About Lino

Lino is an artist, humorist, and occasional responsible adult. He is the co-founder of a challenge-based LEGO car club called LUGNuts which boasts over 1100 members worldwide. He proposed automotive building challenges every month for ten years (120 challenges!) which he and the other members built accordingly. LUGNuts has retired its challenges on its 10th anniversary but still remains a cornerstone for LEGO automotive builders. Between his artistic work and LEGO builds, Lino has been published in several books, including Beautiful LEGO, Beautiful LEGO: Dark, and Beautiful LEGO: Wild. He lives in Washington with his girlfriend and dogs.

Posts by Lino

A WackDonald’s nightmare that doesn’t involve hot coffee on the crotch

There’s nothing to see here. I recommend you move on ASAP and check out our LEGO puppy archives instead. Get! Skidaddle! Are you still here? You must be a sucker for punishment, then. Fine, have it your way! With so much AI art on the net nowadays, including some bonkers LEGO creations, you’d think this is yet another disturbing offering from our eventual robot overlords. But no, this came from the mind of Julius von Brunk. He calls it McGundam and it features a clown mech with a large Ronald McDonald head for a crotch. What part of that don’t you understand? Kinda makes you wish hot coffee was the only McDonald’s crotch-related mishap, doesn’t it? Julian goes on to tell us that this model went through several iterations due to frequent stability and fragility issues. No one said fueling your nightmares was easy! If you like your LEGO creations just a little bit unsettling then check out our Julius Von Brunk archives. By this point, it’s probably too late to enjoy some lovable kitty archives instead.

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Water (and frogs) under the bridge

This saccharine sweet little LEGO scene is brought to you by famed builder Eli Willsea. With adorable frogs under a bridge and equally adorable birds on it, what’s not to love? This is an entry for the ever-popular Iron Builder competition; this time the seed part being the watering can in lime. Eight were used to denote the frog eyes. I especially love that one frog peeking from behind the bridge. It’s just so sweet! Even the wee caterpillar seems happy to be eaten in this delightful little scene.

It’s best not to lock horns with this one

The Lamprima Adolphinae, AKA the Sawtooth Stag Beetle, is something you were not even thinking about less than a minute ago but, now that it’s here, you have to admit is pretty amazing. That is the magic of a LEGO builder like Lokiloki29; one minute life is business as usual and the next you’re marveling a strange beetle. Loki squared times 29 tells us that the Sawtooth Stag Beetle is native to New Guinea and uses its formidable mandibles for fighting. Logic states, and it should go without saying, that while in New Guinea, you shouldn’t get into fisticuffs with it while at a sports pub or something but, judging from the comments we see around here from time to time, logic has left some of you ages ago and you’d relish the opportunity to pick a fight with anything and everything offering even the slightest whiff of provocation. Prove me wrong, you weirdos!

Forcing us to think about color through forced perspective

Forced perspective is one of those artist’s buzzwords (or phrases) that means to achieve the illusion of a vast depth of field within a very narrow space. LEGO artist Jaap Bijl understands forced perspective quite well. The central road bisecting the composition down the middle appears to trail off into the long distance, but from the sky to the foreground, the composition is no more than twenty studs deep.

The builder tells us the width is more than a meter across, which certainly helps create the illusion of depth. The other trick Jaap clearly understands is the use of color. This is a world bursting with color for sure but the brightest of which is relegated only to objects in the extreme foreground. Midground is awash in a bit more subdued pastels, clueing us in that, even that far down the road, this is a colorful world but dialing back the intensity and details helps create the illusion of depth. The sky shifts the color palette and dials back the amount of detail, giving us a suitable background. This builder is a true artist indeed, but check out our Jaap Bijl archives to see what I mean.

The Q’Endar Alliance travels through space in style

You may recall Scott Wilhelm’s LEGO Iron Horse spaceship we’ve featured last month. We were thrilled to learn that it brought along a few of its friends and, as impressive as it is on its own, the aforementioned Iron Horse isn’t even the showstopper. Scott brings the same striking color scheme and meticulous attention to detail to an entire fleet he calls The Q’Endar Alliance.

Click to discover the entire fleet

Kids be gone, the candy is all mine!

