We usually focus directly on LEGO models that people have created, but I always enjoy seeing fans use LEGO as the subject for their photography skills as well. Flickr user Young_Design has been creating a series of photographs which I love, featuring minifigs in gorgeous settings with great lighting. A good eye, a nice macro lens, and a little photoshopping skill can bring a viewer right into a minifig’s compelling world.
Traditional architecture with right angles and straight walls are commonplace in LEGO cities, since the brick naturally lends itself to that style. Less common are modern buildings with curving walls, but flickr user lisqr manages quite well here with the clever implementation of curved train tracks to set the structure for this wavy edifice.
This crazy cool Vic Viper version by Rancorbait is chock full of sweet angles and great color blocking. The builder deftly applies some of the new angular slopes LEGO’s been producing in recent years, and the result is spectacular. I particularly love the clever use of this piece down the front of each side, which is so well integrated that I almost didn’t notice it. Overall, this ship looks like a combination of something from Tron: Legacy and LEGO’s own classic Blacktron theme.
South Korean professional LEGO building quartet Olive Seon are known for their massive city dioramas. This latest city is having the disturbing problem of being built above a river of lava. The airtanker in the middle of dumping water is a terrific image, and adds a huge amount of dynamism to this diorama, and I always appreciate that the builders include a lot of below-ground details.
In the spirit of that old Imperial saying, Victory is achieved through mettle. Glory is achieved through metal, comes this beast of a tank. The Vindicator will stop at nothing to crush its opponents, and flickr user Slnine has done a bang-up job with this LEGO version. While the builder is careful to point out that he took inspiration from some previous models, his version is still super cool and quite a feat.
Check out this cool microscale space mining operation by Outer Rim Emperor. He says it’s his first model in the Classic Space theme, and I think he’s nailed it. The big Octan tank is a nice, touch, too, though I’m not quite sure where Octan fits into LEGO’s chronology in relation to Classic Space.
LEGO has sent The Brothers Brick a copy of the Crafting Box, one of the larger sets from the new minifig-scale Minecraft line. The set includes 518 pieces, and will be $49.99 USD. LEGO hasn’t given us an exact release date, but it should be available in stores around the beginning of November.
Now, I know many LEGO fans roll their eyes at the fact that LEGO picked up the Minecraft license at all, but I love it. I’m a huge Minecraft fan, and I have a bit of history with combining LEGO and Minecraft. I created the first minifig-scale Minecraft creation back in 2011, and was one of three fans involved in the development of the first official LEGO Minecraft set, 21102 Minecraft Microworld. During the development phase of that set, we started off trying to create a minifig-scale set. We quickly realized, however, that it would be very hard to do justice to Minecraft at that scale within the price range that the LEGO Ideas (née Cuusoo) program was targeting, namely $30-$40 USD. The current lineup of six minifig-scale sets is a valiant — but flawed — attempt at doing what the original set could not.
In recent years, “Castle” building has begun to encompass more and more non-military scenes, which is a pleasant change of pace. Well-tended gardens, so prevalent on the estates of the wealthy during the middle-ages, however, are still relatively rare. That’s why it was a nice surprise to see this lovely garden diorama by Joshua.
Vince Toulouse has a keen eye for style with spacecraft, and one of his common hallmarks is a stylistic nod to art-deco and the extravagant elegance of the forward-thinking 1920s and ’30s. His latest clean mean machine is this fantastic white and gold ship, which looks ready to pull up to the curb and have a dapper gentleman invite you to a night of refined space-partying and literary discussions. (Or maybe I’m just thinking of Midnight in Paris.)
Nick Della Mora (Darth Nick) has been pointing his shrink ray at various classic Space sets, such as 6871 Star Patrol from 1984 or this year’s 21109 Exo Suit. Nick’s chibi-izing of the sets is infinitely cute, leaving them with full minifigs in terrifically recognizable little vehicles.
Leave it to Pascal (Pasukaru76) to see Bioshock when someone says Ma.K. (a popular mecha style with a unique visual characteristics). This Big-Daddy inspired mech is uuber cool, and is even accompanied by a miniature mechanized Little Sister.
