There’s an election going on — but you don’t want to hear about that. Instead, how about some famous Presidents from the past? Better yet, how about making them out of LEGO? The faces of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt are carved in stone on Mount Rushmore, and this sculpture by Dave Guedes captures remarkable likenesses in brick form of the heads of state.
What’s not to love about a big American tow truck? EROL‘s latest vehicle is a beefy behemoth of a truck, inspired by the official LEGO Tow Truck set 60056. The shift to “7-studs-wide” rather than the “6-wide” standard gives the builder plenty of space to play with, adding smart detailing and shapes whilst preserving the interesting color scheme of the original set.
I really enjoy when builders take on this sort of challenge. Getting the balance right is tricky — using your fan building tricks and wide brick collection, but not straying so far from the source material that it becomes unrecognisable. The air horns on the cab roof, the addition of chrome exhausts, the functional-looking chunkiness of the tow bar itself — this is a great reimagination of a set.
David Roberts mashes together two great LEGO building styles in his latest spaceship. GARC (Galactic Asteroid Racing Circuit) and the Vic Viper standard collide here to eyecatching effect. Whilst the twin cockpits are smart, for me this model is all about those stunning wings. This is surely another example of a LEGO spaceship influenced by Chris Foss.
Mr. Unknown has created an incredibly well-constructed face in this study of contemplation. I especially like the shaping around the eyes, the forehead and the tousled hair. The hand leaves a bit to be desired but it doesn’t detract from the overall build. Nicely done!
Rob has been putting together a great little series of LEGO robots, each with a different designation and function. The building techniques are good, with some smart connections and solid color choices, but it’s the presentation of the models which really sets these creations apart — detailed technical spec sheets accompany shots of the bots in action.
Click to see more of the A.R.C. Bot
I hope you have kept February 2017 clear on your calendar. We got a new trailer today for The LEGO Batman Movie, and it does not disappoint. The LEGO Batman Movie stars Will Arnett as Batman, Ralph Fiennes as Alfred, and Michael Cera as Robin. You can catch it in theaters February 10, 2017.
In case you missed it, LEGO will be releasing sets along with the movie, many of which were revealed at New York Comicon.
[Update] LEGO has also announced two new LEGO Batman Movie sets this morning. They will be available in January.
70900 The Joker Balloon Escape, 124 pieces, $14.99 USD
70908 The Scuttler, 775 pieces, $79.99 USD
These fantastic LEGO optical illusion sculptures come from Marion. Each one is a visual delight. You may recognize a number of these sculptures as mind-benders and thought puzzles, each using fantastic technique to get the shaping just so, and it’s quite effective.
Click to see more mind-bending sculptures
Aaron Newman‘s latest dragon is this beautiful sand-green and and gold beast. As we discussed in our interview with Aaron earlier this year, he builds in the style of official sets, so the dragon is completely poseable and quite sturdy unlike many fan-built LEGO dragons we highlight. I’d love to have this creature sitting on my desk, perhaps leaping into battle.
The official LEGO Eiffel Tower 10181 set is one of the largest sets released, with 3428 parts. For those with less room for such a monster set or fewer pennies to afford such a sizeable price-tag, have a look at LegoJale‘s latest creation, which users a single part depicting the Eiffel Tower: A minifig hand. This microscale build manages to capture the essence of the Eiffel Tower, the skyline in the background, and the fountains in the foreground (as per the image that the build is based upon) with just a handful of parts.
The set-up for this shot shows how distancing parts of the build can give a very good foreground and background feel to the final shot without requiring any scaling. I always enjoy seeing set-up shots and this one is great because there is no fancy equipment — just LEGO, a book, and a camera.
Builder Deus Otiosus used LEGO to bring characters from the classic children’s book The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey to life. Everyone’s favorite fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, along with the Captain himself are off to fight evil. But which villain will they face today? Wedgie Woman? The Bionic Booger Boy? Maybe Professor Pippy Pee-Pee Poopypants?
I love the sense of motion in this build. The fabric of the cape and flag really look fluid, even though they are built from brick. And of course, the characters look great (if not a little terrified to be flying out the window).
Builder LEGO 7 brings us a beautifully modern two-gate airport. Look closely, because this model is impressively large and very thoroughly detailed with all the hustle and bustle of real aviation.
The first minifigure-scale LEGO airport, 6392 Airport, released in 1985. Since then LEGO has produced about a half dozen more, most recently 60104 Airport Passenger Terminal. They’ve all been fantastic sets, and the planes have grown larger and more detailed with each iteration. However, they all suffer from one flaw: the terminals just aren’t big enough, even for very small airports, and none includes a jet bridge. Not so with LEGO 7’s stunning creation, which features not one but two jet bridges so jetsetters in this airport don’t have to step outside to disembark. Check out more photos below.
Yautis of Agimel, builder Djordje dubs this fierce fighter. I don’t know what the name means, but it sounds fitting for a warrior such as this. The whole character is well sculpted, but the helmet is amazing. The way the claws weave together to form a silver helmet is splendid, with two points of yellow revealing the beady eyes beneath.
