It is time to put on your digital bib, constant reader, and feast upon the latest LDD build from Brickviller. Like most virtual models, I can’t get past my long standing prejudice of immediately wondering how it would look in “real” bricks, but hopefully the builder won’t hold that against me. The design is remarkable and to my admittedly untrained eyes, very Russian.
Nooreuyed offers a fresh take on the zombie apocalypse with his latest build, The Greenhouse. All too often dioramas in this genre end up looking like little more than catalog photos with aftermarket gun-laden minifigs standing aimlessly in front of generic building facades, so it is very refreshing to see a builder break out of that mold. The scene is very immersive and while busy with details it somehow never becomes cluttered. The rake and garden hose in the foreground are perfect for the setting, as is the lighting. So cheers Nooreuyed now make like Prometheus and bring your gift of fire to the builders over at the Flickr group Lego Scenes before their creativity is snuffed out completely by the conventions of the genre.
Presenting the Exodus, a colony ship by TBB first-timer Tim Clark (Tim C76). A SHIP (Seriously Huge Investment In Parts) is a milestone accomplishment for any serious sci-fi builder, but mere length is not enough to grace the ivy covered halls of The Brothers Brick. Fortunately Tim has created an interstellar behemoth that fits the nerdy and somewhat arbitrary specifications of the genre and looks great too. The Exodus has all the boilerplate features you’ve come to expect from a starship: powerful engines, pointy antenna cluster and non specific pieces of technology so often called “greebles“. As if our hobby isn’t dorky enough, we embrace words like “greebles“. Yes I realize the word existed before the hobby but it doesn’t make it any more acceptable. As a “spacer” I feel confident bashing my own kind. Back to the Exodus…it even has the final requirement for all great SHIPs; some celestial eye-candy in the background. Welcome to the SHIPwrights club, Tim.
The MACH 5 never looked as good as it does in the capable hands of TBB rookie Clayton Marchetti. The only thing missing is Spritle and Chim-Chim stowing away in the trunk. If you’re a fan of Speed Racer make sure you check out the rest of the photos on MOCpages, Clayton has included all the features you know and love from the famous car like buzz-saws and springs.
TBB newcomer David Alexander Smith has a unique style of building that proves (once again) that you don’t need a million parts to create something original or make an impact on the hobby. David makes excellent use of negative space in his rendition of everyone’s favorite super-spy. Three cheers for minimalism.
F@bz makes is fourth appearance of 2013 with a skinny spacecraft he calls Ghostbird. There is a great deal to like about this model: the color scheme, variety of textures and greebles. My favorite detail is the length of string that runs along the top of the ship. For a guy who’s been building for a relatively short period of time, F@bz has made an indelible mark on the sci-fi genre.
Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada for another blood-drenched edition of Friday Night Fights! Tonight’s bout seeks to answer the eternal question, what happens when a harness bull takes on a yard dick? Let’s go to the tale of the tape:
Fighting out of the red corner, from the wrong side of the tracks…The Brisbane Brawler Nik J Dort (Red Five89) and his Scandia Railbus.
And fighting out of the blue corner, from R’lyeh where he lies dead and dreaming…Karf Oohlu and his Micro monkey train.
As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding the outcome of this pugilistic endeavor by way of comment. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights BeLgIuM ww2 bUiLdeR won his bout by the narrow margin of 6-5. Tune in next week for more action!
You can’t stop Ryan McNaught (TheBrickMan), you can only hope to contain him. Feast your eyes on Ryan’s LEGO Acropolis, currently on display in the Nicholson Museum in Sydney as part of their “Etruscans: a classical fantasy” exhibition. According to the museum’s website:
Following on from the extraordinary success of the LEGO Colosseum in 2012, the Brickman, Ryan McNaught, has turned his hand to one of the most iconic architectural monuments of Ancient Greece – The Acropolis!
The LEGO model displays the Acropolis both as it was in the fifth century BC and as it is today as one of Greece’s most popular tourist attractions. Captured in LEGO are some of the Acropolis’ more famous visitors including Pericles, Lord Elgin, Dame Agatha Christie, and even Elton John.
