The latest Chinese architectural wonder by qian yj depicts an old residential building in the city of Huizhou. The tall white walls enclose an intimate courtyard surrounded by ornate two-storey wooden houses. The scene is set amidst narrow canals interlaced with quaint sidewalks. Who wouldn’t want to take a vacation in such a poetic destination?
Back in the 1770s a revolution was about to take place — not the sort of revolution that relies on weapons — but a steam-powered revolution that drove the masses from the fields to the factories. James Watt was a famous Scottish mechanical engineer and chemist who is most famous for his work designing and perfecting the steam engine, which helped to drive the Industrial Revolution. Nick Barrett has built the Watt Beam engine, complete with the large beam across the top, pistons, flywheel and crank, all made of LEGO bricks. There’s a lot to admire in this model — especially those pistons and the flywheel — but the detail of adding brick-built lettering? Watt a nice touch.
Isn’t it marvellous what builders are able to come up with using literally handfuls of LEGO bricks? We’ve featured Grantmasters microscale slight of hand before. Looking at this elegant build, it’s possible to imagine fields of these thirsty beasts thundering the Great Plains in vast numbers. I’ll leave you with these inspirational words from a Buffalo: Stand your ground. Have a tough hide. Keep moving on. Cherish wide open spaces. Have a strong spirit. Roam wild and free. Let the chips fall where they may!
BrickHeadz is a genre determined by some strict guidelines. However Krzysztof J does an awesome job of building beyond any rules. A ridiculously huge and funny trumpet and a wide glowing smile are what making a little figurine of Louis Armstrong instantly recognizable. Bonus points for such a smart one-piece classic bowtie.
In traditional Chinese weddings, the bride is hidden from the public until marriage. The golden beads, a sign of wealth and fortune, acts as a veil to shield her face from curious onlookers. The ultra-rich showcase their wealth with intricate gold designs very much like the LEGO headdress built by Timothy Ng. Traditionally, the color red is very much a symbol of loyalty, fertility, and love and thus very much plays a vital role in Chinese weddings.
See more of this amazing LEGO headdress
Back in January 2017, I started probably my most ambitious project yet: a full cosplay of Tracer, the time-jumping mascot of the wildly popular team-based shooter game Overwatch, with LEGO elements. While the full costume is not yet complete, I reached a point in the project worth sharing, just in time for Brickworld Chicago this week. I completed her Pulse Pistols, Pulse Bomb, and Chronal Accelerator, which grants her full in-game set of abilities.
I wrote about the Pulse Pistols in depth back in March, so I will cover the Pulse Bomb and Chronal Accelerator here. The Pulse Bomb, her ultimate ability, consists of two concentric gray circles surrounded by a black triangular trim. The circle held together by click hinges would normally require sixteen segments, but to maintain even angular spacing of the flame orange slopes and black trim, I reduced that to fifteen.
The Chronal Accelerator was the most difficult part of her arsenal to construct. I decided early on in its construction that the support straps would be held together by ball-and-socket joints like those commonly found in the Mixel series, as they are strong connections but also flexible enough for the harness to be worn on different body types.
The whole harness was built front to back. The straps lined up in the front nicely; however, matching the angles they made with the reactor in the back was tricky. Angled Technic liftarms and flexible connection points received the straps in the rear, but still allow for it to be adjustable.
The goggles are also wearable. As tempting as it was, I didn’t want to force the use of a LEGO canopy if it didn’t match the shape of the goggles in the game. Fortunately, the two canopies I used were a close fit. Vision is slightly distorted with the goggles on, but one can see through them.
See more photos of the full arsenal on Flickr, and watch for the demo video to go live on YouTube in the very near future.
You may remember Alex Jones‘ amazing LEGO Transformers that we featured in action recently. Now Alex has teamed up with builder Joachim Klang to create a book called Tips for Kids: Transformers: Cool Projects for your LEGO Bricks. In this preview for the book, which is scheduled for release in July, we see a Medi-bot repairing one of the Autobots with help from Teletraan I, the semi-sentient computer that runs the Autobots’ spaceship and base of operations, the Ark.
Much like his other builds, the attention to detail here is magnificent. A fantastic creation enhanced with creative lighting and a little Photoshop editing around that pink holobrick. All these ingredients help to bring the robots in disguise to life in LEGO form. If you want to see more of these wonderful images, good news: the book will have over 200 pages, and is available for pre-order right now.
The placing of a LEGO model in a natural environment generally makes for poor photos which ruin the illusion of scale. However, this bejewelled clockwork dragonfly by Duncan Lindbo is the exception to the rule. The parts and colour choices here are perfect, creating a wonderful impression of functional mechanical elements and a smart clockpunk aesthetic. Displaying the dragonfly on a real lily-pad turns out to be a stroke of genius, highlighting the model’s non-biological nature, and perhaps prompting musings amongst more philosophical viewers on the contrast and blurred boundaries between artifice and life.
Microscale LEGO building can be a real showcase for imaginative parts usage. The technique used for the trees and hedges in this delightful little park by Josephine Monterosso is fantastic: twisted rubber bands. This clever idea provides a genuine organic feel — something hard to achieve with bricks at this scale — and adds a level of detail which makes the scene look much bigger than it really is. Brilliant building.
It’s been months since The LEGO Batman Movie hit screens to become one of the best pictures of the year. But the party isn’t over — five more LEGO sets are just out, bringing some of Batman’s most loveable enemies. The Brothers Brick has already covered the summer wave’s flagship, 70917 The Ultimate Batmobile, but the smaller boxes still hold some surprises. 70913 Scarecrow Fearful Face-off has 141 pieces, making it the third-smallest box among the LEGO Batman Movie sets, but its retail price of $14.99 makes it a perfect choice for Bat-fans looking to add to their collection.
It’s not the first time Batman has met Scarecrow in this line. In 70910 Scarecrow Special Delivery the villain tried to break into the Gotham energy plant disguised as a pizza delivery driver. This time the bad guy shows up piloting a helipcopter and bombarding the facility with fear gas bombs.
Click to read the rest of our review
Come and live in Haymarket — be part of a peaceful and serene community. Andrew Tate‘s chosen colors are the typical LEGO building hues yet the combinations he’s put together here are delightful. The overall feel and theme reminds me of the Bike Shop & Cafe Set (31026) but with an extended modular size. I’d happily wait in line to get one of these if it was ever to become a real set!
Builder Vincent Kiew recreates a faithful representation of a row of shophouses in Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The little street has been the bustling heart of the city’s Chinatown since the late 19th century, and these buildings still stand today, preserved and maintained for future generations.
I’ve visited the street in real life myself, and it really is quite a sight to see. This LEGO scene is accurate right down to the little details, such as the open-top trucks and the store signage. Vincent has also built a version of the street depicting it in an earlier time, when mud and cobbles would have been home to horse-drawn carts.
