Tag Archives: Ghalad

“Orange you glad I didn’t say red panda”

Amid the social media universe of artists, there is a creative prompt known as the color wheel challenge. The artist must complete a separate piece for each wedge of a color wheel, typically consisting of red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, purple, and pink. And LEGO character builder extraordinaire Steven Howard (aka Ghalad) has taken up the challenge in brick form with this first submission for the orange slice. Despite the misnomer, it’s fair to say that a red panda is quite the orange beast. But I’m pretty sure (and feel free to fact-check me on this one, dear readers) that a red panda has never presided over a fiefdom in the history of the animal. Nevertheless, fiction or not, this is still a dynamite character exuding all the regal glory that Ailurus fulgens can muster. Very much looking forward to the next wedge, Ghalad!

Orange - The Red Panda Prince of the Northlands

And if you’d like to see more of Steven’s awe-inspiring work, please take a look in our archives.

A LEGO character creation with explosive potential

Ever since a History of Science class my freshman year of college, I’ve read so many books on the history and discovery of radiation. But nowhere in those pages covering everything from the Curies to Chernobyl did I ever come across a scientist like the one depicted in this LEGO bust by Steven Wayne Howard. With the clever implementation of the Ninjago Spinjitzu canopy, we’re able to see all the nuclear reactors sticking out of this mad scientist’s cranium. An array of creature wings make up his wild facial hair, and his sinister visage is driven home with that skeletal bowtie. And the whole thing sits on a plinth that is, quite frankly, the bomb. The whole thing is downright maniacal, and gives me the chills!

The Nuclear Madman

Remember to take a break sometime–the cost could be deadly

This LEGO build comes to us from builder Ghalad through the Digital Iron Builder competition this year. It features the use of the SPIKE Prime color sensor, wonderfully used for the eyes of the skeleton and on the headphones. Every detail of this build is great with so many parts usages from Technic to the more classic LEGO pieces. I don’t know about you, but I really like the use of Mixel joints for the framing of the collarbone. I’m not particularly familiar with the finer details of skeletal anatomy, but this skeleton looks to be fairly accurate, which is something I can appreciate. I know this is a digital build, but this would be awesome to see IRL just to look at it from every angle.

The Cost

This LEGO bust isn’t trolling

LEGO’s given us lots of science fiction busts of Stormtroopers and comic book characters, but how about a fantasy creature? This amazing sculpture by Ghalad is epically awesome and exactly the sort of crazy fantasy sculpture I’d love to build. From the impressive tusks to the teal warpaint, the model is expertly realized, and the large plinth with a skull and crossbones just sets the mood. It’s also possibly the best use of the 1×1 tooth plates that I’ve ever seen–they’re being used as the teeth, but the scale feels spot on to give this troll a disdainful growl.

Troll Bust

Ghalad Grommash the Bust

Much like orcs, some builders get attention by just existing. While Orcs face any number of judgments about their character and culture due to their appearance, builders like Steven Howard garner a fandom by making intensely detailed models. A spaceship and figure crafting legend, Steven is an accomplished builder with a seeming ability to perfectly render his ideas into LEGO models. This bust, loosely based on Grommash Hellscream from World of Warcraft, is somewhat of a first for Steven, since he usually crafts full bodies for his characters too. Not that he doesn’t plan on trying to build one eventually, once he can get ahold of all the parts. After all, this orc’s head is not small by any since. I’d wager this whole build is probably bigger than the upcoming Mighty Bowser and it packs a bigger visual punch to show it.

ORC

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From the desert comes an awesome build

The Book of Boba Fett gave us plenty of memorable moments, especially when it tied in with other Star Wars properties. The event that generated the most buzz was almost certainly Cad Bane making his long-awaited live-action debut, an event which has been immortalized in LEGO by Steven Howard. The shaping is great and every little detail has been captured, from the bandolier and wrist pads to Bane’s menacing red eyes. His perfectly poised fingers are represented by saucepans, albeit in a colour that only exists in the digital realm. Despite its digital format, the creation still manages to look dynamic – look at how his overcoat billows in the gentle Tatooine breeze!

Cad Bane

“This Captain America mosaic is super, soldier.”

It makes sense that when LEGO launched their new Art theme, they’d start their Marvel offerings off with Iron Man, the hero who gave birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At least, he birthed it from a movie release date perspective. But Steven Wayne Howard hasn’t forgotten that the real first Avenger was Captain America. This tribute to Steve Rogers was created by fusing the pieces from Iron Man and Sith mosaics (with a handful of extra 1×1 red plates thrown in). So, it should be no problem to recreate yourself if you have both of those sets on hand. And if you’re looking for a great spot to hang it, I suggest the wall on your left.

Captain America Mosaic

Out of the Mouth of Sauron

You ever ask yourself “what if Lord of the Rings was a space epic?” Well, builder Steven Wayne Howard certainly entertained the thought. Another SHIPtember contribution, this space citadel was named for the dreadful Mouth of Sauron. Commanded by the lieutenant of the Barad Dur system in the Middle Space galaxy, this terrifying craft laid waste to planets and systems in the name of Sauron’s dominion. With a face like that, it’s no wonder it’s rumored to be the remnants of the galactic tyrant himself. The mouth, spinal cord, and brain are now repurposed under the watch of the black hole known as the Eye of Sauron.

The Mouth of Sauron Spaceship (SHIPtember 2021)

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Imperial Soviet Nuclear TIE Bomber

Yes, you read that right. And your eyes are not deceiving you. LEGO builder Ghalad managed to combine an obscure nuclear seaplane from the Soviet Union with a classic Star Wars TIE fighter. The resulting digital build is something you could have expected to appear in the sequel trilogy of Star Wars films.

Tiekranoplan Heavy Assault

It’s unlikely you’ve heard of the Lun-class Ekranoplan, a Soviet-era seaplane capable of launching nuclear warheads through tubes based on top of the plane. It was developed before the age of ballistic submarines, filling the gap between land-based nuclear bombers and sea-based launch platforms.

From Wikipedia

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May the gods smile on your costly contribution

You may already know that the Aztecs (along with several other ancient civilizations) believed in human sacrifice. The thought of removing someone’s still-beating heart sounds pretty grizzly indeed. But these guys truly believed the world would end if they didn’t pay the gods, and evidence suggests many people saw it as an honor! Now, you may think the priests that carried out the sacrifice, like this rendered LEGO recreation by Steven Howard, were evil. But they had a pretty tough life. They had loads of official responsibilities, including being peacekeepers, teachers, doctors, mathematicians, and astronomers. They also had to advise the king, be fluent in the ancient languages, memorize all chants and prayers, perform regular rituals, take confession, and prove their worth by hunting dangerous animals. All this while also regularly fasting.

ATributeIsDemanded-01

It’s probably fair to say some priests were a little psycho, and I bet many were terrifying. It takes a very complicated mind to be and do all those things. So perhaps this build isn’t far off the mark. I particularly like the scowl, and those mysterious, dark, and brooding eyes made with helmets. The colorful headdress and costume are instantly recognizable. I also like how the old skulls and more recent lantern elements were used on the knees and belt.

ATributeIsDemanded-03

Very recently, we featured another, very different, set of builds from Steven. Take a look at these three epic mechs!

A trio of epic mechs

If you were to create mechs based on your favorite LEGO minifigures, which would you chose? For Steven Howard, he’s picked three that would top the lists of many people, especially when they look this cool. And I’ve gotta say, the setting sun backdrop and shadows showcase them well. They look like they stomped straight out of the LEGO Movie. But they’re even better up close…

Time-to-level-up-Howard-01

Click to see these guys individually