Ahoy LEGO Pirates fans! If this terrific scene of peril an’ plunder rings familiar, it should, especially if ye’ve been hitting the bricks since at least 2009… Still not seeing it? Take off your cosplay patch and feast both eyes on Ben Spector’s loving redesign of 6240: Kraken Attackin’ built for the Eurobricks “Space Pirates – Back to the Caribbean Galaxy!” competition. Every bit of character from the original is represented here, with added spicy space-y flavour – from the crate full of loot about to be lost to the deep, to the colourful plumage on the pirate’s flighted familiar, handsomely reimagined and lending a little air support here as a faithful mount. (A weather eye will have already spotted the repurposed scooter chassis element. No lubberly LEGO builder here!)
Ben really didn’t miss a detail from the original, all of them amped up and expertly crafted as you’d expect from both a contest entry and a modern LEGO set redux from a skilled builder.
If this cracking creation fills your sails, cast yer’ deadlights on the Brothers Brick archives by clicking the links below, for more ship-shape Pirate and Space-themed builds.
Category Archives: Models
A tiny LEGO home to evoke cozy feelings
What makes a house a home? Mostly the people living in it, I’d argue. But if the house is too small to actually fit people inside it, outstanding architecture – like that found in Geneva Durand’s microscale LEGO home – will suffice. I’m particularly drawn to the use of various flat bricks in dark orange, dark red, and two shades of brown to evoke the rougher brickwork at the front of the house. I’m a little concerned about those dogs though; I estimate they may be over 6 feet tall. They’re liable to eat you out of house and home!
Plastic peril: Unveiling greed in LEGO form
Greed can be a divisive topic: what one person sees as greedy can be viewed as merely desire or the pursuit of success by another. In this model, TBB regular Andreas Lenander employs artistic expression, using the ubiquitous light bluish gray LEGO to depict a hand drained of its life essence. Contrasted with red and maroon bricks, it shows the negative result that can arise from gripping the pursuit of wealth too tightly. The builder skillfully incorporates sought-after LEGO parts to emphasize the object of greed: the pearl gold ingot and chrome gold ring, which most LEGO enthusiasts recognize as “The One Ring” from the Lord of the Rings theme. With all that gold, is this perhaps a retort to a treasure chest we covered recently?
And we’ve got plenty more of Andreas Lenander’s LEGO creations in our archives.
A city with its head in the clouds
Once you get above 300,000 ft in the atmosphere, there’s nothing around to cloud your vision. Thus, the views from this micro LEGO city by Redverse must be outstanding. With micro building, the choice of parts makes all the difference. I particularly like the use of paint rollers to suspend the outer ring, and the bush with foil connector used on the front-and-center tower. I wonder what the stars look like from that highest height?
A complicated combine combination
A while ago I wrote that I feel that my Lego models keep getting more complicated due to new parts and new techniques, while building something small and simple can be a lot more fun. The flip side is that those parts and techniques allow building things I could not have built years ago. Case in point: my new combine harvester transport. For years I mainly built larger-scale models, in part because I struggled to build a recognizable make and model of the vehicle at a scale suitable for Lego minifigures.
Despite new parts, it still is not particularly easy. This is one of the reasons why even Lego’s own designers resort to using stickers for the cars in the Speed Champions range, for instance. And those are pretty complicated, certainly for sets. Furthermore, their scale really stretches the definition of what is suitable for minifigures. Of course, I could have built a truck carrying a combine years ago. It would have looked like a generic European truck, though, while this model is recognizably a Dutch DAF truck, thanks to parts such as brackets. Obviously, I did use some stickers, but only for the company livery. What kept building this fun and relaxing, despite its complexity, was looking at it as a combination of smaller projects.
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You can’t step on LEGO if you’re stepping around in LEGO!
Famously, stepping on LEGO is one of the most painful experiences known to humankind, second only to stubbing your little toe. (Woe betide you if you stub your little toe on a LEGO creation.) But what does stepping in LEGO feel like? We should ask Takamichi Irie. He has made the bold choice of creating a red Nike sneaker out of bricks. They say you need to suffer for your art, but even so, it’s a brave builder who willingly makes something where you’re always stepping on studs!
