The WarDog armored battle machine by Ian Barreto looks brutal yet agile, a combination that’s difficult to achieve. The integration of Bionicle parts with Systems bricks is also done with great skill. This mecha reminds me of 8101 Claw Crusher, except it makes the latter look like a kid’s toy.
It is one of my personal pet peeves when a builder becomes famous for one thing and never does anything different. Nnenn was very well-known for his starfighters and was often accused of never branching out. However, in his case, this accusation was unfair and untrue.
If you browse through his Flickr photostream or his Brickshelf gallery, it becomes very clear that he built many other things than his iconic starfighters. This particular one has always made me laugh. I love the whimsy.
Be sure to join us in sharing your own thoughts on Nate’s online eulogy.
This mecha from late 2006 was my first introduction to the works of nnenn. New Brickshelf users seldom upload high quality images of well-built MOCs. There was something special in what I saw, the mecha had a distinct stance and style. The builder knew what he was doing yet I sensed he was relatively new to the medium by inference from the construction of the legs. I also had a hunch that whoever made this was going somewhere, and fast.
Be sure to join us in sharing your own thoughts on Nate’s online eulogy.
It’s very rare that we’ll blog two separate creations by a builder in one day, but both these models by the talented Alex Schranz (Orion Pax) deserve closer attention. Alex’s Optimus Prime transforms completely from semi truck to robot:
The trailer includes a remote-controlled Roller, and Optimus Prime’s chest contains the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Two months in the making, I don’t think I’ve seen a more accurate or complete LEGO Optimus Prime.
I’m loving this little tachikoma by Lord Dane. It’s another creative new use for the figure bases from the new Toy Story army men set. Even if it’s not quite as brilliant as the motorcycle we featured recently, it still looks good, and makes use of an otherwise useless part. Better still, this tachikoma is true to the inspiration from Ghost in the Shell, and can accommodate a minifig.
Tyler does it again. This flying terror is a thing of beauty and joy forever. It’s one of those rare creations that I actually want to build myself….
Titolian‘s robots are creative, fun, and well dressed. Gentle-Bot 4000 is certainly no exception. Sporting turn-of-the-century fashions (love the watch-fob!) and splendid, poofy sleeves, the GB4k is most certainly ready to serve tea at any time.
Watch out for the mustache, though.
It’s been several months since we’ve featured any “classic” steampunk, so I find this three-legged walker by cm946 surprisingly refreshing.
The armor piece from what I assume to be Knight’s Kingdom makes a great central element, while the washtub cockpit and minuscule boiler provide an adorable contrast to the spindly legs.
Fredoichi brings us a very cool mecha. While I’m not sure I can imagine something with such large feet running without tripping, I love the looks of this thing. I’ve been very busy lately, and waited more than a week to post about this sucker, but I think it’s worth the wait.
This is a small model, and it doesn’t use too many parts, but every one is purposefully placed. Also, in this model, the space between parts is a great source of detail. There are a few spots where a couple of small parts are used, rather than a single larger piece, resulting in more seams between parts, for an increased level of detail. Negative space people, it works!
I have no idea what “Twilight Sun” or “USDF” are, but I do know that this hardsuit by Luke Lyons (Tac) has more greeblage than is absolutely necessary. In some cases, too much of a good thing is still a good thing.
The little red HUD adds a splash of color, and even the feet have guns.
I recently came across a quote by Ace Kim, the admin of FBTB, who said “a good picture of a terrible model will look better and be more appealing than a terrible picture of a good model.”
To a degree this is very true, which brings us to this interview with Fredo Houben (Fredoichi), a LEGO builder and graphic designer from the Netherlands. Granted, his models aren’t terrible — in fact they’re actually amazing.
What contributes to our enjoyment of Fredo’s creations is not simply the way he puts his bricks together but also his flawless presentation. As a bonus in this interview, Fredo goes through the steps he uses to edit a mediocre photo into a polished image.
The Brothers Brick: What do you like to build and where do you get your ideas and inspirations?
Fredo: Well, I mostly build in the sci-fi theme. Think of starfighters, multiped walkers/mecha and near-future vehicles. Occasionally I step out of that realm and do something else with the brick, but it’s sci-fi that I enjoy the most.
I find it fun and interesting to vary and play with scale, though I don’t make the biggest things out there.
I really like the challenge of building in a smaller scale. As for ideas and inspirations, I have a lot of interest in the design aspects of things like video games, movies, animation and Japanese toys, and that’s basically what gets things going.
TBB: When did you enter the online LEGO community and have you had a dark age? If so, how did you rediscover LEGO?
Fredo: I uploaded my first MOC on Flickr in 2008, since then LEGO is part of my life again. I say again because I stopped playing/building when I was 12 years old. I’m 36 now, so yeah I’ve had quite a dark age. Back then I played with LEGO day in and day out ever since I was 4. I had quite a collection by the time I was 12, but I lost interest in it and other interests took over like my Amiga, music and games. I felt pretty bad about it because I really enjoyed building, so I tried to come back to it a couple of times, but it didn’t feel the same anymore so I moved on.
Fast forward 23 years later, I all of a sudden felt the urge to do something with LEGO again. I work as a visual designer and I love toys and was thinking how I could create my own models and toys. Just do something else instead of design and 3D on screen… LEGO seemed perfect. I got extra motivated when I stumbled on some amazing work from a couple of builders on Flickr. Seeing stuff from Soren Roberts, Peter Reid, nnenn and Adrian Florea really gave me a good look of what you can do with the brick. These guys use parts in such a creative and different way and all have their own visual style. I had a lot of ideas, so I got my old collection from my parent’s attic and bought some new sets and just started.
More of our interview with Fredo after the jump: Continue reading
