Tag Archives: Aido Kessler

Pry it from my cold, dead hands, mate!

Apparently, Australia had gun-toting outlaws, too. Aido Kessler has built a LEGO replica of Ned Kelly, an Australian outlaw who roamed the Land Down Under almost 150 years ago. He was known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armor with an iconic helmet. What is neat about this is it was the official convention model at Brickvention this past weekend. So, if you were there, it is possible that you could have also gotten -uh-your cold, dead hands on this hot exclusive model. Aido tells us it’s very odd seeing your creation on the front of a box, an experience not many of us can boast. He must be having the best week ever as we have recently featured another of his creations. Check it out as well as many of his other amazing works in our Aido Kessler archives.

Bushranger

Break free of the chains that bind you – and turn them into a boat

Aido K‘s latest LEGO masterpiece has left me lost for words. Well, not completely speechless – but this is a family-friendly website, so I can’t publish my audible reaction. My favourite genre of creation – if you can call it that – is people using the engineered properties of the LEGO system of parts in unusual ways. That’s where the idea for this build came in: LEGO bricks are designed to work under compression – that is, being squashed together. Aido turned that on its head, so this uses elements in tension (i.e. being pulled). So that boat in the middle is almost entirely shaped by chains under tension and the pull of gravity. It’s beautiful!

Chain Boat

That means the boat can fold down flat for easy transport – which is just as well, as this model made its debut at the Brickvention show in Melbourne over the weekend. Seeing the boat rise from the chains is very satisfying!

A modern brick for modern times

Builder Aido Kessler wants the future of LEGO today with the brick of their dreams, as submitted to New Elementary’s Make a Wishbrick contest. While the idea presented, a headlight brick minus its foot, is something that’s been on my wish list for longer than I can remember, that’s actually not my favorite part of this build. In an effort to zhuzh up the design, Aido added a living quarters inside a technologically advanced brick. The vignette very much feels like a LEGO-themed take on The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, my favorite bit of science-fiction. I love the clean interior juxtaposed with the technological textures on the exterior, and the subtle hints of trans-light blue really drive home the space-age look. Now will our hero continue to inhabit his little brick-built cube, or will he break free with his new part and let his creativity run wild?

Wishbrick

Just a few pieces create an epic scene.

Aido Kessler knows that LEGO can be an expensive hobby. As piece counts in official sets continue to rise, so too does the price of the sets. Heck, I paid less for my first car than I did for certain Star Wars sets on display in my house. That’s why it’s so nice of Aido to remind us that you don’t always need a lot of bricks to stage an epic build. Here, Aido has recreated the iconic Battle of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back with scarcely more than a dozen pieces. It’s a budget build that’s big on blockbuster action.

Budget Hoth

From the Star Wars expanded universe comes the Outrider

We all love the Millennium Falcon and other ships from the Star Wars franchise but it’s neat when someone pays attention to the ships that were later inserted into the background in one special edition or another. My case in point, this LEGO YT-2400 Outrider built by Aido Kessler. It resembles the Millennium Falcon a bit in the sense that it’s saucer-shaped, has circular exhaust ports and pushes the whole asymmetrical cockpit motif to the Nth degree. From there this odd ship exudes its own personality. I love the complex curves along the leading edge as well as the turret cannon. Aido tells us this model comprises of more than four-thousand pieces and weighs eleven pounds (5kg). In some instances this heavy creation was pushed to a breaking point; a literal breaking point and needed to be restructured several times.

YT-2400

The end result is breathtaking and we’re glad he was up for the difficult task. This rear view showcases some added light functions that makes this model truly a sight to behold.

YT-2400

Not so big LEGO IDEAS

LEGO Ideas has become quite a popular theme over the last few years, and while the sets don’t really all go together, many LEGO fans have taken to collecting all the Ideas sets. All those sets take up space though, but Aido Kessler has a great solution: microscale versions!

Micro Ideas

He’s even included some larger scenery to surround the miniature sets. Between the scale and the scenery, there are some pretty fun and innovative parts usages at play. I’m particularly fond of the transparent tiles sticking out of the sideways blue water to simulate waves off the coast of the Old Fishing Store. Using Asajj Ventress’ lightsaber as a palm tree trunk gives it just the right sway. The robot hand makes the perfect little arms for the tyrannosaurus fossil. The skeleton arms and transparent antenna make excellent undersea structure for the microscale Shinkai 6500 Submarine to explore.