Tag Archives: Mecha

We all love a good LEGO Gundam or Macross mecha, but LEGO builders everywhere are also creating excellent models of their own designs. Have a look at them here.

LEGO, transform and roll out!

Let’s just have a quick consensus: Transformers is one of the coolest things ever. Robots that turn into tanks, dinosaurs and sundry? That’s just too good. With that in mind, I happened to come across not one, but two transforming builds from two separate builders.

Up first is “PACE” from JAN LEGO that looks great in both forms as well as using anything but wheels for its wheels.

For more nostalgia, Andrew Lee’s “Shellax!” is equal parts van and turtle. Oh, and it’s Donatello, because he’s the best Ninja Turtle. Again, there’s a consensus on this.

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TBB cover photo: February 2016

We’re very enthusiastic about all things robotic here at The ~~Mechas Mech~~ Brothers Brick, so a mecha-themed monthly cover photo was inevitable. While a lot of the LEGO mech tech that we cover here is on the large side, this month’s moody mecha TBB cover photo by Italian builder Devid VII proves that sometimes it’s not always size that counts!

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then acquaint yourself with the submission guidelines and submit your *LANDSCAPE ORIENTED* photo today.

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Droneuary highlights

~~January~~ Droneuary is almost over and that means the special building month for all things drone is almost over too. There have been a myriad of stellar creations in this year’s challenge, but here are a few of my favorites:

The first is Olympus Mons from TBB’s own Simon Liu.

I just love the dramatic monochromatic feel this build exudes. It’s also interesting to note the religious undercurrent that Droneuary is known for. In this case the scene features Zeus instead of the usual “Dronezus”.

Next we have Markus Rollbühler and his trio of uniquely-colored Drones.

There’s nothing like some rare and hard-to-find colors to get out of the comfort zone, but Markus makes it look surprisingly easy to build in dark turquoise, light aqua and bright light orange.

Finally we have the perennial Tyler Clites and his U.N. vs. Spetsnaz Drones.

The cold war didn’t end. Or did it? Tyler utilizes his mastery of character and figure posing here to full effect. You can almost feel the mist as the Russian drone sneaks up on his target.

A post-apocalyptic mech with hints of Cherno Alpha

The focus here today is “Unit 573 Model No. 9” from chubbybots, which is delightfully stocky while still looking like a serious warmachine.

The builder says it is inspired by the Zombie Vs Robot Adventure comic book, and carries no weapons because it “pulverizes its enemies to death.” I mean, as far as battle strategies go, that’s a pretty good one.

As the title betrays, the main semi-circular pieces which form the core of the build remind me of the Cherno Alpha Jaeger from Pacific Rim, and little details like the holes in those pieces and the splashes of color really add a lot of character to this build. Listen, I’m not saying Pacific Rim is one of the most fun movies ever made because it has giant robots slapping around giant-er monsters with shipping containers because the world’s politicians apparently watched way too much anime—wait, that’s exactly what I’m saying.

Now I really want a worthy Kaiju to fight this mech.

Command authenticated. Standby for titanfall.

Titanfall is one of my all-time favorite games and a highly underrated multiplayer title. So many hours of titan versus titan battles makes Marius Herrmann‘s IMC Stryder Titan (which is the best of the three titan classes!) instantly recognizable. The detailing is accurate to the in-game lightweight Stryder frame, from the various sensors on the canopy, to the little steps the pilot hops on to enter. Now I want to fall back onto the virtual battlefield and punch some pilots out of their Titans.

Deadly in gray & red

Cole Blaq has just finished a batch of really awesome matching near-future military vehicles, led by this vicious VTOL aircraft. I love how the red striping even continues around the central turbofan. Spots of yellow from printed tiles and the tips of white missiles add interesting detail to the basic gray and dark red color scheme.

The VTOL has a matching APC and walker mech. The APC is reminiscent of the vehicle from Aliens, which is not at all a bad thing.

Be sure to check out the photoset on Flickr for more pictures of all the models.

This mech was worth the wait

After teasing us with multiple work in progress shots and even an extremely detailed bust, builder Lu Sim has finally unleashed the finished version of the reFX01 mech.

We’re actually a bit spoiled here, as there are two varients of the mech. The biggest difference is the head design, but the builder gives more explanation in the flavour text too.

Make sure to check out the full blog post regarding this build if you want a peek behind the curtain.

The jolly olive giant war machine

Moko is back with another stunning mech. This time death comes wearing olive green armor and looking totally killer. Moko has made this mech highly poseable, and amazingly, all of the armor plates can be removed from the skeletal framework. It even has room for a minifig. You can see more pictures on Moko’s blog.

Mister Sandman, build me a mech...

Pascal is a prolific builder, and a master of microscale mechs, managing to pack heaps of character into a tiny handful of bricks. His latest creation, the Sandman, is a typical example of his signature style – a delicious combination of whimsy and menace…

The body of this small model is pretty simple – nowhere near the realism and complexity of the awesome heavy robot Andrew blogged recently. However, there’s a nice level of detail with that green “eye” and the gun barrel striping providing welcome splashes of color against the tan and grey. What makes the model for me is the smart parts usage around the head, creating a sensor array with a real air of functionality. Couple all that with some sharp macro photography and you end up with one of my favourite microscale models so far this year.

Scaling up the reFX01

Robots happen to be my favourite type of LEGO creation. There’s mechs, drones, hardsuits, powersuits and everything in between. What you don’t often see is a bust of a custom robot. Lu Sim gives us what we never knew we wanted in this highly-detailed creation inspired by his own work-in-progress.

If you want more of this robo-appendage, the builder’s personal blog has both a step-by-step build process as well as a 360° video for your non-bionic eyes to soak in.

The functional plausibility of Kwi-Chang’s heavy robots

While we certainly feature plenty of LEGO mecha here on The Brothers Brick, I’ll admit that many of them fall into the old Gundam pattern of humanoid robots that look like a giant person wearing armor. Not so with this latest from Japanese mecha master Ryuhei Kawai (Kwi-Chang), who recently posted a new mecha called LHB-025 鬼頭刀 (apparently the name used in Taiwan for the mahi-mahi or dolphinfish). This mecha looks more like something that would be in a Neill Blomkamp film, with a vaguely arthropodal aspect — wings, flaps, and cylinders sticking out of the frame every which way. The predominant white color scheme with spots of red make the whole thing look plausibly functional in an industrial setting.

Lean green army machine

I recently picked up Wolfenstein: The New Order in the Steam Winter Sale — partly because it was very cheap, and mostly because it promised cool alternate history robots. While the game didn’t win me over, the promise of robots was fulfilled and now I’m seeking more vaguely German machines. Djordje delivers with this “Höllenhund”. My favourite part use here must be the single armour part angled in such a way to create a dome helmet, and the red eyes peeking out below.

A gallery of the model is available on Brickshelf.