The weather in the northern hemisphere is getting decidedly colder right about now, making this a fitting creation indeed. TBB favorite Markus Aspacher recently built this fantastic Ice Planet battle tank.
Ice Planet 2002 was one of the coolest lines of LEGO sets in its day. I think it’s great when a classic LEGO theme is honored and reinvigorated with a neat fan-built creation. Check out how the minifigures’ skis are cutting paths through the frozen precipitation!
Well it seems we’re enthralled with James Bond all over again with the release of the latest film. Blocks Magazine cleverly realized this and decided to create a feature in their publication celebrating both the 50th anniversary of the legendary secret agent and the aforementioned Spectre movie. I’m a big fan of 007 movies and action adventure in general, so I was very excited about being a part of the collaboration of creations. It was also a bit of a daunting challenge since I rarely build LEGO things even remotely modern in theme.
Thankfully, I knew exactly what scene I would create. Sean Connery was my favorite James Bond, and Thunderball was the first 007 movie I ever saw, so for nostalgic reasons alone I had to go with that. At first I wanted to build the shark pool scene, those minutes of the movie really had me at the edge of my seat and it would be neat to try to recreate it in LEGO. Here some shots of that endeavor:
Unfortunately, in order to keep the creation to the standards of the magazine, (family-friendly and without stabbing and blood like the film) I had to scrap that idea. Instead I opted to build the outside of the pool, where James Bond infiltrates the bad guy’s luxurious, well-guarded mansion.
I had some issues with the new plan though, because I had spent so much time planning and buying white tile pieces for the inside of the pool I only had three days to make the bigger outside. Happily for me, my brother is a very talented builder in his own right, and he kindly offered to help me finish my derailed project just in time for the publishers.
I had fun experimenting with the palm trees. I always like trying different combinations and styles.
But I honestly think the scene really comes alive at night. The LEGO compatible lifelights installed in the pool and buildings really help set the tense mood of the original movie.
After this, I hope to get pushed out of my comfort zone more often.
While cruising through the myriad of new LEGO uploads on Flickr, I spotted this beautiful but deadly looking starfighter from Adam Dodge.
The high-contrast color scheme quickly caught my attention. But then, I read the name Switchblade. It is aptly titled because this craft can open and close much like its namesake.
The builder describes how the poseable wings provided quite an engineering challenge to fasten on securely. It must have been an intriguing task. It looks great in the final product and the flexibility really makes this starfighter stand out.
This creation was build for the long running Starfighter Telephone Game. The point of the game is to build a spaceship off of the design of the previous person in the line. I think Adam did a great job incorporating some of the style and flair of John Matz’ earlier starfighter (on the left below).
As someone who likes to build castles out of LEGO, I know how tricky it can be to effectively construct round towers. It’s also a daunting challenge to find the perfect balance between too much detail in the build and not enough. Isaac Snyder posted this great example of how to achieve both of these delicate techniques earlier this week for the 13th Colossal Castle Contest.
I’m not familiar with all the castles they have over in Europe, but I’ve seen Bodiam Castle in Britain, in picture books and websites many times. I think it’s especially neat when someone goes the extra mile and builds a close-to-scale model of a real piece of architecture.
I also liked this shot of the very detailed back with the towers and doors going every which way.
The overall effect is very impressive.
Two things that I really like are history and LEGO. The combination of the two makes it all the better! James Pegrum, creator of the long running LEGO series History of Britain shows us his latest awesome historical LEGO build portraying King Rædwald returning home after a battle.
Apparently the battle didn’t go too well. His dead son is on the same boat heading to the burial mounds. Better luck next time, Rædwald! The builder says his longboat was inspired by the 4th-century Nydam Boat excavated in Denmark and the 7th-century ship-burial at Sutton Hoo in England.
On a side note, this is an entry to the Medieval Ships category of this year’s Colossal Castle Contest.
Today, children and adults from all over the country will be donning their festive creepy and cool costumes for a night out gathering goodies or having fun with friends. But I know two particular builders who probably won’t be out and about. At all. Because right now they are locked in a life-and-death struggle for victory.
For those who are surprised, the Iron Builder is a recurring contest which pits two talented builders against each other in a duel to best incorporate a secret part. The current round is bringing forth some crazy good LEGO creations!
Chris Maddison brings us our favorite feathered ballistic missile from the ever-popular Angry Birds game.
When you finally get over how eye-catching and realistic the build looks, the clever simplicity is stunning. As a side note, in case you hadn’t heard, you can expect official LEGO Angry Birds sets next year.
Not to be outdone, Mike Nieves shows his characteristic System/Bionicle/Technic style with his recreation of Renji Abarai from Bleach.
I’m not very familiar with Anime in general, but a quick Google search shows just how well Mike was able to recreate the distinctive character at this scale.
Both builders have used the black forklift skid (the mandatory secret piece) to full advantage. But who will win?