David Hensel (Legonardo Davidy) creates a detailed windmill with spinning blades and rotating tower. I really like the blend of sand green and olive green bricks for the base as well as its spherical shape.
Category Archives: Models
Micro Middle Earth
Barton Thinks is recreating iconic Middle Earth locations in micro-scale. I really like the use of black level handles to detail the sides of Orthanc. The little bits of landscaping really bring it to life as well. Luckily this is before the Orcs cut down all the trees!
Merry Christmas from London, 1941
I have a personal tradition of watching a depressing movie on Christmas Eve; I find it has a nice effect of tempering the holiday festivities with some sobering reality.
Apparently Gabe Umland is similarly inclined. This depiction of London during the Blitz has some gorgeously detailed rubble, with just the right touch of Christmas spirit.
Team SCA’s yacht recreated for the Volvo Ocean Race using over 100,000 LEGO pieces and 1200 man-hours
The Volvo Ocean Race is a yacht race around the entire world. It is held every three years and generally takes approximately 9 months to complete. Each boat has a crew of 9, who race 24 hours a day for up to 20 days at a time, living off of freeze-dried food and raw courage. It isn’t a race for the weak or faint of heart.
This incredible LEGO model was built by Johan Sahlstrom, who works for Volvo, and Anders Christensen, who works for LEGO. After deciding to build a model of the Volvo Ocean Race boats, they chose Team SCA, the first all-female crew in over 10 years, because “Team SCA is definitely the coolest looking”, according to Sahlstrom.
The SCA boat is 2 1/2 meters long and 3 1/2 meters tall, using over 100,000 pieces. It includes fully functional halyards, winches, grinding pedestals and a canting keel. It is completely to scale, took over 1200 man-hours to build and uses no glue. Creating it was a quite the feat in and of itself!
To the Stars, Classic-Style
Jon & Catherine Stead have created this lovely Neo-Classic Space “Rocket Launch and Recovery Vehicle”. It really reminds of an updated Mobile Rocket Transport, which was one of my favorite sets from my childhood.
The mix of new and vintage parts really bring this concept home but I think it is the use of all the transparent bits that makes this standout. It’s a rather full of “bling” and I’m liking it.
House of Healing...and Leaning
This crazy house is the fault of César Soares and it’s an eye-catcher. It really has some unusual angles going on, both on the roof and the walls. I also like the patches and repairs. It gives the house a sense of character and helps create a story in your mind.
No Loyal Friend
This symbolic scene depicts the moment in The Lord of the Rings when Smeagol (soon to become Gollum) steals the ring from his cousin, Deagol, and evil takes hold of him. Tim Lydy has done an exceptional job with this scene. Everything fits together so well. The scene is almost idyllic, with the water, grass, fishing boat, tree (made from a dragon tail!) and the look of happiness on Smeagol’s face. It is almost easy to overlook the dead body of Deagol and the looming shadow about to possess him forever.
Galactic happy holidays
Open for business
Lucifer’s Advocate – A Hot Rod to Hell
According to Lino Martins, he combined hot rod and steam engine in equal parts and sprinkled in a dash of black magic. When the thunder and lightning stopped and the earth ceased to shake, this wicked beast rolled out of the smoke and up to the curb.
I really dig this one. The locomotive motif, the color scheme and the steam-punk detailing all combine in a most excellent and cohesive way. One of my favorite touches is the open rib-work on the hood, showing off the spinning turbine. This is definitely another masterpiece from the Master.
The top of the coach also opens to display the crushed red velvet interior.
LEGO Star Wars 75060 Ultimate Collector’s Slave I [Review]
The good folks over at LEGO sent us an advance copy of the new flagship set for the ever-popular LEGO Star Wars line, 75060 Slave I. Ever since I first saw Star Wars Episode V, I’ve thought the Slave I was one of the coolest ships in the Star Wars fleet. A truly unique design for a spaceship (in 1980 when Empire released), the Slave I lies on its back for landing, but stands upright for flight, the cockpit and wings rotating to retain orientation. LEGO has released 4 previous minifig-scale versions of this ship, two for each color scheme from the new and old Star Wars trilogies, plus another five versions in smaller scales. So this new Slave I fittingly is the tenth version of the ship from LEGO, and is unquestionably the best.
Make no mistake, this is a big set — a very big set for being minifig scale. The Slave I is a deceptively large ship, and LEGO’s previous minifig-scale versions have not done it justice. The very first Slave I (7144) released in 2000 was almost laughably small at 166 pieces, but I still harbor fond memories of it. The new 75060 Slave I clocks in with 1996 pieces and is almost 2 feet long from tip to tip.
Fjollum Great Hall – Inside and Out
This medieval pile has rather unique walls. This technique is most often used for floors but Isaac S. has done a great job of incorporating it into the exterior walls of this hall. But the features of this model do not stop there. Isaac has built a very believable interior into it as well. I really like the cheese-slope mosaic, featuring the coat-of-arms, on the lower floor.
