Tag Archives: Animals

The mechanical Huntsman never stops its search for prey

In usual fashion, builder Mitsuru Nikaido is back with another Mechanical Creature. This time it’s a Huntsman spider with some heavy Matrix vibes. This builder always has clever parts usage paired with an iconic color scheme that is simple but recognizable.

This model’s feature part would probably be the skis used in each of the spindly legs. But if you look closely, they’re also in the mouth of this creepy guy. Runner-up for parts usage would be the hinged bar holder, which is used to add some rigidity to the legs as well as to emulate the spider’s eight eyes. That Sentinel-style cephalothorax is a tight build that uses a Hero factory chest plate and hinged panels to hide its inner workings.

The abdomen continues the trend of the hinged panels to capture its curves. I always love how Mitsuru uses hoses and angled tiles in his models.

Hopefully, we never have these running around like the Boston Dynamic Spot bots showing up more prevalently nowadays. I will have no defenses against their terror.

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Toucan play that game.

A childhood spent watching sugary cereal commercials has conditioned me to believe that toucan beaks are some sort of highly advanced, fruit-detecting radar system. If that’s not true, don’t tell me. I’d rather not know. Regardless, Lee Nuo’s take on the keel-billed variety of toucan has got enough bright colors to give me some serious Saturday morning flashbacks. And they’re all pretty spot-on accurate to the real thing; from the lime green bill to the medium blue legs and toes (which make clever use of some minifigure hands). It all pops brilliantly against the body, made mostly from black Technic panels.

The delicate hum of nature

Hummingbirds are truly miraculous little creatures. It’s incredible how something so small and delicate can achieve such monumental tasks. For example, they can migrate hundreds of miles between the summer and winter seasons. Builder LEGO Monkey pays tribute to these little guys with this great vignette, and the composition is nicely done. The tall blades of grass, “large” flower, and broken stick set the scale well. I’m particularly fond of the little ladybug, created using the minifigure costume element attached to a stud with Black Panther ears to cap it off.

If you like this, check out our other nature related builds! In particular, we have loads of examples of excellent LEGO birds.

The most adorable eyes on the whole beach

I won’t tell you what came to Matt Goldberg‘s mind first: this tiny adorable crab in white or the way to use a snail shell piece from Belville. The way the shell fits this crab is amazing; I particularly love the piece’s asymmetrical shape, which gives the crab a uniquely natural feel. While the crab itself isn’t extraordinary, I guess it’s more than enough for this build. Clean and neat, I wouldn’t ever agree to take it apart!

Build a mobile home, and make it snappy

When building LEGO models I’ve always struggled to effectively combine Bionicle and regular System bricks, so I’m in awe of those builders who regularly do so and make it appear effortless. I’m sure this brilliant model by Patrick Biggs was anything but — it bears the hallmarks of a painstaking attention to detail in the shaping and placing of every piece. The crab alone is a smart piece of building, but the addition of a fantastical castle as the hermit’s home is a well-built stroke of genius. The colour contrasts are excellent too, popping against that grey-blue backdrop. Lovely stuff.

The Muppet Show or bust

For me, The Muppet Show was the perfect in-between show for those in-between years. It wasn’t quite a cartoon, and it wasn’t quite as boring as those serious shows the grownups watched. It came on in the evening, so you felt just a little bit grownup watching it without going into Murder, She Wrote territory. A LEGO builder who goes by the name j-p-30 his us right in the between childhood and adulthood feels with these three clever busts of some of our favorite Muppet friends. We have poor Beaker, whose scientific experiments tend to end in fiery calamity. Gonzo was the weird bendy-nosed Muppet Show pianist, and the less said about Animal’s outrageous antics, the better. All together, you’ve got the makings of a trio that could make us giggle even if Trapper John M.D. was totally your jam. Well done, Mr. j-p-30!

A new way to do layered shadowboxes

I have to be honest, I’m pretty jealous I hadn’t thought of this myself. Whenever I go to a comic-con, I always spend a bit of time ogling over the booths with lighted, layered-paper shadowboxes. How did I never think to make one with LEGO?! Well, it looks like filbrick beat me to it! First up is a shadowbox classic: a stag in the woods. I love that the builder chose to go with this color gradient. It does appear that he may have been inspired by the work of talented LEGO artist Grantmasters to complete the top portion of the stag itself.

