Like many sci-fi, science, and space geeks, the exploration and colonization of Mars has always held a special fascination for me. Shannon Sproule has created a LEGO version of a novel idea — sending a drone to 3D print habitats on Mars. With a realistic color scheme and extensive use of round bricks, including a pair of round 7×7 domes, Shannon has created a plausible construction robot. Here’s hoping NASA is paying attention to innovative ideas like this!
Cole Blaq has just finished a batch of really awesome matching near-future military vehicles, led by this vicious VTOL aircraft. I love how the red striping even continues around the central turbofan. Spots of yellow from printed tiles and the tips of white missiles add interesting detail to the basic gray and dark red color scheme.
The VTOL has a matching APC and walker mech. The APC is reminiscent of the vehicle from Aliens, which is not at all a bad thing.
Be sure to check out the photoset on Flickr for more pictures of all the models.
From the very first sight of it, Sergey Antokins‘s scale model of a Mi-171 helicopter charmed me with its neat design. Its structure is skillful enough to surprise you with a couple of unusual building techniques, but at the same time, stays clean and straightforward and looks totally like a slightly refurbished LEGO City set. I give bonus points for this pleasing white and blue color scheme — we finally have a model of a civilian aircraft to blog!
Click through to see more photos of this great helicopter
Over the years we’ve featured many LEGO versions of Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam and Marvin the Martian. But this is the first time we’ve seen Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century in brick form. Thanks to the talents of Tyler Clites we see him pictured here during his first screen appearance in 1953, battling for control of “Planet X” against Marvin:
It’s no secret that Ice Planet is my favourite Space subtheme, so when I saw this “Elephant” transport vehicle from Kirill, I knew I was going to have a good time.
There’s a lot more to this behemoth than ample use of large Technic parts to create a very solid hull. As the creator explains, inspiration came from the new Nexo Knights theme and all its new parts, which borrow heavily from the Ice Planet livery.
But, what you may not have guessed, is that this build is entirely motorized and able to traverse actual snow and ice:
(EDIT: An earlier version of this post mis-attributed the photo and the builder’s name. We contacted the real builder and confirmed who actually built this excellent vehicle. We take proper attribution very seriously. Our apologies to the builder and our readers for getting the attribution wrong on this one.)
Thanks to flickr user Jim van Gulik, we now have photos of several of LEGO’s newest big Technic sets (see the others after the jump). We can’t confirm the precise set name yet, but it’s set number 42056, and is a Porsche 911 wrapped in zebra test patterns (used by auto manufacturers to disguise the outlines of an unreleased vehicle). Some sources say that the test pattern will not be included in the final model, though. You can bet that this will be an expensive set, clocking in well over $100 USD.(Update: You can now read our review of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS.)
HobbyMedia brings us this 360 view, as well:
Click through to see more new sets
Although describing indie video game The Swindle as both maddening and brilliant, Belgian builder Gregory Coquelz was so inspired by the satisfaction of completing this steampunk cybercrime caper, that he recreated this scene from the game featuring one of its larcenous characters:
After teasing us with multiple work in progress shots and even an extremely detailed bust, builder Lu Sim has finally unleashed the finished version of the reFX01 mech.
We’re actually a bit spoiled here, as there are two varients of the mech. The biggest difference is the head design, but the builder gives more explanation in the flavour text too.
Make sure to check out the full blog post regarding this build if you want a peek behind the curtain.
Those hardcore rock music fans will have already recognised this famous band recreated in LEGO by Andreas Weissenburg. They’ve been rocking since 1975 and have played with some of the biggest names in music: Julie Andrews, Elton John, Liza Minelli, Paul Simon. Of course, we are talking about Dr Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, the house band from The Muppet Show.
Andreas has built the original five members of the band: Dr. Teeth on vocals and keyboards, Animal on drums, Floyd Pepper on bass guitar, Janice on guitar, and Zoot on saxophone. There are lots of nice touches used to bring these characters to life, and the wild colours of the muppet characters certainly help with part selection in this case. My favourite is definitely Zoot – that nose looks perfect in LEGO. Plus everybody knows that the guy playing sax is always a hottie!
You can see close up views of the band members and other Muppets including Swedish Chef and Waldorf & Statler in the builder’s Flickr album.
If a bike has too few wheels and a car just has too many, may we suggest this recreation of a Morgan 3 Wheeler from Jonas who chose this tripod because “most four wheeled vehicles are already done in a perfect way.”
While I could argue that point, I can’t argue how cool this little build is. My favourite part must be the chassis which is so solid in construction that it looks like a single piece. Oh, and LEGO’s dark green makes a perfect hue of British racing green.
Alex Hui brings us this gorgeous replica of the Temple of Heaven, a 15th-century structure in Beijing which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Alex has masterfully recreated the intricate ornamentation on the Daoist temple’s walls, helped by the massive scale he employs. Although it doesn’t look it, the base of this model is around four feet in diameter, and the temple is almost as tall. Below is a picture of Alex posing with his creation.
Moko is back with another stunning mech. This time death comes wearing olive green armor and looking totally killer. Moko has made this mech highly poseable, and amazingly, all of the armor plates can be removed from the skeletal framework. It even has room for a minifig. You can see more pictures on Moko’s blog.