Thankfully for Takamichi’s feet – or one of them, at least – he has got a normal shoe to complete the pair. And to be fair, the brick-built one does compare very well to it! It’s so well shaped, it actually looks kind of comfy. And you wouldn’t need to worry about finding one in your size: you can always build it a little bigger. You know, maybe there’s something in these brick-built shoes after all…
What woes will this willowy wyvern to weep?
Your first thought of dragons, wyrms and wyverns might be scary mythical beasts. But with adept use of his LEGO pieces, Joey Klusnick reminds us that dragons have feelings, too. It’s named the Weeping Wyvern – clearly named after its resemblance to weeping willows. But the poor guy is actually weeping! But why? There is a missing goat poster pinned to its left ankle. Perhaps someone used too big a nail, or the goat is this wyvern’s pet? It’s anyone’s guess, really. The only other plausible explanation is that it’s seen the eye-watering prices of the original goat on the LEGO aftermarket…
LEGO Deoxys, I choose you
Take some asteroids, throw in a pinch of alien viruses, stir it all up with a laser beam, and what do you get? Deoxys the Pokemon! Add some plastic to the mix and you get this fantastic LEGO model by Dylan Mievis. This Pokemon’s signature loopy DNA arms are made of 45-degree elbow bricks. I really love the exciting chunkiness of this models face, made with a pair of orange 1×3 arches and 4 curved corners
Star Wars; going through some Dark Times
The brilliant thing about a huge franchise like Star Wars is once you’ve established a look and feel, once you’ve established some rules, Star Wars can keep expanding into infinity. The Brothers Brick alum Mansur Soeleman presents a LEGO diorama of the Mos Sakàa Town Center from the Star Wars: Dark Times RPG. I can wax ad nauseam about the major release movies all day, but I’m a bit less polished when it comes to some parts of the Expanded Star Wars Universe. With that said, I’ll let Mansur do the talking in his own words. “The people of Antolous I have scraped together a humble life on this rock. Few settlements dot the harsh orange landscape, but the oasis town of Mos Sakàa is the de facto capital of the desert planet. Built up from the ruins of a watchtower, Cestila Marroquin’s humble cantina serves as a seedy hub for the revolt against the invading empire…”
Putting the vest in vestibule
This collection of towers proves you don’t need a towering collection to produce memorable LEGO creations, and that a little expert part usage goes a long way. Flickr user Cab ~ shows us how it’s done, by repurposing some well-known minifigure accessories, saying they “felt bad for the parts that never get any use”. At first glance I questioned whether the rocket-to-rodent connection was legitimate, thinking there might be some photo trickery at play or perhaps a gravity fit (that’d be some feat of balancing), but it checks out! So, no matter where you stand on such techniques, these Lilliputian landmarks can be enjoyed by all.
Rovers like this only come around once every four years
In case it escaped your attention, this year is a leap year. That means we got a whole extra day of the LEGO community’s month-long rover-building bonanza: Febrovery! And boy, has Scott Wilhelm made good use of that bonus day. At 117 studs long, this colossal rover would almost qualify for that other famous space-building monthly challenge, SHIPtember (it just needs to swap those wheels for wings). Since it’s built for exploring, let’s do some exploring of our own and find out what Scott has hidden inside this behemoth. (Spoiler alert: a lot!)
Step inside to have a look around this massive rover!
Yo ho ho and a LEGO bottle of rocket fuel
Seeking their fortunes across the stars, this renegade band of LEGO rapscallions aren’t just smugglers. They’re full-on space pirates, at least according to builder Librarian-Bot. Inspired by the 1993 set 6268 Renegade Runner, this creation was inspired by the “Space Pirates – Back to the Caribbean Galaxy” competition happening over at Eurobricks. The ship’s sail has been transformed into a large beveled wing, still striped in black and white. A large rocket engine has been added to the schooner’s aft section, and the large cannon mounted below the ship looks devastating!
Check out the engines and figs!