Tag Archives: Fire

From the ashes, a LEGO build arises

Built of a bevy of LEGO Bionicle bits, this phoenix by Dan V is quite the fiery triumph! All the trans-orange flames play well in the backlit model, highlighting the fringes of the bird’s wings, as well as sufficiently obscuring the model’s base. In fact, quite a bit of the design here is hidden from view, with so many dark red spiked panels at work hiding the skeleton of the wings and body. There’s certainly a bit of sorrow for the dark figure at the base of the flames, but clearly this mythical beast has got nothing but rebirth on its mind.

Walpurgis

The fiery third Pokémon form: Charizard

If you gotta catch ’em all, then you gotta get Charizard. The final stage of the fire-lizard Pokémon, this LEGO Charizard is seen flexing his muscles as depicted by builder nobu_tary.

Charizard

Nobu_tary is well known for their craftsmanship of animals and birds in LEGO form, as well as objects and characters from Japanese culture. Charizard is another testament to their skill with bricks, using a minimalist method to capture defining features without having to cram in every detail. Yet here, every edge and corner is perfectly fitting of the mighty dragon Pokémon. The use of orange minifigure legs is an example of that: you don’t see claws exactly, but you know they’re there.

I’m also really digging the flaming tail that is characteristic of Charizard. By using a few random red sloped bricks, nobu_tary is able to quickly convey the sense of fire without having to use flame bricks. You get the same experience with Charizard’s head. No eyes, yet its still obvious who this Pokémon is.

If you’re struggling to build a highly detailed LEGO animal or robot, I have good news for you: don’t. Nobu_tary is proof that less is more. Also, if you haven’t seen nobu_tary’s parody of the Year of the Ox LEGO set, you should. It’s hilarious.

This flight’s been grounded…except on the water.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about getting whisked away somewhere on a plane. But hopefully not a plane that uses an actual whisk to hold its propellers on, like this one does. But I suppose the whisk is the least of this pilot’s worries, as Grant Davis has constructed quite the impressive belch of black smoke coming from the engine of this seaplane. The texture of the smoke is quite impressive, and I particularly like the black smoke near the engine, made from what I think are a couple of TIE Fighter pilot helmets. The use of the small ship in the background to create a forced perspective horizon really makes it feel like this pilot is isolated, which adds a wonderful additional element of drama to the scene. I don’t imagine making engine repairs while rocking on the open ocean is an easy task. Hopefully his radio still works.

Unscheduled maintenance

My world’s on fire, how ’bout yours?

While the societal unrest recently has made it seem like everything is on fire, it’s not quite true. Lots of things are not burning, like the bread in my toaster. Oh wait, that’s burning, too. Well, shoot. Josiah Durand, currently using the Flickr alias of General 尓àvarre, seems to have a similar problem with fire in this LEGO build. While it might be rather flat and mosaic-like, the build is particularly stunning in its flame effects, with the lit-up trans-orange making a beautiful contrast with the tattered black flag. It looks like Josiah used every type of black element in his collection for the flag, too, expertly creating the ragged fringe. But that uneven warm glow, just like the embers in a fire, is what make this great. Now that’s what I call playing with fire!

The Dark Angel: 核 子力

This fire CAT is red hot!

When firefighters pull out the big equipment…I mean really big equipment, chances are there is going to be a traffic jam for miles. But chances are, they are also doing some big, important work; this scene by Steven Asbury is not your standard saving-a-cat-from-a-tree fare. The fire department excavator can perform a variety of tasks including pulling down severely damaged structures, clearing mudslides, and assist with debris removal in wildfires. It often responds with the Urban Search and Rescue team. Like so much of Steven’s work, this scene demonstrates rather cinematic photography and a keen sense of foreground, middle and background. Clearly he cares deeply about firefighting as this isn’t his first rodeo on the subject. Here’s a previous time we featured his work. You can see the inspiration for this particular excavator in action via this video.

Lego Fire Excavator

LEGO City 2020 lineup reveals 8 new sets for Police and Fire [News]

Today we’re getting our first look at the City 2020 lineup, starting with eight new sets from the emergency services divisions of Police and Fire, thanks to various retailers. With six new Police sets and two Fire sets, LEGO City will certainly be active next year. The lineup even includes real flying helicopters thanks to a ripcord launcher system similar to those used on other themes like Ninjago. Each of the sets will be officially available starting Dec. 26, 2019, and while we don’t have full USD prices yet, we can confirm approximate euro prices.

