Some gamers are celebrating the launch of action-adventure first person shooter Destiny 2 with all-nighter gaming sessions. Then there is BrickinNick, celebrating the second entry in the franchise with three LEGO Hunter-class Guardians unleashing their super abilities. Nick captured the iconic futuristic cloaked warriors well, recognizable with just a handful of pieces.
Smart parts and color usage unite in a LEGO totem pole pieced together by Jonas Kramm. The reversed dark red horse armor on the head of the symbolic structure is my favorite parts usage here. Though the focus of the scene is the pole itself, the base of the pole and skeleton setting the scene are notable additions.
While today’s kids have rad smartphone-controlled quadrotors to play with, there’s something nostalgic about a simple, old school R/C car. Arran Hearn induces such nostalgia with a LEGO R/C racing buggy and radio transmitter pair. Bright colors, excellent proportions, a clever parts usage for the antenna, and just the right amount of detail in the body and shock absorbers makes Arran’s R/C buggy pop.
The detail on the bulky radio transmitter is incredibly lifelike. A quick glance and one would think it could control the buggy above.
Recently, my favorite entry in the Call of Duty franchise — Black Ops II — was added to Xbox One backwards compatibility. I picked up Treyarch Studios’s 2012 vision of combat in 2025 again, and felt inspired to build my favorite rifle in the game: the M8A1, a rifle based on the real H&K XM8.
In addition to being inspired by the design of the gun itself, I was motivated to build by the color scheme. Most of the rifle in game is tan, but its carry handle has a subtle bronze color. I showed this color difference with two LEGO colors: tan, and medium dark flesh. The latter color is fairly limited in parts selection, which made its implementation a fun challenge.
Working features on the LEGO M8A1 include a moving trigger, removable curved magazine, and a sliding ambidextrous charging handle. The tactical rail on the carry handle can attach a LEGO reflex sight that projects a red aiming dot onto a window piece. I show and discuss these functions, as well as a few techniques used to achieve the detail on the weapon, in this four minute video.
See more photos of the M8A1 on my Flickr, or check out other LEGO Black Ops weapons we have featured, such as the PDW-57 SMG and KRM-262 shotgun.
The Force is strong with Lego Admiral and his life size, wearable LEGO Darth Vader helmet. The detailed features of the iconic face mask and breather are captured well with the bricks, as is the smooth paneled shaping of the dome.
See more photos of LEGO Admiral’s helmet on Flickr, and learn a technique for constructing your own LEGO helmet with a Halo ODST helmet breakdown.
You won’t need biceps the size of watermelons to look tough with this Lancer Assault Rifle from Gears of War 4 built by Alec Doede. His replica of the iconic gaming weapon is incredibly detailed, with accurately constructed sights, grips, and angled paneling. I can hear the aggressive sound of the chainsaw bayonet revving up just looking at it.
Dwalin Forkbeard shows his love for the fantasy worlds of Warhammer with a 52cm tall LEGO Dwarf Thane full of character. The subtle contours of the armor plating suggest the Thane’s battle-hardened stance. The shaping of the face mask and helmet are excellent, especially around the eye holes, allowing for a rather impressive beard to extend downward.
Introduced to the Halo universe in Halo 4, the Mantis shook up the vehicle gameplay with a mech carrying immense firepower and capacity for celebratory crouching. ZiO Chao presents a LEGO version of this UNSC powerhouse in incredible detail. His accurate model is fully poseable, with flexible legs, cockpit, and armaments.
The minifigure-scaled mech comfortably seats a Spartan minifigure at the controls.
See more photos, including some progress shots, on ZiO Chao’s Flickr.
“Here’s my card…” French builder Jimmy Fortel built a stylish LEGO take on The Joker as portrayed by the late Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. I can just see the insanity in that face. One of my favorite details is the use of red wedge plates on his smile; the texture from the stud cutouts is perfect.
Celebrating the 20-year anniversary re-release of a 1997 Radiohead record, Anthony Wilson presents a LEGO rendition of OK Computer. Subdued color choices and good line placement using plates and tiles make Anthony’s build a great representation of the album cover.
Back in January 2017, I started probably my most ambitious project yet: a full cosplay of Tracer, the time-jumping mascot of the wildly popular team-based shooter game Overwatch, with LEGO elements. While the full costume is not yet complete, I reached a point in the project worth sharing, just in time for Brickworld Chicago this week. I completed her Pulse Pistols, Pulse Bomb, and Chronal Accelerator, which grants her full in-game set of abilities.
I wrote about the Pulse Pistols in depth back in March, so I will cover the Pulse Bomb and Chronal Accelerator here. The Pulse Bomb, her ultimate ability, consists of two concentric gray circles surrounded by a black triangular trim. The circle held together by click hinges would normally require sixteen segments, but to maintain even angular spacing of the flame orange slopes and black trim, I reduced that to fifteen.
The Chronal Accelerator was the most difficult part of her arsenal to construct. I decided early on in its construction that the support straps would be held together by ball-and-socket joints like those commonly found in the Mixel series, as they are strong connections but also flexible enough for the harness to be worn on different body types.
The whole harness was built front to back. The straps lined up in the front nicely; however, matching the angles they made with the reactor in the back was tricky. Angled Technic liftarms and flexible connection points received the straps in the rear, but still allow for it to be adjustable.
The goggles are also wearable. As tempting as it was, I didn’t want to force the use of a LEGO canopy if it didn’t match the shape of the goggles in the game. Fortunately, the two canopies I used were a close fit. Vision is slightly distorted with the goggles on, but one can see through them.
See more photos of the full arsenal on Flickr, and watch for the demo video to go live on YouTube in the very near future.
Thin, mechanical-looking elements highlighted by translucent orange come together in a fantastically frightening mecha Dilophosaurus built by ckb ckd. The facial features of the mecha dinosaur make especially great use of parts, including Space Batman wings and various minifigure weapons.
