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

Seaside fort has every angle covered

The nature of our favourite modelling medium sees many creations which sit on a “grid” of perpendicular lines. Sometimes all a great LEGO model needs to do is break free of those right-angled rules. That’s exactly what Kai/Geneva has done with this neat little Imperial Fort. It’s a small model, but it’s packed with good technique and interesting lines. Check out the angled bastion walls of the fort’s base and its rounded turret. When you combine that shaping with the weathering effects on the main building, the subtle waves breaking up the expanse of water, and the smart use of brick separators for the roof, you’ve got a lovely little seaside scene.

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Hover car racer crosses the line

This was one of those LEGO models which seemingly popped out of nowhere during the creative process. I started off fiddling around with the new mudguard pieces, thinking they might make for interesting detailing, and almost before I knew it, I had something reminiscent of a muscle car engine grille. At that point, the retro racing vibe kicked in and the rest of the model came together in a couple of hours. I think asymmetry always adds an interesting spark to a model, and so the off-centre elements — the stripe and the protruding engine — were in the plan from an early stage. The domed cockpit came late to the party, but it’s the part of the model I’m most pleased with. I feel it adds a Jetsons-esque touch of the retro-ridiculous, and makes the model more fun than it might have been otherwise. Similarly, the addition of the Friends sticker on the front wing fitted with a racing theme, but represented a change from the usual livery applied to futuristic LEGO vehicles.

Once the model was complete I obviously had to build some kind of backdrop for it. The panel-based scenery is plain and simple, but that’s okay as I’d always planned to motion-blur the hell out of it! I know some people prefer to see their LEGO models in plain and unfiltered images, but for me this one demanded some oomph. I’ve been watching a lot of the Netflix F1 documentary recently, and I was trying to capture something of the same feel, conveying the dynamic nature of the hover car racing competition I had in my head.

If you’re going into space, you may as well do it in style

A new LEGO spaceship from Nick Trotta is always worthy of note, and Firebreak, his latest, is an absolute belter. The shaping is a beautiful collection of angles and curves, making clever use of tiles and a bewildering array of sideways-building techniques to keep the lines smooth. But it’s the color scheme and the ingenious striping which grab the attention — look at the white highlight outline on the asymmetric engine intake, a fantastic piece of LEGO engineering. The angled snub nose is also great, adding a touch of malevolence by invoking attack helicopter styling. Finally, the use of black and chrome for the functional-looking greebles is inspired — a nice change of pace from the “standard” LEGO spaceship greebles in light or dark grey. This is one of the best LEGO spacecraft we’ve seen for a while. I’d recommend zooming in for a closer look at all the quality building involved in its creation.

Look who’s laughing now

Look who’s laughing now… It’s Shenzi, Banzai, and the cackling Ed — the trio of villainous hyenas from Disney’s 1994 animated classic The Lion King, created in LEGO bricks by Timofey Tkachev. The sculpting here is excellent — each beast well-posed, and their different faces captured perfectly through a variety of building techniques and parts. The key to success lies in the choice of scale — these shady characters are surprisingly large, giving Timofey space to nail all the details. And while simple, the surrounding landscaping enhances the presentation of the central figures, suggesting the bleak elephant’s graveyard, which surely stretches to the horizons around them.

The Lion King‘s characterization of these hyenas received a mixed reception back in 1994, with some critics accusing Disney of racist caricature in the voice acting and dialogue. Disney never acknowledged any of this criticism, but Scar’s hyena lieutenants were quietly rewritten, and mostly renamed, in the 2019 live-action remake. Whatever you might think of the original movie’s depiction of this trio, it doesn’t affect the quality of the LEGO building on display here.

A colourful fleet of fighters

There’s a fine balance in creative endeavours between finding a groove and getting stuck in a rut. There’s no doubt which side of the scale Ted Andes is on with his latest run of LEGO starfighters. Whilst there’s a common shaping and techniques involved in the production of his Corsair models, the variety of styling applied to the variants make for quite a fleet. First up, there’s a red and white beauty, which showcases the use of the Technic panel parts alongside the cockpit…

Ted has put together a whole range of these craft, each a skilful combination of Hero Factory armour, Bionicle pieces, and regular LEGO parts. These are models I’d love to see “in the brick” — I’m sure they’d make for an impressive formation flypast.

Got a Mustang but want a Charger? Just mod it

LEGO car master Firas Abu-Jaber offers us two-for-one with his latest creation: first-up, delivering a 1968 Dodge Charger using only the pieces from the 10265 LEGO Ford Mustang set, and then putting together a sleek black and chrome version of the same design. Both cars are excellent, with the sleek lines given more than a hint of brutish power with the prominent engine blocks poking from the bonnet. Personally I prefer the mean and moody look of the black and chrome, although I’d happily have either sitting in my driveway. But seriously Firas, restricting yourself to a parts selection designed to create a particular make and model, but building a different make and model?!? If the results weren’t so good, I’d suggest that’s borderline masochism!

