This shrine, by gtahelper, is top notch. It’s packed with all sorts of incredible details, including the first Shishi odoshi that I’ve seen. Make sure you check out the video too, the fish are very cool.
Thanks to Bruce for pointing this out to me in Classic-Castle’s chat room last night.
| In a feat of LEGO naval engineering rivaled only by Malle Hawking’s USS Harry S Truman and Ed Diment’s HMS Hood, Jumpei Mitsui (JunLEGO) completed his World War II battleship Yamato today. |
LEGO battleship Yamato has some very impressive specifications:
Jumpei’s LEGO version is based on the way Yamato appeared immediately prior to the fateful Operation Ten-Go in 1945.
Jumpei built LEGO Yamato to answer the question he posed to himself all the way back in elementary school: “How big would Yamato be from a LEGO minifig’s perspective?” A third-year college student today, Jumpei can now demonstrate exactly what that would look like!
Breaking through the language barrier, Jumpei pioneered the use of Bricklink among Japanese LEGO fans to source the two hundred thousand LEGO elements necessary to build Yamato.
Yamato includes wonderful details like the Imperial chrysanthemum emblem on the bow and a brick-built Japanese navy flag flying from the bridge. The superstructure is especially impressive.
See more photos of this amazing LEGO creation on Jumpei Mitsui’s website and in his LEGO Battleship Yamato gallery on Brickshelf (when moderated).
Not to be confused with the fictional Space battleship Yamato, the real Japanese battleship Yamato was launched in 1941, and remains the largest battleship ever constructed by any navy.
Having fired her guns against Allied forces only once during the Pacific War, Yamato was sunk in 1945, taking nearly 2,500 of her 2,700 crew to their deaths.
Six years in the making, Jumpei Mitsui’s LEGO battleship Yamato is major news in the LEGO fan community. The Brothers Brick will get in touch with Jumpei and try to arrange an interview for our English-speaking readers. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the pictures.
Although winners of the 7th Original Model Contest (sponsored by Japanese LEGO specialty store clickbrick) won’t be announced until March 7, some great photos of the LEGO creations entered in the contest are now available.
Entrants are free to choose their own theme, but are restricted to 20×20 studs and 30 cm tall, and they can’t use LEGO Baby/Primo, DUPLO, MINDSTORMS, or custom parts.
“Goldfish Balloon” by Sachiko Akinaga:
“Howl’s Moving Castle” by TEN:
“In Space” by Tora-Chichi:
“Memories of a Dream” by Mokuami:
See lots more photos in Sachiko’s Brickshelf gallery.
(Via LEGO-KEI and Let’s LEGO.)
Past coverage of this event here on The Brothers Brick:
Finding a cool set of names for a series of LEGO creations can be hard. RAMM builders take advantage of the German propensity for concatenation, while Jacob (Memory) has been borrowing from Japanese mythology for his decidedly futuristic walker.
Check out this impressive Japanese Castle by Nathan / Mister 007. The walls, the roof, the whole thing is great!
Chrispockster‘s scene of ancient Japan has a ton of interesting building techniques and cool minifigures to look at. I like the vines on the trees and the broken stone steps leading up to the torii gate.
Like his recent test pattern, Nelson Yrizarry has been taking a break from the minifig-scale creations he’s known for, to build LEGO on a more sculptural scale.
Daruma are Japanese dolls most often used to make a wish or keep oneself focused on a goal. You paint one eye when you make the wish or start something, and only paint the other eye when your wish has been granted or you’ve achieved your goal.
My wish is that Nelson will build more great stuff like this!
As a continuation to his tea house, Nathan has posted a lovely Zen garden.
The beauty of the leaning tree is likely to distract those seeking to clear their minds, while the perfect torii evokes thoughts of Shinto-Buddhist syncretism — but we won’t go there. ;-)
And now for something completely different. A Wells, Fargo & Co. overland express and assay office:
The new LEGO Star Wars Clone Wars sets will be available soon, but attendees at Star Wars Celebration Japan got an early look at some of the sets — and the minifigs in particular.
Edge (エッジ) over at レゴ系 (The LEGO System) was there, and took a bunch of pictures of the LEGO Star Wars booth.
Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, and a bunch of clones:
Clones on bikes, including CC-7567:
An overall shot of the booth:
Bonnie Burton from the Official Star Wars Blog also took a handful of pictures of the Clone Wars LEGO, including close-ups of the nose art on the Republic Gunship:
The ladies of the booth:
See lots more pictures in Edge’s blog post.
20+ years ago in Japan, my brother and I stared in amazement every time we saw a dekotora (from “decorated truck”). Of course, like their teamsters brethren here in the States, the Japanese truckers who drove these “art trucks” weren’t always the most savory of characters. Today, dekotora are apparently more popular than ever. There’s even a video game for Nintendo Wii.
Nathan Proudlove‘s entry for the LUGNuts Haulin’ Ass build challenge is an amazingly accurate LEGO rendition of these trucks from my childhood:
Like the trucks that inspired him, Nathan’s truck also looks great all lit up in the dark:
With cherry blossoms, a waterfall, serene pond, and simple, elegant architecture, Nathan‘s Japanese tea house is an excellent example of the Japanese aesthetic ideal:
The tea house also has a lovely interior:
Minifigs.net member ArzLan is a customizer I hadn’t encountered until I saw this gorgeous samurai on Brickshelf:
Poking around, I found even more great custom samurai minifigs:
Don’t miss lots of other great creations in ArzLan’s Brickshelf gallery.