Tag Archives: Joe (jnj_bricks)

Tonight’s special is Lobster a la Woody

For a giant, bottom-feeding sea bug, these bright red crustaceans sure make for a tasty meal. Then again, a lot of things taste delicious covered in melted butter. Builder Joe of jnj_bricks takes us out for a nice lobster dinner but he’ll probably never call us again. Dated as an Anchorman reference may be, it seems apt given the shirtless Woody getting cozy in the bed of parsley. That’s some definite Ron Burgundy energy. Joe found quite a few uses for the red hexagonal plates with hinges that make up most of the crimson carapace. Beyond the boiled ocean insect, Joe built some delicious lemons for garnish as well as a nice slate serving plate, clever clamps, and a checkered napkin to clean up with during dinner. You might miss it if you don’t look carefully but there are couple actual Lobster pieces used near its mouth for a clever bit of added realism.

I can’t help but wonder if Joe wasn’t trying to make a surf and turf joke with this build. The lobster is on point but Woody is a bit of a stretch. I’ll give it to him since this was clearly a feat of clever organic building.

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Living room of an Iron Builder

It’s always such a joy following the Iron Builder‘s duels as each entry deserves careful attention. One of Joe‘s first builds was this lovely modern living room. His use of the red windscreen seed part is superb! It’s used to create a variety of objects including couch pillows, drapes, a hot air balloon, and a dress. The rest of the build proves why he is competing at this level. I especially like the glass coffee table in the center of the room! And don’t look too closely or you might just discover an odd portrait of Woody on that wall. Wish Joe well in his fight for the Iron Builder crown!

This starship has a snake in its boot! (Probably)

I love Iron Builder! It usually means job security for us here at TBB, loads of awesome LEGO entertainment for you, and stress, horror, and depravity for the poor sods who have to build for it. Take this pointy starship built by Joe (jnj_bricks) for example. It’s pretty neat in its own right, but knowing full well you gotta crank out a bunch of quality builds in short order while your competitor does the same gives me heart palpitations just thinking about it. As per the rules of Iron Builder, you gotta cleverly use a seed part or another. We’re supposed to be impressed by Joe’s use of the required hexagonal blabitty-blah but I’m more smitten with the hidden Woody figure from Toy Story. Can you spot it?

A forest dwelling you won’t easily forget

According to Joe (jnj_bricks), this delightful mediaeval house is a “forgotten forest dwelling.” But with such bright colours, I certainly won’t be forgetting it any time soon! The reddish brown and tan walls aren’t exactly unusual in castle-themed builds, but the purple roof, lime green terrain and yellow foliage really make the whole thing pop. It’s more than just a colour experiment (as Joe himself describes it), as there’s some great parts usage and techniques in there. The walls and ceiling are haphazard enough to enhance the fantastical feel, but the highlight has to be the use of book covers as detailing on the eaves!

Beware the servants of the Goblin King

Busts have become ever-popular, and with them have come a wealth of fun ideas. Builders trying their hand at sculpting a character’s features with bricks are forced to try new things and innovate. This Goblin bust by builder Jnj_bricks was such a foray that was definitely successful. Texturing really helped this character come through, from the spikey, short hair to the boats used in his jacket. The knobbly, green skin translates well as a Goblin, as do the bright orange eyes which hold a mischievous light. The gold earrings and jutting jaw with sharp teeth add that extra bit of character emblematic of this trickster species in lore, old and new.

Quite a few techniques were used to achieve all the interesting angles and textures of this build. Though Jnj_bricks says this is a very different style for him, it’s clear it wasn’t too far out of his range.

Like a bridge over troubled waters

One thing better than a model by a super-skilled LEGO builder is a model by two super skilled LEGO builders. Joe (jnj_bricks) and Brick Ninja teamed up to create the Temple of the Rising Sun, a moment of battle captured for RebelLUG’s Kingdoms at War II contest. Brick Ninja handled the foreground’s battle scene, fortress, and bridge. Joe created the temple and background landscapes. The cool thing to me is how integrated both builds are. The repeated motifs of circular gold rings, wall textures, vegetation style, and red accents unify the two creations into a seamless whole.

Brick Ninja’s fortress is alive with interesting shapes and creative part usage in the torches. The bridge is elegant and action-packed. And be sure to spend some time zooming in on the background to appreciate the great forced perspective building from Joe. And when you’ve soaked up all you can from this image, go look in our archives for more great temple builds!

A mountain sanctuary as big as a mountain

After a long journey, two weary travelers have finally set their eyes on their destination – and what a destination it is. Builder Joe (jnj_bricks) is no stranger to working with effective forced perspective, and this time he’s delivered such a large model that it’s hard to fathom it isn’t actually to scale with the minifigures in the foreground. But this amazing build has more going for it than size alone. The lighting of the scene is incredible, and the mountain sanctuary looks suitably carved from the rocks that surround it. The pillars and arches offer enough variety to keep your eye entertained, while repeating enough shapes to make the location feel cohesive. But I think my favorite detail is the two streams of water falling in the background. The layering of trans-clear plates and tiles to create arcs of water falling off of and away from the cliff is in an incredibly clever touch that adds to the model’s overall feeling of realism.

From Midgard to Asgard and the Bifröst bridge in between.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has supplied fans with awe-inspiring landscapes of fictional places such as Thor’s home world of Asgard. Undoubtably the incredible imagery in these films have inspired LEGO builders and content creators alike in recreating these fascinating worlds using their respective media of choice. Builder Joe (jnj_bricks) for example, translates the world of Asgard into the world of LEGO with his wonderful model of the Asgardian capital city.

Joe’s model is from the perspective of the gate, where the Bifröst bridge to Asgard begins, the model as a whole is in micro-scale. The build largely utilizes many small elements as well as interestingly molded pieces such as minifigure helmets, weaponry, and other accessories to create forms of various buildings and dwellings. Asgard palace makes use of many pearl gold pieces, most notably 1×1 cylinders and cones and the ornamental golden clam shell. Of course my favorite component of this city-build is definitely the beautiful Bifröst bridge – its rainbow colors rendered by trans-clear plates and bricks of various sizes in multiple colors along with some black elements of the same kind. Overall with Joe’s creation, we get a post-card picture of a fan favorite setting in LEGO form.

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