This isn’t “LEGO building” as much as “LEGO arranging”, but it’s nice work by McLegoboy! all the same. A well-judged selection of textured parts, coupled with good macro photography, creates a striking composition which wouldn’t look out of place in the universes of Judge Dredd or Mad Max. Not bad for a total of eight pieces!
You drove here in that? You’re braver than I thought. Lino Martins provides a LEGO reimagining of Star Wars as a 70’s buddy movie featuring a likable scoundrel named Stan Solo, his girlfriend Laura, and their big biker friend Chad Bacca. The car is the real star though — a beat-up 1977 Ford Falcon, so heavily patched it’s nicknamed the Aluminium Falcon.
This is a cracking model — it’s inspiration immediately apparent whilst being a decent build of a completely different style of vehicle. There’s an impressive depth of texture crammed into a relatively small footprint, with lots of lovely greebles nestled amongst the bodged repair work. As you’d expect, Lino brings his customary attention to detail to bear on the interior…
And don’t miss the group of miniland-scale reprobates created to go with the vehicle. It’s Stan Solo himself, along with the rest of the gang. I laughed out loud at Lino’s take on Artoo and Threepio…
You’ll need to look a bit longer at this creation by Doctor Mobius to see that it’s not just a photograph of 6929 Star Fleet Voyager released in 1981. The set has been completely scaled up into a larger version and the exposed studs are actually build out of round bricks. You’ll notice the difference when you see the two models side-to-side.
Best of all, according to the builder, “because it was swooshable when we were both little, so it should be swooshable now that we’re both big!”
When you think it can’t get any worse, sometimes life likes to surprise you. Such is the case with this band of pirates as Dwalin Forkbeard tells us: The pirates have survived an unfortunate battle with an Imperial ship, only to be attacked by an ancient sea monster. They are doing everything they can to escape, going as far as blowing into the sail, but will that be enough? Judging by the skeleton on the animal’s back, they do not even have to be eaten to meet a tragic end.
While the textures are somewhat simple, the inner construction of the creature has to be impressive to achieve the smooth, rounded shaping. The segment on the back resembling a small island is a common theme with sea monsters, but I have never seen it done in LEGO before, and a conservative amount of seashells and other sea animals spread across the monster really gives it a realistic impression. While the whale (or is it a fish? Is it any of that, even?) is obviously the focal point and the best part of the build, its surroundings help, too — the raft is positioned so that it gives a feeling of action and the water spilling off the diorama looks just so dynamic.
Generally, in life, bigger is usually better. However, that is not the case with this neat little starfighter by TOKYO TAG TEAM. The build is a wonderful blend of colors, shapes, and angles compacted into a very small package, but for me, it’s the stickers that really set the build apart — I dig the little symbols plastered over different parts of the fighter. In particular, the use of the long blue stickers on the windscreen were an excellent design choice. Without them, the windscreen would likely feel very bland.
After close inspection, I am only left wondering how the pilot steers the craft. Neuro-controlled maybe? That’s probably it.
Possessed by the fever to follow the call of the wild, this magnificent tiger stops by the water to drink, or possibly to bathe as one of the few cats who actually likes water. Tigers are actually often portrayed in LEGO and we have even featured some in the past. There is something about the tiger that makes it ideal for a great builder to show off their skills — the shape itself is somewhat difficult to capture, but getting the colours right is a whole new level of difficulty. Simon NH did not let that discourage him and has created one of the best LEGO tigers I have seen so far.
The shape is achieved with plates and wedges set up at different angles and some exotic parts rounding off the edges. The fur on the chin and the rounding on the back are especially good. The cat itself is great, but Simon did not stop there. Any good tiger needs a good jungle to go along with it — and what a good jungle Simon has made! The plant life is unique and the ground colours and textures flow very nicely. But my favourite part, except for the build’s focal point — the tiger, obviously — is the water, which uses many colours we do not associate immediately with water in LEGO, but somehow it looks distinctly like it.
Nobody wants to be unwell, but if your temperature spikes or you break out in hives, then it’s time to visit the doctor. Andreas Lenander has created the kind of sick bay the average physician would dream of: Isolation beds to ensure disease doesn’t spread, a giant claw to transfer patients, and the latest in medical technology — the medical exosuit. The whole scene is full of great details for Neo-Classic Space fans. Although the exosuit and ‘claw’ are great, I really love all the little miscellaneous builds that complete the scene: ducts, vents, tubing, medical bottles, racks, and the little stasis beds.
SHIPtemper is by far my favourite month of the LEGO building calendar — we get to see inside the imaginations of the most talented builders and see what they envision for the future of humanity. This year, when friends Sean Mayo and Tyler Clites got together, not only did they create two of the most beautiful SHIPs to enter cyberspace this year, they also filmed a time-lapse of their build so we can see into their process.
Sean’s Kel Corona is a deep space scanning station that’s 110 studs long. Creating curves in LEGO is always a challenge, but the payoff is spectacular — the lines, the colours and the small touches all contribute to make this SHIP spectacular.
Meanwhile, Tyler’s Bishop is seen here on its voyage to the Yens galaxy. The color choices are brilliant, the dark blue and vibrant LEGO yellow contrasting against the grey. The angled protruding air intakes on the side are sublime and I am loving the use of the new squared macaroni pieces as the company logo.
Click more to see more pictures and the video
Take a medieval castle, mash it up with a pirate ship, and then give the whole thing impulse engines, the ability to fly, and advanced weaponry. That’s W.Navarre‘s recipe for a truly original LEGO creation. This could have turned out a hot mess of a build, but there’s enough colour and texture continuity across the model to pull off the ambitious intent. The test of an unusual creative idea is “Does it make sense without having to be explained?” This model accomplishes exactly that — it’s immediately apparent you’re looking at a flying pirate castle ship. What more explanation do you need?
The rear portion is excellent. I love the integration of the engines and missile bay beneath the hull…
Spaceships can come in all shapes and sizes, and this build by Inthert manages to capture an unusual form with brilliant brickwork. Its organic shape makes it stand out — a beautifully curved structure, something challenging to achieve in LEGO. The key in making a great spaceship model is making one believe what it can potentially do. What sells this is not only its aerodynamic shape and the depth of functional-looking details, but enough bulk and build around the engines that it genuinely feels like it could have sufficient thrust to make warp speed.
The side profile certainly gives you a sense of how curved and elegant the model looks…
Builder James Zhan calls this a Steampunk Airship, but it’s unlike others we’ve seen before. The steampunk style can sometimes be little more than an overlay of anachronistic technology, but this creation is stronger than that. It feels like a realistic flying pirate ship — if that’s possible!
James has a crew of Dwarven engineers for this craft, which perhaps explains the chunky solid feel of the machinery on display. A side view reveals the interesting cutaway section at the ship’s centre, giving a good view of the technical gubbins which serves to keep the vessel aloft.
LEGOLIZE IT MAN enters this year’s SHIPtember building challenge with a stunning spacecraft promoting one of the world’s famous home furniture producers. It’s hard to say whether the assembling process was as hard and exhausting as it is of a some Swedish kitchen table, but at least there are no spare screws lying around.
