Tag Archives: LEGO MOC

A road warrior from Australia

I honestly have no idea why Vladimir Drozd decides to decorate his latest Mack truck with a Greek warrior’s helmet, but I find it hilarious. For me, this little touch gives the vehicle some great character and helps to draw attention from the truck’s suspiciously clean look. The thing is, I just don’t believe Australian trucks this neat exist. Weathering is never easy when building with LEGO, but a couple of patches of dust and sand here and there could really elevate the model’s look.

Apart from the look that is a bit too plain, the truck is fantastic on the scale. The shaping of the front makes the Mack instantly recognizable, and the fuel tank is a perfect choice of an add-on.

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Searching for a new home on distant worlds

Febrovery might be far off, but that doesn’t mean we should deny ourselves rovers now. Builder Kilo Bricks brings the goods with the Goliathan Beta, an extensive mobile command center fit for exploring other worlds. This behemoth ten-wheel rover is a sight to behold. Its realistic design traversing over earthy terrain almost fools the eye into seeing NASA concept art. The keen eye of a LEGO fan will quickly be able to pick out the tells. Each angle of this beast is full of details worthy of praise, but the true show stopper is its interior. Ready to go for a ride and see what this monster has to offer?

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I never get tired of a good octopus

I can think of no creature on this earth more mysterious and otherworldly than the Octopus, with its lack of any bones, three hearts, and 8 seemingly autonomous arms, and a magical grace in the water. I’m not the only one who is a fan of the octopi (one of few creatures with multiple plural forms to go with their other multiple parts) Jens Ohrndorf has put together a simple but interesting model of an octopus seeking a crab lunch. While the use of tires is great at the base of the arms, I am most impressed with the clever use of a space rock to form the large body.

These brick-built bricklayers make building easier than ever.

Tim Goddard has been building fantastic sci-fi LEGO creations for years now at a rate that almost seems inhuman. But now we’ve finally uncovered the secret behind his LEGO output. He’s had robots helping him this whole time! Bot #1 reviews the schematics that Tim’s drawn up, while #4 uses an extra set of extendable limbs to do the heavy lifting. The use of breathing regulators for feet and roller skates as a key component of the heads on these ‘bots is a charming inversion of those pieces normal usage.

This classic Gundam design is portrayed perfectly in LEGO form

Nobu_tary has created this accurate interpretation of the original Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam. You can tell Nobu has studied the classic design as the proportions and angles of the mech have been faithfully recreated. A white boomerang piece represents the famous “V fin”, while the dark space between the eyes is created a quarter circle tile. Around the middle section is where the cockpit would be located, which portrayed by window frames placed sideways. Even the beam rifle has the stocky proportions of its original counterpart. Let’s hope that the shield is sturdy enough, as it would often get sliced up in the anime.

Cleaning up after Halloween

It was with sadness that we leave the Halloween season behind us for another year. However, Djokson, at least, seems to be ready to push creepy forward into the more festive holidays. In Harvest, they have taken creative part usage into new levels of disturbing. An old Scala figure, a Bionicle air pump, and a Matrix-inspired, ball jointed, creeping terror give a new twist to “hung by the chimney with care.”

Not ready to hang your Christmas lights just yet? Why not linger a little while in our Horror tag.

Maybe it’s a Donut Shop franchise.

I think it’s cool when LEGO builders are inspired to take elements of existing sets and spin them into their own creations. Alex Eylar began by surgically removing the Donut Shop from the 10278 Police Station, striving to keep the modular aspects intact. They then added an adorable bookstore to make the place even more inviting. It feels like the perfect corner to spend a chilly autumn morning exploring. Even if the replication of the Donut Shop suggests it’s more of a chain than a mom-and-pop operation.

The interior of the bookshop is worth a closer look, too. Can you almost smell the scent of used books mingling with the baking from next door? I know I can.

I was amused to find we had a tag for “donut” already – why not take a moment and check out how to make a donut from LEGO bricks? (Probably not how you’re thinking.)

