Nnenn built two SHIPs in his time, the first was The Divine Intervention, a black-hulled beauty that packs two deadly sets of missiles. The most astonishing fact is that he built it in only two weeks.
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Nnenn‘s first fighter map posted in mid 2008 shows just how prolific he was. I have come to expect a new model from him every week. This means that from the time we announced his passing until now, nnenn could’ve posted a new creation. It’s often when we are deprived of something that we realize how much we miss it.
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Nnenn is known for his colorful creations, but his Tropicana racer takes the psychedelic cake. Good sci-fi creations rarely have this many colors, but nnenn makes it work in a way that wows us. This is one of his most colorful creations, and no doubt many still remember it after seeing it two years ago.
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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.
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This Vic Viper was the first that nnenn has shown us at the start of 2008. I had to learn that this starfighter came from the the 1985 Gradius games. The player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper in this scrolling shooter, which you can actually play here. Thanks to nnenn, just about every active Lego builder on Flickr now knows what it is.
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In so many ways nnenn‘s love of the Vic Viper epitomized what building with LEGO is: finding and creating ways to make a vast array of beautiful and varied things, limited only by imagination, skill, and budget. He was a craftsman and an artist pushing the boundaries of a seemingly limited form. There’s a certain beauty in that. His ability to combine sharp and organic forms was phenomenal.
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Posted on behalf of Keith Goldman – all words are his.
Nate turned me down when I asked him to join the crew for “Zero Hour on Highway 44”, what a diva….said something about not being inspired to build a car…and then posts this two months later. Instead…I had to go with Dave Shaddix. Think about that for a minute, I asked for nnenn, and I got Shaddix. I’ll never forgive him for that.
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Many remember nnenn‘s Ula-Kit 319 for its dynamic and unorthodox shape, but for others, they remember it as another spark that ignited the controversy surrounding nnenn’s use of modified and clone brand pieces. This spaceship from early 2007 was the third model from nnenn to be blogged on TBB, and already it has been noted for its non-purist construction. You can see examples in the blue tail fins, the textured inverse 2X2 slope in the cockpit, and the stickers that were meticulous cut from colored tape.
Up to this point, nnenn has been an active member of Classic Space Forums, on which he has made four posts in 2005 under his real name before assuming his anonymous identity that took over the community. He gained respect quickly from its members; but unfortunately, his notoriety as a non-purist grew at a faster rate. Later that year, nnenn would leave the forums and start fresh on Flickr, which has become his domain. In an interview on Brickjournal issue 8 a few months later, nnenn shared his views on his controversial building style.
Like the EVN mecha, this model has personal significance for me. I saw it during my freshman year in college at a time when my own building skills were still undeveloped. Seeing nnenn on the fast track to becoming a skilled builder in such a short time aroused my jealousy, and I made no effort to conceal it. From then, nnenn was my mysterious fascination. Like what Tyler Clites has said, he was Bigfoot – his image was blurry and his footprint was large. I too “despised” him.
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Understanding that nnenn built as much for his sons as for himself puts lovely microscale creations like this dropship in perspective.
It’s the perfect size for a child’s hands, with incredible play value packed into a tiny model. When I blogged this back in 2007, I remember thinking back to some of my favorite non-LEGO childhood toys that this evoked. Two itty-bitty vehicles that emerge from an adorable micro space ship? There’s not much more playable — or awesome — than that.
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I’m ashamed to admit that I sometimes dismissed Nate “nnenn” Nielson as a one-note builder, but in looking through his photostream again, I realize I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s clear his LEGO talents went far beyond mere mastery of the small starfighter.
The Wayfinder’s shape is utilitarian, but the splashes of color lend it a cheery air that might make a trip across the barren lunar landscape more bearable.
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Nate Nielson brought his unique design aesthetic to the 30th anniversary of LEGO Space last March, contributing model after model over the month. My favorite was this large craft from the humans.
Nate even introduced a completely new faction — the Ugokin — with their own color scheme and style.
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With the recent passing of legendary builder Nate Nielson, better known to all of us as “nnenn”, we’re going to spend the next week commemorating him with a retrospective of his best builds.
One of my all-time favorites is this microscale carrier:
Be sure to join us in sharing your own thoughts on Nate’s online eulogy.