When I think of my childhood the Ford Pinto comes to mind. That’s because we had one when I was growing up and apparently Dad thought nothing of our safety. But across the pond, LEGO builder Jonathan Elliott tells us that during his childhood, the Mk1 Ford Transit was the ubiquitous thing in the United Kingdom as well as Germany, Belgium, and Holland. It’s still a Ford but apparently far less explosive. In fact, the Ford Transit is so revered out there that the platform is still used today in everything from school buses to police and ambulance applications. Jonathan replicated the shape nicely with this little build proving you don’t need a vanload of pieces to create an accurate LEGO model.
Category Archives: LEGO
Seas the day
If sailing vessels are your jam, then Simon Pickard has a treat for you. This LEGO microscale galleon packs an impressive amount of detail and shaping, making great use of sloped brick to form both the hull and sails. I like how a round 1×1 plate with bar is combined with a clip plate to give the spirit sail a rakish angle. The display stand is pretty swanky as well. I’ve always been a fan of using the turntable base as a design element, and the varied shades of blue work well to make the sea of 1×1 round plate in transparent blue really pop.
This isn’t the first nautical creation by Simon we’ve featured. The last one was minifigure scaled. Will the next one be micro-micro scale? How small a boat can you make out of LEGO?
Crawling with Classic Space nostalgia
Are you shopping for a rover that can handle rough terrain? (Aren’t we all?) Then Blake Foster has all the answers you seek with this LEGO All-Terrain Classic Space Tank or AT-CST. It makes excellent use of this bubble windscreen as well as this Bionicle shell. If that is giving you just a touch of deja vu, that is because Blake recently used the same parts with this Grumpy Gnat. Blake seems to specialize in spacecraft that tickle the ol’ LEGO nostalgia bone. Check out our archives to see what I mean.
The Palm Beach concept that took 1956 by storm
Palm Beach, Florida is known for idyllic beaches, palatial mansions, and Jeffrey Epstein. Wow, that escalated fast! But optimism abounded in the 50s and legendary Italian designer Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina created the Rambler-Nash Palm Beach concept car in 1956. This ended up being one of his most eye-catching concepts and Tim Inman has replicated the design nicely in LEGO. It has all the niceties you can expect from a piece this size; the doors open as well as the hood and the interior is well detailed. Whether it be the thin flex-tube strip along the side, the rounded air intake up front, or the sloping tailfins around back, there is plenty to love about Tim’s creation. Tim has really been on a roll lately as we’ve also featured his Mercedes G550 recently.
We used to build LEGO spaceships and wonder at our place in the stars
Going by the latest reports, Christopher Nolan’s long-awaited Tenet will finally hit big screens less than a month. While we still wait, it might be the best time to re-watch another movie by one of the greatest directors of our time. CheeseyStudios suggests the 2014 epic sci-fi Interstellar. His build of The Endurance spaceship is much more complicated than it looks. Note it consists of 12 sections, which means that the angle between them is 150 degrees. Caleb managed to find just the right piece for this task, giant flex joints.
And if you are interested in the design of the Ranger shuttle, note a brilliant use of ninja swords. Thanks to the curved swords, the otherwise somewhat blocky model becomes very recognizable.
At least it wasn’t just whitewashed
A limited color palette can be tricky to work with in a creation. I’ve done LEGO builds where I only used one color, and it was challenging. Cab ~ here has limited the palette in this cathedral to just three: light bluish grey, transparent red, and transparent yellow. The back-lit stained glass is beautiful, each window unique and telling part of the Easter story, according to the builder, if in an abstracted way. The vaulted ceiling, held together by interior flex tube, looks great, too. It does look a little bland with only grey, however, or maybe just incomplete; so perhaps now that the masons have finished their part, the rest of the artisans can get to work adding paintings, gilded ornaments, and tapestries to outfit the cathedral for its intended purpose, glorifying God.
Like church architecture? Check out some more churches and cathedrals in the TBB archives.
It’s a me, Mario! And all my friends, too!