I know the calendar says November and whatnot but, like my LEGO storage room, spookiness can’t be contained within one holiday. For some of us, it’s a way of life. This new creation by Casey McCoy is called Monster House. Rumor has it, that’s what my neighbors call my place but that’s just the cross I bear for being brooding and mysterious. And also having a skeleton in my front yard and doll heads like literally everywhere. I could learn some decorating tips from Casey’s vignette like the creepy eyes, spider webs, and olive green color scheme. Now to find a contractor who is willing to install a kid-eating demented hell-spirit into the facade of my place. Let me know in the comments if you know a guy; licensed and insured is preferable. While you’re at it, check out our Halloween archives for more spooktacular fun from like-minded builders.

All conditions teal on this Star Wars ZH-40 Tribune-class light freighter

In a LEGO Star Wars world of Millennium Falcons and X-Wing Fighters, it’s always nice when someone shows some love for the lesser-known starships. While the ZH-40 Tribune-class light freighter is a real thing in Star Wars canon, The Cobalt Thorn is, as far as I can tell, a product of Wami Delthorn’s imagination. It is the first of his Teal Squadron, implying there might be more teal-goodness coming at some point. With the cleverly built cockpit window, subtle asymmetry, cool greebling, and color scheme I, for one, look forward to what else the teal Squadron might have in store.

Wami doesn’t provide their names but we have a smattering of humans, a Mon Calamari, an Ugnaught, and a gonk and protocol droid; all in blue uniforms, except for the droids who go naked but that would be weird otherwise. I can just imagine the hijinks a crew like that may have in deep space. Click our archives to see what other space hijinks Wami Delthorn might get himself into and, while you’re at it clickity-click on the blue Star Wars link for a deep dive into a galaxy far, far away.

This Blueberry Container House may contain awesomeness

Sarah Beyer’s title for this new LEGO creation; Blueberry Container House enticed me enough to research it just a bit further. Once I did, I was treated to some breathtaking spaces both inside and out. Sarah tells us that this recycled home is primarily made of two shipping containers connected by a spiral staircase. While it’s safe to assume she’s a bit of an architectural dynamo, this is her first attempt at a container home. The solar cells indicate that this home is energy efficient. The structure’s oddly stacked juxtaposition makes for some exciting areas; particularly the nestled walled sitting area among the trees and the angular deck beside the top floor.

Discover more inside and out!

Flippin’ in my flops

While autumn is in-uh-bloom, which means torrential downpours here in the Pacific Northwest, LEGO extraordinaire Dan Ko takes us on a summer vacation. He’s competing in the infamous Iron Builder competition and we’re all as pleased as Hawaiian Punch, by golly! He’s used four of the requisite red Technic Rotor Blades to construct the neat beach chair. I suppose that alone would have pleased the Iron Builder Gods but he’s gone the extra mile to depict a sunny beach scene in a travel case. I can feel the warm sand getting into all my nether bits! With Iron Builder, there’s no telling what our esteemed builders will do! Here’s to hoping Dan Ko will take us on vacation again soon.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- Heroes on a Half Shell-Turtle Power!

The esteemed Iron Builder competition is firing on all cylinders and the equally ‘steamed LEGO builder Duncan Lindbo has answered the call of duty. This time he’s used the requisite red Technic Rotor Blade to render Raphael’s ninja-eye-mask-scarf-thingy. Thanks to my chosen title, those of us of a certain age now hear the theme song that was the soundtrack to our Saturday mornings and are remembering the sewer-dwelling, pizza-loving crime-fighting antics of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It all made sense when we were twelve! Here’s to hoping Duncan Lindbo continues to be our action-packed Saturday-morning-and-every-other-day soundtrack.

A huge collaboration takes on the Pokémon Ultra Beasts!

I love it when a great LEGO collaboration comes together! A group of friends built the Pokémon Ultra Beasts and the end result is pure gold. Take Aidan Hayward’s Celesteela, for example. This is one of the dangerous UBs, (that’s Ultra Beasts) high energy readings can be detected coming from both of its huge arms.

Celesteela brought friends. Lots of them!

a SHIP not of this world

SHIPtember is officially over with but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying these seriously huge LEGO ships that we’ve seen lately. Take Maxx Davidson’s Aeronautilus, for example. The rules laid out by the LEGO Gods a millennia ago state that a Seriously Huge Investment in Parts must have at least 100 studs on one side but it says nothing about which side. This otherworldly SHIP is 104 studs high and 108 studs on the diagonal plane. Its construct is so alien in appearance, that one can barely imagine the beings that may have constructed it. Maxx, as far as I know, is an Earthly being but you get what I mean. My favorite part, besides its odd color scheme, is the smaller ships being launched from strange hatches throughout the hull. I imagine this is how a botfly works. Kinda gives you the warm and fuzzies, doesn’t it?