Also on display is the museum’s 19th century model of the acropolis, which captured the acropolis as it stood in 1895 in plaster.
Ryan’s awesome work will be on display through June of 2014, but if you can’t make it in person, be sure to check out the full set of photos over on Flickr.
In January of this year we featured Ryan McNaught’s (TheBrickMan) king of helicopters, the Erickson Air-Crane Elvis. As many of you have no doubt read by now, Elvis was on public display at Cairns Central shopping center in northern Queensland, Australia when the unthinkable happened: a group of misguided “youths” pushed mighty Elvis to the ground with predictable results.
We’ve all seen accidental damage to models at conventions before, most often caused by enthusiastic butter-fingered youngsters, gawking public day attendees leaning too far over the ropes or rotund builders trying to squeeze between tables…but nothing like this…nothing so deliberate. Fortunately the flight-recorder survived the crash and the authorities are hard at work piecing together the final seconds of Elvis’s life.
TBB reached out to Ryan for a comment and found him in remarkably good spirits considering the scope of this brick-tragedy and very much willing to speak about it. Because of the ongoing criminal trial taking place with 2 youths charged over the death of Elvis, Ryan cannot get into the specifics of the incident.
“I was asleep in bed when the phone rang, you always know when it rings and its late that its bad, and well it was, I drove about 40 minutes into the centre where it was on display and there it was just as pictured (see my Flickr) to see hundreds of hours worth of work ruined is pretty surreal, and something I’ve never experienced before.
To pull down and destroy your own MOC can be very satisfying, I’ll never forget the Brickvention of 2009 where by 9 foot Eiffel tower was brought down at the end of the show Team America World Police style!
Needless to say I had to pack it up that night after the police came and did their thing, and got back to bed at about 2am. The next morning the media were swarming, but of course nothing to see, so that was fun watching the media look like idiots.
Anyway I was up there building a giant LEGO rainforest where people came along built a bit of the rainforest and added it to the display, I felt it was really important to keep that going so that people could still have fun and enjoy it. As people either asked where the chopper was, or came to sympathize it kind of hit home, the usual anger then sadness kicked in, but that was all fairly temporary, because to be honest its LEGO right? anything can be rebuilt, so whilst it sucks to lose such a big model, its not like its a 2,000 year old Ming vase.
So I’m kind of circumspect about it, and a bit relaxed about it now (my wife holds the anger and frustration for me!) and to be honest, when I rebuild/repair it (who knows when I can find the time) it will be just as cool as what it was, and its got a hell of a cool story behind it.
Plus doesn’t rebuilding it stick it up the nose of those who ruined it? To me LEGO has this thing where its cool to return back to its original form and then become something else, so i guess this is kind of like that.”
I think it does stick it up their collective nose Ryan, but for the violent American inside me…it isn’t quite enough. It used to be the most you had to worry about while displaying your model at a convention was the occasional petty theft or jackassy question, but this is a whole new ballgame. Stay tuned to TBB for a follow up on the court case.
Diamond Dave Shaddix hopes you are, and he’s ready to get you in the mood with this outstanding sculpture of an Arizona Cardinal’s helmet. Lucky Dave was commissioned by the NFL franchise to build both the helmet and a mosaic for the upcoming season. While it doesn’t quite match the cool-factor of Dave’s other high-vis commission from world-famous illusionist David Copperfield, it is impressive nonetheless.
Although the dome-protector won't save you from concussions, it is quite wearable. If you want to check out the helmet, sans Dave, it will be ensconced in the Arizona Cardinals HQ in Tempe.
New Zealand builder Millie McKenzie, aka Leda Kat would like to share a model with you that is near and dear to her. Dedicated to the nurses of the Chemotherapy Day Ward in Christchurch Oncology Department, Millie manages to make a very serious subject both light-hearted and positive. Hopefully if any of you out there are going through the challenging and daunting treatment, this model will bring a smile to your face.
