Posts by Theo Spencer

This build has real teeth – but not where you’d expect them

There are some who will argue that Bionicle is the greatest thing LEGO ever did. I certainly had a few in my childhood, but I would counter that one of LEGO’s best ideas of the early 21st century was the portable X-pod line. If you can’t decide, then do like Ben and combine the two into a seriously cool warrior. It was all inspired by a realisation that many of the Technic panels in this year’s 42134 Monster Truck Megalodon are the same medium blue as the X-pod covers in 4339 Aqua Pod from 2005, which coincidentally had a shark as its main model. Sharks, therefore, are a common theme in this model – from the teeth on the torso to the tails coming off each leg. Even its name, Hybodus, is an ancient prehistoric shark. So naturally, the shoulder-mounted missile pods would make it fit right in with the underwater Toa Mahri line from 2007!

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A small bridge with some big thinking behind it

Any good engineer will tell you that scale models are a great way to test out grand ideas in a safer and cheaper environment. For some LEGO builders, though, scale models are just an excuse to flex your engineering muscles. This bridge by Clemens Schneider is a great little microscale build in its own right. It’s an attractive design with some nifty microscale vehicles, including what appears to be a police chase! What I am most impressed by however is the engineering behind it, which was meticulously planned out.

The valley and the gentle curve of the bridge are already accomplished by bending rows of bricks, exploiting the tolerances that are built in to LEGO bricks. But those flex tubes aren’t just for show! They actually work as a real cable-stayed bridge would. The schematic below shows some of Clemens’ thinking for this clever little build. The outer pair of cables are tensioned together with string (yes, it’s LEGO string), and the tension which can be adjusted to slightly alter the shape of the bridge. The green links have metal train axles in them (still LEGO!), the friction of which further helps to support the bridge. I’m seriously impressed by the thought that went into this!

This is one dad bod we can all strive for

As Dom Toretto will tell you, family is important. Vincent Kiew has heeded these words and paid tribute to the simple joy of hanging out with your family in this lovely LEGO build. Each character is full of personality and smiles! The dog is adorable with an impressively spherical ball to play with. Both mother and daughter are great examples of how Mixel ball joints are a boon for those making characters with character – the posing, and head tilts in particular, are great. The most parts-intensive family member here, though, is the father figure, who looks ready to take his surfboard to the sea. He’s also in terrific shape, if I may say so! Having his shirt off shows off just how well his body is sculpted. And I mean that both with the bricks and those muscles. So much for the infamous ‘dad bod’…

Sail towards the kings and queens of the butterfly collectors

What do you get if you cross the hobbies of LEGO, butterfly collecting, and impossible bottles? It might well look something like this creation by Gayle Spiller. It is inspired by a surrealist painting, although I’m reminded of the Jam, which is paraphrased in the title of this post. It’s a superb execution with some unique solutions for the patterns on the butterfly wings. There are croissants, eyes, sausages, pies, and even guitars in there! The ship itself is beautifully sculpted as well, with the exaggerated curves matching the surrealist tone of the piece.

This LEGO parade really floats our boat!

Big Easy Bricks has crafted a pair of wonderful parade floats that make me yearn for a big old LEGO-themed parade. Both feature some classic LEGO themes and some great microscale building! First up is a fan favourite – Classic Space. The float features two iconic space sets in the form of the Galaxy Explorer and Monorail Transport System. The trailer itself also has a rocket blasting away from the Earth and Moon, made up of a mere nine pieces!

Float number two is a bit more rootin’-tootin’, as it depicts the perhaps niche (although no less legendary) Fort Legoredo from the 90s Western theme. This time we have some miniature soldiers and cavalry to man the fort, which is a superb imitation of the original set. Take note of the miniature cannons as well! Once again the trailer captures the Western aesthetic with some stars and horns. It’s a simple touch, but a really wonderful way to tie it together.

I hope Big Easy Bricks have got some more floats lined up. There’s plenty of classic themes, and they would look great on parade together!

Another 100-stud long ship – but not the kind you’re thinking of

We’ve featured a lot of big ships recently, what with it having been SHIPtember and all, but they’ve all been the space-faring kind. If you want 100-stud long behemoths that sail the seas rather than the stars, it can be a month of false dawns. Isaiah Durand is here to save the day with this frankly jaw-dropping beast! Christened the Buccaneer’s Dread, it took three years to plan and build. It’s almost as long as it is tall, at a whopping 4 foot 3 inches, or 1.3 metres for the metrically inclined. That’s the height of a small child!

