Tag Archives: Grantmasters

A triple transformer that’s too tiny to transform? Try again...

In his review of 10338 Transformers Bumblebee, Kyle mentioned that the yellow Autobot’s large size was likely down to the transformation requirement in LEGO form. Clearly, Grantmasters read this and took it as a challenge. He, too, has created a LEGO Transformer. And this one is tiny! It depicts Blitzwing, a Decepticon with as many personalities as he has transformations (three). He is depicted the way he appeared in the animated series rather than in the 2018 Bumblebee film, which results in a snazzy purple-and-tan colour scheme.

But is he too tiny to transform? No! Now he can’t do all three transformations – even for a builder of Grant’s skill, that’s almost attempting the impossible. But still, being able to transition Blitzwing between his jet and robot forms is seriously impressive at this small scale!

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Honey, I Shrunk the Grayskull

When I was 4 years-old, my Castle Grayskull playset felt gigantic in my hands, but when I found it packed away in the garage in my teens, I was surprised by how small it felt. Grantmasters has triggered that memory with a miniscule Grayskull so small that the in-scale Battle Cat and Panthor are mostly just a collection of minifigure hands. But the hands aren’t the only creatively used minifigure parts. A ring of minifigure legs make up the top of the tallest tower, and the castle’s namesake skull is making use of some arms. It’s some NPU that totally has the power.

This Xenomorph build has some bite

Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise are cool and terrifying at the same time, and this LEGO sculpt by Grantmasters is no exception! Based on the collector’s edition of the Alien: Weyland-Yutani Report, an informational book on the franchise, there’s so much detail packed into this low relief sculpt. Those slopes making up the brunt of the face look like they were made for rendering a Xenomorph, but the build really shines with the greebling on the sides of the face. Hinged cylinder links frame the face and connect to each other with a rope element across the top of the head. The Corners of the mouth feature many elements, such as minifigure arms and hands as well as some skeleton legs. The weapons orbiting the Xenomorph stand in for tendril designs. However, I think they’re present to guard the Xenomorph so it doesn’t leap out at the unsuspecting.

An unexpected Ocean’s 8 reboot

LEGO makes a lot of really unique parts these days, and it can be a challenge to incorporate into your own creations. Well, provided you’re not Grantmasters, that is. Interesting parts are just part of the charm of this storybook-ready scene. There are big cowboy hats, cupcakes and hairpieces from the Trolls sets, and even shoes ripped from Belville figures. My favorite bit has to be the minifigure hand forming the ponytail for the princess. Everything is just so cute, and you just want to learn more about this heist.

I’m sure Grantmasters is already in negotiations with Disney+ for a new streaming series. And if this isn’t the story they decide to option, maybe they’ll pick another creation.

Watch me whip, watch me neigh neigh

Today we get to see one of our favorite LEGO artists might have fared as a more traditional user of ink and paper. We’re quite familiar with the work of 2016 TBB Builder of the Year Grantmasters as a LEGO artist: sometimes it’s an adorable kung fu panda, other times it’s a lifesize steampunk pistol, or even primeval anatomy. Grant is a master of scale and always brings excellent, inventive parts usage to the table.

As related by the builder, this “drawing” is meant to represent the start of the drawing process, the rough shapes and lines only just starting to come together as opposed to a completed, clean rendering. Swooping curves are achieved with whips, katanas, and even a high-pressure sprayer.

The prelude to the robot apocalypse

Ah, robots. Despite not being alive, somehow they manage to capture our hearts. Try hating WALL-E or R2-D2. Try it, I dare you. I knew you couldn’t. I suspect they’re just trying to soften us up for the impending AI overthrow of humanity, but in the meantime, it’s fun to think about helpful and friendly sentient robots. Take this one by Grantmasters; it’s inspired by the movie Elysium, and is here helping this child who broke his leg. Adorable, right? See the trust in that kid’s eyes? Any moment now the robot will rip his face off with those pincer hands and stomp on him with those grille and roller skate feet. The greebles and textures look perfect, and the contrast between the body plates in white and the technical stuff underneath in black makes for a sharp image. Almost as sharp as those pincer hands.

