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

Consider your picnic ruined!

A LEGO builder who goes by the name Cezium has built something that gives new meaning to the term “angry birds”. He tells us the H-301 Autonomous Reconnaissance Units are designed for scouting missions and are often deployed on the battlefield acting as forward observers that relay information to units stationed at the rear. Thermal imaging and night vision also ensures consistent efficacy in locating enemy troops. While he makes no mention of it in his write-up, I’m going to go ahead and assume it has some bombing capabilities as well. Like when you wear a nice new shirt or when you have just washed the car. Consider your picnic ruined!

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Welcome to the jungle, we’ve got fun and games

Welcome to the jungle, it gets worser every day. You can thank Axl Rose for that grammatical abomination that is now stuck in your heads. Wait…what? He doesn’t say “worser”? “Worse here”? You mean I’m the one that has been singing it wrong all this time? Man, that is a bummer! It totally ruins my intro premise. Anyway, sukhodolov_nikita built a LEGO creation aptly called “Welcome to the jungle” and it seems almost as inhospitable as Axl’s version. First of all, that broken suspension bridge is going to be a sticky-pickle to navigate and that bright yellow frog just might present some adverse effects, especially if you lick it. While the presentation and build techniques are quite good, (the idol is especially nice) this jungle doesn’t seem particularly welcoming at all. It might be safer to just stay home and listen to me sing my favorite Elton John song. Here goes…Hold me closer, Tony Danza…

Once charged, this solar-powered gentlelady can be a hellion on two feet!

LEGO Builder Andrew Evans has heated up something a little different for us to savor. She is Vaihdelia, the Solar-Powered Gentlelady and she’s adorned in what seems to be a corseted jacket made from solar panels. My artist’s sense of color is alight with Andrew’s use of black and gold. White makes an excellent tertiary color while just a few hints of orange, green and marigold really makes this figure pop. The sword guard is a carriage wheel and the piece is used again as part of her collar. The three-panel presentation illustrates how versatile this figure is. Her solar-powered parasol is comprised of parts from a Darth Vader buildable figure but can convert to a shield while in fight mode. I’m sure she’s a gentlelady for the most part but can be a hellion on two feet when she needs to be!

This fire CAT is red hot!

When firefighters pull out the big equipment…I mean really big equipment, chances are there is going to be a traffic jam for miles. But chances are, they are also doing some big, important work; this scene by Steven Asbury is not your standard saving-a-cat-from-a-tree fare. The fire department excavator can perform a variety of tasks including pulling down severely damaged structures, clearing mudslides, and assist with debris removal in wildfires. It often responds with the Urban Search and Rescue team. Like so much of Steven’s work, this scene demonstrates rather cinematic photography and a keen sense of foreground, middle and background. Clearly he cares deeply about firefighting as this isn’t his first rodeo on the subject. Here’s a previous time we featured his work. You can see the inspiration for this particular excavator in action via this video.

Dream if you can a courtyard, an ocean of violets in bloom

Suddenly I have Prince tunes going through my head and I don’t know why. It’s weird when that happens. Anyway, Marco De Bon built this delightfully purple mech he calls the FA-13 “Venus” and we’re all tickled pink about it. Or…purple, actually. Well, maybe a little pink. The translucent sparkly pink wings are actually doors that come from a rare Belleville set (good luck finding that!) and are used brilliantly here. The mech stands 8-inches (20cm) tall and is inspired by the insect-like mechs of the Aura Battler Dunbine anime series from the 80s.

Marco also constructed a stand for flying and action poses.

...And it all led up to Edward’s Island

You may recall a prior post featuring Dale Harris and his Neo-Fabuland concept. It was Boris’s Post Office, an adorable little scene, and while it may have looked like big, clunky Fabuland pieces designed for littler hands, it was actually meticulously constructed out of “regular” LEGO bricks. Back then he alluded to the fact that it was merely a small module that would eventually be part of a much larger layout. Well, feast your eyes on Edward’s Island! The aforementioned Barty’s Post Office is there about centered on the island but that is accompanied by a whole assortment of adorable Fabuland denizens and their primary-colored buildings.

Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

When you’ve got a ’69 Charger, a mullet and a GED the world is your oyster!

