Tag Archives: Ocean

Cresting the wave of a pirate’s life

Beware any ship what flies the crimson flag! This LEGO ship by Ralf Langer sails on the crest of two seas, ever searching for more riches. The ship is beautifully crafted, but make no mistake–this is a pirate ship! Besides, who says pirates can’t have nice things? The ship is loosely inspired by the Golden Hind, the galleon captained by Sir Francis Drake during his circumnavigation of the globe in the late 16th century. The sails are brick built, allowing for greater detail to capture the way they catch the wind. The ship itself sits atop two curved LEGO seas, elements reused from some of Ralf’s past builds. One has a town under threat of cannon fire, while the other has water stained with blood and a town burning from a pirate attack. The captain’s quarters bear remarkable stained glass windows, and that intricate detailing in the ship’s woodwork is exquisite!

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A lionfish build that’s good enough to eat

With all the LEGO turkey legs and croissants adorning his denizen of the deep, Ryan Van Duzor makes a good case for eating more lionfish, an invasive species in the Western Atlantic Ocean. I love the use of Ninjago Dragon Master wings to replicate the fish’s delicate fins. And the minifigure weapons adding their points to the many spines is some inspired part usage! I can only imagine what the interior of the model looks like to support the arching pieces making up the face of this beautiful Pterois. This model is a real catch!

Take a dive into this vibrant underwater world

LEGO Masters winners, Steven Erickson and Mark Erickson, have created this fascinating aquatic display. We have had a look at the golden speeders before, which fit in perfectly with this diorama. Bursting with colour, the build features a variety of characters and sea life, surrounding a grand-looking throne room. The use of flexible green tubes as seagrass is one clever technique and makes a great addition to the collection of sea vegetation. Minifigure legs represent the curl at the end of the seahorse’s tail and one of the jellyfish even uses hero blast pieces as its tentacles.

Set sail on the high seas with 38 guns ablazin’!

With thirty-eight cannons at the ready, this LEGO HMS Argonaut built by Fehron Argonaut looks like it can handle just about anything. This builder clearly knows their way around tall ships. I’m loving the sails, the flags, even the complex rigging is a sight to behold. I sort of wish the builder had more to say about this amazing creation other than “38 gun frigate”. It really deserves a backstory. There was apparently an HMS Argonaut in real history, a few of them in fact, but none quite like this. We’ll just have to imagine for ourselves the adventures that await this handsome vessel. My limited research states that this may also be the first time we have featured this builder but with LEGO skills this good, we’ll surely be on the lookout for more. In the meantime, be sure to check out some other tall ships from various builders.

Let’s hope it’s a gusty day for this windmill

LEGO Builder Mathijs Dubbeldam has constructed this fantastic-looking windmill stationed out on the open sea. Kelp and seaweed cling to the lower part of the structure with a drone hovering nearby, overlooking the ocean. The small platform features a crane with what appears to be an underwater detection device hanging from its hook. In the habitable part of the windmill, a conical glass roof is represented by a windscreen piece from Lando’s Millennium Falcon set. The hints of dark blue against the plain white of the windmill are also a nice touch, and it’s the little details across the model that add a lot of character to the whole build.

Atlantean jetbikes and umbrellean jellyfish

Whenever Steven Erickson and Mark Erickson get together you know it is going to be LEGO magic—underwater magic, in this case. But maybe that’s my undying urge to live my life as the mermaid I know that I am—or at least was in a past life. Or maybe it’s the amazing underwater creatures that these builders created.

Using the jellyfish mask for a jellyfish isn’t groundbreaking, but it is nice to see these odd parts pop up in creations. The true brilliance is the use of the trans pink umbrella to create an even bigger jellyfish. The leaf parts work great representing the tentacles. The Bionicle Olmak mask works great as an underwater vehicle. The only thing I am not sure about is the faucet used as a steering wheel.

This stunning 93-pound LEGO turtle kingdom was nearly 20 months in the making

Everyone knows that an Archelon is a species of marine turtle that went extinct during the Late Cretaceous period. What this LEGO build supposes is, maybe they didn’t and then a hermit community built a castle on one’s back. Archelon Castle by Fraser Ratzlaff is a fanciful, Mindstorms-powered, articulated creature with 4 independently swaying appendages, an anatomically correct mouth masticating a lobster, and oh yes—the entire beast (and affixed castle) slowly rotates 360 degrees. Hitch a ride as we explore the intense environmental storytelling of this build that took almost two years to create.

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You wouldn’t want to be this fish’s dentist!

Mitsuru Nikaido has constructed this haunting model, taking inspiration from aquatic creatures found in the depths of the ocean. Specifically, this build is based on the strangely named footballfish, from the same family as the anglerfish. The body is covered in armour like plates, providing the model with a robotic aesthetic, until you get to the mouth. The twisted, organic looking teeth, recreate the horrifying appearance of the fish, along with the round gleaming eyes. Beware dear readers, I’ve heard that this model uses a golden bionicle orb to lure in unsuspecting LEGO fans…

Nature can be beautiful but also scary

Based on shelled animals such as mollusks, Martin Vala has created this complex build. The model has a carefully structured shell that twists around, forming swirling patterns. Ball joints and sockets have been used to portray this formation with smooth angled pieces representing the rounded parts of the shell.

The top-down view lets you really appreciate the shaping of the model. The shadowy tentacles at the front make it all the more terrifying as they splay out in various directions with a small, haunting mouth at the centre. Hopefully, this creature’s personality doesn’t match its appearance.

LEGO City 30370 Ocean Diver – A polybag that was manta be [Review]

LEGO is known for releasing some very massive (and expensive) sets – a World Map, the Colosseum, and even the Titanic. But there’s another scale to consider – the polybag. Small, affordable sets that span the range of micro-vehicles to minifigure-based adventures. While these polybags are a little too compact for our usual in-depth reviews, they still deserve their day in the sun. So come along as we explore a recent offering – LEGO City 30370 Ocean Diver. Available briefly as a gift with purchase directly from LEGO, this set also had limited availability in other retail outlets.

Click to read the full hands-on review

A lovely scene at the seashore

When you are feeling stressed out, where do you go to unwind and re-connect with nature? Maybe someplace like this tropical beach by Brickleas, built for an Iron Builder contest using the white radar dish piece, used quite skillfully as steps, a sign, and shades to block the sun on the roof. And in case you missed it, the seagulls as well. One of my favorite features, aside from the shack, is the sand and surf, using slopes and bricks in shades of tan, including dark tan for the sand at the water’s edge.

Watch out for the giant squid of the deep!

Be careful of how far you venture into the ocean or you might meet a terrifying creature such as this. Aiden Rexroad has built this frightening squid with a long shadowy form and piercing lime-coloured eyes. The organic style of the model is created through the use of a variation of inversed tires, placed along the squid’s outstretched tentacles. It appears there is a continuous ball joint system under the rubbery limbs, allowing the creature to pose, providing the model with the ability to drag unsuspecting victims down to the depths. Bohrok helmet pieces represent part of the monster’s body, which contributes to the odd rounded proportions of the squid.

If you didn’t think this build was scary enough, take a look at the huge array of teeth encircling the mouth. This creation demonstrates a vast knowledge of pieces and a unique understanding of the different ways in which LEGO pieces can be utilised.

You can check out more articles on unusual LEGO creature builds, here.

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