A Roman border tower keeps an eye on them goats

Whether it be the great natural color scheme, fantastic textures or intricate shapes, there’s a lot to love about this Roman border tower built by Ben Tritschler. But the star of the show, to me anyway, has to be those goats. Clearly I’m not the only TBB contributor thrilled by goats. However, I do seem to be the most vocal about it. What can I say? Goats are pretty much the formula for success around here. Even when they’re scary as hell. I may consider also going gaga for those sheep. They are not without their charm. As a LEGO builder, Ben is also not without his charm. Check out our archives to see what I mean.

The sky pirates have returned in this epic mashup of Ninjago and Pirates

Ninjago has done a lot of settings over its decade-long run, but for me, by far the coolest wave was the Skybound storyline from 2016, which was basically a Ninjago mashup of steampunk and pirates. It’s the LEGO theme we never not from Disney’s Treasure Planet. So this fan redux of some of the sets by Markus Ronge just ticks all the right boxes for me. Markus has taken the already-fantastic idea from Ninjago of sky pirates and turned the dial up to eleven, with slightly more “realistic” designs (you can call a flying pirate ship realistic, right?). The color scheme is on point with the browns and oranges, and check out that bone dragon figurehead on the revised Misfortune’s Keep. I reviewed the original 70605 Misfortune’s Keep back in 2016, and as cool as I thought that set was, this would have blown me away.

But what really blows me away about Markus’ model is that it’s not just a redux of the Skybound sets, but it’s also a mashup with the LEGO Ideas 21322 Barracuda Bay Pirates set, another set I loved. The Misfortune’s Keep ship breaks down into a sky pirates wrecked base!

And let’s not overlook the splendidly simple yet beautifully stylized way Markus has chosen to display the models, with a simple graphic and brick-built stands.

Mysterio’s nightmare image is the build of my dreams.

One of the most gratifying parts of watching Spider-Man: Far From Home was how the movie depicted Mysterio’s illusions. I was a huge fan of the villain from the comics. And in the comics, Mysterio is certainly able to fool his enemies, sure. But his illusions so often went beyond just ordinary subterfuge. When a comic artist was allowed to really run wild with Mysterio, Spider-Man could find himself caught in a dreamlike, swirling mass of images. A place where up and down have no meaning and nothing is ever what it seems. That the movie was able to recreate — and justify — that same kind of illusion power was awesome. That’s why I’m so keen on this LEGO-based take on Mysterio’s power by builder Daniel Huang.

The recreation of the scene where — two-year-old spoiler alert — Spider-Man is confronted by a zombie Tony Stark is powerful on its own. The way the graveyard bends as if it’s crumbling around our hero gives the diorama a perfect sense of drama and motion. But to then have the moment watched over by two different Mysterios at varying scales is some top-tier comic illustration awesomeness. The duel use of trans-bright green Hero Factory joints as Mysterio’s energy signature and supports to hold up the giant brick-built villain is especially clever.

Space girl autumn

Is there pumpkin spice latte in space? This autumnal cargo freighter by Finn Roberts might serve it in its onboard kitchen. This ship looks like it belongs in Star Wars, but is a breath of fresh air from the usual greys with its bright yellow colours, inspired by troop carrier concept art for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story combined with the real-life Canadair water bomber. Yet a bit of grey greebly nitty-gritty still remains amongst the bright hull – a characteristic of the well-worn starships flown by smugglers, bounty hunters, and other characters of the galactic underworld. I particularly like the addition of yellowish-orange paneling to imply a weathered hull, indicative of a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Finn is no stranger to designing custom ships that fit so well in the Star Wars universe. Building digitally gives him an unlimited parts palette and allows him to build as big and complex as he wishes. His imagination is his limit, and it works so well. I compare him to a concept artist with pens and brushes rather than model makers who work with readymade materials.

And this isn’t the first time we’ve featured Finn’s wonderful concept builds – check out his creations here!

A sweet upgrade for a lovely off-roader

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and sometimes one LEGO creation inspires another, like this neat fleet of cargo transports inspired by the Baserunner by Alvaro Gunawan. While the original was a simple flatbed, this new version by BetaNotus adds a new paint job, a covered cargo area with removable cargo, and a folding radio antenna. The additional section flows very nicely with three front sections. I just hope that container isn’t too dangerous. The pilot doesn’t look too concerned.

For comparison, here is the original inspiration, with a very smooth-looking transmission to help navigate rough terrain to deliver your cargo on time.