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

Goliath and Wasp; one is huge, the other a Protestant

This dynamic duo of LEGO mechs is brought to you by Marco De Bon purveyor of, well, some pretty awesome mechs, and other stuff, but mostly mechs. Goliath is looking rugged adorned in desert tan armor while Wasp is mostly white because, well, you know. Marco tells us that both are constructed with the same inner frame but each has a different external vibe. I seem to favor Goliath for its Southwestern flavor. Which is your favorite? This isn’t the first time we’ve been floored by something this builder has done; not by a long shot. Check out our Marco De Bon archives to see what I mean.

Lego Goliath and Wasp

Mining for iron – and amazing detail

LEGO builder Jaka Kupina is no slouch when it comes to creating stunning architectural detail. Take this Foenwor Mine, for instance. The brick textures and snowy rooftops are a sight to behold. Not only that but it has a neat story to go with it. In Jaka’s own words; “In Mitgardia, deep in the Heavenly Mountains dwarves are mining. Very brave men who spend most of their time deep under a dangerous mountain. The mines are rich in iron ore and attract blacksmiths from distant lands. Their mined ore makes the best iron from which they make powerfull weapons for fearless warriors and strong pickaxes for hardworking miners. A real treasure of Mitgardia.” I never considered a career in ore mining but if I can call this intricate structure my workplace, I may reconsider. But alas, for once in my life, I just may be too tall for the job.

Foenwor Mine

What a long, strange trip it’s been for this VW T1 Kastenwagen

LEGO builder Isaac Wilder is sort of a master at creating patinaed vehicles, but he didn’t perfect the technique instantly. He tells us that way back in August of 2020, he approached legendary builder Simon Liu about patina techniques and he gave him some sage advice. This turned into a small “patina collaboration” of sorts, and, speaking from experience, it’s kind of magical when that happens. Isaac is also an admirer of VW Life on YouTube so, over time, he kept up with his inspirations and practiced the patina look and now we have this.

Volkswagen T1 Kastenwagen

In a vehicle with this much character, it makes you think of the adventures it may have had. Perhaps it had a fresh, psychedelic paint job during the Summer of Love; maybe its occupants made tofu and granola in it for years at a time; or maybe it was involved in a medium-speed chase from the fuzz in the 80s. Oh, the stories this VW could tell! Just be prepared for deep introspection and the munchies because I’m pretty sure Kastenwagen translates to “contact high”.

Pry it from my cold, dead hands, mate!

Apparently, Australia had gun-toting outlaws, too. Aido Kessler has built a LEGO replica of Ned Kelly, an Australian outlaw who roamed the Land Down Under almost 150 years ago. He was known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armor with an iconic helmet. What is neat about this is it was the official convention model at Brickvention this past weekend. So, if you were there, it is possible that you could have also gotten -uh-your cold, dead hands on this hot exclusive model. Aido tells us it’s very odd seeing your creation on the front of a box, an experience not many of us can boast. He must be having the best week ever as we have recently featured another of his creations. Check it out as well as many of his other amazing works in our Aido Kessler archives.

Bushranger

All that talent down the drain

In a LEGO world of castles, mechs, and spaceships it’s neat when someone with the amusing name of Pistash comes along and builds something totally ordinary. A golden faucet is an ordinary thing if you happen to be in a higher tax bracket than most, but you get what I mean. The smooth porcelain of the sink and even the water splatter effects are all amazing touches. I even love the gold wheel rim used as the drain. It was built for the Iron Forge competition over at, well, Iron Forge. We’ve been amazed with this builder’s work before. Check out our Pistash archives to see what I mean.

Golden faucet

Ridin’ low, baggin’ and crankin’ the hog

Sometimes LEGO legends fade away for a little while but come back onto the scene in style and still chock full of piss and vinegar. Dennis Glaasker reminds us that it has been three years since he last built something but comes screeching back on a glorious low and bagged Harley. LEGO released the 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy way back in 2019 and Dennis used this as the basis for his new ride, but even a casual glance at our old review proves that Denni’s design diverged greatly from there. Most notably you have the lowered stance, the massive 30″ front wheel, the slanted bags, and enough custom chrome LEGO pieces to make anyone’s heart rate race a little. Throw in some custom LED lights and you have all the makings of a badass build, true to Dennis’ style.

