I don’t think I’d want to be on the wrong side of this one. It’s not often that I see a helicopter design that looks original, but this one by flickr user piratesxlovexrum is awesome. It’s aggressive and bold, and looks vaguely Soviet-inspired. And I have to point out that great bit of photography.
This mind-blowing working compound crossbow is completely LEGO, and made by builders extraordinaire Sean and Steph Mayo (Siercon and Coral). Be sure to check out the video of it in action! Not only does it shoot, even the cables are made from LEGO train electronics wires.
The Brothers Brick snagged a quick interview with Sean and Steph about this awesome creation:
The Brothers Brick: Where did you get your inspiration?
Sean and Steph: We wanted to use LEGO to shoot a projectile, building something other than a catapult or a trebuchet. We’ve seen lots of epic brick built guns online, and thought it would be tons of fun to create a custom Lego compound bow. This quickly evolved into crossbow for extra stability, as the bow is under tons of tension.
TBB: How long did this build take?
S&S: We probably spent a week playing around with the different mechanics. We had a lot to figure out about the flexibility of LEGO pieces under stress, how much the train cables could take, and which pieces would be useful for the cams. Once that was sorted the actual construction in a couple days.
TBB: Why a compound Crossbow, wouldn’t it have been enough to just create a bow?
S&S: A regular bow honestly would probably have been more effective as a lot of the natural flexibility of the LEGO pieces makes them more conducive to a recurve bow rather than a compound bow. But for ages we’ve been fascinated by the cams, idler wheels, and the mechanics of a compound bow, so we wanted to give it a try!
TBB: How many pieces did you use?
S&S: We usually don’t count the pieces we used, and have no clue how some builders do it, but we estimate around 1700 pieces.
TBB: How far can it shoot/how much would it hurt?
S&S: Disregarding the outliers, it can shoot around 40 feet. As a bow without the compound element it could shoot farther, but we couldn’t resist trying to build the cams. As far as how much damage it can deliver, we’re not entirely sure. We have yet to shoot anyone with it, and it is tipped with a flexible rubber lego (both for the competition this was built for and to minimize any accidental injury). It can likely stick into drywall with a sharp enough tip, but not much else.
TBB: What is it designed from? Is this from a video game or something similar?
S&S: This is an original design, but influenced by the Spartan Laser aesthetic from the Halo series. We also wanted to use the green spikes as viper fangs, so we tried to stick with venomous snake inspired highlights. We picture this to be something a Green Arrow vigilante might carry around.
Be sure to check out some of Sean and Steph’s previous insanely awesome creations, like the giant sushi roll and Cortana hologram.
If I were to describe the work of Jonas (LEGOLIZE IT MAN) I think the most appropriate word would be ‘stylish’. It is relatively easy to make a LEGO spaceship and take a picture of it. It is another thing altogether to make it look legitimately cool. Perhaps I am biased, but I would tend to think that your average person seeing this (whether being a LEGO fan or not) would say, “Well that looks rad!”
If Jonas were to publish a coffee table book full of prints of his work, I would buy it immediately. I would read it…and then I would be inspired to build cool LEGO sci-fi things.
I like it when people’s builds make me want a coffee table book full of them.
Japanese builder Moko brings us this awesome model of Gipsy Danger, the humongous alien-fighting war machine in Pacific Rim, Guillermo Del Toro’s high-budget homage to mecha.
Did a Friday night of margaritas and tacos leave you feeling a little gassy today, constant reader? Then perhaps you will appreciate and enjoy today’s offering from regular contributor F@bz; a methane space-tanker with all the details and greebles that you’ve come to expect from the talented Frenchman. What really separates F@bz work from other builders in the genre is his consistent, effective use of negative space.
Thanks to Crimso Giger who suggested this model on the request-line and has an interesting new spacecraft of his own that is worth a look for the candy-color scheme alone.
Matt De Lanoy (Pepa Quin) redesigned Classic Space set 6861 X1 Patrol Craft into this sleek X2 iteration. The trans-bright-green windscreen looks dashing on the all-grey ship body, and the updated engines are snazzy. And even though it’s quite simple, I’m also a fan of the brick-built starry space backdrop.
Matt built this as part of a collaboration for his local LEGO store’s community window, so if you’re near the Woodfield store in Schaumburg, Ill. you can check it out in person.
With SHIPtember underway, I am going to steal a quote from Tyler Clites as flickr is being inundated with photos of “long skinny technic frames”. Throughout the next month I am sure we can expect many of those long skinny technic frames to transform into wondrous spaceships of all shapes, sizes (provided they are 100+ studs long) and colours. However, for the impatient ones among us, Pascal (pasukaru76) was nice enough to whip up a little SHIP in the first day of SHIPtember for our viewing pleasure…12 hours only in fact.
With Pascal I have come expect minimalist clean styling, and the Lucky Dragon No. 7 certainly delivers on those points. But the addition of those solar sails results in a brilliant juxtaposition of organic and mechanical design features. I love it.
But he does have a rather stylish hat. Théo (theolego) explains that this creation will be a part of the upcoming “moving oasis” display. Here’s hoping that the rest of the display is as entertaining and intriguing as this one! It looks like a fun take on post Apoc, or possibly space survival. Either way, I’m hooked!
If your creative well has run dry, TBB is here to help with a couple of projects to fill the hours before the factory whistle blows on Monday…or Tuesday if you live here in the States.
First up is the deceptively challenging How to build a K.E.W.B. by Jacob Unterreiner (4estFeller). The video is easy to follow, doesn’t require a Zhangian collection to build and it even has cool music that will make you feel like you’re in a hip clothing store. The only drawback is that Jacob doesn’t show you how to make his elegant stand to display your K.E.W.B., but we’ll let it slide.
For the advanced builder with LDD experience and a penchant for Sci-Fi, Chief Executive Overlord, Tanuki Corp. and wezra have you covered with a free instructional download of Red Spacecat’s USS Saratoga. I can assure you, constant reader, that the instructions are far easier to follow than my description.
To those of you who take the plunge, good luck! I have no doubt that the builders featured here would be happy to answer questions from you via Flickr if you get stuck. If you have your own D.I.Y. project to share with the readers, leave them in the comments.
Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada for another eye-gouging edition of Friday Night Fights! Tonight’s bout seeks to settle a nostalgic score between ancient and bitter rivals: PCS vs. 3vil. Or, as the suits prefer to call it: Star Justice vs. Space Skulls!. Let’s go to the tale of the tape:
Fighting out of the red corner, from dark heart of the galaxy…Mark “The Grand Admiral” Sandlin and his flagship Asmodeus.
And fighting out of the blue corner, from the bacon-scented halls of interstellar justice…Chris “Fazoom” Giddens and his flagship Vanguard.
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, joeluk66 struck a blow for digital builders everywhere with his 6-3 victory. Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!
This new creation by f@bz is the bee’s knees. With the pun out of my system, I can comment on the unique color scheme of this creation, which looks surprisingly good. The builder has also made use of some parts not traditionally seen on space craft, like the lizard tails above the cockpit. I don’t like how it seems to look from some angles, but I quite like this profile view, and expect if looks good in person.