A bear that barely uses any parts

There is something beautiful in simplicity. How few parts can be used to still capture the essence of a thing? For Grantmasters, the answer is approximately twelve. It is an eclectic collection, from Belville doll feet to a white phone receiver, to a bandana and scarf. Capping it all off is the face from the new Chinese New Year set printed on the BB-8/porg head piece. The bamboo in the background, the dynamic pose, and the hat perfect it, making it a true work of art.

A midnight snack and a dip in the pool sounds good right about now.

The premise of Gremlins was to never expose these adorable Mogwai to bright light, never get them wet and never, ever feed them after midnight. But how do they know what time zone they’re in? Plus it’s always midnight somewhere so did they take that into consideration? They broke the rules anyway and drama ensued but in the 80’s you didn’t really need cohesive plots to make a movie watchable. All you needed was Phoebe Cates. Grantmasters proves you don’t need a ton of LEGO to recreate a pretty convincing facsimile of Gizmo, the adorable star of Gremlins who wasn’t Phoebe Cates.

Build castle classic again

Many older fans of LEGO might long for the days of yore, before we had fancy things like minifigures and molded animals. Grantmasters liked those good old days when we had to build our own horses. After all, the first LEGO horse wasn’t introduced until 1984, years after the first castle sets with brick-built horses. With his latest creation, Grant took it a step further and built his own people too!

The use of some pretty basic elements give his Crusaders a sturdily armoured look. And though he’s rejected newfangled molds for people and animals, he’s adeptly sculpted a horse with the use of new elements, such as the curved slopes, quarter round tiles, and my current favouite use of the power blast piece, giving the horse’s head just the right shape.

Something about this build bugs me

If I had to identify my favorite insect, I would easily respond “dragonfly.” Why? Because dragonflies eat mosquitoes. Simple as that. Now, they also have a cool name — I mean, who doesn’t like dragons, right? They also have fascinating eyes and neat wings, and they don’t sting, bite, or infest; really, what’s not to like? And indeed, what’s not to like about Grantmasters‘ dragonfly build? The insect is perfectly poised above a verdant leaf with eggs of some sort on it, ready to zoom about eating things that want to eat me.

The wings, so delicate and transparent, make brilliant use of some garage doors. Rancor fingers and paint brushes make for some crooked legs. Palm tree trunk sections create a wonderfully segmented tail, just like the real thing, and the mandibles are recreated by a fist. Then, of course, there is the banana bee, and the egg-eating snake worm, and a leaf made from a watering can and dragon wings (appropriate enough for a dragonfly, right?). Nice piece usages abound!

Aroha Nui, New Zealand

This new piece by Grantmasters is not a gargoyle barfing up rainbows as one might initially think. Instead, it is based on the Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori language week) poster. The builder tells us that up until 2018, New Zealand had only Maori and Sign Language (NZSL) as its two official languages, despite the fact that the vast majority of New Zealanders speak English. It was only acknowledged as an official language in February last year. The title of this little creation is Aroha Nui, which means “lots of love” in Māori. I have to admit I’m feeling aroha nui for the parts use here, especially the LEGO tire bent into the shape of the mouth. See, aren’t you feeling just a little more culturally aware than you did a minute ago? Gargoyle barfing up rainbows; what was I thinking?

By Jabba, this may be the tiniest throne room ever

They say the clothes make the man…and sometimes, the hat makes the Hutt. This microscale LEGO model of Jabba the Hutt’s throne room by Grantmasters was inspired by the dark green bandana element and a rainbow of tiny statuette minifigures. Among them is a Dementor from the microscale Hogwarts set used to depict Luke Skywalker as he attempts to mind-trick the slimy crime lord. My second favorite part use, after Jabba himself, is the Niffler figure.