Chris Wunz‘s Border Outpost is a marvel in landscaping. I really like the intricately carved paths on the mountains and the integration of the two lakes joined by a cascading ravine. The setup also features a working waterwheel and millstone, a cool addition that tops off this wonderful creation.
Ok, so I’m jumping the gun by a couple of days, but I couldn’t pass up Keith Goldman‘s latest creation. The lighting is just gorgeous.
No, these toys are gangster. I especially like how Daniel Shehadeh (Sir Regonold) captures the action with the truck on the curb and trash knocked over.
These two elements tend to combine to make an awe-inspiring scene. This is precisely what’s depicted in Luke Watkins‘ diorama of a church on a cliff overlooking violent waters. The story goes that pirates used lights on the cliffs to lure ships to crash on the rocks below during stormy nights. The church thus rings its bells as warning and lament for those passing.
You can see separate photos of the church on MOCpages.
Occasionally, I take a break from blogging and actually build something. For my most ambitious creation to date, I present “Fox Red: Omaha Beach”.
My D-Day diorama features the following vehicles and weapons:
Yes, that’s dark blue water. (I do believe I’ve mentioned before that I like LEGO Agents…)
Naturally, I couldn’t resist the urge to turn a few photos into black and white Robert Capa-esque shots.
See my full photoset of Fox Red: Omaha Beach pics on Flickr.
I continue to be a sucker for just about any creation that alludes to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. My favorite character finally came to life when Sylvain (captainsmog) created and placed the Librarian in his natural habitat, the library of Unseen University. He’s an orangutan, not a monkey. Do not call him a monkey!
Aside from my easy seduction by Discworld and apes behaving as humans, this diorama features some neat posing, building techniques, and fantastic attention to detail, such as books chained to shelves, metal rods to conduct magic from the books, and of course bananas. I wonder if he even has a Watch badge in his desk.
He also has a great scene of an Agatean farmer that inspires me for an upcoming project of my own, and his diorama of an Omnian inquisition chamber is horrifyingly fantastic. And Hex, and an iconograph demon, and 72-hour Ahmed, and Hodgesaargh, and . . . never mind. Don’t take my word for it. Check them out yourself.
For his latest LEGO Indiana Jones creation, Brian Williams looks for inspiration to The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles .
The five-foot-long diorama features dozens of awesome mini-scenes and techniques, including gunrunners, leaf springs on the locomotive, proper horseback riders’ legs, and lovely sand-green cacti. Check out the full photoset on Flickr.
Thanks for the tip, Austin!
We recently posted about a store where you can buy custom chromed LEGO elements. Here is a review of products from ChromeBricks.com.
To put things simply, the quality of the chrome elements are what you’d expect from LEGO’s chrome parts. The layer of chrome is the result of a procedure that industrially evaporates metal onto the brick, resulting in a very thin coating that doesn’t hinder the fit with other LEGO pieces. The chrome surfaces also resist scratching, which means they can handle a moderate amount of play while remaining in their pristine condition.
ChromeBricks currently offers three colors of chrome including gold, silver, and a new copper chrome. Consistency of color among the parts is flawless. When compared with chrome LEGO elements, the silver is also an exact match while the gold is darker than LEGO’s chrome gold (LEGO does not currently produce chrome copper bricks). The richer chrome gold color results from actual gold being used to coat the bricks!
On the flip side, ChromeBricks differs from LEGO bricks where most of the parts from the former are not coated on the interior or underside. This should not be a concern since the uncoated sections will not be visible in a LEGO creation.
Overall, I recommend ChromeBricks for their high quality of parts. The price of each piece can be on the expensive side, but the cost is justified (you can ask other custom vendors who have tried to chrome LEGO bricks). Shipping is relatively inexpensive and very fast (about a week to the US) while the parts are individually packed in separate baggies. If you want to make a few minifigs with chrome accessories, this is definitely the store for you. For those interested in customizing a car model with chrome bricks, you probably need more money than pocket change.
For once I don’t have to rack my brain trying to think of a relevant song. Barney Main (SlyOwl) has already done it for me by basing a diorama on Ralph McTell’s song Streets of London. Be sure to click through the pictures in order to match the song lyrics to the diorama.
Still deciding to get some chrome bricks? This Peterbilt 379 model by Jörg (lichtblau) may just convince you. It’s got enough shiny-shiny to drool over, but there’s also cool features such as an opening hood and sleeper cab.
Flickr user -infomaniac- strikes fear into the heart of the upper class with his diorama depicting the beginnings of a revolution:
I love the sense of utter chaos captured here! Nothing says anarchy quite like a brick through a window, either.
This was just too good to pass up. The Schubert family created this amazing Alpine Village, which was displayed at BrickFair. The only photos appear to be on Brickshelf from Abe (scrope), another attendee.
Thanks to Bruce, via Fascinating LEGO Model of the Day!