I told myself I wasn’t going to blog any Ma.Ktoberfest 2013 offerings this year because like some of you I find the whole end of the year sci-fi themed months to be a little overwhelming and Brother Tripod has that particular beat covered. However, my love of a great diorama overrides any such petty concerns and it is my pleasure to share with you “Super Jerry” by Logan (∞CaptainInfinity∞) that has just the right mix of detailed vehicles, understated landscaping and good photography from a builder who knows how to frame a shot. The tree isn’t too shabby either.
Semper Paratus, the US Coast Guard’s motto, means “Always Ready” and this gorgeous render of a Reliance class Coast Guard cutter by Matt Bace (mmbace) indeed looks ready for anything. The helicopter on the back is particularly cool, and the ship looks fantastic in white with the iconic red stripe.
I’m starting to think that LUGPol either doesn’t have any sub-standard builders within its ranks, or they kill them off before they can embarrass the group publicly. Either way I’m delighted to present Polish Air Marshall mrutek’s latest effort, a fabulous single-engine biplane called the Antonov An-2. The An-2 was a large, slow flying utility transport used as both a crop-duster and for the deployment of paratroopers. The Guinness Book of World Records states that the 45-year production run for the An-2 was for a time the longest ever, for any aircraft, but it was recently exceeded by the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.
Time to go digital with a mind-blowing tank called the “Ûbârrek-Âssoi Remîv ÛâR – 57/6” by Edmonton’s own Ian MacDonald (ABS doohickies). This brutal looking war machine was inspired by the Valdor Tank Hunter from the Warhammer 40k franchise and I have little doubt that Heinz Guderian would approve of its style and features. While the vocal tribe of purists might complain that most of the parts used are not actually available in dark-tan, we try to have a wider view of things here at the big blog. I included a photo of the back-side because the level of detail and clever parts usage is simply too stunning to miss. BOOM SHAKA-LAKA!
Once again Jon Hall proves that he is truly the master of building beautiful airplanes. He has only posted one photo so far, but I am looking forward to more shots of that gorgeous light-aqua coloured underside.
Andy Baumgart (D-Town Cracka) is no stranger to military hardware. But his latest creation has a little sci-fi twist of the Maschinen Krieger variety. And it is rather brilliant.
The rough and tumble detailing coupled with the custom paint job/stickers makes this look right at home in the Ma.K universe. Even the name is perfectly suited for the genre.
And check out this blueprint edit…how cool is this?!
This futuristic military gunship by Tyler (Legohaulic) is quite an eye-catcher. It has attention-grabbing details in both the complementary colors and the individualized components that feature some uncommonly used parts like tipper beds and hockey shooters. No matter which part your eyes drift to, there’s always something interesting to see.
Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada for another rope-a-dope edition of Friday Night Fights! Tonight’s bout features two maritime maestros dueling for the honor of Poseidon and of course, your voting pleasure. Let’s go to the tale of the tape:
Fighting out of the red corner, from the Land of the Rising Sun…”Dangerous” Dak yuki and his “Aegis Ship.”
And fighting out of the blue corner, from the digital side of the tracks, Matt “The Bomber” Bace and his “Mini Inland Ferry“.
As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding the outcome of this pugilistic endeavor by way of comment. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights, the battle of the SHIPwrights, sky4walker disintegrated his opponent with a score of 7-4. Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!
Anto-nio returns to the Brothership by appealing to my love of all things VTOL, but this time he doesn’t have to share a roundup style posting. Not only is the “Drifting Shield” VTOL quite pleasing to the eye with its broadly sloping surfaces and groovy textures, but the builder has also included a couple of ground vehicles at no extra charge. The jeep is especially nice but the effect of all three is more than the sum of its parts. It almost looks like an entire toy-line based on a summer blockbuster. I would say it looks like an official Lego theme, but there is no incarceration facility or tiny diorama with some kind of trap-door.
Andy Baumgart (dtowncracka) obviously has an interest in military equipment from the (former) Soviet Union and its allies. After building his cracking ZSU-23 Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery, he has turned his attention to something a bit more obscure: the Cuban T-55 mobile SA-2 Guideline launcher.
The SA-2 Guideline is a Soviet surface-to-air missile developed in the nineteen-fifties, which was exported to Soviet allies all over the world. During the Vietnam war, North Vietnamese SA-2s were used to shoot down close to 200 US aircraft, known as Yankee imperialist air pirates in contemporary propaganda. Before then, SA-2s gained notoriety when they were used to shoot down Francis Gary Powers’ CIA U-2 spy-plane over the Soviet Union in 1960 -an incident which caused great embarrassment to the US government- as well as a U.S. Air Force U-2 flying over Cuba during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
By now the SA-2 is an old clunker. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, however, Cuba has been unable to buy more modern and more mobile air-defense equipment. By mounting an SA-2 and its launcher on top of an obsolete T-55 tank chassis, Cuban engineers have managed to come up with a slightly more mobile version. To me it doesn’t look as though it can do much damage except to Cuba’s roads, but it is a great choice for a LEGO model, expertly built by Andy.
