Tag Archives: LEGO MOC

This lovely aurora has the aura of Christmas magic

The Northern Lights (aurora borealis) are one of nature’s most beautiful miracles. Recreating it in LEGO is difficult, but I can’t think of a more marvelous idea than dragon wings. Yep, Malin Kylinger has used multiple sets of marbled dragon wings to recreate this lovely phenomena. The rest of her night sky is beautiful too, with raised diamond tiles used for stars. The scene is made complete with an adorable elf cottage, a fire, reindeer, and a decorated Christmas tree.

It’s that time of year where we start to see lots of great Christmas builds. Check out some past wintery creations we’ve featured, and stay tuned for more!

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Can’t make space wine without water

Building a colony on another world won’t be easy. It’ll require tons of resources that you better hope are available on the planet and that you can build close enough to them. Builder Bob DeQuatre is certainly aware of the issues that go along with settling new worlds. As a precious and necessary resource, water is certainly worth a hike to retrieve. This nuclear-powered, armored water tank, dubbed the Dionysus, was designed by the Mars Corporation to quickly transport water from remote extraction sites to the main outpost. Massive wheels and an armored body ensure that every drop makes it back safely. All while looking absolutely gorgeous with that white and red color scheme and interesting angles around that elevated cabin.

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This town needs a Witcher!

Alas, this small hamlet has been invaded by a variety of monsters! A sinister banshee haunts the field while a werewolf creeps around the village. However, a Witcher has just arrived on the outskirts of town. Will he be able to help villagers fight against these foul creatures? This fantastic build comes from Ciamosław Ciamek and has a vibrant style in its colour scheme. The thick coverage of leaves on the trees suggests that the town is located on the edge of a dense forest. There is a great build for the field as it uses textured pieces to create grooves in the dirt.

Luckily, it seems as though the travelling Witcher is experienced in fighting monsters as the head of a demonic-looking creature swings from his saddle. The diorama also has one character taking part in kissing a frog while onlookers stare at her. These intricate details assist in conveying that the town is teeming with compelling stories and intriguing characters.

Phone home and tell them about this great parts usage

My first thought when looking at this build was that LEGO already makes an E.T. that would scale perfectly. But it turns out that using the official E.T. pieces wasn’t in the cards for builder Dan Ko, as this is his first creation for an Iron Builder competition. The seed element is the toy winder key in dark orange, which explains why it’s subbing in for the titular alien in this box art recreation. It’s an out-of-this-world repurposing of the part. And we have to award bonus points for the video game controller acting as Elliot’s hair.

Nostalgic Vic Viper

What happens when you change up the position of the components of a classic Vic Viper? You’ll end up with a Pasukaru Viper! Pascal decided to step away from the classic Vic Viper rules and changed the location of the twin-pronged fuselage. Rotating them changes the silhouette of the Vic Viper and adds a new flavor to the beloved spacecraft. The usage of the octagonal squiggle brick adds a nice touch to the vehicle. The primary colours of this vehicle somehow remind me of the plastic toys you would get at fast-food chain restaurants during the ’90s. Which for me is a ticket straight to memory lane. The fact that these colours come from the classic LEGO themes Aquanauts and Aquasharks is another reason to hop on that nostalgia bus.

One Faaborg-ulous boat

With the giant LEGO Titanic gracing the seas, it’s only fitting that builders like Henrik Jensen are choosing to showcase some of the great steamships of the past. This 1/87 scale model has a few custom painted elements, but also makes clever use of existing parts, like those hockey sticks as part of the lifeboat racks. I’m also fond of the compact display stand and printed flags. A recreation that, dare I say it, is certainly ship-shape.

Henrik shared this info about the origins of his model:
In September I visited the island Ærø which is located in the South Funen archipelago. In the town of Rudkøbing, they have a museum called “The Old Shipyard”. There, the restoration of an old steamship that was close to being dismantled has been undertaken. It gave me the idea to build a model of a steamship that, along with several other small steamships, has been part of the lifeblood between the islands and the mainland, in a time before World War I, when bridges between parts of the country were not common.

At “Det Gamle Værft” they restored the ship “Angelo”, or as it was previously more aptly called, “Svendborgsund”. My model of the steamship “Faaborg” is partly based on photos of the ship, partly on drawings of “Svendborgsund”.

If you’re in the mood for more nautical goodness, be sure to browse our boats tag!

