It’s probably fair to say that Firas Abu-Jaber is an expert at building realistic models of iconic cars. The attention to detail and scale in his designs helps him realize some truly life-like designs. On top of that, he’s fond of making these insane replicas as alternates to LEGO Creator Expert sets like the Ford Mustang and the Fiat 500. I mean, this replica of a Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattro Valvole is amazingly detailed for being an alternate of the LEGO Creator Expert 10295 Porsche 911 and it isn’t even the first alternate build he’s done of that set! Let’s take a closer look at what Firas is able to do with a parts limit.
Category Archives: Models
Initiate happiness protocols or face termination…
Your smile is your most valuable asset. That’s why Bob Droid, by Simon Liu, is going to make sure it stays on your face by eliminating anything that might make you frown. Bob Droid is a prototype Ansui VIP protective drone unit, which no doubt costs a bundle. But it’s worth it to keep away any would-be assassins. By adding a printed emoji tile to a futuristic mech, Simon’s made something that’s greater than the sum of its parts. With a super-articulated frame and a smile as bright as the explosions from his rocket launcher, you’ll never feel happier than you do with Bob Droid at your side.
Apprentice of the blacksmith
Whenever I go to a new building that is quite large and has a big open space, like a warehouse or a church, I always get the feeling that I am a tremendously small speck of a human being on a very big planet. It is almost humbling in a way. I’ve never had this feeling when looking at a LEGO creation up till now. The picture of the blacksmith created by Benjamin Stenlund evoked the exact same feeling for me. This building has to be between 35 to 40 bricks high. Which by itself is massive.
The building itself is constructed out of brick build bricks. This helps to prevent the Big Grey Wall Effect. It also adds to the feeling that this building is immense. Another thing that makes this creation stand out is the lighting. We have light coming from the oven and light coming through the gate and through the windows. The way the light enters the blacksmith makes it feel like it is a real setting and not just a well-lit LEGO creation. The attention to detail in this creation is superb. The sliding gate gets some nice wood carving. The arched vault windows are made out of cheese slopes, plates, and bricks. These arches also show how thick the walls are which attributes to the big building vibe. Ben describes that the building has to be this big in order for dragons to have their armor fittings. Which sounds like a very valid reason indeed.
Lombax and the Bot
Watching my brothers during the summer months usually meant playing video games for hours on end until about an hour before our parents got home. In our flurry of cleaning before the front door opened, we always looked forward to the next day, the next level, the next boss. One of our absolute favorites was Ratchet & Clank, and I’m sure we weren’t alone on that. Though many of us can’t yet enjoy the newest edition in the series on the PlayStation 5, we can at least appreciate these fantastic models of the titular characters by Peter Zieske. Built at a great scale with wonderful color-blocking and parts usage, the construction enables expressive articulation and posing which make this duo a great addition to any gaming shrine or entertainment center.
The alternate option to attach Clank to Ratchet’s back is also a crucial detail for that extra level of immersion in the characters. Great job on capturing these guys, Peter.
The Fast and the Fellowship
In 2016, LEGO introduced the Mighty Micros line, featuring heroes and villains doing battle in tiny, individually-themed supercars. Unfortunately, as fun as those sets were, the line was limited to the Marvel and DC licenses. But now builder Milan Sekiz has now offered us a glimpse at what might have been, had the line expanded to Rivendell and beyond. Who cares if there are no internal combustion engines in Middle Earth? These things are adorable. And they perfectly blend the Mighty Micros spirit with the heroes and villains of this epic saga. From Aragon’s horse-powered horse to the Uruk-hai driving a literal white hand, it’s the cutest Tolkien’s work has ever been.
This build really gets my goat
One of my favorite creatures of folklore is the Chupacabra, an animal known for draining the blood of goats and other livestock. Builder Joss Woodyard has created a post-apocalyptic take on this cryptid with the Gamma Sucker. No doubt livestock is harder to come by in the wasteland, so this nuclear-powered techno-beast drinks the radiation from whatever it can.
The use of color here creates the sense of a mechanical creature that’s coursing with energy and life, despite its dirty and rusted frame. And I love the implied function of the “digestive system.” It’s so easy to imagine the absorbed radiation flowing through the trans-clear/lime hoses, into those processing tanks on the side, and then getting fed into the rear-mounted engine to drive those giant treads, which just push the monster forward in search of more radiation. It’s a vicious cycle, but a guy’s gotta eat.