There are some minifigures in the above picture to give you a sense of scale, but it doesn’t really do the details justice. So let’s take a closer look…

A cute and/or lovable droid

Whatever you think of Star Wars content of late, you have to admit they’ve been crushing it in the ‘lovable droids’ department. SPARKART! has given us a digital creation featuring the latest addition to this roster: B2EMO, from the on-going Andor show. Cassian clearly has a thing for sassy robot companions, although B2 here is a little politer than K-2SO was in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. This model is apparently capable of “squishing” to replicate B2’s hunker-down-and-hide mode, which is a cool detail. Overall it’s also a good imitation of the droid’s run-down, patchy appearance. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see this lovable robot in LEGO form!

A child’s imagination is a wonderful thing

While we often features builds by AFOLs, sometimes it’s important to remember that LEGO is, fundamentally, a kids’ toy. BetaNotus‘ local LEGO User Group (LUG) has borne that in mind with their latest challenge. Each builder was assigned a sketch by local children, and tasked with turning it into a MOC. It’s an adorable idea that has resulted in a rather cool-looking monster! It’s a skilful piece of building, but it still manages to retain the inventive charm of what a kid’s imagination can conjure up.

100 studs? B.E.A.T. that!

LEGO’s Vidiyo theme may not have lasted terribly long on shelves, but it certainly left a big impression on builders. Julie van der Meulen has repaid that favour in a big way too – a seriously huge way, in fact! This Seriously Huge Investment in Parts (SHIP) isn’t a sprawling research station, or a space-faring man-o-war – it’s apparently owned by a DJ whose only purpose is to travel the stars giving free concerts. It looks resplendent in a typically Vidiyo colour scheme, with black, coral red, aqua, and everyone’s favourite, teal. Best of all, it has a backronym name that suits it down to the ground – the Big Engine Auxiliary Tug, or B.E.A.T. Vidiyo may be no more, but it seems like it’s in safe hands in the LEGO community!

Everything is cooler in the future – including trains

We see plenty of ideas of what the future might look like in LEGO bricks. Cities, spaceships, cars, robots… But what will trains look like tens or hundreds of years in the future? Blake Foster has had a crack with this cyberpunk locomotive. It’s recognisable as a train to us mere present-dwellers, but has enough cool features for that sci-fi look. I especially like strap-like detail around the mechanical parts in the middle — it really sells it as something futuristic. Since this is cyberpunk, I have to assume there’s some dystopian reason for that enormous strap. Perhaps it’s to stop people falling into the loco’s fusion reactor? I hope that’s a preventive, rather than reactive, measure…

A cool spaceship worthy of a cool name

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are turning orange, coffee mugs are filling up with pumpkin-spiced lattes, and enormous LEGO spaceships are cropping up all over the internet. That’s right, it’s SHIPtember! Scott Wilhelm‘s entry has us gobsmacked. It’s christened the Ockham’s Razor, which in itself is a wicked name. But this 140-stud wide behemoth looks truly alien. There aren’t any obvious signs of scale, so this could be an extraterrestrial hoverboard, but one gets the impression it’s a sprawling mega fortress shooting across the stars.

To get a perspective on its real-life scale, just look at this shot of the rear. Two halves of a Star Wars planet are used for detailing, and these are not small parts – but they look tiny here! The greebling work combined with the geometrical shapes and the colour scheme all combine to make a seriously impressive spaceship.

A gonk-themed fever dream

There is a lot going on in this super-sized GNK droid build by B&W Bricks. Clearly fed up of being the butt of jokes in the Star Wars universe, this unloved droid has decided to take matters into its own hands, by giving itself some. As well as this upgrade, it seems to have taken to organised crime. In this maniacal pose it actually reminds me of the grumpy robot in Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Day Out. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that the GNK is an upscaled imitation of the minifigure-scale one that comes in LEGO sets, matched by an upscaled blaster and letter tile. There’s also a stormtrooper alarm clock, some deck chairs, a case of money, and… A stormtrooper wielding Minecraft weapons? I suppose it’s one of the droid’s minions. Either way, they seem to be terrorising poor Jedi Bob. To be fair if I was pursued by a vengeful walking battery and a stormtrooper with a diamond sword, I’d be terrified as well.