Tag Archives: Australia

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

In 90,000 LEGO bricks, MLTC recreates the Newport Workshops

Unofficially, LEGO trains occupy the L-gauge in the model train community. And it’s in this scale that the Melbourne LEGO Train Club presented their recreation of the Newport Railway Workshops. With pictures provided by Alexander (narrow_gauge), this stunning creation just made its debut at the AMRA 2023 Model Railway Show in Melbourne, AU this past weekend. The workshops act to maintain and refurbish trains, as it has for well over a century. And MLTC did quite the job shrinking the campus down to minifigure-scale

MLTC Newport Workshops Project

Explore more of the Newport Workshops below

A kooky koala using just thirty LEGO pieces

We’re used to seeing larger LEGO creations from Dan Ko but this time he presents a cute koala using only thirty pieces. He tells us the koala is among the wildest and most dangerous animals in the world, if not the whole universe. Wait, does Dan know something we don’t? I was already aware Australia housed thousands of animals hellbent on killing us all but I didn’t know the koala was among them. Crikey!

In the wild

The car that is business up front, party in the back

I wish the car-truck still existed in the US. These were the El Caminos and Rancheros from the fifties to the eighties. They, like the mullet, are a timeless classic that could only be operated if the radio was tuned to classic rock and the driver wore either no shirt or one without sleeves. A six-pack of Schlitz was sometimes included. Australia, as it turns out, kept that beautiful dream alive right up until 2017 with the Holden Ute. Here we see a stunning LEGO example built by Chris Elliott. It’s the 1971 Turbo Coupe Utility, making it precisely as old as I am. Frankly, I’m not sure if my paint job and luster have held up as well as this beautiful machine. While my chrome is also not as shiny, my ability to air-guitar to Iron Maiden is still legendary, so that’s something.

1971 Aussie Turbo Coupe Utility (Ute)

Not to make this all about me but if you really want to go back in time, check out an old offering of the 1971 Ute from yours, truly. Chris tells us his version received the “Staff Favorite” award at Brickfair Virginia 2022. Bravo! Here it is posed next to it’s major award.

1971 Aussie Turbo Coupe Utility (Ute)