These two brave souls have certainly been put through the wringer by Graham Gidman. A horde of undead creatures is swarming their camp and they’ve buried two of their own. And given the lack of snow on those graves, I’d say those deaths were recent. Emotions have to be running high. In spite of the horror depicted, Graham’s LEGO scene is actually quite lovely. The texture on the bridge looks crumbly and the icy river makes my teeth chatter just looking at it.
In addition to some of the best LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick also brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the second week of May 2017. (Shout-out to all the moms out there!)
TBB NEWS, REVIEWS & INSTRUCTIONS: This week we reviewed a massive rocket, got a sneak peek at some upcoming sets, and learned that no one keeps Unikitty in a corner.
OTHER LEGO NEWS: Besides a couple of noticeable pieces of news, this week was pretty uneventful in the LEGO themed part of the web. Here are the best of the rest.
Actually a more exact title would be that home is where one’s hearthstone is set to, but I digress. For those not in the know, the hearthstone is an item in World of Warcraft that returns its user to their home. It’s also the icon of the digital card game Hearthstone. I be planning to build this iconic little pebble for a few years now, but it was always at the bottom of the list, until I decided to make it as a concept build for my LUG.
There should be instructions available at one point, though I can’t say when. Any purists bothered by the sticky tape over the light-up spiral can be at ease, as it is only meant for support in transport and handling by less than careful hands. Oh, and it also lights up!
It’s quite rare to see a fully functioning roller coaster, especially one this large and complex and using 100% off-the-shelf LEGO elements. It does a look a little fragile at times, with the whole structure wobbling away in the high speed turns, but I’m pretty sure builder Hoezer2 has got it all figured out and it’s gonna hold up. The construction not only has the look and feel of a real roller coaster, but the turns and runs actually have a top speed of 10.3 kmh (6.4 mph) thanks to the use of Mindstorms EV3 motors and sensors.
I still can’t quite grasp how those carriages stay fixed to the tracks, which has always been my number one fear of roller coasters. But in the world of LEGO, minifigures don’t feel pain so it’s all good if they have to endure the occasional derailment.
Built for the 2017 Middle Earth LEGO Olympics, Farewell We Call to Hearth and Hall! is a beautiful little vignette based on J.R.R Tolkien’s song of the same name that Merry and Pippin sing on the night before they leave the Shire. John Snyder has portrayed the three main themes of the song: hearth and home, travel through the wild, and Rivendell.
The hobbit hole looks great. I also love the tree leaves on grass stalks and intricate domed building on levers! But most impressive is how John has stitched the three scenes together with the irregular rock shapes in the forest.
No need for frantic searching to find the nearest fuel station for this LEGO starfighter, that goes by the intimidating name D.I.E Fighter. The builder of this fine ship, Pascal Schmidt, tells us that D.I.E. actually stands for Dual Ion Engine, but I don’t think it comes in peace. Those four blue panels are actually high performance solar panels that provide power, as long as the fighter doesn’t enter any long dark wormholes I assume. With some nice nods to Neo Classic Space with the grey hull and bumblebee stripes, there’s a lot to love about this little fighter. Don’t look too hard for the pilot though, he is hidden inside the opaque, spherical central cockpit.
This starfighter ship was built as an entry to the Real World +200 Starfighter Contest currently running on Flickr until May 15th, 2017. Entries must be a minifigure scale starfighter (with at least one minifig pilot) which could realistically exist in 200 years, assuming no magic warp engines, gravity techno babble or deflector shields. Get building…
This odd looking chap sitting at the piano, smoking a cigarette and tinkling the keys may not be known to everyone as a character from the film Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque) [tr. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life]. The film tells the story of French singer Serge Gainsbourg, from growing up in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris, through his successful songwriting years in the 1960s. Pedro Vezini has masterfully built Gainsbourg’s grotesque alter ego with his large nose, long thin fingers, and an affection for cigarettes and drinking – a character who personifies all of the singer’s worst habits.
What started out as a dare to find a use for the giant technic gears from LEGO’s 2003 Hailfire Droid set has turned into this charming LEGO representation of a picnic in the city. Inspired by fond memories of summer bike rides, Canadian builder Mel Finelli has made ingenious use of many unusual parts to create an almost photorealistic scene. From the reproduction vintage ’30s LaFrance bicycle, retro radio, wicker basket full of goodies and Kensington lamp post, every component of this build demands closer examination to truly appreciate the techniques and finer details. No wonder then that this build won Best in Show when it debuted at BrickCan 2017 in Vancouver last month.
