It’s always interesting to see minifigure-scale vehicles that can transform and look great in both modes, like James Zhan’s spaceship/mecha hybrid. I enjoy the angles throughout the fuselage and minimal greebling on the prongs, focusing on a beautiful overall profile.
Much like a Vulture Droid from Star Wars, the prongs on James’s ship fold downward as the legs of a mecha. The well-hidden arms and feet fold out, making mecha mode look just as interesting as flight mode.
In the second episode of Rick and Morty (or as I like to call it “Back to the Future on acid”) Morty’s dog Snuffles is fitted with a device that boosts his intelligence, a move that (not surprisingly) escalates to Snuffles leading an army of dogs wearing robotic exoskeletons to enslave humanity. Ultimately the dogs are banished to their own world, which is envisioned here in LEGO by none other than Richard Van As, one of the show’s animators:
The climatic scene when Kusanagi fights the huge think tank in the science fiction film The Ghost in the Shell is one of the most iconic, indelible scenes in animé history. Cole Blaq has built the impressive 6-legged Think Tank (Fuchikoma) from this scene in LEGO with all the intimidating features of the original. The white getaway car peeks out form underneath the huge mecha, helping to emphasise its scale. The mecha itself has some lovely smooth, shapely legs, but my favourite area is definitely the ‘head’ with the impressive weapons system.
One of the other great details are the manipulator arms made from clips, pneumatic t-pieces and minifigures hands. In the film, these arms grab Kusanagi and begin to crush her skull before Batou shows up and destroys the tank with some heavy weaponry. Phew.
This is actually an updated version of Cole’s Think Tank. Back in 2013, we blogged Cole’s custom Kusanagi minifigure standing with the Think Tank from Ghost in the Shell. After some newly released LEGO parts and redevelopment, this Think Tank is a whole new level of awesome.
You may have to look twice to believe you are looking at LEGO in this creation by Gamabomb. This intruiguing red, white and blue figure is actually a racing exosuit from Gamabomb’s fictional company Meuser Hardsuit Schmiedes (MHS). The aim of this particular hardsuit is speed and it seems to be living up to its name – Sprinter. The presentation showing the Sprinter’s jet propulsion system really shows this fun build in its best light. I love the blue and white colour blocking with the little highlights of red adding a nice contrast.
Just to prove this is an exosuit with a pilot, you can see that the cockpit is contained within the central chest area.
Gundam mechs never come in pink, but this mecha inspired by Gundam Barbatos built by d’ Qiu Brick demonstrates how a simple color change can bring out a new theme and even a potential following of a fanbase! Utilising great SNOT techniques adds to the visual appeal in a clean and sharp look overall. While it may not look as menacing as you would imagine, never judge a book by its cover – don’t underestimate that sword that stands as tall as the mech!
Today we are fortunate enough to get the chance to explore the mind of Master Mech builder, Mark Neumann! Mark lives with his family in western Washington State and has been a prominent member of the Adult LEGO Fan community for many years. While being know primarily for his awesome Mechs, Mark has also planned and organized many collaborative builds as well as the first BrickCon. In addition to his other efforts, He also recently finished a massive Classic Space SHIP known by her call sign “LL-2016”. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
TBB: Hi Mark, glad to talk to you today! To kick things off, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?
Mark: Well, ok. Hiya. I have been an adult fan of LEGO since around the year 1999. That would have been when I was walking through a Fred Meyer with my (at the time) girlfriend and spotted something cool in the toy section. Star Wars LEGO. I could get a X-Wing, with Luke Skywalker! Yeah, I racked up some debt on the credit card that day.
Singaporean builder Kelvin Low has put together quite an impressive construction of an Atlas Mech from Titanfall. This mech has excellent greebling, making it visually interesting and full of detail. Greebling isn’t easy; it’s a matter of using the right parts to make it work both in design and color selection. This mech does a good job on both.
When I have an idea to build something, it usually comes together pretty quickly — often over the course of a single evening’s LEGO-building. However, this creation has been slowly coming together for about 2 years! The mechs made their first appearance at the BRICK show in London in 2015, before being cannibalised and tweaked and rebuilt almost incessantly until now. Building them a maintenance hangar is an idea I’ve been mulling over for ages, and I finally got it finished a couple of weeks ago.
See more of the Alpha 3 mechs after the jump
No kidding! Just look at this drone’s face! Except for M9 Orangehead 5 Drone by Marco Marozzi has no “face” to express its emotions — it was created be fast, smart and efficient, and not to entertain you! But trust us, this drone is very happy to be of use.
Speaking seriously, there is so much remarkable about this drone. Orange panels and slopes go extremely well with a moderate amount of black and light gray greebling. I wish the upper part of its body and hands were black as well, but clearly not all the pieces are available in black at the moment. And I’m particularly impressed by plain yet so suitable custom stickers with number 5 on the drone’s head; a small touch that looks so great!
When Bruce Wayne gets too old to pull on the cowl, he can probably hand over duties to this fantastic LEGO Bat-bot by Pete Reid. The automated version of the Caped Crusader looks fully kitted-up and ready to take on Gotham’s worst. I particularly like the use of minifigure “neck brace” pieces to create the iconic Batman forearm armour, and the way Pete has used the same parts to make the eyeholes properly pop in that mask. Also, don’t miss the little Blip-robot sidekick, tricked out in an unmistakeable Robin color scheme. Great stuff.
Since completing my LEGO Ronin Titan back in August 2016, I received numerous requests for a building guide for him. After reconstructing him in LEGO Digital Designer and photographing steps requiring techniques that stress parts, I present step-by-step directions to build your own Ronin. Take a look at the parts list, then follow the video below and tear up the Frontier with a brand new broadsword-wielding mech.
I’m going to guess Djokson was influenced by watching cartoons in the early 80s. The builder’s latest mecha looks like a modernized and souped-up version of Tranzor-Z, as it was known in the US, better known as Mazinger-Z elsewhere in the world. It takes distinctive features from the classics — a V-shaped chest plate, hefty arms and calves, and pointed earpieces. With a set of blade-like elements on it’s back for flight assistance, its overall bulk and strength give off some serious attitude — “Get out of my way or you’re gonna regret it!”
