About Rod

Rod likes building stuff, particularly steampunk and microscale. He's built for a number of the Dorling Kindersley LEGO books, including LEGO Play and the Awesome Ideas book. When he's not building, he writes, and has published a trilogy of old-fashioned adventure stories. To pay the bills he works in innovation and marketing for one of the world's biggest brewers, inventing new beers and ciders. This is clearly the best job in the world.

Posts by Rod

It’s the most wonderful time, for a beer

“Okay. One beer. Just one beer…” said Santa. But everyone knows Rudolph is a bad influence.

I always build a Christmas LEGO model, and this year I couldn’t resist depicting what happened when everyone’s favourite reindeer led poor Saint Nick astray. Wherever you are in the world, and whether you’re celebrating a traditional Christmas, or a different variety of holiday season fun, I hope you have a peaceful and happy time. I know I’ll be cracking open a beer or two, and might join Rudolph in wee glass of whisky.

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Motorised journey to Bethlehem [Video]

Kinetic sculptures are a fascinating genre of LEGO building, combining “regular” brick-modelling with clever Technic motorisation techniques. Josh DaVid proves he’s a master of both these elements with his latest creation — The Journey To Bethlehem. The figures are nicely-sculpted, particularly the donkey and its precious cargo. I really like the road and the rockwork too, especially when you consider the gubbins contained within which drives the motion.

Don’t miss the video of the sculpture in action…

Park gives me a sense of enormous wellbeing

As winter blows through in my part of the world, it’s nice to enjoy a touch of summer parklife with this sweet LEGO scene from Sheo. The scale used here is deceptive, I was surprised at how big this model is in real life — those are large quarter-circle fences providing the upper columns in the central rotunda. The pavilion is lovely, with its little fountain, and I like the geometric design of the gardens and their flowerbeds. Nice use of panel parts for the paths too, creating a tiny height difference between the paving and the grass — an almost insignificant detail, but the sort of thing that elevates the best microscale building.

I’m dreaming of a white reindeer [Instructions]

With its smattering of red and gold, this predominantly white LEGO scene by ianying616 makes a sweet and simple festive treat. The tree in the background is nicely-done, with just enough decorations to avoid looking stark. And I like the use of tan tiles amidst the restrained colour scheme — it gives a bit of contrast which allows the central reindeer to stand out. The little creature itself is a cool model, with good use of toothed parts, tiles, and curves to provide texture and detail.

If you want to build your own festive white reindeer, ianying616 has kindly supplied instructions,. The first page is shown below.

There are eight pages in total, and can be found in ianying616’s reindeer instructions album.

Attention! It’s time for the Christmas parade

Toy soldier figures are a mainstay of Disney theme park decorations at this time of year. Koen has built a wonderful LEGO version, with great shaping and brilliant attention to detail. The hat is fabulous, and the nicely-done face captures the character well. I particularly like the rosy cheeks and pointed pink nose. And that angled hat brim is excellent.

Even Santa Claus needs a bit of sunshine

So what does Santa do before he has to deliver all those presents? He takes a break in the sun of course. yu chris‘ LEGO scene uses parts to great effect, building at a larger scale than you might first think. The bushy beard built from angel wings is a particular highlight, but the furniture and surf-board are nicely-done too. One detail which really caught my eye was the blue glass on the table — so simple, made of only three pieces, yet perfect at this scale. I hope Santa’s enjoying his drink, and his short getaway — he’s going to have plenty of work to do in the next few weeks.

Christmas chopper uses a hot rod

If you’re in a hurry to get your Christmas tree, then a hot rod flat-bed makes for the fastest delivery. Sanel Lukovic‘s snowy scene shows a LEGO woodsman making use of a somewhat unconventional vehicle for fetching his festive fir. The trees themselves are nicely composed from flower stalk parts, and the snowdrifts to either side of the road create a sense of a larger snow-dusted world beyond the irregular edges of the diorama. But it’s the truck’s engine which steals the show: a smart construction full of imaginative parts use — crutches, pirate hooks, and welding equipment are amongst the silvery pieces used to create the engine’s pipework.

Large-scale LEGO Spitfire wins the air battle

Whilst the Battle Of Britain saw the RAF fly more Hawker Hurricanes, the Supermarine Spitfire’s beautiful lines marked it out as the signature British fighter of WW2. This large LEGO model by Lennart C manages to capture the iconic shaping and curves perfectly — no mean feat in the brick. The 1:18 scale employed is impressive — with the model stretching to over 50 studs long by my count — allowing the creation of accurate brick-built camouflage. This, coupled with some simple stickers makes for a wonderful re-creation of the famous fighter.

The attention to detail on show is impressive, with 8 Browning machine guns built into the wings, and nice use of “macaroni pipe” pieces for the engine exhaust cowls. Don’t miss the underside, with its working undercarriage — excellent work.

Retro truck ready to roar into life

Loosely based on a 1950 custom Ford, Martin Redfern‘s latest LEGO vehicle is a retro delight. The shaping around the bonnet is sheer class, and the use of chromed parts adds visual pop, particularly around the distinctive grille. The details are great — twin high-rise exhausts, windscreen wipers, rear-view mirrors, and indicators all present and correct.

Best of all, Martin has included a beautifully-tuned engine beneath that curved bonnet. Lovely stuff.

Something fishy going on

Piranha fish have something of an undeserved bad reputation. But this unfortunate creature, built from LEGO by Sebastian Gren, certainly looks like he come off worst in an argument with his fellows. This is a fun model, but it’s well-built too. The bones of the skeleton are perfectly-arranged, with the use of a LEGO fibre-optic cable to provide a flexible spine, and the face has plenty of ugly piranha character. The presentation helps as well — the simple base, with its touches of greenery, effectively suggests an appropriate river bed base.

How lovely are thy branches

With it’s pile of beautifully-wrapped presents, and its gleaming white angel, Andrew JN‘s LEGO Christmas tree is sure to get those festive feelings flowing. Those tree branch pieces are sometimes not the easiest LEGO parts to work with, and ironically don’t always make for great tree designs. However, Andrew has used them to good effect here, and the smattering of Technic balls as baubles, coupled with the golden crowns creates a sweet seasonal scene.

Brick-built gingerbread – easy on the eye, hard on the teeth

The decorations on these LEGO gingerbread treats are strictly-speaking more “placed” than “built”, but it creates a mouthwatering image all the same. Cecilie Fritzvold‘s simple little arrangement is by no means the most complex LEGO model we’ve ever featured, but it’s a brilliant creation all the same. Those white claw parts are spot on as icing, and “boat stud” tiles have never looked tastier!

About Rod

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