Djordje is known for some really incredible LEGO figures and this night-watch Mech is no disappointment. Named Regulus after one of the brightest lights in the night sky and the brightest star in Leo, this mech stands on his own. The crisp color scheme gives the feel of a professional security detail, while the sturdy construction, over-sized revolver and no-nonsense stance let you know that this bot is up for anything. Cross him at your own risk!
Hot on the heels of depicting how a modern Classic Space theme might look, Don Wilson is at it once more, this time re-imagining LEGO’s Space Police line. Once again, he’s using the Vic Viper spaceship standard and delivering another fierce-looking interceptor craft.
This bad boy looks sleek, fast, and dangerous — exactly the sort of thing the cops of the future will need to hunt down intergalactic miscreants. The colors are spot-on, and the photography is well-done, managing to capture the details and greebles on the hull — no mean feat with this much black brick around. I also really like Don’s angled dual-screen displays in the cockpit.
Check out this smart LEGO space rover scene from Sad Brick. The mining vehicle itself is an excellent example of quality microscale building, creating an impression of detail and realistic function with the use of only a handful of parts. But it’s the quality landscaping in tan bricks — tanscaping, if you will — which really impresses me. Don’t miss the tracks left in the dust behind the rover’s wheels — brilliant.
Australian builder Chade has created a vehicle from my childhood, the 1983 GMC Vandura from the 80s show The A-Team. The A-Team were military veterans, in hiding after being framed and court martialled for a crime they didn’t commit. They were ready to fight in the corner of the ‘little guy’ with huge explosions, lots of gun fire, but no serious injuries or death caused. They travelled in their black 1983 GMC Vandura with a red slash across the side. Chade’s LEGO Technic version is a little bit special as it’s a remote controlled vehicle with powered doors, working lights and enough power to allow a few high spins.
Take a look inside: seats for B.A. Baracus and Hannibal in the front with Murdock in the back, and all built with Technic parts. The sliding side door and rear doors are powered, but the front doors and the bonnet open and close via the power of a human hand. Check out this video showing all of the powered functions in action and offering a closer look inside.
If you want to build your own version of this powered LEGO A-Team van, Chade has kindly provided instructions for his creation.
Brick To The Past is a collective of British builders who specialize in large-scale historical dioramas in LEGO. We’ve covered some of their previous masterpieces, including a huge Roman camp and section of Hadrian’s Wall, and their recreation of the streets of Victorian London. We recently interviewed leading member James Pegrum about BttP’s impressive Battle of Hastings display. As if that wasn’t enough for 2016, the gang’s latest effort is this enormous diorama depicting a section of Anglo Saxon Britain in 793AD.
As you’d expect from such a large model, there are numerous areas worthy of your attention. An obvious highlight is the monastery under attack by Viking raiders…
Click here for closeups of this incredible diorama
It’s that time of the year again… Time for the annual Colossal Castle Contest! We’ve already featured a few of this year’s CCC entries, but the amazing creations just keep coming. Paul Trach is even labeling his CCC builds, presumably to promote the contest. His adorable little dogsled is full of baked goods and weapons – everything you need to survive the harsh winter weather.
Ohio-based builder JD Keller has built this great minifigure scale vignette that depicts Steve Jobs in Steve ‘Woz’ Wozniak’s garage back in the mid 1970s. Amazingly, the billion dollar company Apple Computing started out as Woz’s garage-based hobby so we are witnessing the ‘Birth of Apple’. I love the panelled garage walls and the various electronic bits and pieces on the shelves. Don’t miss the classic large red toolbox with sliding drawers, the Apple colours on the shelves, and the original wooden Apple I computer in the background.
Amazing builds can result from one builder’s style influencing another, which is the case with this “Firestorm” starfighter by Tim Schwalfenberg. Tim tributes his spacecraft to Nick Trotta, and I can spot similarities with Nick’s Cloudless 3V especially, but with Tim’s spin on it.
Overall, the Firestorm has a great design to it, with interesting angles to the fins and stabilizer at the ship’s rear. When it comes to the details, I particularly like the gray pipe (or perhaps a cannon?) along each forward prong, and the two side engines with a 2×2 array of square panels, which appear to be minifig Thor’s hammers with the hammerheads facing upward.
Remember those 3D art toys from the 80’s with tiny moveable pins you could use to make impressions of your hands? Well, Josephine Monterosso has built one out of LEGO using Technic parts. The builder says she plans to rebuild with longer Technic pins so that the 3D images will have more depth. (Enough for a face!)
Minifigs residing in a city of LEGO modular buildings can purchase and repair their bicycles at this custom modular bike shop built by Łukasz Libuszewski. Interesting colors and unusual use of elements define the series as much as the modular standard, and there is no shortage of this throughout the build.
Łukasz added an elevator to his bike shop modular, and looking in the center column with gear racks on either side and a janitor standing slightly elevated, it appears to be functional.
View more shots of Łukasz’s building on Flickr.
More than a million men gave their lives in the Battle of the Somme in the late summer of 1918. It was a harrowing affair even for those who survived, as depicted in this LEGO diorama by James Pegrum. As we close out this Veteran’s Day, may their lives never be forgotten, and may we always strive for peace for all the men and women who have and still do serve.
The best thing about LEGO sets in the 1990s? Well, ok, besides all the awesome themes likes Ice Planet and Dragon Knights. Every LEGO set came with a miniature catalog, either a folded single page or a half-sheet booklet, and besides just advertising new sets, they included dioramas showing all the sets from a theme in action on a cool bit of scenery, like this Castle diorama from 1995. Builder Pixel Fox is creating some amazing images that bring back that nostalgia. LEGO catalogs need to do this again.
