A few episodes into The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime and fans of the original series by Robert Jordan have already sounded off about what’s disappointed them. Being outside that group but familiar with the disappointment a book-to-film/series adaptation can bring, I can understand a few of their points. Nonetheless, I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve seen so far. Pacing and casting choices aside, the series has inspired fans of the series and LEGO to create their versions of its iconic moments and places. Builder Douglas Hughes brings us the second in a series of scenes he’s contributed to a Randland-inspired collaboration. Here he’s created his own version of Whitebridge in Andor. Or should I say the White Bridge? Both, I guess, so take a moment to appreciate all those detailed and ornate buildings rising up to match the height of the bridge.
Category Archives: Models
Holy guacamole, look at this crime scene!
I’ve said before that the biggest political disagreement between my wife and me is that I see salsa as an excuse to devour tortilla chips. In contrast, she sees tortilla chips as merely a salsa delivery system. Today I am finally vindicated. Builder Loke has opened our eyes to the sadistic nature of tortilla chips. Look at the way they mock Mr. Avocado, smearing the remains of his friend across their bodies. It’s disgusting. They have to be stopped. I’m going to go eat as many tortilla chips as I can. I urge you to join me. Mr. Avocado, we’re doing it for you.
Check out this movie-accurate version of a classic Bionicle villain
Back in 2004, LEGO released the second Bionicle movie, Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui. The character designs in the film were quite different to the LEGO sets, so it is great to see that ibukkey00 has created this movie-accurate interpretation of the villainous character, Krekka. In the official LEGO set, Krekka had spindly arms with a thick torso, however in this build the proportions of the character are more evenly distributed. The design is reminiscent of a powerful gorilla, conveyed by the broad wrists and wide shoulders. An armour piece perfectly portrays Krekka’s long, pointed face. This is a great model that bridges the gap between the LEGO set and movie version of the character.
Fabulous Fabuland AT-AT walks straight into our hearts
When you hear the words “Star Wars,” I bet the word “trilogy” pops into your head. Whether it’s the Original Trilogy, the Prequel Trilogy, or the Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars defines itself by its cinematic trios. That’s why it’s so fitting that Stewart Cromar has created a third model in his Star Wars x Fabuland series – the FAB-AT-AT, or “Fabuland Playhouse.”
Click here to continue reading
A tropical twist on an explosive device.
The video game Halo Infinite offers a variety of ways to let players customize their armor. Things like visor colors, decals, and ammo belts are available for the more serious Spartans. But, for players who like to get a little silly, the game offers options like teddy bears, sunflowers, and grenades that look like pineapples. Nick Jensen is no stranger to building life-sized Halo weapon replicas, and as soon as he saw the pineapple grenades on screen, he knew he had to build one. Nick’s done a fantastic job of replicating the shape and texture of the fruit-themed-weapon. Centering the 1×1 round plates in a square made from 1/4 round tiles is a technique that would be useful for decorating a variety of builds.
The best technique, bar none
OK, so maybe this isn’t the best LEGO technique of all time, but it’s surely one of the most tedious. The effect Andreas Lenander created by stacking a few hundred transparent blue bar 4Ls (AKA lightsaber blades) to create the shimmering portal is magnificent. The shadowy figure completes the effect, while the mottled brickwork gives the whole portal an eery, otherworldly feel. Now who wants to create a Stargate using this method?
Been spendin’ most their lives living’ in a Theives’ Paradise
Renowned LEGO builder Bart De Dobbelear tells us that “The golden city ruins of Kadena were renowned for their loot and riches.” Oooh! It’s ours for the taking, then. Look at all that beautiful gold! Book my flight, I’m calling in sick! But then he goes on to say; “Many thieves tried their luck, but only a handful escaped the clutches of the city’s guardians.” Wait, guardians? I knew there would be a catch! Cancel that flight. I am not sure if the crazy-haired crab-robots or the two thuggish-looking fellows are the thieves or guardians. Perhaps the guardians are unseen and they’re even bigger and hideous-er than what is pictured here. Either way, I want no part of it. My sense of adventure ends right at making cheap and awkward intros but it really goes no further than that. I’ll just be happy with the pay TBB gives us. Wait, they pay us, right? Don’t they? It’s hard to keep track when everything is direct deposit these days.
While I work that out with TBB’s Human Resources Department, you can check out why Bart De Dobbelear is in a league of his own when it comes to creating fabulous textures and far-out alien worlds. Wait, do we have a Human Resources Department?
An X-wing of a different scale
How many different ways can you build a LEGO X-wing? It’s one of the most iconic ships for Star Wars, and builders have been trying their hand at it over and over, and some of these LEGO X-wings are quite spectacular. But most of them are minifigure scale, so what if you tried a different scale? That’s what Pascal has done, with this slightly smaller and lightly chibi-ized version. He first built it back in 2016, but recently returned to update it a bit, and the result is just lovely. Rather than being the perfect scale model of an X-wing, it looks like a perfect recreation of a toy X-wing, the sort of thing I’d have spent hours swooshing about as a kid making “pew-pew” noises.
Things are going swimmingly for this golden fish
This LEGO creation looks like something straight out of a steampunk world. Mihai Marius Mihu has built this intricately detailed mechanical fish, using a wide variation of parts. Wing and blade pieces represent fins, while there are all sorts of parts used across the body; branches, armour modules, claws and snakes. Around the eye, a tyre encompasses the pupil, represented by a crystal globe. The blue wing sections provide an excellent contrast to the golden colour scheme. It’s a fantastic build as you’re guaranteed to spot new clever details every time you look at it.
Horsing around under the sea with this LEGO seahorse
I have nothing but respect for any LEGO builder who participates in any Iron Builder challenge, the fan-driven challenge where a single seed piece is used in inspiring ways. The latest example is this build by -LittleJohn, where the seed part is the wind-up key in dark orange. Not only does it work perfectly as the wobbly bits along the seahorse’s back, but it also makes up the long kelp strings, held together by Minifig hands.
No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.
This fun LEGO creation by Fedde Barendrecht reminds me why I love James Bond movies. There’s always a certain formula to it involving an eccentric baddie with a sweet lair and a massive ego. Instead of just covertly shooting Mr.Bond any maybe ending the series twenty-some-odd movies ago, they possess a flair for theatrics. Usually, they strap the suave not-so-secret agent to some buzzsaw-crotch contraption while methodically telling him in full detail how he’s going to die. This gives 007 plenty of time to not only escape the predicament but also have a martini and a romp in the sack with some pretty lass or another. Total classic Bond stuff! If you like this, then check out how Fedde Barendrecht tickles our funny bones as well as makes us a bit concerned for his well-being on occasion. Also James Bond stuff!
Iris escorts solving pirate problems
When it comes to me and LEGO, no one could doubt that I love spaceships, especially micro-scale ones like this. Full of miniaturized details, this carrier is a creation of Flickr builder Sunder_59. Various building techniques allow for an engaging structure throughout the ship. Lattice pillars in grey make up the central core of the cargo area in the middle of this Iris-class Ersatz escort carrier. Delightful micro-scale fighters sit attached, waiting to be deployed to defend from pirate attacks in the Outer Worlds. These Iris class ships were created for this purpose but weren’t built for full-on combat scenarios. In fact, this style of ship was originally a simple cargo ship until the pirate issues increased. After some power-ups, this class of ship was issued out to deter or intercept attacks. Just check out those fighters. Their different styles and clever but simple designs really suit the scale.