Tag Archives: Cornbuilder

Bones-to-Brick collaboration celebrates prehistoric life in LEGO

From Johnny Thunder to Jurassic World, LEGO has a long history of sets featuring dinosaurs and other prehistoric life, but as much fun as it can be to pose a mighty molded Spinosaurus, we’re partial to brick-built dinos, like a Creator 3-in-1 T.Rex or the recent Mosasaurus Boat Mission. Of course, our favorite creatures of all are original creations from the LEGO building community, like those that were just unearthed as part of the Bones to Brick collaboration. Seven talented builders contributed an ancient creature in their own style, and we’re excited to share the full collaboration. These builders are also all veterans of the BioCup, the annual competition that also kicks off this month, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing more from this crew very soon!

J6Crash presents Ankylosaurus magniventris, an armored dinosaur of the late Cretaceous. Sand blue and black bricks make a pleasing combo, and the technique of laying claw elements flat to create ridges along the back is brilliant.

Benjamin Anderson is next up with Dimetrodon limbatus, a creature of the Cisuralian period, some 40 million years before dinosaurs showed up. There’s a lot to love about Benjamin’s creation, but I’m smitten by the spine sail with a colorful gradient created from alternating teeth.

The paleontology tour continues after the break

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Build your own baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng [Instructions]

Pygmy Hippo calf Moo Deng is just two months old and already is the viral star of Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo. She has her own makeup trend, merch, cryptocurrency, and now, thanks to Cornbuilder, her own LEGO fan model. Cornbuilder perfectly captures Moo Deng’s bouncy meatball energy, and thanks to instructions generously shared by the builder, you can too!

Click here for Cornbuilder’s MOO DENG INSTRUCTIONS.

Terror of the Cretaceous seas

Two and a half years in the making, builder Cornbuilder gives us an awesome LEGO representation of a prehistoric terror. Meet the Tylosaurus Proriger, one of the largest known specimens of mosasaur. The average length of these mosasaurs was between 12-15 meters. To put that into perspective, the biggest predator in present-day oceans is the orca, which measures around 5-8 meters. Tylosaurus is nearly twice the size of an orca, and Cornbuilder captures this immensity beautifully!

A great amount of care is shown in the seamless lines and curves of the creature itself. The studs along the surface lend a scaly texture to its skin. This predator is both beautiful and terrifying to behold! Below, sea life as it may have appeared in the Cretaceous Era plays out. With the coral, fish, sharks, and other aquatic life, the Tylosaurus looks even more intimidating and massive. Count me out of any Cretaceous diving expeditions!

Another dinosaur comes back to life in this kinetic sculpture

Building dinosaurs is undeniably awesome. Even more awesome is taking it a step further and making them move. This eye-catching Allosaurus is the work of Cornbuilder, who we featured back in March with his incredible giant black dragon. (At the time, his username was mrxsto99) His latest carnivore creation isn’t a major departure, although instead of lighting effects, this time the creature walks!

The movement of the lumbering giant is actually made possible through a reverse engineering and tweaking of Jason Allemann’s iconic Sisyphus kinetic sculpture. The mechanism runs off a single LEGO Power Functions M-motor and battery pack.

Back in May we covered some other dinosaurs that could not only walk, but also swing their tale and bend their necks to eat. Read more about the evolution of those creations here.