Precariously perched upon the precipice
Usually, floating islands include, well, an island. Something in the way of solid ground, albeit ground that floats mysteriously above the clouds. Not so with this stone tower topped with a timber-framed structure by Ralf Langer, who took a minimalist approach to the base of the model. There’s nothing minimal about the rest of the building, from the cracked and weathered stone base featuring unconventionally colored doors, all the way up to the black roof with a scattering of quarter tiles which provide a great texture.
Unimog unifies form and function
You may or may not be familiar with the Unimog – Mercedes’s all-wheel-drive multi-purpose utility vehicle. Usually they can be found constructing European highways or operating farm equipment. LEGO Technic veteran Kyle Wigboldy built the Unimog U-400 with an orange cab cleverly constructed with a combination of Technic elements and traditional LEGO. It took me a closer look to realise that this isn’t an official set from ten years ago, but rather a smaller build. Now that I have taken a closer look, this is in the same scale as the upcoming LEGO Technic 4×4 Zetros, which is based on a similar Mercedes truck.
This build is packed to the brim with functions, such as the Technic essentials: engines, steering, suspension, all-wheel drive. This Unimog model also offers pneumatics, and power take-offs linked to the drive, which allow attachment equipments to be powered from the truck, as demonstrated by the motorised LEGO set. While this build does not come with attachments, it does have a flatbed with variable three-way tilt. You can check it out in the video below:
Check out some other Unimogs that other people have built!
A Formula 1 car with a handsome nose
German LEGO fan Sven aka Tenderlok built an excellent model of the famous Tyrrell 019 Formula 1 car. The car debuted in the season of 1990 and set a whole new direction for racing engineers thanks to its innovative nose shape. The new “raised nose cone“ let more air under the car, which resulted in higher speeds. I think the brick-built front wing looks fantastic. The whole structure is actually upside down, with no open studs to be seen on both sides of the wing. This gives the model great model-making vibes as if it was glued together and painted by hand.
Sven also built the Cosworth V8 engine and worked closely on the cockpit. With the cowling removed, note the engine’s fairly detailed design. All the stickers are a nice touch, too.
A tiger among the mushrooms
A LEGO builder who goes by the name of Admiral_Plackbar (tee hee!) has rendered a pretty sweet 1:24 scale Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung B Tiger II tank. The Admiral (who, based solely on their name, should probably visit the dentist) tells us that the Tiger II is, to this day, one of the heaviest tanks of all time weighing in at 69 tons. The weight made this tank slow and difficult to maneuver in rugged terrain. It’s having no problems however showing those mushrooms who is boss.
I’m drawn to Mothra like a moth to a flame
The last time we heard from Todd Kubo The Force awakened in the Age of Ultron and we learned that gray comes in fifty shades. So, in other words, it’s been a while. But what he lacks in prolific LEGO building he makes up for in total awesomeness. The elusive builder makes a colossal comeback with this version of Mothra of kaiju B-Movie fame. I’m loving the little moth stand!
The wings are printed with a tiled effect printed on paper to give the illusion of a large seamless LEGO build. An interesting technique used indeed.
While Todd is not the most active builder we know, we sure hope to see more from him soon and certainly before someone decides to reboot Fifty Shades of Gray or something.
This Star Wars X-Wing gets by with a little help from its friends
LEGO builder Tom Loftus had a mission that was almost as exciting as destroying the Death Star. That mission was to build a compact design T-65 X-Wing Fighter with engines that were three studs wide. A LEGO X-Wing is nothing new, but I think the look of the iconic ship was achieved nicely here. What sets it apart from some of the scores of X-Wings we’ve already seen is the use of sand blue for the canopy, which is pretty vital for that ship but alas is a difficult color to obtain in quantity or various shapes.
While iconic, building the X-Wing accurately is no easy feat but Tom does a great job of it as evidenced by these many views.
Tom is one of those builders that seek help and advice from his friends then uses it accordingly. In his write up he names and thanks a slew of friends who had helped out which is a class act, in my opinion. It makes sense because while Luke ultimately destroyed the Death Star, it was really a team effort and everyone got awarded for it at the end of the movie, except Chewbacca. hey, wait a minute! Doesn’t Chewie deserve some love? While you’re mulling that over, check out the other times we gave Tom Loftus some well-deserved love.