Douglas Adams once said that most sensible citizens of the galaxy find cricket to be in rather bad taste. But that’s earthlings for you. Not one to leave well-enough alone, Mark Stafford takes the game to a new level by adding giant robotic suits to the mix. I wish the PCA would get behind this idea. I’d actually watch the game then.
Todd Burke has some strange ideas, like a civilization of walking batteries. I’m not sure I want to know how he thought of that. Regardless, the belly-powered creature is rather unique, so you should check it out. Just don’t rub its tummy.
Sometimes the smaller builds are the most impressive. This arena warrior, by Frenald McRackel, is quite striking. It’s a very solid, cohesive build. Everything just works together perfectly.
Ted Andes wasn’t satisfied with making an awesome micromech army. He had to give each one a minifig pilot and make a poster for the team. And he had to ensure a better gender mix.
Tyler Clites is stepping off into lesser explored territory. He says he was trying to make a mech that was more organic looking and didn’t have guns. I’d say he accomplished that and then some.
I can only hope that the construction equipment of the future will resemble these adorable robots by Paul Evans (Paul Evans RG&B). These things are covered in details to love. The face offers us a tiny grin, and fascinating asymmetrical eyes. The exhaust stack built into the back of an arm looks nice, and harkens to present day construction equipment. Meanwhile, the bulldozer blade is just that, a perfect example of a brick-built blade, rather than one of the many prefab options out there.
Let’s also not forget the little pun in the name “Gilgamech.”
The 2011 edition of Iron Mecha has ended and it had some truly superb entries. In the spirit of the original I volunteered myself to write some feedback and crown a winner.
Aaron Williams (m_o_n_k_e_y) was crowned winner after barely edging out Rong Yiren (below left). Nate Daly (below right) had the most creative entry with his nautiloid/gorrila crossbreed.
Many years ago, Mark Neumann introduced a mecha challenge to the unsuspecting LEGO world on LUGNET. Its name was Iron Mecha. Its premise was simple: build a mecha based on a design Mark posted. The winner was an uninspiring chap called Mark Stafford who never went on to much. He did have a pretty cool mecha though.
Five and a half years later, Soren Roberts and Mark have joined forces to bring a new version of Iron Mecha in the MechaHub group on flickr. There’s no prizes and no promise of rankings but it’s a little bit of history I plan to particpate in.
And there is great honour in being crowned ‘Iron Mecha Chef’.
As Mark described the original:
I shall pick a graphic of a mecha. The builder will build a mecha based off of that graphic. Artistic license is encouraged. You may build macro, micro or anything in between. The Build does not need to be an exact copy of the graphic but we should be able to see how you got from the inspirational image to your build.
so follow the link and enter the fray.
This “little” robot that m_o_n_k_e_y just posted on flickr is simply adorable. The bot has quite a lot of character, as well as a striking color scheme. The proportions between the body parts (big head and feet, small body) give lend a babylike quality that’s quite cute. Meanwhile, the gigantic gun warns us from pointing that cuteness out.
Knobby Plastic has a great online handle for a LEGO fan, along with a great little series of “Versidrone” robots. My favorite is this underwater variant.
I’m not sure how stable some of those connections are, but it’s a very cool look overall.
Taylor‘s dragon is no exception. The overall color scheme and texturing just work for this beautiful brick-built beast. I can’t decide if I either feel safe that this dragon is (theoretically) in my corner or threatened that it has a grudge against me.
Fantastic work!
Izzo says it’s raining today. We wish it would rain all the time where he lives, if this is the result the rest of us get to enjoy.
