Dan's LEGO creations on Flickr.

Posts by Dan

Watch for the CLAW!

Marco Marozzi builds mecha in a very interesting style. If you page through his gallery, you’ll note long, tall torsos, and a lot of equally long arms, and very few with a humanoid head. This creation in particular shares those proportions with its Friends pilot. This latest shares those traits, and features a bulbous cockpit which I love. My eyes were additionally caught by the huge claw-grabbers this thing is sporting for “utility.”

M8 Utility Mech

3LUG Presents: A Tale of Two Cities

As regular readers of the blog may know, Nick Kappatos and I build a joint display every year for BrickFair. This year, we wanted to contrast between organic and mechanical, as well as high-tech sci-fi and low-tech creations. We also just really wanted to build a bustling bazaar. It was also high time to work some motion into the display, even it it was simple. While the motion isn’t terribly complex, I have to say that I think Nick’s rotating ring has a perfectly sci-fi feel to it that I love (and can’t take credit for). I also tried my wobbly hand at a fly-through video… with an iphone.

3LUG: A Tale of Two Cities

Taidan Interceptor is Made of Win (and LEGO)

Like many many space builders, I’m a huge fan of the ship designs in the Homeworld game series. So, clearly, is Victor K ([Victor]) who has built this fantastic rendition of a Taidan Scout from the game. He’s called it an Interceptor, because the concept art was intended as an interceptor, but was ultimately delivered as a scout in the game. No matter what it’s called, it’s packed full of the fantastic angles, and bold color blocking that defines the game’s ship designs.

R3 Interceptor

Walk Away. Just Walk Away

I haven’t seen the new Mad Max yet, but I’m certainly a fan of the original trilogy.  Calin (_tiler) evokes memories of The Road Warrior with his Nomad.  This thing is the epitome of minimalist, stripped down road-going power.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a stipped-down car rendered in LEGO.  The use of flexible harness pieces as a frame is an inspired way to render the look of a simple cage.

Nomad by _Tiler

Look Children – The Colors!

I’m a sucker for weirdly colored alien landscapes. With his latest creation, A Plastic Infiity has given us that, plus some funky alien technology, and a floating rock. The scales of justice look balanced in the photo, but they feel tipped towards awesome to me. Also, I had no idea those minifig hats came in a purple shade, I’ll be needing some of those for my own funky landscapes.

Monument to Justice

AZR Anunnaki – Is Killer Drop Ship

Browsing for MOCs this morning, I certainly wasn’t expecting to find a new six foot long SHIP, but David Collins (IntronD) had a surprise in store. It’s quite a lovely shape from the angle below, and the medium blue (or is that azure?) and tan color scheme is just a thing of beauty. Truly amazing is that it’s all built to house a hangar for mecha. Make sure to check out all the photos, as it’s packed full of details and lighting effects.

AZR Anunnaki

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School masterpiece in LEGO

The post title says it all, both the original design by Frank Lloyd Wright and this LEGO model by Jameson Gagnepain (Jameson42) are absolute masterpieces. I’m no expert on architecture, but according to the builder, this building is called “Wingspread” and was built in 1937. Jameson has captured not just the architecture of the building, but also the surrounding landscape, and even a period appropriate little car. Make sure you check out the entire gallery, to see all the details!

Wingspread - Overhead

I Love Gold!

There’s actually a lot more to love about this stunning mecha (MFX [F] – Aztech Deity Reborn) by Lu Sim (Messymaru) than the color. It captures an over the top, extremely intricate, anime style that you don’t often see outside of the actual anmiation (and the occasional model). The various circular structures on the back are a big part of this effect, but what really grabbed my attention was the face.

MFX [F] - Aztech Deity Reborn

Tintin Explores the Moon

As a child, I loved the Tintin Explorers on the Moon, I must have checked it out from the library dozens of times. I’ve seen many fantastic attempts at building the rocket Tintin and friends take to the moon, but this latest by Tyler Clites (Legohaulic) is the first build of the lunar tank I’ve seen. Simply put, this is awesome, this scene captures the right atmosphere, from the lunar surface to the brick-built Snowy under one of the domes.

Tintin Moon Tank

Kenbishi Industries R2600

Our friend Pascal (pasukaru76) must have been watching Ghost in the Shell recently, as he’s built a fantastic “think tank” (basically a robotic tank mecha) inspired by the one in the movie. Pascal describes it as a close cousin, and that works for me. The build achieves some simple geometric shapes, which on close inspection prove to be rather elegant implementations of complex techiques, for instances at the angles at the base of the legs. The use of stickers on the model is also top-notch, and really brings it to a higher level.

Kenbishi Industries R2600

The Great Harbor Ship

The Homeworld series of games featured some truly fantastic space ship designs, providing inspiration for tons of Lego space ships, but I’ve never seen anyone attempt to render a copy of this particular ship before now. De_chef has built a micro scale version of the epic Bentusi harbor ship from the games. As you can see above, he’s incorporated lights, and delivered photos that really show off the shape and illumination. Beyond that, he also built a series of smaller ships to accompany it in display, really bringing the scale to the forefront.

A Little Service With a Smile

Andrew Lee (onosendai2600) brings us two new robots to help out.  They offer completely different takes on a utilitarian look, and both work for me.  The smiley on the yellow bot really captures the a CyberPunk/Anime vibe that I love.  Meanwhile, the neck stalk on the gray bot lends a dinosaur-like life to the model. These were built for “Droneuary“, and it loosk like it’s going to be a great month.

Droneuary 2015