Frenchman Vince_Toulouse seems to channel fellow countryman Mobius to bring his latest model to life. Simply titled “Machine n°1”, this flying conveyance sports an unlikely open cockpit and a great chrome section that really makes the model pop. Félicitations Vince, votre modèle est très inspirant, nous espérons voir plus de votre talent dans un proche avenir.
Military builder Andreas proudly presents: “At the Edge of the Future”, a diorama that showcases the nice lines of his M3A1 “Atlanta” Main Battle Tank. Andreas has some crazy rhetoric about America annexing Canada, but I will leave the fine print for your careful inspection. If you have the time, take a look at his other atmospheric scenes like Operation Big Apple or Neon Nights.
Dennis Bosman (Legotruck) says it took him six months to build this rugged Kenworth K100 (with Holmes 750) and even a caual inspection proves that it was time well spent. You can see all the fine details in Dennis’s Flickrstream or check out his website LEGO Trucks & Heavy Equipment, that features a wealth of design notes and details.
Husband and wife team Sean and Steph Mayo are known for being among the craziest builders out there, churning out stunning models at an unbelievable pace. Their latest work, built for the on-going Iron Builder contest (where they’re up against stiff competition, even for them!) is a mind-blowing coral reef, all decked out in the wildest underwater colors and vibrant with sea-life. Many of LEGO’s lesser-known parts lend themselves well to creating the organic shapes of coral-dwelling creatures, and it’s amazing to see how life-like some of them can be (like the sea anemone Nemo is hiding in on the far left).
Adam Grabrowski has just worked up a couple of beautiful little World War I tanks, tan and olive green Renault FT-17s. This tank first saw use in 1918 and revolutionized tank design at the time.
World of Tanks fans will recognize these as the first tank in the French Tech Tree. Adam’s design is very true to the original and is a great build. But of course we expect greatness from Adam, so this is no surprise.
Before anyone gets all excited about the olive green parts, both tanks sport custom paint jobs. The olive green version is completely painted and the tan tank has a custom-painted turret. I’m really liking these awesome little tanks!
Dave Shaddix just finished this mosaic in honor of Buzz Aldrin’s recenly celebrated 83rd birthday. This is a great rendition of an iconic photograph. For the few who don’t know who or what is in the picture, it is a picture that Neil Armstrong took of Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. The LEM and Neil Armstrong are reflected in the visor of Buzz Aldrin’s spacesuit. Well done, Dave, I love it!
We love Chris McVeigh (powerpig on Flickr) for the many real-world objects he recreates so faithfully — and photographs so beautifully — in LEGO. His latest is the original Apple Macintosh. That thing over on the left is called a “mouse.”
While we’re at it, here’s a wonderful little Leica M9 camera we didn’t get to a couple weeks ago.
If you feel like buying one for yourself, it’s available in Powerpig’s store.
I’ll always remember Catoblepas as a big horned beast in various Final Fantasy games over the years, but Shamisenfred puts an entirely different image to the name with his strange starfighter, “the bounty hunter Assa-Rak’s personal ship.” The four hover-pods make the ship look a bit like a race car, and the purple pods from the new Galaxy Squad sets make an excellent … whatever that is.
I’m reading paleontologist Richard Fortey’s Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms
Bart’s big bug is of course thoroughly modern, lovingly mounted for display in his cabinet of curiosities.
Unsatisfied with your LEGO Wii? Kooberz has the answer.
(Pssst… All you need is a bunch more LEGO and an iPad. Easy!)
Although it’s unlikely I’ll be able to contribute to this latest LEGO bandwagon, I’ve certainly enjoyed watching the new models come out of the GARC craze. Built in my favorite color, VolumeX‘s TEAM G-Hornet46 includes some really interesting parts usage under all those stickers — especially the light & sound brick from the Insectoids sets of the late ’90s.
Photographing very large LEGO models can be a real challenge. I’d bookmarked this gorgeous diorama by Gabriel Thomson (qi_tah) when he first posted it last week, but wasn’t sure I’d blog it because the lighting was a bit dark, and he’d been forced to use a sheet for the backdrop that didn’t completely cover the room behind the model. But looking over my queue again today, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kyle Collard had worked some Photoshop GIMP magic on Gabriel’s photo, making it really pop.
The model itself is of course wonderful, and it won “Best in Show” at BrickVention in Melbourne this past weekend, with both a crashed ship and an oared caravel, as well as a lighthouse and large-scale landscaping — as the name implies, the island itself is shaped like a turtle.
Just goes to show what a difference excellent presentation — and a little help from a friend — can make to a LEGO model.