Jerac has built some fantastic renditions of Warhammer 40K space marines. He’s built several marines, and given them a matching Landspeeder and Drednaught. I’m especially impressed with the way he came up with to render the trademark oversized space marine shoulder pauldrons.
Frequent readers may recall this creation from my roundup after BrickFair. The builder has finally gone ahead and posted photos of the diorama.
There are some great details worked into this creation. I especially love the various explosions and splashes, giving a great impression of a moment caught in time.
I also applaud the builder for his very interesting composition choices. Cutting off the ship to give a cross sectional view is a stroke of genius.
Hans Dendauw (Tigmon74) has done a great job of capturing a moment with this diorama. The chunks flying look great, and I absolutely love the tumbling speeder bike and driver. He also seems to have used a blacklight to give the trans neon bits a bit of a glow.
This mecha doesn’t have quite as many guns as the USS Constitution did, but I’m sure it would carry as fearsome of a reputation. This is a job well done by kidthor. There’s a lot of great surface texture on both the body and the legs. I also love how well it balances on its tiny feet.
I really dig this new starfighter model by Fredoichi. I really enjoy the color choices here, especially as they also correspond with a split between smooth curves and interesting texture. The ship looks perfectly sized, small enough to be able to hold in one hand and swoosh around, but big enough to hold a minifig. It doesn’t look like the inside of the cockpit has been detailed, which is a lost opportunity, but doesn’t take too much away from the rest of the craft.
It’s also the archetypal fighter from R-Type.
My buddy Nick Kappatos and I once again teamed up to build for BrickFair. We can’t seem to tear ourselves away from crashed alien space ships as a subject, though I think we managed to change things up enough.
This year, we’re bringing the viewer to a bizarre sector of the sea. A shaman stands atop of the island, invoking the mysteries of the sea. Sea monsters emerge, as a UFO crashes into the ocean. Meanwhile, other inhabitants of the island battle to contain a monster escaping from a cage at the base of the mountain.
This year, Nick and I wanted to do something different, so we went to the sea. We also incorporated lights into this display, official LEGO lights which flash behind the eyes of the skull. We’re hoping to open up this sea-based concept as a community build at BrickFair next year, so stay tuned for an announcement with a standard.
and cool all over? It’s the SmgL-6 Cargo Shuttle by Huib Versteeg (spacie 11). This sort of lack-of-color scheme is something I’ve wanted to try for awhile myself, and it’s cool to see that it works. I’m also digging the shape of this thing (the engine pods are just right), and the excellent detailing in black up front.
The builder has also conquered a major photography obstacle. We can see the detail in the black bits, without the white being completely blown out.
Here’s another creation that I don’t understand the name of. For whatever reason, Andrew Lee (Onosendai2600) named this mecha the Snake Charmer. Regardless of the name, I really dig this creation.
While the mecha itself is interesting, it’s the base that really makes this creation stand out. The base and plant life really add some great context to mecha. We get great contrast between the bright blue livery of the mecha and the burnt orange soil, with its strange alien plants.
I don’t pretend to be able to read or pronounce the name of this new mecha by Dane Erland (Lord Dane). That doesn’t stop me from knowing that I like the CEC Podróżujący – czworonóg, though.
There are a lot of excellent details on this creation, starting with the well sculpted small turret on top. I also think that the gears and other bits at the joints of the legs really help give them a functional look. The use of minifig vests to vary the thickness of the legs is also a nice touch, especially using an old castle logo to add insignia to the creation.
This Coalition Gunship by Pierre E Fieschi isn’t old-school in technique, but it definitely is in feel. The aesthetic hearkens me back to those of sci-fi from the 70s. This ship incorporates much of the great surface texture and greebling that we’d see in movies like Star Wars onto a chunky shape. Which brings me to that shape, it’s so chunky, and blocky, it looks great.
It really feels like this ship contains huge thrumming engines, and was built for function, a skin that barely contains the guts that make the ship work.
BrickFair 2010 took place last weekend, and I’ve now finally had a little bit of time to recover. Like any LEGO convention, it was a blast! There were a lot of fun times to be had hanging out with other LEGO builders. There were also some great sessions, including a presentation by LEGO designer Jamie Berard (which culminated with the unveiling of the Tower Bridge set).
People have also had some time to put their photos online. This works out well, as my wife had both of our cameras in the Galapagos, while I was at BrickFair. You’ll all have to wait for more photos of the latest award-winning display from my compatriot Nick and I of 3LUG. In the meantime, I’d like to highlight some of my favorites from the con.
The above is part of a diorama depicting the battle of Fort McHenry, the inspiration for the Star Spangled Banner. This diorama incorporated some great detail techniques, including smoke from the cannons, and wall-shrapnel. The builder chose to depict the ship in cross-section, which was a fascinating bit of extra detail. The most amazing thing about this creation, though, was that, according to the MOC card, it was built by a thirteen year old!
I also quite enjoyed the display above, by Jordan Schwartz. There’s some lovely detail work in the railing, and the columns are nice as well.
I have no idea what the name means, but that doesn’t make this ship any less awesome. Robb (Dasnewten) has graced us all with another fantastic creation.
It crams in myriad angles, as well as nooks and crannies. There’s also some great surface detailing mixed in, not too much, and not too little. The overall effect is quite believable as a functional space craft.
