When you think of Star Wars, the first things that come to mind are likely spaceships and laser swords. But cantinas occupy an only slightly less iconic place in the lore of that galaxy far, far away. One of those seedy, backwater bars is the Half-Pint Cantina, proprietor Hass Mavoc, brought to us in LEGO form by bcinman6. A character from the builder’s own imagination, Hass is a Sarian barkeep with some excellent shaping to achieve his alien features. Most notable are the red Hulk arms used behind the eyes and the space armor for the mouth.
Category Archives: LEGO
The spectacular, marvellous and wonderful Incredibles
We’ve seen great builds of the Parr family before, but these Incredibles by Philippe Moisan take them to a whole new scale. Despite the somewhat minimalist styyle, they subtly yet splendidly capture the essence of each of the characters in their animated form. One can tell how each LEGO part was specially chosen for a particular reason. For instance, Mr. Incredible’s mask looks perfect made with only the 1×2 rounded plate with open studs. And you have to love the creative simplification of the insignia on his chest, which is simply an incredible work of art!
We’re off to the races on this rad bike
If you ask me, cafe racers are about the coolest style of motorcycle out there. And you can’t get much better than a BMW motorcycle, so this sweet LEGO build by George Panteleon of a BMW R100 Cafe Racer is about as good as it gets. George’s bike-building skills are on full display here, with a perfect frame made of Technic elements combined with a motor and tank of regular System bits. It’s scaled to match the official LEGO BMW R 1200 GS bike, sharing tires with the roadster. Now if only LEGO would make this their next motorcycle kit…
The classic ‘ol Radio Flyer Wagon is still alive!
Scroll fast enough and you’d probably think this version by 1ssac W. is the real deal, not a LEGO build. I have to admit, though I never owned one of these pull wagons they certainly are recognizable as ever! They’re so classically embedded into pop-culture, and I’m pleasantly surprised to learn that the Radio Flyer company is still well and alive till today after a century. Every kid needs one of these at some point in their childhood. I really like the finer details of how the builder thought outside the box to use a trimmed part of red flex hose for the center caps of the wheels, and more for the handle.
A sturdy pair of heavy-hitting hardsuits
Sometimes a particular LEGO part can define a model in a way that no other part can. This pair of Maschinen Krieger or Ma.K hardsuits by Marco Marozzi uses a very obscure, and very interesting part from the Scala theme, a saddle to form the torso and primary focal point. But that is not the only fun part use. The sniper uses the head of a LEGO Porg on its chest plate.
While the heavy Gatlin gunner is sporting what looks like an Endor rebel helmet.
One fun detail about these squat and sturdy hardsuits is that they were built to fit an equally squat Duplo pilot
His mission: to build what no man has built before.
The title doesn’t lie, because although this vessel by the name of USS Fontana may look like it flew straight out of one of the many Star Trek screenplays, Ben Smith has built what no man has built before, because this ship is actually of his own design. Complete with working lights and custom stickers, the builder has done an excellent job capturing the Star Trek aesthetic. The signature round body of the ship is expertly built; take note of the beautiful tan and sand green stripe around the bridge, which I imagine wasn’t easy to accomplish.
The back of the ship is fully detailed as well, with a hanger bay for research shuttles to launch from and explore the unknown planets below.
Last eight finalists of LEGO and BrickLink’s AFOL Designer Program revealed [News]
The second half of AFOL Designer Program finalists have been revealed, bringing the total and final number of designs to 16. (Take a look at the first eight finalists here.) The initiative was launched by LEGO in cooperation with BrickLink to bring fan designs to life.
Crowdfunding for finalists will begin on February 1st, and if a set reaches its pre-sales goal, it will then be produced and shipped by BrickLink. Voting will take place on BrickLink’s AFOL Designer Program homepage, which also features more photos of each of these finalists.
Click to see the AFOL Designer Program finalists
The Nian beast roams again this Lunar New Year
According to Chinese lore, the Nian beast emerges each New Year’s to prey on the world of men, thwarted only by its fear of the color red. This was among the origins for that color’s prevalence in Chinese New Year’s celebrations, which this year falls on Feb. 5. This magnificent LEGO Nian by TBB-regular Jonas Kramm shows the creature in all its splendid glory, ready to wander the countryside in search of unfortunate humans to feed upon after its winter slumber. Everything about this model looks polished, but the tiny detail that struck me was the perfect manner in which the Bionicle ball sockets are integrated into the head to hold the teal eyes.
Brick Wave Off Kanagawa
The world-famous Great Wave Off Kanagawa print by Japanese painter Hokusai gets the LEGO treatment in this great piece of work by koffiemoc. The model’s inspiration is immediately recognisable — from the overall colour scheme, the towering wave threatening the three boats, through to the triangular white peak of Mount Fuji in the central distance. The builder has added in some of the more subtle details of the artwork too — the crests of the waves are tipped with clips, capturing Hokusai’s depiction of the water having claws. There is also the triangular shape of the foreground wave, mirroring the form of the background mountain. This is a beautiful brick-built tribute to a beautiful image.
1980s Tape-recording technology
Builder Sven Franic completed a LEGO tape recorder that is a blast from the past. Thanks to Sven’s attention to detail, it looks almost like the real thing. One of the buttons is pressed down, and a cassette tape is visible through the clear window. The power cord is unplugged, revealing the machine’s two-pronged outlet. I especially like how Sven used the Tile, Modified 1 x 1 with Tooth / Ear Vertical (used as floppy ears in Unikitty figures) for the fast-forward and play buttons. They almost look like they were made for this build.
A colorful mecha with colorful friends
Mecha models come in all sorts of shapes and colors, but every now and then, a creation comes along that really breaks the mold and demonstrates clear thought and careful design. This mechanical robot/vehicle/gun platform by Chokolat Shadow strikes a stunning balance between color blocking and engineering. I mean, of course, red and gold go well together, but the additional use of sand green looks surprisingly nice. The large wheels under the forearms and the smaller ones on the calves are suggestive of an interesting vehicle configuration, as well.
The creator clearly has a narrative in mind to connect this creation to a larger world, as demonstrated by the collection of support mechs and vehicles that share this unique color scheme.
Under moonlit night, the Batwing takes flight.
Growing up, I was a huge fan of Batman: The Animated Series. One of the highlights of the show was seeing Batman fight crime in his bat-themed vehicles, including the Batwing. Jerry Builds Bricks has reproduced the Batwing in LEGO form, and it looks as slick and fast as its animated counterpart. A mixture of curved and angled slopes help form the iconic fuselage, while a combination of curved slopes and hinges are used to pull off the iconic sweeping curves of the wings. Jerry’s Batwing also looks to be the perfect size for “swooshing” back and forth.