There’s something magical about the classic Star Wars vehicles. They’ve withstood the test of time and remain a constant source of inspiration for LEGO builders. Miro Dudas is a skilled builder with a love for all things in a galaxy far far away, creating this fantastic mini AT-AT. This small AT-AT is a wonderful build with clean lines and almost no visible studs.
It even has the added articulation of bringing the AT-AT to its knees as in the movie scene. There’s the nice touch of footprints in the snow platform. The best part of it all? You get to recreate this scene in your own home, once you gather the parts from this list. Instructions can be downloaded from Miro’s site.
Let’s jump ahead a few hundred years, after all of the great advancements in the private space industry, and head on an interstellar adventure in the RSS Pale Blue Dot and RSS Mote of Dust by Roland Peschetz. These ships look they belong in some of my favorite hard scifi movies doing impossible things. The Pale Blue Dot came first, with Mote of Dust improving on the advanced technology (and, as the builder says, improving on his build skills!).
This ship just feels heavy – the excellent sculpting and greebling with the landing gear, airlocks, and engine just add heft to this impressive ship.
Following up on some leaked news from a month ago, Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers have now officially announced that The LEGO Movie’s Unikitty is getting her own animated TV show. Joining Unikitty at her castle in Cloud Cuckoo Land are her little brother and best friend Puppycorn (we originally guessed his name would be Unipuppy), her trusty bodyguard Hawkodile, and the resident scientist Dr. Fox. The show will explore Unikitty’s adventures making sure everyone is happy while trying not to lose her temper.
No specific release date has been announced yet, and it is still unknown whether there will be official LEGO sets based on this show, as we saw with the Mixels, Ninjago and Star Wars shows. And sad news for LEGO Movie purists: Alison Brie will not be voicing the titular character. But stay positive! That job will fall to veteran voice actor Tara Strong, best known for her work as Raven on Teen Titans Go! and Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony.
Strong is no stranger to the LEGO universe, having voiced a plethora of characters in LEGO Dimensions including Harley Quinn and Gail from The LEGO Movie, as well as the upcoming but unreleased Raven and Bubbles characters.
From the press release, here is the complete description of the show:
As ruler of the kingdom, Unikitty has busy days full of royal responsibilities. Unikitty is most interested in making sure everyone is happy and ridding the kingdom of negativity, but don’t misunderstand her optimism – she is one kitty not to be crossed. While she may be full of boundless energy and creativity, Unikitty is a force to be reckoned with if anyone gets in the way of spreading her positive vibes, especially if anyone makes her little brother and best friend, Puppycorn, sad. Also living in the castle are Dr. Fox, the resident scientist, and Unikitty’s trusty bodyguard, Hawkodile. Through it all, Unikitty and her friends make sure that every day is the happiest and most creative ever.
The voice cast is led by Tara Strong (Teen Titans Go!) and Grey Griffin (Be Cool Scooby-Doo!) along with Kate Micucci (Be Cool Scooby-Doo!), Roger Craig Smith (Regular Show), Eric Bauza (The Adventures of Puss in Boots) and H. Michael Croner (Review).
The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Movie producers Dan Lin, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Roy Lee, Jill Wilfert executive produce with Sam Register (Teen Titans Go). Aaron Horvath (Teen Titans Go!) is supervising producer. Edward Skudder (Dick Figures) and Lynn Wang (Star vs. Forces of Evil) serve as producers.
Four years of building and gathering parts led to an incredible showroom of LEGO Ferrari models by Ryan Link. The build uses over 36,000 parts: 23,000 parts form the building with a 5,000-piece transporter; finally, eight Ferrari models (including the official Ferrari F40 set) adding another 8,000 parts.
The dealership interior is well lit by LEDs and built in exquisite detail, with excellent brick-built Ferrari lettering and graphics lining the walls. Of course, this is all to house and showcase the intricate custom built supercars.
Be sure to check out more photos of each of Ryan’s Ferrari models individually on Flickr.