Next up is an astronaut floating in space. The colors and shapes are both awesome and trippy at the same time! The extra window on the side is a cool touch too. While both builds are renders, and I’m not sure if real-life replicas in these specific colors would be possible, they sure are fascinating!

I’m going to have to test this concept out with some of my own designs! How about you? What images would you create?

Not your thing? That’s okay – we have tons of other art builds for you to check out! We also have all sorts of cool builds by Grantmasters that you won’t want to miss!

Imagine how a mechanical cicada would sound...

As you may already know, cicadas are the loudest insect on the planet. When they “sing” together (more like radio static, clicking, and rattling) they are one of the most deafening animals in the world in general. Pretty cool for such a small creature! But what would a giant mecha cicada, like this LEGO one by Mitsuru Nikaido, sound like? I’m guessing a helicopter mixed with a chainsaw. But enough about that. Just look at this awesome build!

It’s all sorts of awesome in terms of techniques and body shaping. The segmentation is excellent, and I’m particularly fond of the batarang shields on the abdomen. The eyes, wings, and legs are spot-on too!

Fun fact: cicadas are basically living musical instruments (even if we don’t think of it the same way). Yep, that’s right! They use muscles in their sides to squeeze and accordion “ribs” surrounding two membranes known as tymbals to create different chirps. And their abdomens are hollow so that they can amplify those sounds. Why? That’s how they find a lady-friend! Ahhh, the song of love.

Another fun fact: Mitsuru Nikaido is the epic master of mecha animals. You’re not going to want to miss some of his other incredible works of art. My favorite might be the mecha snail!

As solid as a lone wolf

Did you know that real lone wolves (the four-legged kind) are actually essential for wolf survival? The ones who choose to go their own way as a juvenile do so to find new territory and start their own pack. They are brave and resourceful and keep the genes strong by preventing inbreeding. This LEGO wolf by Mike Nieves is strong in more ways than one. Its stoic, determined expression makes way for solid body-shaping techniques and overall structure. From nose to tail, shoulder to paw, the body-in-motion pose is on-point.

While you’re here, take a look at a couple more of Mike’s builds, as well as tons of other animal-related LEGO creations.

Smooth as a baby’s... bottlenose?

I’m always impressed when a builder manages to make LEGO models completely smooth. Going stud-less can be hard, and even harder when dealing with organic shapes. This bottlenose dolphin built by Ken Ito (暁工房) may show just a few studs, but the body shaping is superb! The arch of the back end and tail are particularly well-executed.

It seems as though this builder has a knack and a penchant for these kinds of creations. Marine life is just a snippet of what he can do. Stick around to see more like this!

Efforts continue in cataloging the mechanical tree of life

The fantastic mechanical creatures of Mitsuru Nikaido have long fascinated me. As I was emerging from the dark ages of my LEGO obsession, the robotic structures of Mitsuru’s models opened my eyes to just what was possible within the LEGO system. While each creature is a dead ringer for their biological inspirations, they also stand separately from them. Their form and selective color-blocking create eye-catching robotic designs. Mitsuru mostly sticks to a light or dark bluish grey contrasting with white and a pop of bright light orange. This simple palette gives a builder plenty of parts to play with though and Mitsuru certainly takes advantage of his options. Let’s take a moment to check out his latest models of a Water bear and a Snail.

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There once was a little macaw

The smooth body of this little LEGO scarlet macaw, built by Nikita Filatov, contrasts perfectly with the texture of the branch she sits on. Speaking of which, the organic texturing and overall structure/shaping are nicely done in both pieces. The core of the branch has to be pretty strong to support the bird! The only thing missing is a few more tail feathers, but soon this youngster will be taking flight!

We’ve got what you need if you’re interested in seeing more builds of colorful birds! And if you’re looking for a menagerie, we have a whole zoo’s worth of awesome animal builds too!

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