Gary^The^Procrastinator captured a defining moment in the Battle of Waterloo in this scene depicting the defense of La Haye Sainte Farm where 400 British and German troops held against overwhelming waves of French forces. Check out more photos on Flickr and see this diorama in person as part of the Battle of Waterloo collaboration that will be on display at Brickfair Virginia in August.
Some say he wears gloves on his feet instead of socks. And that he once teepee’d Cher’s house. All we know is that he’s called Tim Inman, and that he is a bit of a petrol head. With his latest build, Tim has totally nailed the distinctive lines of the ultra-rare, ultra-classic 1957 Jaguar XK-SS. Why the Mini Cooper was a LEGO set and this Jaaaag wasn’t, we’ll never know. LEGO cars don’t get much more “swooshable” than this (or is it “vroomable”?).
According to builder Karwik, this type of Polish Television truck was the first such vehicle to be designed and built in then-Communist Poland, and helped facilitate the first color TV broadcast in Poland in 1971: a program of Communist Party government proceedings.
Karwik has done a stellar job adding details on this model, from the myriad cables and wires that always accompany broadcast trucks to building nifty minifig-scale cameras. My favorites are the tiny stepstools by the truck doors.
This purple dinosaur probably has more Pokemon influence than the one you’re thinking of, but both have a man inside the suit. This Nidoking-inspired mecha is the brainchild of Stormbringer, and looks ready for an all-out poke-mecha battle.
While it may look like some kind of extreme ballet, or very unusual form of back therapy, wrestling fans may recognize this move – expertly recreated in LEGO by simplybrickingit – as the suplex. But can you tell which of the 50+ variants it is? Or what happens next? (…without looking at the script?)
Something probably not well known to people outside the AFOL community, is the extent LEGO fans regularly go in using their unique obsession to benefit the less fortunate. Whether it’s by selling off their one-of-a-kind creations, auctioning memorabilia at conventions, or staging 24-hour live broadcasts, AFOLs pull all kinds of ingenious stunts on behalf of their favorite charities.
Case in point: Builder Paul Vermeesch created this gorgeous 2′ x 2′ microscale model of a building on the Mooseheart campus for Moose International, to be raffled off at their annual convention.
But rather than simply building the model at home and sending it to them, Paul actually designed it digitally then brought a sack of 5000 bricks to the conference and spent 2 days building it on-site, with the help of some attendant kids. (Hmmm, building with kids – now that’s dedication!)
At The Brothers Brick we aim to present some of the best fan-built LEGO models. We’re not necessarily used to our own models exploding all over the internet or on the occasions when they do, it is usually because we ourselves have posted them here first. In the last few days, this normal order of things was turned upside down. I went on a little trip visiting family for a few days, but before leaving I posted a few pictures of my latest model, Optimus Prime, on flickr. These were picked up by a number of other LEGO blogs (the LEGO Car Blog and Bricknerd among others) and subsequently pretty much went viral. I was going to write something here eventually, but hadn’t gotten around to making the video that I wanted to include and, because of this, I got scooped.
I have finally completed the video and I will use this post to add more info about the build, that I know people have been wondering about, such as why I built a so-called Bayformer rather than a G1 Optimus Prime or whether this model will make its way to LEGO Ideas, so that other fans may eventually buy one. I’ll start with the biggest question, though: is it actually fully transformable or am I a big cheater, who has built two different models to separately represent the robot and the truck mode?
As you can see, the model can indeed go from truck to robot by sliding and rotating various parts. The only exception is that the fuel tanks are separate parts that are pinned to the truck. This is similar to how the toy that I used as the basis for the transformation sequence works. The sequence is complicated and some stuff usually breaks in the process, but having seen videos of people transforming their toy versions, I get the impression that this is normal.
I’m hardly the first person to build a working Transformer in LEGO. We’ve blogged Transformers on many different occasions and, as a child, I myself used to build the original G1 models from the cartoon. The designs from the recent movies by Michael Bay, also known as Bayformers, are rather more complicated than the older models, though, and this is exactly what makes them more interesting to me. I also think that a long-nose Peterbilt looks more attractive than the red and blue cab-over-engine truck used for the G1 Optimus Prime and happen to like building flame patterns. To my surprise, some die-hard Transformers fans hate Bayformers with an almost scary passion and consequently they hate mine. I recommend they go look at Alex Jones’ version from a few years ago or perhaps at some kittens instead.
My Optimus Prime will not be making it onto LEGO Ideas. Even if I could drum up enough support for the project by plastering it all over social media, LEGO wouldn’t touch this with a stick. The Transformers toy line is owned by their competitor Hasbro, who produce rather poor-looking Transformers sets in their own Kre-O range of LEGO compatible construction toys. If you want your own LEGO Optimus Prime, you’ll probably have to build it yourself. This should be easy enough. After all, to quote one commenter on my model, “my nine-year-old can do better”. You have got to love the internet.
It’s rare to see articulated joints used in a character build in a way that doesn’t mar the appearance of the model. And rarer still to see those joints used to actually showcase the model in some interesting poses. But Anton Sundström knocks it out of the park with this adorable recreation of Shantae, the half-genie action heroine from the Nintendo game of the same name.
Anton has totally nailed the costume, thanks to liberal use of curved slopes and clever use of bananas, life preservers, the One Ring and even a sausage to make the mouth posable. And since Shantae’s main weapon is her pony tail, that too is fully articulated. Brilliant!
Raise your hand if you, or someone you know, had an Etch-a-Sketch!
Excellent.
Raise your hand if you had LEGO!
…just kidding. All your hands should be up for that one.
Kristi has taken your favorite child-hood building toy to build your favorite red-and-white-with-aluminum-powder toy–which recently turned 55. It’s now eligible to get a discount at Dairy Queen, if my parents are to be believed.
Happy Birthday, Etch-a-Sketch!
As the Minions prequel slap-stravaganza makes it’s way through movie theaters this week, LEGO versions are starting to pop up, and here are two of my favorites. It’s always interesting to see different builders’ interpretations of the same subject matter – proving that there’s no one ‘right’ way to build anything:
While both models lean towards the “studs hidden” end of the scale, James Zhan‘s Stuart sticks to a more traditional studs-up technique, while umamen‘s Carl goes studs-out and heavy on the cheese slopes. Yet both models nail it with lots of detail and plenty of character. Cumbaya!
This authentic-looking LEGO sushi bar is the work of Malaysian builder Denil Oh. The attention to detail in every corner of this scene is amazing – and extends right up to the walls! I also like the subtle use of custom stickering to give the cuts of fish an appetizing sheen. Check out tons more delicious close-up images over on Flickr.
[Via Pockyland]
Here’s a smart-looking craft by Joe and Will Merzlak, a near-future vertical-take-off-and-landing (VTOL) transport. Besides being packed with some really wonderful building techniques, the Merzlak brothers’ par excellance presentation skills are worth pointing out in their own right.
A really fantastic photo-editing job can make a great model like this really stand out. Of course, we realize that not everyone has the time, skills, or tools to make this happen, but remember: the presentation of your model is the only thing everyone else online will get to see. It’s worth spending some extra time to ensure good lighting and an interesting and relevant (or at least clean) background.
