Tag Archives: Think Tank

This turquoise tank is ready to scoot, scoot, scoot...

While it is only January, it is never too early to start thinking about Marchikoma, the LEGO building event paying homage to those adorable little think-tanks from the Manga Ghost in the Shell. Whether or not that was what inspired Duncan Lindbo to create this scene, there is no denying the nice part usage to be found. The tank’s six legs are built using the lower section of the Friends theme scooter. These ladies are not messing about; by the looks of those bottles lying around, they are fully stocked on energy drinks to keep tuning their tank through the night.

Street (IL)Legal

LEGO Spider tank is out to ruin your day – Pew pew

In case you are wondering what is more terrifying than a spider big enough to step on you in the middle of the night, how about one that is also just as likely to pulverize you with its fists or punch a soda can-sized hole in your gut with its energy blaster thing. I’m talking about this imposing LEGO walking tank by Tino Poutiainen, which is appropriately named Mastadon.

Ironclad: K02 "Mastodon"

The walking arsenal looks surprisingly nimble, and it can also call in some redundant reinforcements with its communication array, just to show off.

Walk softly and carry a huge missile battery

When it comes to war machines designed to handle any terrain, the more legs the better. I mean, look what happened to the AT-STs on the forest moon of Endor, with their two spindly legs. But just because your walking death machine looks like an armored tarantula, doesn’t mean it has to sound like Godzilla stomping through the forest. This behemoth by Nick is sporting rubber feet for maximum stealth, which just might make it even more terrifying.

Phalanx

There are a lot of great part uses worth mentioning, particularly the missile batteries on either side of the head, made from a substantial collection of this roller-skate part, and several mysterious panels with 2 holes that turned out to be this cabinet door. That castle-themed shield is also a nice touch.

Friday Night Fights – Koma Combat

Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada for another round of Friday Night Fights! Tonight we’re recapping the best of Marchikoma – the yearly think-tank build month. Let’s go to the tale of the tape.

In the Bley corner we have Cole with his Jigatsu MZ-5000 (with cool truck):
Jigatsu MZ-5000

In the Green corner we have Blaq with his AMT 853-JH:

AMT 853-JH

Yes you read that right, Cole vs Blaq, in the first and probably only FNF self contest – Despite my best effort, Cole Blaq’s efforts last month was jaw dropping good. And of course if you missed any Koma’s – you can see an overview of all the builds here.

As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding the outcome of this bout by way of comment. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights, Micro GARCs, Jacob wins the race 8-5 ! Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!

The UAU6 “Winter Moon” Shines Brightly

Brian Kescenovitz‘s (mondayn00dle) Tachikoma style tank was inspired by Deviantart user flyingdebris’ concept art. It is beautifully done and elegant in its execution. It almost appears to be a Mondrian inspired work of art.  Notable design elements are the deft use of sticker remnants, the smooth clean lines, and the use of the chainsaw elements to create a one plate stud reversal in the turret. The offset mounting of the white half-domes of the legs/ wheels is also an impressive bit of design work.  This “tank” is so esthetically pleasing and friendly looking, I think it would actually make any town it invaded that much more pleasant for it.

UAU6 "Winter Moon"

$165 Million Plus Interest

It’s been about a year since we last heard from David Collins (intrond) who returns to TBB with a sci-fi model simply titled “485”. This quasi-Tachikoma strikes a nice balance between smooth armored sections on top and the mechanical details beneath.

485

As for the title, I thought “485” seemed too stiff and the soundtrack for Ocean’s 12 was playing in the background.

Kani カニ – Utility never looked so good

Well best to wrap-up Marchikoma with a bang. Curtis Collins (curtydc), founder of the Think Tank group, creates in my opinion the most unique and memorable Think Tank of the month. Between the utilitarian style and the seemingly working mechanics, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this thing actually start walking around. And me being a huge fan of bright hits of colour, this is just right up my alley.

Kani カニ

Curtis said that while building this, he had one of my favourite pieces of robot concept art sitting close by…Fausto De Martini’s brilliant Nautillus Submersible Mech. Oddly enough I didn’t pick up on it intially, but now that it was pointed out, I can’t believe I missed the reference.

For further views, have a click through Curtis’ photostream

Always bet on Blaq

Cole Blaq returns to the ivy covered halls of The Brothers Brick with this quadripedal pseudo-tachikoma simply called “daW.-G”. The builder would like to draw your ever inquisitive eye to the “working like radius and ulna”. My eye was drawn to this rarely used Wedge 4 x 2 x 1 1/3 with 1 x 4 Base.

daW.-G

A Tank of the Alternate Past

There are a lot of cute little Tachikomas floating around lately, but this isn’t one of them. This mighty legged-tank by Dylan Denton is a bit more serious, and it’s got the looks to prove it. Based on a mech in the anime series Sound of the Sky, the Takemikazuchi looks deadly as it goes for a stroll through the snow.

Takemikazuchi

Olive a good Think Tank

We may be guaranteed never to see official Ghost in the Shell LEGO models, but that doesn’t stop LEGO fans from building their own Tachikoma, Fuchikoma, and other “Think Tanks” during what is now the annual Marchikoma challenge.

Chris (Ironsniper) puts the new olive-green LEGO elements to good use with his own entry, full of great shaping despite the limited parts palate.

Orībuchikoma

The light and dark grays Chris uses for the non-olive portions are a great example of using different shades of gray to mimic different types of real-world metals — a subtle type of color-blocking missing from less-sophisticated builds.

Most popular LEGO models of 2012

This past year saw an incredible diversity of LEGO creations posted here on The Brothers Brick. It’s not always easy to predict which LEGO models will go viral, but some, like the Batcave, just hit it out of the park.

  1. Carlyle Livingston & Wayne Hussey’s epic LEGO Batcave

01 Batcave1048

  1. Basic brick characters
  2. The 9 Circles of Hell in LEGO
  3. Portal 2 test chambers in LEGO
  4. Ryan McNaught’s Massive LEGO Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket

Me next to the Saturn V

  1. Scrolling LEGO TV featuring Superman
  2. LEGO Skyrim tower
  3. Motorized LEGO Tachikoma from Ghost in the Shell
  4. Blake Baer’s custom Hobbit models

Fire and Water

  1. Mini LEGO Batman Tumbler

Lego Batman mini Tumbler

In contrast to the most popular LEGO models of 2011, the list isn’t as dominated by LEGO Halo models. We enjoy Halo as much as the next LEGO fan (I just finished Halo 4 solo on Legendary last night!), but it’s nice to see other sources of inspiration listed among the most popular models of 2012.

Tachikoma walks, rolls, could be yours!

Trackikoma

Since Peer Kreuger (mahjqa) first went CUUSSO I’ve been waiting for the right time to blog about it, and I think that time is now! Sure we already blogged the model but, with 3000 votes already down, I feel it’s time to call the readers of TBB to support it on LEGO CUUSSOO.