Posts by Leigh

Information superhighway

Originally, the so-called “information superhighway” was a metaphor. Information would still be flowing along telecom trunk lines, just like it had before. The amount of info available through those same old lines was the real story of the early 1990s. But fast forward a few decades, to a future imagined by Carter Baldwin and Simon Liu: there’s so much information that a highway can barely contain it. Miles and miles of high-speed cable, just below the actual roadway. I’m not sure what’s going on in the wild undergrowth beneath the infrastructure, but that doesn’t interest me nearly as much as the infrastructure itself. The tubes! The girders!

Information Superhighway

Like a troubled bridge over water

On a bright spring morning, troops from two nearby castles converged at one of the bridges of County Madison. Fat trout could be seen swimming in the creek below, and all agreed that it was a prime spot for fishing. But no one could decide who should make the first cast. As things often went in the era of Castle, violence ensued and blows were traded. By the time the melee was finished, all the fish had been scared away. The moral of the story? Isaac S. makes pretty awesome medieval bridges.
Aindrea Bridge

‘Ello, guv’na

Kids, the key to a really great photo-realistic mosaic is to build big, using simple colors. Oh, and make sure you choose an extremely cool character. Let me tell you, nobody is cooler than Sir Michael Caine. If you only know him as Alfred in the Nolan Batman trilogy, or as Austin Powers’ “fahjah,” you are missing out on one of the hippest cats in the history of British cinema. David Hughes has captured an iconic photograph from 1965, 5 years before Caine finally quit smoking.

LEGO Mosaic - Michael Caine

Teal me a story

Spoiler alert: most UFO pictures are faked, including this one. Teal is a very rare color, and most of these bricks were never made in it. Which makes this virtual model all the more striking. Digital artist dunkleosteus_ldd used Lego Digital Designer and Bluerender to design this uniquely shaped alien craft. Perhaps it could be built in real life using a more common color. Would it still look this cool in red?

Harbinger

The future of law enforcement

Here’s a new twist on an old set: Central Precinct Headquarters from 1993. The old black and white color scheme has been updated to a futuristic black and green, and all the flowers are gone. But the rooftop technology bits and the safety railings are still around. Most of the original vehicles are here too (helicopter not pictured). Big_Sal_224 also has a full backstory and script available, featuring a lot more gender diversity than the original set. I wonder what other old sets are ripe for re-imagining?

Prisoner Record S4C03

Push it real good

There are a lot of sweet details on this vintage bulldozer model from Jakeof. Like the dual chain treads and their associated mechanical bits. And the subtle stickers that jazz up the side windows. And the little bits of cut flex tube everywhere. And the door handle, which looks like it might be the head of a minifig hammer. But the real highlight is the extremely old school brick used for the rear window. It’s amazing what you can do with a wide variety of parts and a little imagination.

DT-75

Viking adventure island

After a hard day’s raiding and pillaging, a fearless warrior needs some time to kick back and relax. Scale the heights of the watch tower, leap from the pier, or take a nap in the cozy hall! Activities include fishing, swimming, stashing treasure, polishing weapons, herding goats, and standing guard. Brick Vader displays it all, on an incredibly tiny and detailed piece of real estate. Great trees and great rockwork, all using a cohesive earthy palette. Only thing missing is the longboat.

Viking adventure island

You are the brute squad!

This giant mecha from kenny_yan looks like it could transform at any moment. The wheels in the shoes and the turbines on the shoulders make me think… jetcar. Not much to say about this man-powered suit, except that it looks big, lean, mean, and uses a scattering of stickers to great effect. And holy cow, photography class: study this snap to become a master.

mk010-05

Dam good microscale

Here’s proof that you don’t need a lot of colors to build an exciting and dynamic model. Simple grays and white convey the power of the water and the feat of engineering in this vignette of a Russian dam by vir-a-cocha. This model is also notable for its excellent mix of studs and tiles, conveying both industrial realism and naturalistic landscaping simultaneously. I’d love to see an Architecture set like this.

Volkovskaya Dam

Loki what I made!

For some fans, comic and sci-fi convention season means making a custom costume for the event: cosplay. The character in Alysa Kirkpatrick‘s vignette is taking her construction very seriously, spending countless hours in front of a vintage sewing machine. She’s going to look so cool when it’s finished.

Making Cosplay Vignette

Slick, black, bent-wing bird

There are a lot of LEGO models of the Vaught F4U Corsair out there, but none of them are as shiny as this one. This WW2 Pacific carrier workhorse has never been so dark or brooding. So emo!

I generally think of the Corsair as being dark blue, but apparently they were also available in black. Marcus Schultz was the designer, and his use of high-contrast waterslide decals really brings the model together.

F4U-1D Corsair (2)

Just dump it in a crater

It’s hard enough to live in space, thanks to cosmic radiation and lack of atmosphere. Why make things even tougher by leaving toxic waste laying around? Horcik Designs has a new vehicle called the HMT4 to handle all your hazardous material handling needs. It has treads aplenty to handle the roughest terrain, and it is adorned in the colors of Neo-Classic Space. The impressive density of details is only enhanced by some carefully chosen custom stickers. So cool!

HMT4