Sean and Steph Mayo are ever so innovative in their builds. They created a mosaic of Cortana from Halo featuring spinning columns of 1×1 transparent round plates. You have to see the video for the incredible effect. You can read more about this building technique on MosaicBricks.
Here is a video review of 76004 Spider-Man: Spider-Cycle Chase
Jameson Gagnepain clearly has a surplus of those ever-so-useful LEGO game dice. He’s put them to good use for his entry into the Like a Boss contest, resulting in this fabulous display of impossible Tetris:
For an added touch, he’s done a stop-motion version complete with the frustrating anticipation of not getting the particular shape that you need:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jameson42/8255394561/
Well, she is at it again. Katie Walker has been incredibly busy this year but now she is back to doing what she does best…blowing my mind. This mosaic is merely a “study”, by which she probably means that she is going to do something even more incredible with this later on. Awesome!
Pascal (pasukaru76) calls this little cottage a shack, but I call it adorable.
Demonstrating that repetition of a part can yield some interesting results, Pascal uses yellow arch/fender pieces to build a gorgeous thatched roof for his stone cottage. The little tree-shaped hole where the arches meet is also a fortuitous touch.
No Starch Press recently sent us a review copy of their latest Technic offering, The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide
I found the book to be full of very useful information. I am not an expert Technic builder by any means and when I first thumbed through the book I was overwhelmed by the amount of detail that the book offers. However, when I actually started reading the book, I found that the way Paweł presents the information made everything very clear. He starts with basic concepts and then builds upon them throughout the book in a very clear and concise fashion. I think any adult LEGO fan will be able to follow this book and incorporate the techniques into their own creations. But this book is not for young builders. Many, if not most, of the techniques are quite advanced and would lead to frustration for younger builders.
The book consists of 333 pages divided up into five parts: Basics, Mechanics, Motors, Advanced Mechanics and Models. The first three sections give you the groundwork needed to understand the Technic system and how the majority of the parts work. I found this to be very helpful. I have used many Technic pieces over the years but wasn’t clear on the functions of each and every part. These first three sections are a great reference of Technic pieces and their functions, as well as being vital in introducing the terminology used throughout the rest of the book. I highly recommend reading these sections in depth and not skipping ahead.
The fourth section, Advanced Mechanics, teaches you how to design and build transmissions, steering systems, suspensions for wheeled and tracked vehicles along with other concepts and ideas.
The fifth and final section instructs the reader in designing and planning their own models.
Overall, I would recommend this book for any adult builder who is interested in becoming more familiar with Technic and using Technic in their own creations. The book is well-laid out and the information is presented clearly. It is definitely an asset that deserves a place on the shelf.
Visit No Starch Press for this and other LEGO-related books.
This Lego westie by ccy_8086 is one of the most adorable creations I’ve seen. The multitude of slopes worked out really well as opposed to a traditional bricks and plates approach.
You might think that stop-motion animation is just a matter of taking lots of sequential photos, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Kevin Ulrich shares his experience creating the popular Hobbit and Lord of the Rings shorts we’ve featured here over the past few months.
Like all movies and TV, I would argue myself that what actually makes the BrotherhoodWorkshop shorts so great is excellent writing. Can’t wait to see what they post next!
I don’t often blog “modular houses” as I find them a little dime-a-dozen. However Richard “lafabrick” enticed me to break this habit as he has made such an impressive reproduction of a house in the Fives to Lille neighbourhood in France. This house is so cleverly made it’s probably the first (and likely the only) time I’ve ever allowed four examples of techniques from a single model into the LEGO Techniques group.
Back in 2009, the Internet marveled at Japanese builder talapz‘s mind-boggling pop-up Kinkaku-ji pavilion. Now, he’s at it again! This time, he’s built Todai-ji, a temple in Nara, Japan that houses the world’s largest bronze statue of Buddha.
Nara was one of Japan’s first capitol cities, before Kyoto and Tokyo. Todai-ji and the Giant Buddha (Daibutsu) are part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, encompassing treasures from the period of ancient Japan (AD 710-794) that shares the city’s name.
For those of you inclined to try building your own pop-up Todai-ji, there is hope! In the second half of the video, talapz provides step-by-step instructions (449 steps) to build your own pop-up Todai-ji temple from a parts list — complete with Bricklink IDs — of 8816 LEGO elements. Good luck!
Just a quick reminder that NoVVember 2012 is now upon is. Help celebrate the late nnenn’s love of the Gradius Vic Viper by building your own (or more!). Post your entries here and Pascal (pasukaru76) will perform his magic at the end of the month.
Keep an eye out for further updates once the East Coast of the US recovers a little.
In my opinion, Adrian Florea is one of the best Space (which in LEGO terms means Science Fiction) builders around. He’s no stranger to this blog, but his latest two creations are absolutely top notch. Adrian achieves fantastically coherent shapes in his models which belie his abundant use of unusual parts and complex connections. The Vendret Interceptor (below) is built around a core of four tricycle bodies integrated so seamlessly as to be nearly indistinguishable.
And the Dropshell mech shows the impact that careful use of color blocking can have. Look closely at this model also, and you’ll spot oddities such as suitcases and Star Wars headresses, among other things.