A-roving a-roving a-roving I’ll go with a set of balloon tires

Across the moons of the outer systems, thin dusty soil causes problems for surface vehicles. Without big chunky tires, your fancy new rover isn’t going anywhere. LEGO builder Frost has put together a flashy moon rover with the requisite balloon tires but also bedecked in an eye-popping color scheme. The tires are a beefy joy, tiles attached to caterpillar tracks wound around standard wheels. This design allows for a multi-layered multi-colored look, perfectly matching the bold styling of the rest of the vehicle. The curved stripes over the bonnet are nicely done, as is the front grille and the integration of the angled windscreen and roll-cage parts around the rear. The fin sticking from the rear is easy to miss amidst all the color, but is a great use of a parts separator — lovely stuff.

Titan tip-toes to war

This camo-clad mecha from Marco Marozzi is a beast. A powerful frame, with broad shoulders, chunky thighs, and an intimidating growl fixed in its dog-like “face.” However, beyond the beefy proportions, there are lots to enjoy — functional-looking gears and greebles, a carefully-composed contrasting color scheme, and smart use of custom stickers to create the ripped camo effect. The absolute highlight has to be those feet, though — I love the way this hefty figure manages to look poised and somehow elegant, balanced on its tripod toes. It’s almost like it’s tip-toeing its way through a minefield, trying to get to the battlefront proper.

Worn-out but wonderful

Here’s one of those creations which prompts initial “That’s not LEGO” comments, followed by clicking to zoom-in and check out the details in an attempt to figure out how the builder worked their magic. What grabs the attention in Ralf Langer‘s medieval buildings are the weathering effects — this pair of ramshackle structures are a masterclass in making a LEGO model look worn and tatty and old. There’s not a straight line in sight in those walls, or the wonderful base, and the variety of colours used for wood and plaster creates a patina of realistic age and decay. Interesting parts choices give texture and depth to the buildings, and the finishing touch is that splash of contrasting colour offered by the tree blossom.

These two buildings were hidden away in Ralf’s astonishing LEGO medieval town we covered previously. However, Ralf’s tweaked and refreshed them both, and it’s great to get a closer look at such impressive architectural work.

Arcade fire incoming

We love when someone does something cool with a specialised “one-shot” part — the sort of piece most folks imagine only has a single specific use. Here’s a great example of thinking outside the box from Kelvin Low, who has taken the arcade cabinet from the Jay Avatar Arcade Pod and turned it into the body of a chunky-looking mechanoid. This thing has all the pointy guns and menacing gippers you might expect, and its “face” is excellent. But most of all, it’s a creation where the unusual parts-usage enhances the model rather than hinders it. The arcade cabinet stickers give this a vibrant exciting look, and an undeniable cyberpunk feel. This reminded me of the graffiti-enhanced killer robots described in KW Jeter’s 1989 novel Farewell Horizontal. (Now there’s an old-school cyberpunk reference for you!)

Head back to Skyrim where adventure awaits

Skyrim is the northernmost province of Tamriel, the world of the Elder Scrolls videogames. When Bethesda Game Studios launched the fifth installment of the series in 2011, Skyrim received as much praise for its Norse-themed design elements as for the immersive gameplay. Marcin Otreba clearly enjoyed the game’s styling as he’s recreated a typical Skyrim town scene in LEGO. The hut is excellent, with an appropriate blend of wooden tones, and a spot-on tiled roof constructed with triangular parts. I love the wooden palisade of spiked logs, and the forge and grinding stone are almost perfect recreations of these key elements in the game. But best of all? That fire — genius use of an inverted pearl-grey basketball net! This neat little scene makes me want to grab a sword and shield and head for Skyrim myself once more. It’s fun to wander the cold, hard streets of Whiterun. Well, at least until you take an arrow to the knee.

Needz moar boompowderz

For such a small model, there’s lots to love in Ayrlego‘s diorama of an Imperial Armoury receiving a gunpowder delivery. The colour scheme is excellent, with the building’s walls offering a smart contrast to both foliage and water. But a closer look is also rewarded, with lots of nice building techniques on display. Don’t miss the weathering in the walls, the subtle change in colour where the water laps against the quay, and the construction of the small cannon on the roof. I particularly like the hanging lantern, with lever parts providing thin bars around the light — a technique I’ll be stealing with pride in any future Pirate-themed creations of my own!

About Rod

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