Anyone who grew up on first-person shooters like Doom or Quake should recognize a few things in Steve Marsh AKA Rubblemaker’s LEGO build: the industrialized aesthetic, the glimpse of some otherworldly monster just waiting to be riddled full of bullets, and of course the giant minigun.
Tell the monster to wait a second while you inspect the build a little more.
I know we haven’t hit Halloween yet, but when someone decides to mix a Christmas classic with an existing LEGO theme, it tends to stand out regardless of the time of year. Displaying the Modular theme in cookie form, poMOCník & dirigent provides a lovely row of townhouses baked with plenty of spice and architectural forms. With so many great techniques on display, my favorite has got to be the columns of minifigure legs used to bend the front wall out under the balcony.
Every SHIPtember, so many LEGO builders make a Seriously Huge Investment in Parts to turn out some truly spectacular spaceship-ery. And the Adhara by Tim Zarki is such a sterling representation of what these builds can bring. Clad in a grayscale color scheme, this SHIP is designed for long-range flights running on dual antimatter reactors. And clocking in at 118 studs in length, it features a number of wonderful techniques. I’m particularly fond of Tim’s use of the open Technic pin hole, adding important texture to dark gray panels throughout the creation.
We all have ‘The Drawer’. You know the one – the place where everything from keyrings and screwdrivers to LEGO bricks and old batteries go to be forgotten about. Well, Maxx Davidson hasn’t forgotten them… Or rather, he hasn’t been allowed to forget them. His odds and sods have assembled themselves into a robot! There’s quite the collection of brick-built bits here, including a bobbin of thread and an air freshener. A bit more out there – but still technically LEGO – is the Bionicle Barraki key ring. Let this be your reminder to clean out your junk drawer!
Despite the words of Obi-Wan, I doubt either of these LEGO Stormtroopers are going to be taking home a stuffed Wookiee doll in this Star Wars arcade game by Joel Short. Named TIE Ace, the goal is to no doubt blast as many Rebel Scum out of the sky in two minutes. But hopefully this pair doesn’t spend all their money seeking one of the prizes hanging from the top of the stall. I think they may have better luck at “Whack-a-Womp Rat” over by the Fett-is wheel.
Ever since the release of LEGO Dungeons & Dragons Collectible Minifigures 71047, builders and role-players have been celebrating the mix of new fantasy elements to play with. While the figures are great out of the box, D&D has always been about making your own characters. Some builders prefer to stick to minifig scale for their custom creations, but Mitch Phillips always goes big. Mixing Bionicle, Constraction, and System parts, Mitch’s Aarakocran Ranger strikes the perfect balance of fluffy and and fierce.
There are many great techniques to appreciate, from the intense eyes crafted from nested ninja scarves to the lush wings to the excellent sword brooch. If you’re curious about how an expert goes about designing articulated characters like this, Mitch generously breaks down his process in a video. MitchBuild walkthroughs are among the best resources available for understanding how to integrate disparate LEGO parts.
This isn’t Mitch’s first D&D ranger character. During the 2024 Bio-Cup, he rolled a critical hit with this Dragonborn Ranger.
It’s fair to say that the Star Wars prequels had a lot of ups and downs. Among the definite ups, though, is the opening scene to the third instalment, Revenge of the Sith. Spaceships! Dogfights! Explosions! Sassy Jedi! LEGO builder Thomas Jenkins has got us reminiscing about that scene with this ARC-170. Billed as the predecessor to the venerable X-wing, it’s a ship design I’ve always loved. Thomas is a dab hand when it comes to LEGO spaceships, so it’s no surprise to see some fantastic shaping mixed with admirable attention to detail.
But it takes two to tango dogfight! So to oppose the Republic starfighter, we’ve also got a Separatist Vulture Droid from the same builder. What I like the most about this one is the walking wing mechanism, achieved with clever use of Mixel ball joints.
Fresh off the heels of the epic Dune vignette we featured a few days ago, builder Gus brings us another iconic movie scene: the confrontation with the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Arthur, King of the Britons, has momentarily defeated the enemy knight, whose arms have been comically shorn from his shoulders. (He’s had worse.) The scene is instantly recognizable, thanks to authentic details like cream puffs standing in for the coconuts Patsy claps together to simulate a horse’s hooves. Now Arthur, believing his foe vanquished, prepares to cross the bridge. After all, what’s the Black Knight going to do, bleed on him?
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We’ve already looked at one alternate build of LEGO set 43247 Young Simba the Lion King, but how about we look at another, this time of the Pokémon variety? Builder The Frenchy Bricks has assembled the bright yellow-orange parts of our favorite Disney lion into quite the expressive Psyduck. With posable limbs and the perfect thousand-mile stare, here’s hoping it’s no headache to recreate my own copy.
In the bowels of a dreary-looking office building, life shines in the intriguing “Blue Screen” by Loïc Gilbert. Let’s let the builder tell the story behind this LEGO enigma:
The building had stood abandoned since 1992. …fluorescent lights flickered to life, joined by the faint whirring of old desktop fans. Then came the soft, steady drip of water. He glanced at the dim blue glow coming from an old monitor, but something felt off. The desktop wallpaper wasn’t static—it was gently rippling.
The mystery of the computer screen aside, my favorite aspect of the build is the way every mundane detail is brought to life with ordinary LEGO elements: the post-it note the mouse, the scissors, the ranks of tiles archived away in crates. I’m pretty sure I had that exact computer sitting on my desk back in 2002. Mine never came to life with a mysterious blue screen, though.
Need some LEGO cargo hauled across the galaxy? Michael Thomas‘s ACC-312 Cargo Transport “Esperon Express” can get it done. No streamlined curves here, and that’s what’s great about it. The ACC-312 is purely functional, from its landing struts to the bridge tower to the angular stacks of cargo containers. A pair of white-suited spacemen oversee the cargo from platforms both fore and aft.
Here it is with the cargo containers removed (and the crew on shore leave). I love the stark, clean lines of the NASA-meets-Nostromo aesthetics. It all looks very dependable: rain or shine, asteroid or solar flare, the ACC-312 will deliver the goods to Alpha Centauri on time or you’ll get your money back.
Either Fedde Barendrecht has been listening to some mind-altering Prog Rock lately or he’s bummed about his daily work/home grind. Maybe a little of both? Whatever the case may be, his new LEGO creation is called Welcome to the Machine. It features a dreary, gray workplace, some cookie-cutter apartments, and a monorail to take you to and from both. That is all. Well, there’s also parkland but when you’re a small cog in a larger machine there isn’t time for dilly-dallying among the daffodils. What did you dream, Fedde? It’s alright, we told you what to dream. Now get back to work, ya bum!
