I’d always imagined that a Stormtrooper’s lot was a hard one. Endless patrols beyond the Dune Sea hunting down pesky Rebels; and for what thanks! These LEGO Sandtroopers by LEGO 7 go some way to humanising the Empire’s faceless heavies. Built with dirty and distressed body armour and posed reminiscently of soldiers from real-world conflicts, I absolutely buy into their battle-weary plight. It’s a genuinely touching human tribute to one of Star War’s most recognisable bad guys.
When I saw this dental chair built by Luis Peña, I was uncomfortably impressed. On one hand, it triggered anxiety about needing to schedule a dental appointment. At the same time, Luis’ attention to detail brought my teeth out of hiding with a beaming smile. The entire scene feels authentic, with a tilting chair, folding overhead lamp, and a drill. “Yikes!” Luis presented this lovely model to his sister-in-law, who is celebrating her 30th anniversary working as a dentist.
There are a few cars from the 60’s that are instantly recognizable in any form they take, and the Mini is definitely one of them. Originally produced from 1959-2000 by the English-based British Motor Corporation and its successors, it became an icon for British popular culture. This LEGO model by Pixeljunkie captures the iconic vehicle quite nicely. The custom chrome elements and racing stripes give the tiny car so much character, and the use of a minifigure roller skate for the door handle is pure genius. I also love the gold ingot piece as the headrest on the driver seat.
Oh, and in case you are wondering… it does fit a minifigure driver.
YouTuber The Action Brick shares the love for Fortnite and his LEGO knowledge with a couple easy-to-follow minifigure-scale building guides. Gather your materials and drop into these instructional videos showing how to build a glider and Loot Llama from the wildly popular battle royale! These mini builds were featured in his vignette of the Fatal Fields region.
First, we have the default glider. After following these instructions, all you will need is a minifigure avatar to fly it!
Second, we have the cute little Loot Llama! Will its contents lead to a victory royale?
The wizarding world is back with a new Fantastic Beasts movie this fall, and with it comes a whole bunch of new LEGO, such as Newt’s Case of Magical Creatures. Over the years we’ve featured a lot of great custom Wizarding World LEGO creations here on TBB, but these vignettes by Thorsten Bonsch are among my personal favorites, capturing some iconic scenes from the first Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was released to theaters in 2016.
The collection opens with Newt on the deck of the ship that will deliver him to New York. One of my favorite parts is the black robot arm that makes the armrest on the bench, which gives it a great wrought-iron look.
Next, there is the scene at the New York Customs station, where Newt disguises his mysterious case as an ordinary collection of mundane possessions. All of the other mini-figures in the scene are well suited to the time period. Also, this scene has some of the best floor textures I have seen in a while, including a simple 1×1 plate set upside down. Continue reading
Markus Rollbühler whipped up some wholesome LEGO goodness in the form of this fabulous classic bakery. Markus put a lot of thought into the ingredients that went into his build, with an excellent use of parts throughout the model. Both parts of the LEGO treasure chest are used to form portions of wooden beams, book binding elements are used to form windowsills, and the sprue from the new minifig wand accessory is cleverly used to form the body of a candelabra. Keeping up with the bakery theme, Markus even managed to use pretzels for windows and the honey-laced beehive to form the top of the conical shaped roof. There are plenty of other awesome details to spot. What are some of your favorite techniques on display here?
If you thought the famous train from Harry Potter, the Hogwarts Express, couldn’t be built any smaller than the delightful model by David Zambito that we featured a few weeks ago, you’d be wrong. As proven by this even smaller model by Letranger Absurde, the build uses skeleton arms and a curvy horn as the smoke, and roller skates for wheels. One of the best parts usage, though, would have to be the white and dark gray rocky sloped parts used to form snow-covered peaks. Now I have to wonder if we’ll see an even smaller version any time soon.
This LEGO model was built as an entry for TBB’s Microscale Magic contest. Coverage on TBB of an entry will not be taken into consideration during judging, and will have no effect on its ability to win, either positively or negatively.
Personally, I find it a bit of a sad testament to where hip-hop music is heading compared to it’s original socially conscious roots. But whether hip-hop fans love it or hate it, the bizarre video for the latest collaboration between Kanye West and Lil Pump is already being widely hailed as “meme gold”. And it’s easy to see why from the costumes donned by the two rappers in this Spike Jonze production – costumes that are almost as over-the-top as the song’s lyrics. With many people comparing the look to characters from the ersatz-Minecraft game Roblox, a LEGO interpretation seemed like the next logical step. So I made one. You’re welcome!
In February 2018, an impressive test launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket was conducted with Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster as the payload. For SHIPtember each year, LEGO builders challenge each other to build a LEGO spaceship (in which “SHIP” means “Significantly Huge Investment in Parts”) at least one hundred studs long. Adrian Drake took up the challenge to construct an impressive LEGO model of Musk’s roadster and its dummy pilot “Starman.” Whether it counts as a spacecraft for SHIPtember is debatable (we believe it does count!), but it hits the 100-stud-long mark (about 31.5 inches) and is shaped and sculpted rather well at this scale.
The fully detailed cabin interior is worth a closer look.
See more photos of Adrian’s Tesla Roadster and Starman on Flickr.
This neat microscale creation by Lennart C absolutely nails its subject, literally reducing Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble to bricks and studs. Building at this scale requires that rare ability to see the archetypical aspects of its theme in individual elements, and who would have thought a 1×1 orange and a 1×1 brown brick would represent these Stone Age buddies so well. The foot-powered car similarly convinces in its use of cylinders for rock wheels. Here at TBB we are dazzled by so many amazing piece uses in the models we see, so it’s always good to be reminded that sometimes the base elements of the LEGO system are all that’s needed to have a yabba-dabba-doo time!
Patty Rau has launched Cinderella into space aboard the FGP When You Wish Upon A Star. There’s a lot to love about this LEGO spaceship. The bulbous midsection is a great nod to the vehicle’s origin as a pumpkin. The ship also contains elements from all three minidoll-scale versions of Cinderella’s carriage: printed inverse slopes from Cinderella’s Carriage (2016), printed curved slopes from Cinderella’s Dream Carriage (2014), and gold filagrees from Cinderella’s Enchanted Evening.
It seems like Patty is doing a series of Disney Princess spaceships, as she has also created one for Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. Apparently Sweet Mayhem isn’t the only minidoll with a spaceship.
Riley Scott fancies himself the “Tony Stark of LEGO”. However, his latest creation positions him to take the title of Dwarf King currently held by the lonely Eitri.
I think we’re past the point of spoiler warnings with Avengers: Infinity War already in its home video phase, so I’m just going to jump right into how perfectly this model recreates Stormbreaker after its unique birth. In the movie, the freshly-cast hammer and axe sections fall out of the mold, and with both Thor and Eitri unable to help complete the weapon angsty teen Groot finally jumps into action by grabbing the separate pieces and intertwining them with wooden tendrils. Compare the LEGO model to its completed appearance in Infinity War below: the contrast of the metal look against the more organic stacked round LEGO bricks and plates is stellar.
One more shot of the strongest weapon in Asgardian history, one we saw deal some major damage to Thanos in the climax of the film. Sadly, Thor should have gone for his head.
