Posts by Kyle Keller

“Megazord sequence has been initiated.”

As a child of the late 80’s, Power Rangers was my jam in elementary school. I spent countless afternoons building up spaceships and castles with LEGO while Jason and his team took on the baddies of Rita Repulsa in the background. Ergo, my nostalgia is cranked all the way up to 11 with this excellent Megazord build by naota5552000. While the sculpting and posability of this mech are well thought-out, I’m drawn to the excellent techniques used to make the Zord’s head. The intricate use of clips, bars, and plate corners really gets the job done on a two-stud square base!

Harbinger of spring beckons forth flowers of LEGO

Now, I know we’ve already seen a lot of builds on here from Patrick Biggs. But you have to admit, the guy has definitely mastered the antlered LEGO beast. And his most recent, the Spirit of Spring, is no exception. As in his past work, Patrick displays his prowess with tooth and tail pieces in shaping this fauna of choice. They’re used everywhere: in the face, torso, feet, legs, and antlers. But I’m especially impressed by his use of this very awkward tail part for shaping the Spirit’s tail. I’ve never seen such flow with such a clunky piece! Now if you’ll excuse me, I feel the urge to step outside and into the sun.

Couple of hosers here, eh?

Good day, and welcome to the Great White North! Here we’ve got a beautiful LEGO BrickHeadz build by Josephine Monterosso featuring our favorite fictional Canadian brothers, Bob and Doug McKenzie. Played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas respectively, the duo were featured on the Canadian SCTV in the 80’s, as well as the feature film Strange Brew. And Josephine does a great job of recreating their countenances in this blocky medium. I love the 1×2 jumper plate used for their mouths, locked in a heated discussion about long underwear and back bacon. Then there’s the ingenious use of the minifig pom-pom for the top of Doug’s tuque, and tires as his earmuffs. But my absolute favorite detail has to be the angled plates used for their jacket collars! It’s so fitting given Brickheadz dimensions. And, well, if you disagree, you can take off, eh!

Behemoth bricks are the best builds

It’s so common anymore to see any owner of a 3D printer making their own large-scale LEGO pieces. But it takes some real skill to make those huge parts using LEGO itself! Just take a look at these jumbo pieces by Flickr master-builder Purplesprout458. I love his daring use of bricks to build up the walls of each model. It’s amazing he was able to achieve that kind of shaping given the limitations of the blocky medium! I mean, those 6×6 studs almost look as round as the real thing! And don’t even get me started on how he managed to source all the yellow brick needed for the giant 1×6 plate. With all the other shades of yellow out there right now, it’s so hard to come by!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to talk about color choice, here. When working on large, single-color LEGO models like this, it’s essential that the shade remain consistent throughout. This is usually a painstaking process, finding those bricks and plates that are the same exact version of red, blue, yellow, and black for each model. In some instances, this can require a builder’s collection to be sorted not only by part and color but also by year of manufacture. Purplesprout has managed to steer clear of the off-color and brittle blue parts from 2007 when making that gorgeous blue brick. And there’s not a printed or stickered piece to be found on that giant 4×4 black plate. All four mammoth blocks are immaculate, and such an excellent display of builder prowess. Well done!

This LEGO townhouse is move-in ready

I didn’t expect to find such a great real estate listing on Flickr, but Kristel Whitaker’s Midi-scale Modular LEGO build looks cozy as can be at eight studs wide. As Kristel has shown us with her previous builds, she is a master of color usage, and this model is no exception. I love the choice of dark blue for the door in contrast to the white trim. And the way the foliage pops against the cobbled walls of tans and browns is just terrific! I’d love to see more modular-style buildings in this scale.

And like with any good real estate listing, there’s always multiple pictures of the property. Check out this shot of the backdoor. The garbage bins are a nice touch.

“Looks like my hideout’s not so hidden anymore...”

