The phrase “go big or go home” fits Benjamin Cheh Ming Hann‘s mech build perfectly. It ain’t worth building if it’s not impressive. His advanced Mecha Soldat JE06 Jebat stands nearly 2 feet tall and weighs over 3 pounds …that’s a BIG mech! Jebat is named after a legendary warrior from Benjamin’s hometown of Malacca, Malaysia, where he grew up. This impressive mech contains over 3,000 parts, and took Benjamin nearly 5 months to build it, revealing his masterful creation at Japan Brickfest.
Strider0630 has created a fantastic LEGO model of Overwatch’s Pharah, photographing her twice: using her ultimate weapon, and but also this little scene of her using her ultimate. Parts of the armor open up to release missiles; the clever use of transparent elements and smoke make this a perfect display piece that we’re sure many fans would pay to have on their desks.
I’m sure most of you have seen or at least heard of Battlestar Galactica, the series created in the late seventies and re-imagined in the early 2000s as a three episode mini-series followed by a six-year stint on television. David Duperron is clearly a huge fan, creating a UCS scale LEGO version of the Colonial Viper MkII, the famous fighting vehicle that made short work of the Cylons during the Cylon War.
David’s LEGO version of the iconic Colonial Viper MkII from the early 2000s Battlestar Galactica reboot series features a cockpit that opens and full interior.
Usually when writing about my own creation, I would take the opportunity to share some insights into my building process and what it takes to build something as large as this mountaintop abbey. Instead, I feel this creation is an example of how color, texture and composition can be combined to maximize the aesthetics of a build, especially one of this size. Like almost all of my builds, there are no crazy new techniques, and no unusually nice parts usages (NPU) to highlight. Besides building the interior supports and the two round roofs, there was nothing exceptionally challenging about the construction of this creation. However, I think its straightforwardness enhances rather than detracts from its beauty. My inspiration came mostly from ancient Eastern European churches I visited while briefly living in Budapest.
But that’s not the main point I want to talk about here. Instead, I wish to dedicate this creation to all the non-AFOL significant others out there who support us in enjoying this crazy hobby. After what I’ve put my wife through the last month, it’s the least I can do. Continue reading
I have no idea what sort of creature Djokson built or what inspired it, but I do know that I like it! It looks like a head sculpture from a totem pole that decided to wake up and walk around scaring the pants off of folks! The nose ring is a great touch and the cleverly placed double slopes for those teeth make it look menacing! And of course, those threatening eyes will surely give you nightmares all week long! How I’d love to have a bunch of these to give away as Christmas presents to my frenemies that really deserve them!
There is something special about LEGO’s retro space themes that makes people revisit them time and time again, and it’s probably nostalgia. One of the more popular themes is surely Ice Planet 2002 with its iconic blue-white-black and translucent orange colour scheme, and Tim Goddard has built an excellent microscale spaceship based on the 6973 Deep Freeze Defender, which he’s named Zycon V. It’s also tied closely to a collaborative story recently featured on The Brothers Brick: LEGO Space: ICE Titan.
The spaceship itself has nice shapes and a good balance of details and clean surfaces, as well as following the original’s colour scheme. Though I would have loved to see a bit more translucent orange included, and the curves may not fit into a 90’s inspired creation very well, those are minor points on an otherwise amazing build.
Builder LegoWyrm takes inspiration from Hatsune Miku, a humaniod anime persona. LegoWyrm gives it a Spanish flavour with a red themed outfit, and upped the cutness factor by shrinking the character to a chibi sized version. It works gleefully well, with the dress piece arrangement and the pose held together by the unique use of elements for the feet.
The barricade scene in Les Misérables — the musical based on the novel by French poet and novelist Victor Hugo — is a powerful mix of song and drama. Loosely based on the 1832 Paris uprising, idealistic revolutionary students set up a street barricade and fight government troops to the bitter end. W. Navarre has managed to capture this scene fantastically with the large central barricade and a detailed backdrop showing narrow Parisian streets. The barricade looks the part as a jumbled collection of brown coloured LEGO wheels, ladders, furniture, windows and bricks.
There’s a lot of detail to be found relating to the musical version of Les Misérables, I particularly love details like the tear in the French flag, the lantern and the fatally wounded Gavroche.
You can see more images of this build and the other Les Misérables-themed LEGO creations in his album on Flickr.
Modern LEGO castle building trends call for intensely textured walls, with the texture achieved with use of many small tiles and plates. While it is quite impressive, it makes me wonder why all LEGO castles look like nobody is caring for them. This wall segment by Jonatan Svenning does not have this awkward situation, as it is meant to look decreipt and abandoned. It does the job incredibly well, with wall segments tilting and breaking apart.
While I wonder if a chain could hold a cobblestone tower, it certainly looks nice. But what sets this old wall from the rest is the overgrowth on and around the wall – from moss growing everywhere to the flowers and trees (including one utilizing large figure armor parts as a tree trunk) around the wall. The best plantal element however, has to be the tree growing straight out of the wall, crumbling it in the process.
Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli… No. It was like four unfortunate fishermen losing sight of the shore and falling prey to the whims of a fickle leviathan. You know, THAT old story. Strange isn’t it? This LEGO scene by Andrew JN is full of impending doom, but it’s actually quite lovely. The icy water has a beautiful texture and it’s almost as if you can feel the mist on your face. As for the source material, Andrew says his build was inspired by a rubbery kracken and a sinking LEGO ship.
It’s unclear what movie is being filmed on Aaron Newman‘s LEGO soundstage (though my money’s on Forest Gump). What is clear, however, is that Aaron has created a still life that perfectly captures a slice of “behind the scenes” movie magic. The small details like the clapboard and messy tangle of wires make this scene look like the real thing. And the camera dolly on the rails, the director’s chair, and the heavy duty lighting are masterfully built.
Founded in the nineteen-sixties by Kiwi racecar designer, driver, engineer, inventor and all-around legend Bruce McLaren, the McLaren company is one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, winning a total of 8 constructors’ world championships and 12 drivers’ world championships. This year, McLaren released their latest car in the Super Series lineup, the gorgeous 720S, and this incredible LEGO replica is the centerpiece of McLaren’s stand at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Built by the team at Bright Bricks, the model comprises a staggering 280,000 bricks and took a team of six builders over 2000 hours.
The real car is powered by a 4.0 twin turbo V8 and can go from 0-60 mph in a mere 2.8 seconds and up to 124 mph in 7.8 seconds, with a top speed of 212 mph! However, the 1:1 scale model arrived at the Goodwood stand a bit more slowly, as festival visitors will help complete the model. They will need to place orange McLaren bricks in designated parts of the car, with the 720S reaching completion at the end of the Festival of Speed.
Duncan Titmarsh, the UK’s only LEGO Certified Professional and part of Bright Bricks, led the 720S build. The LEGO version weighs approximately 200kg more than the actual 720S, coming in at around 1.6 tonnes (1.8 US tons). The build features real wheels and a steel base but is otherwise almost entirely made of LEGO, including the brake pads, windscreen wipers, and windscreen. Some additional details like the badge and license plate have been provided by McLaren to finish the build nicely.
The LEGO 720s will go on tour to other marketing events once it has been finished, so you may get a chance to see it in person.