If any of you get that reference without looking it up, I’ll be shocked. Regardless, Chris Malloy considerably raised the bar in Forbidden Cove’s Seedpart challenge with this piratical sculpture. Chris is one of my favorite builders out there and he hit this one out of the park. Malloy definitely has skillz!
Category Archives: LEGO
Nolnet’s Wadenbeißer will chomp your squadrons to bits
Moritz Nolting (nolnet) puts the dragon’s head from the new NinjaGo set 2509 Earth Dragon Defense to excellent use with this funny-looking fighter plane — an entry in Dan’s Put Your Brick Where Your Mouth Is contest.
The toothy grin on the nose is evocative of paint schemes sported by Allied World War II squadrons flying the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, but the addition of troll arms makes this a hilariously whimsical aircraft.
Myocardial infarction
This curvy fighter by Mark Stafford is quite the heart stopper. The black and yellow stripes contrast beautifully with the red-tipped prongs, but what impresses me most is all the shininess — not something you necessarily notice in a lot of LEGO models.
Build your name in Lego
Eli Carter (retracile) from TexLUG launched a business to make custom Lego nameplates. Simply enter the text and select a color scheme and you’re on your way to getting a kit that includes instructions and all the bricks to make the nameplate. The nameplate below with 10 characters will run $120, but keep in mind that a lot of time goes into assembling each order and the bricks themselves aren’t cheap. Check out BrickBuiltNamePlates.com to see what your name looks like in Lego.
How to identify LEGO Series 5 Collectible Minifigs by touch
As the recent discussion on our post about the new Series 5 Collectible Minifigures proves, it’s pretty hard to identify the minifigs using any but the “touch and feel” method. Thankfully, SEALUG / TexLUG member Jason Junker has put together this handy guide to find the minifigs you want by touch.
Small Clown: His bowler hat feels similar to the Detective’s hat. He also has a pie, which feels smaller than I thought it would. (that’s what she said) [Tee hee! -ed] Each time I confirmed by feeling for the short legs.
Boxer: The surprise here is that his boxing gloves are attached to his hands. He’s one of the hardest to feel if you don’t know this little fact. Also feel for the gap in his face guard. (Thanks for the “attached gloves tip” W. Heron)
Royal Guard: 2 words, HUGE hat. And feel for the rifle to confirm.
Lumberjack: The only “baseball cap” in this series. The axe is easily recognizable. But be sure that you feel the attached axe head on the end, or it could be the Evil Dwarf’s axe handle.
Zookeeper: I expected the monkey to be easy to feel, but the banana is the dead give away here. No other pieces feel anything like it.
Graduate: He’s the only fig with a 2×2 tile (certificate, like “Disco Guy’s” record from S2), and his graduation cap is what I used to confirm. It’s square, with 1 different feeling corner for the tassel and a little raised bump in the middle of the top.
Cave Woman: The only fig with a squishy element this time. Her hair. Feel for the bone separately, and the club is the same as the S1 Cave Man’s. (Thanks for the “squishy hair tip” W. Heron)
Snowboarder Guy: Just like the last 2 snowboarders, the snowboard is a dead giveaway.
Detective: His hat is double billed, so feel for both sides, or it could be the Small Clown. I felt for the magnifying glass to confirm.
Egyptian Queen: Huge wedge dress, and snake are easy to feel.
Ice Fisherman: The fish, and fishing pole are the giveaway here, just like the last 2 series fisherman/gnome.
Evil Dwarf: The winged helmet is bulky, but so are the pieces for the Royal Guard & Gladiator, so I felt around for 1 of the 2 detached axe blades, or the handle. The difference in the shield between the Gladiator’s is that the front of the Evil Dwarf’s is smooth.
Gladiator: He has a huge bulky helmet, but he’s also the only fig with a knife/sword. It’s shorter than I expected. (That’s what… never mind) The difference in the shield between the Evil Dwarf’s is that the front of the Gladiator’s has a stud.
Gangster: This fig has the smallest accessory, his pistol. I also felt his hat, it’s he same as the Cowboy’s from S1 or Indiana Jones’. I never once knowingly felt his case.
Fitness Instructor: Big long hair, and the “boom box” feels like a brick with a handle (just like the Rapper’s from S3)
Lizard Guy: Last but not least, the one I was most excited about, and will be the first one I open… His tail was what I ended up feeling for. It’s a very large piece that fits under his head like a backpack, so you can feel for that tab with the hole in it as well.
Jason rightly says that it’s helpful to have a good picture in front of you, so here it is:
Lego Nyan Cat
Joris Blok combines the viral Nyan Cat with our favorite plastic toy. I’m surprised the universe hasn’t imploded.
Another Masterpiece from the Mosaic Mama
Katie Walker is the undisputed ruler of the cheese slope. Give her a random pile of them and the odd handful of 1×1 plates, tiles or bricks and awesome things start to happen. You have to check out her latest. I keep thinking that she is going to run out of new techniques or ideas but it ain’t happening.
Do a barrel roll!
Nice Figure
I never thought I’d see a space ship with a slim waist, but the Feros by Stijn (Red Spacecat) is just that. This thing is all smooth curves, synched in by a belt (in this case the bridge) in the center. He’s scattered a few interesting details throughout, which stand out starkly against the otherwise smooth figure.
As always, Stijn goes the extra mile in photoshop to bring us a nice presentation, as well.
Mark Kelso faces down the Eye of Chaos
We don’t normally feature works-in-progress here on TBB, but Mark Kelso has been working on his next massive SHIP, and this photo captures the inevitable frustration of designing and building a large-scale LEGO model that we have to share. It’s also nice to see the LEGO workspace of one of our favorite builders.
Mark says, “After the first wing section slipped off the SHIP and crashed to the ground for a second time, I realized another solution was going to be necessarry.”
Don’t worry — Mark didn’t actually smash his next masterpiece, so we’ll look forward to featuring the finished model here when it’s done.
This ain’t your Mummy’s Sewing Machine.
This is Monster’s Machine and don’t you forget it. I can’t say that I would fancy wearing clothes made from mummy wrappings, but to each their own. Matt has really been turning out the creations lately and I’m loving it.
Opalite-class H-17 cargo freighter
I love a good micro freighter. I can just imagine all the interesting things being carted around the galaxy. Lazer Blade uses pattern repetition and a wide variety of colors for the cargo containers to make a potentially boring freighter really rather awesome. My favorite detail is the ship number in red and gray near the back.
Hat tip to Evan B. for the suggestion (and photo editing, apparently).