These mouse-like creatures look like they came straight out of some sci-fi piece! But in fact, Takamichi Irie modeled them after a real-life family of rodents called Dipodidae. As you can imagine, they are like a cross between a mouse and a kangaroo. Thankfully, it doesn’t take someone who studies animals to recognize the beauty in these little beasts, and best yet, they’re not the only amazing creatures Takamichi has created!
Click to see more incredible creatures
Garfield was actually created by Jim Davies back in 1978, so he’s not doing too badly for a 40-year old cat. I imagine his love of lasagna, hatred of Mondays, general lazy nature and obsession with eating have not necessarily aided his longevity. This instantly recognisable LEGO version was built by Vlad Efremkin and captures Garfield’s reluctance to get up out of his cat bed in the morning. Those heavy eyelids are a particularly effective use of Commander Cody or Poe Dameron’s shoulder armour.
I realize polar bears are an endangered species and killing machines, but can you blame me for wanting to pet one? Especially so after seeing this extra cute LEGO recreation by Jens Ohrndorf. The build expresses a lot of character and that is not just a consequence of using the eye tiles. The subtle angle of the neck and the shaping of the back are very characteristic for a polar bear. It is a feat of photography that Jens made the bear not blend in with the ice base under it.
The builder calls the photo on his Flickr Icebear 2.0, because it is actually a remake of an older build. The older version is well worth taking a look at, but the improvements in the updated build are quite obvious.
While the power of some dogs is in their incredible cuteness, other dogs — though certainly no less adorable in many ways — have been bred to meet the demanding needs of the humans that they work with. LEGO 7 follows up his amazing LEGO hot dog food truck with a trio of pooches who do amazing and important work.
Take a closer look at these LEGO working dogs
It’s nice to see another Lego enthusiast acknowledging a bigger movement in the technology world. This penguin or referred to as Tux is the mascot for the Linux operating system. The image of a slightly fat penguin after having a fulfilling meal was the part of the inspiration by the ‘father’ of Linux, Linus Torvalds. Timofey Tkachev does a beautiful rendition of Tux with only 60 pieces. I really need one of this on my desktop at work!
Watch your toes when you take a paddle on ForlornEmpire‘s brick-built beach — there are crabs about! The little red beastie looks great as he emerges from the water. Mixel-eye tiles mounted on minifigure buckets make effective eye stalks and add a heap of character — something that can be tough to achieve in single-colour models. The surrounding shoreline is perfect — simple and clean, with just enough detail to create a clear context without distracting attention from the crab itself.
The Tournament of Roses Parade is a fun event held annually in Pasadena, California on New Years Day. Bill Vollbrecht has built a LEGO model representing the typical parade float that can be seen during the parade. This particular float has an underwater theme with a shapely red and yellow octopus taking centre stage with tentacles reaching across the rest of the build. There’s a lot going on down on the sea bed, with divers finding buried treasure and a couple of mer-folk waving to their adoring crowd and Poseidon sitting on his golden throne. My favourite aspect of this build, other than the octopus itself, is the use of colour – I imagine the real parade floats are just as eye-catching.
It’s no wonder that “darling it’s better, down where it’s wetter” in such a colourful, fun-filled environment.
Somehow all the best LEGO creations designed by fans from South Korea are either huge jaw-dropping mechs or tiny adorable animals. This time it’s a pack of extremely good shiba puppers by CK HO. There are so many touches that make these models instantly recognizable, but I can’t help admiring their square pointy noses.
The idea of this model is so simple that you can build one yourself and make it any color you like! Moreover, you can easily customize you shiba by changing its eyes, ears or the shape of its muzzle. Click the link below to find the complete step-by-step building guide.
Click here for building instructions
2018 is the Year of the Dog, so I’ve been enjoying all the extra LEGO creations inspired by our canine best friends. There are even couple new dog-themed LEGO sets, like 30542 Cute Pug and the upcoming 40235 Year of the Dog, which seems to depict a Shiba Inu. Taiwanese builder ZiO Chao has captured the quirky personality of the miniature dachshund with this black and tan beauty.
ZiO has built an unmodified male dachshund, as this view of his business end illustrates. That tail looks ready for the show ring!
(Title shamelessly borrowed from one of my favorite new T-shirts, courtesy artist Gemma Correll.)
Paul Hetherington thinks that the average farm animal would want to cruise around the country roads, partying in a dilapidated, old, rotten Model T salvaged from the barn. Initially Paul set out to only construct the splendid animal heads and started with the googly eyed horse’s head. In the end, Party Animals took Paul five weeks to build. Once he had an idea of the animals’ size, this set the scale for the vehicle. Creating the Model T using a combination of lovely dark greens and rustic colours, Paul has even thought to include bird droppings.
Look out chickens!
You would be forgiven for thinking that this was a huge LEGO butterfly. It certainly seems to have the key features of one; four wings, clubbed antennae and a segmented body. In fact, Milan Sekiz has called this beastie a Leption, the combination of the Serbian words ‘leptir’ meaning butterfly and ‘avion’ meaning airplane. I love those shapely wings, Milan must have used some LEGO mathematics to work out how best to fill their centres with decorative, coloured parts.
You will notice that there is a pilot at the helm, holding on to some handlebars – is he steering or just along for the ride?
Fans of butterflies may enjoy revisiting these two previous butterflies we have highlighted; a colourful glass-like butterfly and a larger, realistic butterfly.
Earlier this month, we wrote about Brick to the Past‘s huge Scottish diorama, The Jacobite Risings, a build taking 10 months and using 1 million bricks. Within this creation spanning 16 square metres, were some adorable, microscale models of the Scottish wildlife found in the Cairngorms. Brick to the past have provided instructions so you can build your own Osprey, Deer, Capercaillie and Black Grouse.
Osprey are a bird of prey and returned from extinction within the UK to make their home in the Cairngorms.
Click for more instructions to make Scottish wildlife out of LEGO