Don’t miss the other new sets for 2020:

Check out all the individual City sets below.

Continue reading →

First to the flames

Fire engines are serious business, with each one being built to the specifications of the fire department placing the order. When building a LEGO version of a fire apparatus, you almost have to see it in person to analyze all the details that make it unique. Last year, Sven’s vacation in New York City landed him the opportunity to ride around in the Harlem Hilton firehouse’s Engine 69. The experience left such an impression on him that he had to make his own version of the truck and, as you can see, it is packed with plenty of detail. The proportions feel just right, as does the greebling of the gauges and switches. Finishing off the model are some phenomenal custom decals, allowing the LEGO truck to faithfully represent its real-life counterpart.

FDNY Engine 69 Harlem Hilton

Flipping the engine around reveals that Sven’s model can be appreciated from multiple angles. The only thing that’s missing are some minifig firefighters! Perhaps they’re taking a needed break from fighting fires to fire up the grill and eat some burgers.

FDNY Engine 69 Harlem Hilton

Who’s a good boy?

It turns out Fabuland has a good boy in charge of fire safety. Markus Rollbühler presents Barty and his shiny red Fire Brigade Bulldog Mech. This is part of Markus’ ongoing campaign to build one mech a week for a year, which is what we call job security at the Brothers Brick. So long as he keeps cranking out quality builds, we’ll have something to write about. No blazing fire (and incidentally no rug either) is safe from Barty’s watchful patrol. Even if he does ruin your one-of-a-kind Persian Fine Serapi Handmade Wool Area Rug, how can you stay mad at Barty when he has a face like that? With him it’s either nice rugs or unwavering fire safety. Make your choice.

Mech Monday #37: Barty's Fire Brigade Bulldog

The airport rescue squad is here for that one passenger in seat 4C

This is likely not the kind of thing you want to see as you’re finally taxiing down the airport tarmac, but it is cool nonetheless. Steven Asbury has built this two-person crew LEGO Airport Fire Department Fast Response Squad. Custom stickers and chrome bits along with its lime green livery makes this rescue truck truly a sight to behold. The plane in the background and the bit of runway offers just enough detail to convey a busy airport. Seeing one of these bad boys most often means someone in First Class doesn’t agree with pre-flight safety directions (its always First Class!) or someone tampered with the smoke alarm in the bathroom. They mean serious business when they say not to mess with it. Once one of these arrives at the scene it is probably best to calmly get into the brace for crash position and remain that way all the way to Denver.

Lego Fire Airport Rescue 4

It is quite clear that Steven loves fire and rescue trucks. Here we previously featured a scene that likely has to do with rescuing a cat from a tree.

Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time and LEGO

Talented Seattle-area builder Shawn Snyder has created a wonderful pair of Fire Dinosaurs based on the Dinotopia book series by James Gurney. For the uninitiated, Dinotopia is an isolated island inhabited by shipwrecked humans and sentient dinosaurs who have learned to coexist peacefully as a single symbiotic society.

Dinos_main

Check out the latest in fire-equipped dinos the LEGO Dinotopia Fire Department has received, part of a collaborative build by ArchLUG displayed at BrickCon 2017.

See more of Shawn’s brick-built Dinotopia dinosaurs

Beware the Barqan Fire

Looking like a cross between napalm and chili sauce, Barqan Fire appears to be nasty stuff with a lingering afterburn. Jonas Wide showcases the weapon’s devastating potential in this explosive vignette. Everything about the build is pure class: the tiled roof is simple yet grand, the hints of woodwork and sand green give subtle highlights throughout, and the style of architecture is excellently done. The centerpiece, though, is the fire-breathing beast spewing hell itself at the nearby wall, which Jonah has enhanced with a light brick behind the explosion for extra effect.

Siege Workshop in Barqa

Jonas notes that “the soldier doing the final adjustments to the pumping mechanism has however unknowingly built up way too much pressure in the cylinder…” Let’s hope a bigger explosion isn’t imminent!

Siege Workshop in Barqa Siege Workshop in Barqa

Failure of the Fourth Estate

Can an explosion be beautiful? My inner pyro thinks so. Mike Doyle has built this incredibly life-like build, which depicts his opinion of the state of American Journalism. Whether or not you agree with him, this creation is something to behold!

Sign of the TImes: Failure of the Fourth Estate