Sometimes you just want to shirk all responsibilities, grow a mullet and get a ’69 Dodge Charger R/T. I mean, come on, look at it! It’s beautiful! Clearly, Tony Bovkoon knows what I’m talking about. The Statue of Liberty only further illustrates that this car is classic American muscle. That’s freedom right there! In this car, shirts don’t need sleeves, jeans are acid-washed and the radio dial never veers away from anything that doesn’t play Freebird or Born to be Wild on a continuous loop. When you’ve got a ’69 Charger, a mullet and a GED the world opens up to a myriad of possibilities. Some of them involve getting burgers, drag racing, raisin’ hell, and maybe smoking a doobie or two.

Click here to go for a ride into the sunset.

Build your own Stadium Truck Alternate Model [Instructions]

If you loved the official 42110 Land Rover Defender set but are wondering what the heck you can do with it now, then you may be thrilled to learn that its designer Milan Reindl has some opinions on the matter. He has used the same parts and constructed a Super Stadium Truck or Short Course Truck based on an RC model he has. It features all-wheel drive with 3 differentials, a 3-speed sequential gearbox with neutral and a V8 engine. The front axle has independent suspension and is mounted with positive caster angle to absorb the impacts from uneven surfaces. The rear axle features a 4-link suspension. The truck has front axle steering and an opening hood. The interior features a driver’s seat, 5-gallon jug, gear shifter lever and rearview mirror. The spare wheel is mounted on the reinforcing frame in the rear.

But don’t just take it from me. Check out this video that explains it all better than I could. And if you happen to have all the parts and about two hours set aside, then you can build your own Stadium Truck following Milan’s instructions.

The Chicken Man is finger licking’ good

Colonel Sanders is known for three things: delicious fried chicken, his southern charm and his white goatee. Wait a minute, this “Chicken Man” built by Centuri Chan has no goatee so maybe he’s not the colonel after all. Still, I want to get my greasy mitts all over that big bucket of fried chicken. Despite the lack of facial hair, this BrickHeadz style creation bears a resemblance close enough to call it finger licking’ good! And…If you like your music odd and performed by “conjoined twins”, (and who doesn’t, really?) then you may be thrilled to learn that this Chicken Man even has his own sound track courtesy of Evelyn Evelyn.

From Mustang to Pantera

When some folks buy LEGO sets, they are quite content to follow the instructions and build exactly what the designers had in mind. They build a set, admire the item on the shelf, shampoo, rinse, repeat, and that is the extent of their LEGO experience. But us builders are a different breed entirely. When Serge S bought the 10265 Ford Mustang set he had a different plan in mind for the parts. Taking us to a time when automotive designs were drawn by hand and without the assistance of computers, he constructed the mid-engined De Tomaso Pantera GT5.

This alternate view proves that all doors open and that the engine occupies what would normally be the trunk or boot as it’s called elsewhere. Once again this creation uses only the parts from the official Mustang set. I don’t know about you, but I’m smitten!

LEGO Creator Expert 10272 Old Trafford-Manchester United [Review]

Soccer fans (or football fans as they’re called everywhere else) will get a kick out of the newest Creator Expert set, 10272 Old Trafford-Manchester United, a massive 3,898-piece model based on the Old Trafford soccer stadium in Greater Manchester, England, which serves as the home of Manchester United F.C.and over 76,000 of their closest friends. The 1:600 replica model is rated for 16+, clearly targeting an adult market, and is available now directly from LEGO for US $299 | CAD $349 | UK £249.99 for V.I.P. members — just in time for the stadium’s 110th anniversary this February.

Let’s open the box and see what’s inside!

It’s...wait for it...a trap!

Useful or not, some folks have a special talent, a gift, if you will, that is unique to them. Maybe they were even born with it and don’t know of their uncanny abilities until it happens. Some folks can wiggle their ears, some have really bendy thumbs. My talent; I write sensitive poetry about the man from Nantucket. I should recite some for you sometime. Okay Yaramanoglu built this stylized Admiral Akbar and his talent is to alert anyone within earshot that something is a trap. Whether it be a mousetrap, bear trap, or in this case, a deadly game of cat and mouse sprung by a ruling Empire against a Rebel Alliance, Admiral Ackbar is the gravelly voice of authority. Identifying traps probably earned him the admiral position. In every case so far, however, he’s been quite adept at identifying traps after they have sprung, not before. Some foreknowledge could prove helpful in many cases, Admiral.