Builder Andreas Lenander invites us to visit a trio of magical floating islands with his latest microscale build. I’m impressed by how the opaque azure bricks blend rather seamlessly with the transparent blue to create an effective sense of continuity to the waterfalls that keep these islands suspended in the air. And the churning effect created at the base of the bottom waterfall with just a couple of transparent clear plates really completes the illusion.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about getting whisked away somewhere on a plane. But hopefully not a plane that uses an actual whisk to hold its propellers on, like this one does. But I suppose the whisk is the least of this pilot’s worries, as Grant Davis has constructed quite the impressive belch of black smoke coming from the engine of this seaplane. The texture of the smoke is quite impressive, and I particularly like the black smoke near the engine, made from what I think are a couple of TIE Fighter pilot helmets. The use of the small ship in the background to create a forced perspective horizon really makes it feel like this pilot is isolated, which adds a wonderful additional element of drama to the scene. I don’t imagine making engine repairs while rocking on the open ocean is an easy task. Hopefully his radio still works.
Master LEGO architect Rocco Buttliere is no stranger to recreating massive landmarks in LEGO form. In the past he’s built Mount Rushmore, Vatican City, and even ancient Rome. But now he’s managed to top himself with what may be his largest project to date, a 1:650 scale city of Jerusalem as it appeared in the first century. Consisting of 114,000 pieces, this massive LEGO build is the result of over 500 hours of design time and 400 hours of build time.
This is a work you could truly get lost in, so let’s dive right into the details, starting with the Second Temple on Temple Mount in the center of the city.
Click through for a guided tour of some of the city’s highlights
It’s such a simple technique, but I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever seen anyone mix dark bluish gray and light bluish gray to produce the illusion of wet and dry stone before. I certainly haven’t seen it done as well as Hubba Blöoba accomplishes it here. The details of this ancient pillar are replicated as perfect mirrors of each other above and below the surface of the water. It makes it easy to imagine how hot to the touch the light bluish gray stone is, after baking in the coastal sunshine. Or how slippery the dark bluish gray stone would prove to be for any treasure hunters exploring these ruins on the search for lost swords or rings of power.
One of my guilty pleasures is spending too much time on Zillow. I’m not really looking to buy a home, I’m just curious about what they look like inside. But if I was browsing the site and saw anything as modern and cozy as this build by Grant Davis, I might start trying to convince my wife we need to move. The modern stairway grabs your immediate attention, but there’s so much here to love, from the beautiful bay window to the hardwood floors (look closely, they’re not just long tiles). And that steamboat on the top shelf cleverly uses sideways radiator grilles for its windows. I hope the steamboat comes with the house, because I’m ready to make an offer on this place.
When I was a kid, the closest I ever got to a real arcade was the game room in the back of the local bowling alley. Dirty carpet, a change machine that wouldn’t accept my crinkled dollar bills, and neon beer signs illuminating the TMNT machine that I could never get a turn at. I always imagined that somewhere there were kids living it up in a real video game paradise, and Brick Grayson has brought that paradise to life. Just looking at it, you can hear the cacophony of music and laser fire and cries of “hadouken!” that must echo through the place. The choice of colors does a great job of implying neon without there being any actual lights. And I particularly like the Pac-Man and Ghosts on the side of the building made mostly from sausages. If I could just get inside, I bet I could finally take a turn as Raphael.
Captain Hook earned his famous moniker thanks to that trademark replacement appendage of his. And, no doubt, if you were to encounter the villainous pirate in real life, that hook would be hard to ignore. But in LEGO form, the hook proves to be the captain’s least interesting feature. Ivan Martynov has crafted a charming rendition of Peter Pan’s archenemy with plenty of details and techniques worthy of study. From the pirate hat made using hot air balloon shells, to the impressive flowing coat, it’s hard to worry very much about the hook. Maybe he should change his name to highlight a more impressive feature. Captain Coat? Captain Ascot? Captain That-Little-Beach-Diorama-He’s-Standing-On?
When The LEGO Movie debuted in 2014, the world was introduced to Benny, a Classic LEGO Spaceman with an enthusiastic love of spaceships. In 2019, The LEGO Movie 2 gave Benny an apocalyptic upgrade which found him sporting a clawed robot arm and carrying a toolbox. Now, builder Chris Yee has upgraded Benny yet again, translating Benny’s apocalyptic minifigure look into a larger Bionicle/Hero Factory style figure. I particularly love the Classic Space logo recreated with a pearl gold conical hat and a red minifigure hand and rubber bands. I’m forced to wonder if there’s a spaceship spaceship spaceship! in all the galaxy that’s capable of containing this much awesome.
As vast as the on-screen Star Wars universe is, there’s probably no corner of it that hasn’t been rendered in LEGO at one time or another. So, it should come as no surprise that LEGO fans have begun imagining their own corners of the universe to build. Abe Fortier does a particularly impressive job of rendering a heretofore unseen section of Tatooine with his Jawa Rummage Sale custom build. Even without the familiar aliens and Stormtroopers hanging about, this building would be instantly recognizable as a locale on the famous desert planet. Abe makes excellent use of greebling for the sci-fi trimmings, and the oft-ignored single groove side of the masonry brick adds interesting texture to the building. Be sure to look closely at what each of these shady characters is up to, so you can spot all the great gags and easter eggs that Abe has hidden in the model.
One of the things that made The Transformers such a great toy line was the arms race nature of the Autobot/Decepticon conflict that kept piling on the gimmicks for kids to drool over.
“We turn into cars.”
“We turn into jets.”
“Well then we turn into dinosaurs.”
“Oh yeah? We combine.”
“Well then we also combine.”
“Okay, but now we turn into two vehicles.”
And on and on it went, with each new gimmick creating a new set of must-have toys. And undoubtedly, one of the most impressive gimmicks was 1987’s Sixshot, an evil robot with five different alternate modes. Sam C. has taken on the challenge of replicating all six configurations in his custom LEGO recreation of the Decepticon warrior.
Click here to all of Sixshot’s alternate modes in action!
Ralf Langer is on a roll. Using a technique he’s employed previously in some sci-fi builds, Ralf has created a gorgeous display piece worthy of a shelf in any captain’s quarters. And, while the shape of the build is bound to monopolize your attention, there are some smaller details here that are worthy of a second look. I particularly like the way he’s used color beneath the transparent light blue tiles. The ocean gets darker the further out from the land masses you go, creating a sense of ever deepening water. If you’d like a chance to build this yourself, you can sail over to the LEGO Ideas site to lend your support.
Two of the bigger challenges that a builder can face when creating a custom LEGO creation are angles and empty space. Blake Foster has done a great job of conquering both with his Procyon Planetary Research Hovercraft. I can only imagine the number of techniques at play in creating the craft’s hexagonal outer wall. Complicating the matter is all that empty space in the center, which gave Blake the opportunity to outfit the sides of the wall with some great greebling. But I think my favorite aspect of the whole build is one of the more subtle choices – the use of the 1×4 spring shooter launchers, added so that the notch of light bluish gray from the scaffolding cuts slightly into the dark bluish gray of the engines. It’s a great touch that helps keep anything on this craft from looking like a plain old square.
