I always think of winter as a time for slowing down. But Spaceruner knows there’s no time for that on an Ice Planet, and constructed a rover that’s one-part supercar and one-part bobsled to get Commander Cold and his crew where they’re going in a hurry. With room for a crew of three, this mean machine muscles through the frost and snow with powerful jet engines and a set of tires that can handle the roughest and iciest terrain.
The new trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 just dropped this past weekend, so what better time to look back on the previous installments of the franchise? Dan Ko was inspired by the upcoming Star-Lord’s helmet set to build a smaller version of the helmet, and then he completed the look with a brick-built Star-Lord. Peter Quill’s signature Vol. 1 look is recreated to great effect here, with the minifigure cape and wedge plates forming his long coat. And suspending the figure in the air via the thrust of his jet boots is the perfect finishing touch.
Febrovery is usually a time for LEGO builders to break out their biggest and best tire pieces. But Andreas Lenander has a knack for approaching the theme just a little differently. Last year, Andreas wowed us with an impressive set of bubble wheels, and this year it’s a rover with brick-built wheels, using a technique I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. Round 1×2 plates and many curved arc tiles blend beautifully to craft a set of hollow wheels for a rover that’s so cool it barely needs any central vehicle parts at all.
Sebastian Bachórzewski previously wowed us with a one block stretch from a cyberpunk city, and now there’s more of the city to explore. The distinctive signage and railing over the street helps keep continuity between the two builds, but this section has a personality all its own. The high-rise hotel makes excellent use of some turntables for texture along the sides, while the street market area is loaded with grungy greebling and terrific techno-bits. We can almost hear the hum of the electricity running through the place.
Student Scissors has impressed us before with transformable builds based on characters from The Transformers franchise. But it’s one thing to try and replicate an existing character/transformation scheme. It’s a whole other challenge to invent one yourself. But that’s exactly what Student Scissors has done here with Cuff – a transforming police car who isn’t based on any particular Cybertronian, but who would fit right in amongst the Autobots. Cuff’s novel transformation involves the car’s windscreens and roof splitting into thirds to become both of his feet and the center of his chest, while the car grill forms his waist and hips. It’s an inventive solution to the problem of turning a car into a humanoid robot that I hope we see in the official toy line someday.
As part of the Iron Forge competition, gGh0st is putting LEGO leaves to work in as many places as possible for this kitchen vignette. From the curtains to the tablecloth, and even as spilled orange juice on the floor, there’s almost nowhere you can look in this build and not spot a leaf piece. But the real kicker is the wall construction, which allows for a framed portrait of Kermit the Frog in an almost Haunted Mansion-style effect.
Greg Dalink is a builder on a mission. For the last couple of years, Greg’s been outfitting the bounty hunters from The Empire Strikes Back with themed mechs that would make Tony Stark swoon. Greg’s latest proved to be a bit of a challenge. Unlike his fellow bounty hunters, Dengar isn’t a Mandalorian, or a lizard person, or a cool droid. He’s just some dude with some bandages on his head. So Greg kept to Dengar’s color scheme, but let the build move beyond the usual “giant robot version of the character.” The result is a Dieselpunk-style walker with an incredible arsenal on its back – everything from missiles to a couple of old pirate cannons. Now I kinda regret calling Dengar “just a dude with some bandages.” No hard feelings, right, Dengar? Old buddy? Pal? Yikes…
Jonas has crafted an original Imperial headquarters that speaks directly to my inner child. See, when I was a kid, there was absolutely nothing cooler to me than a base built into a huge chunk of rock. Whether it was Cobra Commander’s latest hideout, Boulder Hill, or the Autobots’ ship crashed into the side of a volcano – if you combined a high-tech headquarters with a massive hunk of rock, I was all in! And now to add Star Wars into the mix? It’s too great. This smooth metal space headquarters, with its curved edges, blends brilliantly into the hard, studded angles of the nearby alien landscape. It suggests we’re just seeing a single piece of the puzzle and there’s a whole cliffside that stretches on beyond the frame. It’s exactly the kind of place I always wanted to work. Instead, I have a home office in a duplex in SoCal. Which is kinda cool, I guess. Anyway, check out more of Jonas’s work blending nature with Imperial tech in our archives.
Thanks to recent sets like The Starry Night and the Botanical Collection, decorating your home with LEGO is beginning to feel down right classy. Chi Hsin Wei has upped the ante by combining the two in this brick-built recreation of one of Van Gogh’s sunflower studies. While the background of this “painting” stays true to the feel of Van Gogh’s brushwork, the flowers feel freshly picked. The result is a beautiful study of contrasting build styles that works harmoniously as a single piece. Now that’s art!
Greyson is writing checks that LEGO alone can’t cash. This tiny F-14 Tomcat gets a little help from the BrickArms monopods so that, even at this scale, the wings can sweep out, just like the full-grown counterpart. If you ask me, non-purism is a small price to pay for functional wings at this scale. But if you’re the kind of builder who prizes brand loyalty, check out some of Greyson’s other microscale aircraft in our archives.
In this frozen wilds scene, Jake Hansen (Mountain Hobbit) has brilliantly captured the feel of a rough and snowy wilderness. The fatigue of that poor traveler comes right through in this image, thanks in part to the steep stone stairs with the snow collecting in their cervices. Thankfully, the traveler has reached a warm and inviting inn and can now claim a well-earned night’s rest. But, were I the traveler, I might take one lap around the inn and enjoy its shades of blue, and the intricate roof awnings. There’s always time to appreciate good craftsmanship. Besides, if you just climbed 1000 feet, what could a lap around the inn hurt?
OA KD has a real knack for taking unusual LEGO elements and working them into brilliant Classic Space homages. Last time, a Duplo windscreen did its duty on a massive cargo freighter. This time, a Belville tent frame from 5846 Desert Island forms most of the hull of a tiny fighter. While white isn’t typically part of the Classic Space color scheme, the effect works here thanks to all the dark gray provided by that beautifully-textured background.
