Tag Archives: Lino Martins

Resurrecting the Boothill Express

The Brothers Brick’s snarkiest writer and editor Lino Martins (hey, that’s me!) dusts off some LEGO brick after a three-year hiatus to build the Boothill Express. Initially designed by Ray Fahrner, this radical show rod started life as an 1850s funeral coach and was outfitted with a massive Hemi and some of the sickest pipes ever. Kids in 1967 got their greasy mitts on the first model kits with a space between “Boot” and “Hill”; “Express” was spelled the same, as it turned out. This model boasts working steering and a detailed interior. This was a blast to build but the question is; has this resurrected my LEGO prowess or should I crawl back into my crypt? Let us know in the comments. In the meantime, if vehicles revitalizes your dead heart as much as it does mine, then click the little blue link to see what my like-minded friends have been up to.

Boothill Express

With great power comes great irresponsibility

Hello, I’m Lino Martins, Brothers Brick Contributor, LEGO car builder, humorist, and occasional responsible adult. Recently I’ve taken on the decidedly irresponsible task of building the famous Hot Wheels Splittin’ Image concept car from 1969. I’ve wanted to do this for a while but fretted at the notion of building yet another car in a common LEGO color. Then LEGO had the fortitude to come out with the new Creator Fiat 500 set in light yellow. From there, I just knew this was going to be my Splittin’ Image! With two copies of this set, I had just enough sunshiny yellow goodness to construct the odd double hull. I also had just enough exhaust pipe pieces to run from the powerful engine all the way back to the rear of the car.

Splittin' Image

The canopies open to reveal a white 60’s era retro-futuristic interior. Instead of a traditional steering wheel, you get a rather spacey pilot’s yoke because…why not, right? Sometimes we just have to be irresponsible adults and build something as silly and outlandish as this Splittin’ Image. Here’s to building more irresponsible things from all of us in the near future. Cheers!

Splittin' Image

This wind-up toy robot is programmed to love you all very much

If you like retro wind-up toy robots then set your phasers to Positively Delighted. It turns out Lino Martins (hey, that’s me!) has built one out of LEGO and the result is…pretty OK. It would probably be weird to label my own work as totally awesome, stupendous or earth-shattering so I’ll just go with pretty OK. He’s adorned in fabulously fifties black and sea-foam green with gray and just a touch of flashy silver. Through a series of gears, his chest plates open simultaneously and when you turn his wind-up key his head, heart and arms will rotate. Yes, he has a heart! I think it takes eight or ten or so rotations of the wind-up key to get his head, heart and arms to all settle back into their rightful positions. If I were a real engineer I’d know that for sure but… What am I, Elon Musk?

Wind-up toy robot

Check out this video of the wind-up action. This cheery bot is programmed to love you all very much. I’m programmed to be rather indifferent on the matter but I can create a swell playlist for any occasion so there’s that.

Ich bin ein käfer

Alright, I’ll keep this short and punchy. Speaking of short and punchy, Lino Martins (hey, that’s me!) has built a car. When I ran the LUGNuts group I had built at least one car every month for ten years so I was a bit of a kingpin in the LEGO automotive world. After retiring the monthly challenges, it is understandable that I wanted to take a break from car building do some art, gaming, and blog all about your creations instead. After nearly two years, I return to car building with this Volkswagen Käfer Racer based on a Hot Wheels design.

Volkswagen Käfer Racer

The requisite round corner bricks are currently not available in yellow so instead of replicating the Moon Eyes design, I went with a primarily red color scheme and used stickers from the 8041 Technic Racing Truck

Volkswagen Käfer Racer

The shell can be removed to reveal the seats and massive V-8 engine within.

Volkswagen Käfer Racer

The lurker in the murky depths

Erstwhile LEGO gearhead guru Lino Martins is mixing it up, bringing us a big vignette of a haunting brackish backwater with a dark secret. This collection of treehouses forms a small bayou village, whose residents are sworn to placate a fearsome beast with blood sacrifices, often in the form of giant alligators lowered into the creature’s tentacled arms by means of a rickety contraption. The smooth dark green bricks make excellent ponds of stale water, with a smooth finish of algae broken only by a few small ripples as the monster’s arms raise.

Horror at Mangrove Swamp

What with the swamp being infested by an otherworldly horror, it’s best not to disturb that calm water, or indeed get anywhere near more than is absolutely necessary. That, plus the lack of land in the middle of swamp, means the townsfolk of Mangrove Swamp have all the necessities built on raised platforms, from farming to swine raising. Continue reading →