Lego HD Bagger 2024 - 13FLc

In the category of Far East Elegance

With Chinese New Year coming up, it is no surprise that we are seeing a bevy of Asian-inspired LEGO creations from our friends around the globe. BrickheXe presents The Hidden Sakura, and it is for the Far East Elegance challenge over at Brickscalibur. We are greeted by two regal gate lions guarding the round entryway. Beyond that, a bonsai tree promises a tranquil garden visit. Outstanding textures abound in this exquisite scene.

The hidden Sakura

The Home of Wisdom was built on wise parts usage

In looking upon Simon Schweyer’s elegant LEGO Home of Wisdom, I feel smarter already. Simon goes on to tell us that this home’s occupant Futuros couldn’t sleep. He found no inner peace. After reading philosophical books, he simply couldn’t turn off his thoughts. What really existed? And what was just imagination? And why did anything exist, rather than nothing? That is surely some lofty stuff to be thinking about as you try to sleep. You know what keeps me up at night? Getting that song My neck, my back stuck in my head and also wondering if there’s beer on the sun. Cleary I could use a bit of philosophy and wisdom from a stay in this stunning home.

Home of Wisdom

As if that isn’t brilliant enough, the place is lit at night and I don’t mean two 40s of Malt Liquor kind of lit.

Home of Wisdom

Bile and tears overflow, drowning everything in sorrow

Man, I really brought the room down with that title! But sometimes good art has to make you feel a bit down in the dumps. Take this new LEGO creation by Toni A, for example. It’s a tentacled creature called St. Abholos. It’s all part of a larger campaign to totally squig you the heck out, and I think it’s working. It’s more of a Cosmic Horror dread, which is much deeper than the sorrow you feel when you lose a comb. While you ponder your own insignificance in this universe, why not take a gander at some other like-minded Lovecraftian Horrors all hellbent on squelching your good time.

St. Abholos

Ring in the new year with a funny Joke(r)

Some people ring in the new year with a party, some good libations, and a kiss from their significant other or a willing and inebriated stranger. Others uphold a tradition of falling asleep on the goddamned sofa just minutes before the stroke of midnight. However you celebrated the new year, let’s hope it brought a smile to your face, kinda like this big LEGO Joker figure built by Pascal Hetzel. Whether it be hatching some elaborate scheme to turn the citizens of Gotham into maniacal minions or leaving a flaming bag of poo on Batman’s doorstep, The Joker always has something to smile about. That’s because, according to some interpretations, Joker’s smile was permanently etched into his face with toxic chemicals or via a razor blade giving him the ol’ “Glasgow Smile”. Geez, that escalated fast! Let’s hope the smile on your face is not for any of those reasons.

LEGO Joker Happy New Year

Incidentally, this is not Pascal’s first big Joker. We featured his prior one back in 2020 but here is a shot of his newer one next to the old one. This proves the new one is not quite a “Maxifig” but something else. Whatever you call it, it is admittedly quite fun.

LEGO Joker in large size version

The Top 10 TBB Articles of 2023 [Feature]

We’ve gathered our top-10 articles of 2023 based on clicks and views. Opinions may vary but keep in mind we’ve crunched the raw data and this is how it all shakes out.

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A Classic Space swoosh and a slam dunk!

Swooshable is a word thrown around in the LEGO community that means the model is easily picked up and swooshed around the room without parts breaking off and probably while making fun spaceship noises. Don’t act like you haven’t done it! Martin.with.bricks gets extra kudos points from us for not only making this craft look awesome but also highly “swooshable.” The two are not always obtainable together. I mean; go ahead and try to swoosh your Hulkbuster set around the room and see what happens. Martin tells us the white with orange trim is his favorite color scheme and I’m inclined to think it’s mine too. Maybe it’s time to dust off my white leisure suit with orange belt and platform shoes. While you’re soaking in that mouth-watering visual check out our Martin.with.bricks archives for s’more LEGO goodness.

LEGO Spaceship! Totally swooshable!