You never know where you’re going to find your inspiration. How about your favorite manufacturer of MIDI controlers? Yep, perig perig devoted his latest spacecraft model to Livid Instruments – a small company which produces computer music equipment. We can only guess how exactly the overall design was influenced by the author’s musical experince, but the result is gorgeous as usual. The color scheme is what impressed me the most; together blue and olive pieces work miracles.
LEGO themes come and go, but some of them stay in our hearts forever. Korean builder bigcrown85 makes us shed some tears with a beautiful remake of some old Model Team sets.
Experienced readers might recognize these legendary vehicles. The jeep on the left is based on the awesome 5510 Off-Road 4×4 from 1986, and the truck on the right is a remake of the B-model from 5571 Giant Truck, which was released in 1996.
The builder has refurbished both cars, making them black and red, improving the chassis and upgrading the interiors with all new pieces (he even placed a coffee machine right behind the seats in the driver’s cab!). And the title “Black cat rally team” refers to the giant truck’s alternative set name. A crouching cat was used as a radiator cap, and you can find one on the hood of the jeep as well. What a lovely touch!
All in all, both cars offer a nice representation of how present-day Model Team sets could possibly look: massive, stunning and handsome.
Let me introduce you to Rosaline as pictured by Sheo. You can imagine what a difficult character hides behind such a complicated mosaic of plates and slopes. Needless to say there is some disproportion in the sizes of eyes and lips, but this is what makes Rosaline eloquent. Some of the commentators have pointed out that slits between pieces resemble wrinkles — and I tend to agree, they really do. If only we could learn a bit of Rosaline’s background…
I’m not sure whether WhiteBrix is good at surfing, but he does know how to handle a surfboard – or, better to say, 19 of them at a time. Stacked together, these surfboards create a rather winsome skyscraper shape and, moreover, define each floor, which allows you to see the structure of the whole building clearly. And I especially like how that single-story section completes the complex – what a lovely architectural masterpiece!
Every talanted builder has his or her own particular style of bulding and presentation. And the longer you follow your favorite authors, the more recognizable their styles become. But then there are collaborations. And what I love the most about them is the fact that you can never predict the result. And this time Sunder_59 brings us an amazingly executed digital render of SiMaI7’s (Kirill Simerzin) latest T-72A military tank. You should already know Sunder_59 as we mentioned a couple of his renders not so long ago. Personally I’m rather apathetic towards digital building, but the quality of this rendering is outstanding. And don’t hesitate to examine the model online.
Surprisingly, the Light side is much stronger with our favorite builders than the Dark. This is the only explanation I can find of why we already have the whole blue squadron of T-70 X-wing fighters (and not a single TIE fighter yet!). This time GHLego keeps David Hensel and Peter C. company in a cruel battle against the First Order.
I like how this fighter is not overloaded with sophisticated building techniques. GHLego managed to keep it simple and plain – in the finest sense of the word, of course. The dock representing a section of a hangar suits the fighter rather well. Both parts look quite robust and definitely make my want to spend an evening playing with this model recreating all the unbelievable twists and turns from the movie.
We don’t want any of our readers to be distracted from completing the final Protoss chapter of StarCraft II, which was released last month. But as long as you’re here, have a look at this massive build by Tim Schwalfenberg, which was inspired by the StarCraft 2 trailer from 2009. It’s one of those dioramas that makes you stop scrolling the photostream and devote your whole lunch break to examining all the smart design features. The way Tim used regular yellow pieces to accentuate the robot arms deserves special attention. And check out this close-up of the marine as well.
Grantmasters was fortunate enough to capture this unique shot of some mighty and majestic symbols of African wildlife. By the waterside is a glorious lion. It’s an adult male, of course – you can tell by his luxuriant mane. And behind him is an African bush elephant. Just look at that powerful trunk! As you might know, they use their trunks to pluck at grass and leaves while feeding. And you may wonder what animal is under the flat-crown tree in the background? No doubt it’s a famous white rhinoceros. But don’t exepct them to be white – they are gray. And unlike black rhinos, they have only one horn.
I can’t wait for Grantmasters’ next photo safari! Who knows what other animals will get in the picture – will it be some South African giraffes or plain zebras?
The traditional fairy tales my parents read me and some of the old Basic LEGO sets are probably the biggest impressions of my childhood. And when these two things meet, it really touches my heart. As did this simple illustration of a traditional Russian fairy tale Emelya and the Pike by Dwalin Forkbeard. The story tells of an ordinary fellow named Emelya who was notorious for his indolence. Once he was lucky enough to catch a fairy pike who made all of his wishes come true. My favorite episode of this tale is Emelya riding his self-driving stove around his village. And here is the traditional stove exactly how I imagined it as a kid! Bricks with masonry profile work just perfectly for this kind of build, not to mention smart use of handcuffs as a shoulder yoke.
Root Canal by Lab Synth is a marvelous and thorough design down to the last detail. One can find such an architectural experiment chaotic, but I’d call it extravagant. In the description of his work Lab shared that he had started with that massive golden window, and I can clearly imagine how the whole diorama was growing section by section until such a bizzare interpretation of a Venetian canal was born.
I swear I can feel a strong smell of ginger while I’m looking at the latest confectionery masterpiece by Koen. The key to success here is that this gingerbread cottage is actually the second version; the first one was baked and served a little more than a year ago. Compare both and you’ll easily notice how much the Friends sets have added to the official LEGO color palette just in this past year. Excuse me for now, I have to go and ask for the recipe.
I guess we’ve all missed seeing some impressive Black Fantasy creatures for quite a while. All of a sudden Leonid An, a talented young builder from Moscow, Russia, bridges this gap. His strider is not only remarkable for a wide range of classic build techniques, but also completed with a stunningly landscaped base. Who could knew that typically girlish pieces from Clikits sets could complete such an ominous creature so perfectly.
