Behold the hulking mech robot warrior that is B-43 by Simmon Kim. With its ominous red light and enormous black rifle, this beast looks like it could take on a small army itself. Look closely at the detail and you will notice minifig arms for fingers, some very cool arm connections, and an additional pair of guns. I love the inventive use of stickers to complete this custom build. The B-43 is well armed, well protected and well… awesome!
Listen up! Here’s something you don’t see every day — a cross-sectional model of the human ear, built from LEGO bricks. The work of South Korean builder Jin Kei, this is a large-scale sculpture with (as far as I can tell) an excellent level of accuracy detail. I’m a particular fan of the shaping of the Inner Ear organs in dark blue, and the rendering of the skull cross section in white with red dots to represent the honeycomb-like structure of bone.
I’d like to see more large-scale medical LEGO sculptures please. Could someone build me a model of a spleen?
Korean builder Bangoo H has created a nifty little display model of the world’s most famous passenger liner. The repeated pattern of blue and white slopes for the waves is a lovely representation.
But you must check out the video below to get the full effect. The mechanism of the rolling waves is truely hypnotic and far more peaceful than what passengers would have really experienced on that fateful North Atlantic voyage.
When you see a surreal and colourful sculpture such as French builder Pistash‘s “Colors in da head”, it will obviously catch your eye. But something else triggered in the back of my mind when I first saw it. There was a subconscious familiarity that drew me to it. Upon reading his description, I realized what that familiarity was. Pistash says that he was inspired by French artist Moebious — in particular, his Hendrix work — and as a teenager one of my favourite posters I had was Hendrix Voodoo Soup, for which Moebious did the cover art.
The Moebious inspiration notwithstanding, I think it is safe to say that as LEGO builders we can all relate to the feeling of ideas and inspiration pouring out of our minds when we build. It is certainly a more welcome feeling than the alternative…the dreaded builder’s block!
There are LEGO semi-trucks, and then there is this beautiful beast by Bricksonwheels. The builder has crafted a 1:13 scale Peterbilt 379 and it is just gorgeous. It has the appropriate amount of chrome to blind drivers running down I-40 in the summer.
This tanker combo is over 150cm long and made of over 9,000 bricks. Much of the chrome is custom. The builder says it took about 5 months of work, including over 200 LEDs (controlled via remote). This creates quite the impressive lightshow! The builder credits Brickstuff for the lights and Bricks4all.nl for the chrome.
Click to see more of this gorgeous truck!
Often LEGO creations are simplified, cartoony versions of what they represent, with some details skipped for a better overall effect. Hardly so in this medieval construction site by Jonas Kramm. There are more realistic details here than I could count, but I should point out the wooden supports and the amazing stone brick construction. Most importantly, the scene feels real. The composition and minifig action really make you feel like you are back in time.
Once in a while you see a build that not only looks great, but simply blows it out of the water, combining great details and huge playability potential. This build by Andrea Lattanzio of a famous hot rod workshop is surely one of them. What brings this place to life are the small details scattered around, such as the electrical poles and the junkyard at the side.
Andrea tells us a little history of the Mooneyes Headquarters, where gearheads and hot rod modders hang out to get their repairs and mods. Today, Mooneyes is still located in Santa Fe Springs, California, where it’s been since 1962. The builder is obviously a huge fan, and has painstakingly recreated the full workshop layout inside.
Click to see more of the Mooneyes shop
It’s nice to see a LEGO mech placed into some sort of context, and F@bz knocks it right out of the park with this diorama of an unusual mech making a nuisance of itself on a busy city street. The cars and commuter train give an idea of the scale of the fearsome machine, and while the rest of the backdrop is very plain, it creates a real focus on the mechanical star of the show.
The mech design is wonderfully weird — spindly legs, a relatively smooth carapace stuffed with greebly detailing, and that vast sail panel sticking up from the machine’s rear. I love when LEGO builders let their imaginations run riot in genres that generally have established “rules”. This model breaks just about all the norms — and does it with real style.
Collectible Minifigures Series 17 are due for release May 1 at the standard price of $3.99 USD, but if previous series have been any indicator, lucky shoppers may begin finding them earlier. We’ve already some reports that they’re on sale in LEGOLAND Billund, so if you’re excited about this series, start keeping an eye out now. We brought you an early review of Collectible Minifigures Series 17 a few weeks ago, but now to help you prepare for hunting for your favorite figures, we’re providing a Feel Guide.
As is standard for the Minifigures line, 71018 Collectible Minifigures Series 17 are each packaged in a blind foil bag, preventing buyers from knowing which characters they’re purchasing. That is, unless you use your nimble fingers to prod and poke the bags into revealing their secrets. We’ve already sorted an entire case of Series 17, so we’re here to help you figure out what you’re feeling inside each bag.
Click to read the full Feel Guide
This little stone troll build by Simon NH is a great showcase of mixing old and new elements together. The old grey elements really help sell the ancient nature of the creature, while the new parts such as the curved 1×1 tiles provide the necessary shaping. I’m especially fond of the nose and chin sections, which have been shaped with a beard and hair piece.
Toronto builder Mel Finelli has built a rather wonderful model of the character from the 2012 indie game Journey. I am the first one to admit that apart from Mario Kart I don’t know a ton about most video games, in particular when they are indie, but that doesn’t take away from the appreciation I have for Mel’s beautiful model. She has done a fantastic job of layering curves and slopes to create the flowing robes of the character, something that is anything but easy to do with LEGO.
The resulting 15″ character is interesting to look at from every angle, which Mel was nice enough to provide in her composite image. Those of you that are lucky enough to be going to BrickCan this weekend will be able to see the model in person.
Leibherr’s LTM 1090-4.1 mobile crane is an impressive piece of construction equipment with a top speed of 85km/h, a telescopic boom up to 50m, and a maximum load capacity of 90 tonnes. If that doesn’t impress you, then this scaled LEGO version of the mobile crane by Dirk Klijn should attract your attention. Dirk has spent 3 and a half years working on this 80cm long model that has 5 Sbrick‘s controlling 17 functions, including driving, working rear lights, indicators and reversing lights, boom and jib extension, power-lifting objects, steering and motion, as well as non-motorised functions such as full suspension, opening doors, and the manual folding jib.
On a model this big, there are plenty of details to pore over…