Check out this excellent LEGO microscale cove built by Flickr user Pixeljunkie. The heavy use of slopes laid upon their sides provides an organic, rocky backdrop for a tiny beach scene. But it’s not just any beach! This is the hideout of Porco Rosso, the Italian flying ace slash anthropomorphic pig from the Studio Ghibli film of the same name. You can see his iconic red plane, a Savoia S.21, sitting in the water. On the coast are his tent, chair, and radio, where Porco would relax between bouts with the sky pirates of the Adriatic. The shaping of the plane in such few bricks is inspired, and immediately recognizable to someone familiar with the movie. Also of note, the 1×1 plate with tooth used as a dock is some great parts usage at this scale.

At 3,145 pieces, The Negotiator is a midi-scale LEGO Star Wars masterpiece

I just can’t get enough of this LEGO Venator-class Star Destroyer by FlyInSpace! The lines on this build are so clean, it looks like the edges were cut with a hobby knife. At 27 inches long, it’s hard to believe this model is actually a step down in scale from the LEGO Ultimate Collector Series.

See lots more details of this LEGO Star Wars ship

There’s bargains to be had down by the docks

Psst! Hey you! Yeah, you there, on the other side of the screen. Interested in making a trade? What I’ve got on offer is this exceptional LEGO dockside scene by Bryckland. Note the texturing of the walls, and the angled tiles making up the roof. You don’t see that kind of thing just anywhere! Still looking for more? Well, what about Bryckland’s careful choices in minifig positioning, hmm? Each one of those figures is telling it’s own story, and it really brings the whole scene to life. Oh, you like the idea of a story! Well Bryckland’s written one to go along with the build on their Instagram. But first, do we have a deal?

Giant Quarian Cruiser from Mass Effect built from LEGO is 68 inches long!

Canadian LEGO builder Jason Corlett says that this LEGO Quarian Cruiser from the Mass Effect franchise is the largest ship he’s ever built. And while that’s not hard to believe given the sheer immensity of this vessel, the real skill is how Jason has packed all 68″ with excellent detail and shaping. I look at this ship in its entirety and I see all the small choices made by Jason during construction: the fit of the beveled ring into the other parts of the Cruiser, the pockets of detailed textural work in specific corners, the decision to cover a stud with a tile or leave the stud exposed, even the determination of whether a part should be light or dark gray. All 68 inches of the model feel consistent and deliberate. And, trust me, that’s hard enough to do for even the smallest builds!

See more of this huge LEGO spaceship

This bad, blue Bionicle is boss!

This outstanding LEGO Bionicle creature by Max Howell feels like it just came out of a sci-fi thriller. The massive claws, tiny probe-like legs, and a serious case of five-head give me the impression that this “Badnicle” is a Toa’s worst nightmare. The part usage is excellent, especially the inspired choice of chest plate. And I love the tires bulking up its arms. My only question is, does anyone else get a Megamind vibe from that color scheme?

Animal: a hurricane of rhythm

Using only 101 parts, Mark van der Maarel has produced his version of everyone’s favorite drummer, and it absolutely rocks! I don’t know if I’ve seen someone evoke Muppet fur with so few LEGO pieces before. And his part usage skills go well beyond the feather plumes. The sausages as fingers, the elastic bands on Animal’s wrists, even the choice of the bulbous eye pieces are spot-on. Contrasting that with the clean lines of a black T-shirt, it definitely evokes the controlled chaos that is Animal playing his drums.

A lionfish build that’s good enough to eat

With all the LEGO turkey legs and croissants adorning his denizen of the deep, Ryan Van Duzor makes a good case for eating more lionfish, an invasive species in the Western Atlantic Ocean. I love the use of Ninjago Dragon Master wings to replicate the fish’s delicate fins. And the minifigure weapons adding their points to the many spines is some inspired part usage! I can only imagine what the interior of the model looks like to support the arching pieces making up the face of this beautiful Pterois. This model is a real catch!

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