Star Wars isn’t just about fast ships and gunfights

It’s also about stunning vistas, and run-down buildings at the far edge of the galaxy. In this scene by GorillaGluedLEGO featuring a weather-worn structure in the middle of a jungle landscape, a lone figure feeds a small critter. He looks like a simple Bith trying to make his way in the universe. Or her way, it’s hard to tell with Bith, and most Star Wars names are pretty ambiguous. At any rate, there are lots of great details in this somewhat chaotic scene. The foreground is cluttered with various broken things, including an astromech, and what looks like a moisture vaporator, although it feels a bit out of place in a jungle. The building has some wonderful worn effects using color and texture to distress the exterior. There is another nice part usage in the vines wrapped around the trees, made from the plastic bit that is found surrounding leaf elements.

Okay, now you can put up the tree

I’m a firm believer that the holiday season seems to creep into our lives sooner and sooner each year. Though many are delighted to lean into it, I reserve myself to celebrate Christmas only after Turkey day has passed. Now that it has, I think it’s fair to put up the tree. This year I might take after builder Peter Carmichael and go with a fancy, fake one. The secret to a good plastic tree is the texture of the bristly branches, which the builder has achieved with a ton of three-pronged stem pieces. Subtle but elegant decorations of gold keys and white garland with lights give character to the tree. Capping it off is a delightful, translucent blue snowflake.

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Set your eyes on this classic ‘60s dragster

If you’ve followed builder Tim Henderson for any length of time, you’ve probably guessed he’s a car guy. Tim’s latest build pays homage to Dean Moon, founder of the Moon Equipment brand of racing equipment and accessories. This bright yellow dragster was built by Moon in 1961 and has remained a sort of mascot of the company ever since. Tim’s done an amazing job of recreating the vehicle in minifigure scale, making excellent use of a Legends of Chima hammerhead as the engine. And replicating the “Mooneyes” logo on the side of his Ford Econoline van to haul it is the perfect finishing touch.

Seahorse truck with snazzy colours

It’s no secret that I love teal. Most people do as well, for its wonderful blend of blue and green and The LEGO colour’s interesting history – which you’d rather not have me ramble about it here. Maybe some other time. But another colour that does it for me is vibrant coral. Introduced in 2019 with The LEGO Movie 2 sets, it was an odd but pretty colour. Many LEGO builders struggled to put it to good use, especially with other colours so that they don’t clash. Seasoned Technic builder Peer Kreuger (mahjqa) uses both colours as a racing highlight on a dark blue American-style semi-truck. And the colour combo of all three is just *chef’s kiss*.

The smooth and colourful exterior of the truck hides the Control+ motor system allowing it to be driven from a smartphone. Peer has decades of experience with motorised and remote-controlled Technic builds, and each time he builds a new one I’m still impressed. This time, the real icing on the cake is the vibrant coral coloured seahorse adorning the hood of the truck. I never thought I’d see an accessory from LEGO Friends on a Technic build…

MPU: mammoth parts usage...

We like builds with NPU. They showcase the limitless creativity of people when it comes to utilising a weird LEGO element in a unique way. Character builder Eero Okkonen is no stranger to odd but innovative parts in his wonderful builds. And he is no stranger to Bionicle either, from which his myriad of character builds originate. This time he takes this opportunity to include a part many had difficulty integrating into their creations: the Rahkshi back. And it works so well that I will now think of that part as “Mammoth forehead.” Thanks Eero!

And also thank you for planting the idea of Bionicle x Ice Age crossover in my head.
It was Scrat who awakened the Bohrok swarms…

That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown…merchandise

Ever since 1965, the world has delighted in watching Charlie Brown grapple with the commercialization of the Christmas holiday. And then we turn around and spend our money on A Charlie Brown Christmas merchandise in a manner that would make ol’ Chuck wonder if we were paying any attention at all. There’s the Blu-ray, the music album, an official board game, greeting cards, ornaments, nutcrackers, artificial trees, t-shirts, sweaters… It seems A Charlie Brown Christmas has been licensed out to just about every product imaginable. Except for LEGO. But BenBuildsLEGO has answered my Christmas wishes by delivering a trio of minifig-scale prop builds from the holiday special.

Schroeder’s piano, Snoopy’s doghouse, and Charlie Brown’s sad little Christmas tree are all instantly recognizable, and I couldn’t imagine an official set looking any better. Some of the pieces here are kind of rare, like the medium azure life preserver acting as Linus’s blanket at the base of the tree. But if you’re decorating your LEGO city for Christmas, they’ll be worth tracking down. And don’t feel bad for dropping the money on some new LEGO pieces for your holiday celebration. Let’s face it, we all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. (It’s run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.)