Fateheart knocks it out of the park with this chunky and menacing LEGO mech. Often this kind of model can look too shiny and neat, but the mixed use of old and new gray here really adds to the sense of scale and creates a feeling that this bad boy has seen some real action.
LEGO mechs aren’t usually my thing, but I like the beefiness of this one, and its simple stark color scheme. Topping it all off is THAT gun. Lovely stuff.
Check out this fantastical scene from Brother Steven. We’ve got medieval-style treehouses, a brawl in a bustling marketplace, and a tethering tree for magical flying boats! Excellent work all round.
This model pulls of a difficult trick — creating a scene with fantasy elements which still manages to feel realistic. It’s well worth clicking through to the original image and zooming in to see all the lovely detail on display in the marketplace around the base of the trees.
It’s hard enough to live in space, thanks to cosmic radiation and lack of atmosphere. Why make things even tougher by leaving toxic waste laying around? Horcik Designs has a new vehicle called the HMT4 to handle all your hazardous material handling needs. It has treads aplenty to handle the roughest terrain, and it is adorned in the colors of Neo-Classic Space. The impressive density of details is only enhanced by some carefully chosen custom stickers. So cool!
Big LEGO spaceships tend to capture a lot of online attention, but this is the sort of model which people should spend ages drooling over. This Taiwanese temple from delayice is simply stunning.
The roof grabs the eye with its lovely pointed corner ridges and the smattering of studs for texture. But don’t miss the lovely landscaping around the temple itself — an attractive mix of round tiles for stones and green plates for grass. And then zoom in on the original photo to see how the builder has cleverly mixed shades of brown to create a realistic feeling of aged and worn woodwork. This is a fabulous model.
Anton Sundström has built a cracking model of an American classic. His Fender Elite American Telecaster Thinline is a great recreation of this guitar — there’s even a convincing version of the signature resonance hole in the body. This rocks my world.
VW Beetles (or “Bochos” as they are called here in Mexico) are a timeless design. Here’s a pair rebuilt as tiny hot rods. Tim Henderson, you deserve a hug for the detail you’ve packed in at this scale…
There are two models because the builder wanted to illustrate both the tatty and rusting original car, and the shinier version following its restoration. Tim has even managed to create two convincing engine designs — great work with such a small amount of pieces.
So, I’ve been playing Overwatch a lot, so it won’t surprise anyone that things you like inspire you, and I’ve been playing Zenyatta a LOT lately, so when I wanted to build my next MRL Mech, it had to be inspired by him, and hence, the OMH was born (or built):
It was actually a pretty fun build, and done in record time as well, for me at least. I like the purple, white and gold together — they add such a royal look — and using mixel eyes as beads was an unintentional discovery, but to see the true beauty of this build, you have to Gaze into the iris:
On its Enlightenment mode, it becomes a rolling repairing mech, with two additional pairs of arms, which is, if I may say, kind of cool.
I love seeing Friends colors and sets incorporated into awesome builds, and Allan Corbeil has done a magnificent job with that. He’s given us a lovely Cafe Corner modular building, based on 41035 Heartlake Juice Bar.
While I love the black and white old-timey pictures, I have to share the stand-alone shot, too. The Juice Bar looks just lovely built into the ground floor of this brick building. The detail for the top floor is quite lovely and very reminiscent of the details that LEGO puts into other modular sets, particularly 10243 Parisian Restaurant and 10251 Brick Bank.
This summer, the LEGO City airport gets a huge update, including a variety of new airplanes. But before you grab any of the new sets from a store shelf, are you sure your airport facility is equipped well enough? In case it isn't, take a look at this inconspicuous workhorse by EROL.
“Goliath” is an amazingly compact and well-thought aircraft tug. A Power Fuctions connector and an IR reciver on the top of the vehicle gives out its main function – it can be remotely controlled. The heart of the tug is an M-motor, which is not the most powerful one, but thanks to a low gear it is able to tow up to 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs). But my favourite touch is a couple of red Light & Sound flashing lights. This piece is about 25 years old, but it looks awesome even in modern creations. And here is a short video of the tug in action:
Before going bust, the Swedish car manufacturer Saab built cars that were stereotypically driven by architects and college professors. The cars were always a bit quirky and different, which is probably one of the reasons why the company went bust. Saab didn’t start by building cars, however. Its eponymous parent company started by building aircraft for the Swedish military and it is still going strong. The Saab J 35 “Draken” (Dragon), built by Stefan Johansson, first flew in 1955 and was one of Europe’s first supersonic fighter aircraft.
Stefan’s model clearly shows the very distinctive cranked delta wing of this Cold War classic. The Swedish military typically required their aircraft to be suitable for operations from poorly prepared surfaces, in terrible weather and to be maintained by conscripts with relatively little specialised training. The resulting aircraft always looked rather different from their contemporaries. This also applies to the Draken’s replacement in Swedish service: the Saab JA-37 “Viggen” (Thunderbolt). If anything, Stefan’s model of this jet is even more impressive.
It has a large double delta wing, canard foreplanes and an unusual undercarriage with double main wheels in tandem, designed to facilitate operating from unpaved runways. Another quirky feature is that, in order for the jet to fit inside small underground hangars, its vertical tailfin can be folded down. Judging from the row of hinges this can also be done on the model. The complicated curvy shapes of fuselage are recreated very effectively using various slopes, and while I am normally not a fan of studless builds, the choice to build the model’s wings using bricks on their side works really well. Saabs are unusual fighters and an unusual choice of subject for LEGO models, but these are just more reasons to like them.
We see a lot of original spaceship designs from the LEGO community, and a lot of LEGO pieces being used in clever new ways. But I’m still always impressed by those builders who boldly integrate unusual pieces and pull it off with panache. One such builder is Curtis Collins with the Seraph. It’s a gorgeous design that uses bright red LEGO canoes for the engine cowlings, despite a plethora of black greebling on the struts—and miraculously, it works. Keen-eyed readers will also spot that the cockpit glass is a LEGO Christmas ornament.
Here to break up your boar-dom and your castle, this pillaging pig by 彥碩 陳 is a perfect pairing of adorable and menacing. The Bionicle spiked armor is a great choice for a stiff white mane, and the sculpting of the hog’s face is fantastic.