Now that LEGO has released a line of Super Mario sets, I’m sure we’re not far from a massive uptick in the number of Mario-related custom builds. Anticipating them is Koen Zwanenburg, who has designed a series of cuddly characters from the games. I’m a bad child of the ’80s and don’t know all of them, but I can recognize Mario and Luigi, as well as Peach, Bowser, and Yoshi. Aficionados can no doubt name them all at just a glance since Koen has done an excellent job of capturing the essence of each with just a few parts. I love the jumper plates for mustaches on the brothers, but my favorite detail is the plates with teeth as Bowser’s toes. But they’re all great. Or should I say super?
This is not the first set of cute and cuddly creations by Koen; check out some adorable animals and delightful Christmas characters!
Eshu? Gesundheit!
It’s always a pleasure when a really artistic LEGO build comes along. This sculpture of the Nigerian trickster Eshu by Buttloaf Builds is a really elegant take on the subject matter. Let’s start off by talking about those wire-thin limbs. Those are made from LEGO flex tubing, joined up to larger animal tail elements. Small bits of larger gauge silver flex tube and Technic bushings form jewelry, creating a visual break for those thin lines. I suspect there’s some photographic trickery going on to make this sculpture stand upright…or maybe it’s just divine intervention.
But as cool as those limbs are, Eshu’s face is even more impressive. A mix of Bionicle and System parts in sharply contrasting colors draw the viewer in. I’m particularly impressed with the creation of eyes from the negative space between sets of horn elements. And check out that necklace of Technic gears. There’s just enough curve in the construction there to create a very organic feel.
And the curves don’t stop there. Seen from the rear, you can really appreciate the work that went into shaping the headpiece. I’m not sure if it reminds me more of a ram’s horn or a xenomorph skull.
Questionable name or not, I think we’ll be seeing more creations from Buttloaf Builds in the future.
More than just 4 walls and a roof
Home is where the heart is, and this residence by Ayrlego, loosely inspired by houses in the civilization-building sim Age of Empires 2 is a sturdy place to raise a family, with strong walls, a nearby source of clean water, and shady trees to relax with the little ones. The textured bricks built into the frame are a nice connection to the building, as well as a frame for the ground made up of sloped bricks.
It sounded like a good idea
Seismic communication? In my Federation? It’s more likely than you think. The Brick Artisan has created a LEGO Heavy Communications Rover that overcomes planetary dust and electrical storms with the power of vibration. It’d take a scientist to explain that, probably. Meanwhile, we can marvel at that intricate radar dish construction. There’s everything in there from minifigure jackhammers to battle droid torsos. The overall shaping of the rover reminds me of the old Rock Raiders theme, or the even earlier 6950 Mobile Rocket Transport, which isn’t too shocking considering the wheels and fenders were likely sourced from the Rock Raiders line and the canopy pieces from Classic Space — those three interlocking yellow windscreens take this build to another place entirely.
Speaking of Rock Raiders, how many of you first thought you were looking at a cave interior as the background here? I sure did. But that’s actually a still from Fury Road showing a massive dust storm. It still works for this creation’s backstory, but it sure felt weird to realize that. Anyway, if you want to see even more details of this clever build, check out this unedited shot.
LEGO Star Wars 75284 Knights of Ren Transport Ship from The Rise of Skywalker [Review]
As we continue our reviews of summer 2020 LEGO Star Wars sets, we’re moving on from The Clone Wars and Original Trilogy to the third wave of sets from the final movie in the Skywalker Saga, The Rise of Skywalker. 75284 Knights of Ren Transport Ship includes 595 pieces with three minifigs, and will be available September 1st (US $69.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £64.99). The set rounds out the full group of Knights of Ren minifigures, but is it more than a cash grab for minifig collectors?
Read our full review of LEGO Star Wars 75284 Knights of Ren Transport Ship
LEGO Mercedes G550 4×4 is a beast
When it comes to off-road capable vehicles, the motto seems to be, go big or go home. So it is no surprise that the 2020 G series from Mercedes is a beast. And LEGO builder Tim Inman has built a beast of model to show his appreciation. I especially love the low angle of this hero shot, showing the 4×4 in its natural habitat, driving over rocks.
Not only does this model of a Mercedes G550 look good on the outside, but it features a complete interior as well.