I wasn’t planning to blog any of my contributions to Keith’s big diorama independently here. Then someone told me that they thought my helicopter was the best thing I’d ever built. I thought that in that case, maybe I should post it, in case I never match it again. I hope other people like it as much my vocal friend does. I have to give some credit for the dual-interlocking rotor idea to Tim G, as I first saw the idea on one of his creations.
Tag Archives: Town
Keith Goldman builds a community affair: Zero Hour on Highway 44
Keith Goldman‘s latest diorama is a true community effort. He has recruited help from twenty other builders in the LEGO community to help him populate his massive highway scene. Moreover, he recruited each contributor in secret, giving each contributor a code name ala Reservoir Dogs. Keith has called it a star-studded affair, and given me the cast list to reveal here on The Brothers Brick. So, without further ado, I give you Zero Hour on Highway 44. You can see more photos of the entire diorama on flickr (here or here) or MOCpages (here or here).
Starring:
Brian Kescenovitz:
As Mr. Black
Brian contributed a whole slew of MOCs to this display. Whether his army is invading, or marching to the defense of the city, I can’t say, but I can say that the vehicles are awesome. What a great use of castle pieces on the armored cars.
Co-Staring:
Carter Baldwin:
As Mr. Dark Red
Carter built some neat stuff for this display. I especially like his garbage truck, which includes a lot of nice angles and recessed spaces. The semi seems to steer from both the front and the back, which is a cool touch.
Chuck Citrin:
As Mr. Flesh
Chuck’s car is a nice bit of futuristic engineering. It captures the sleekness that says “future” to so many of us, even if a one-seater this large isn’t exactly green. The backwards windscreen piece makes for a nice effect.
Tyler Clites:
As Mr. Orange
Tyler’s car is also a one-seater, but it’s absolutely tiny. It reminds me of a nose on wheels, but in a good way. The dark red and the gray look very nice together as well. The piece he’s used for a windshield continues to elude me, but one day I’ll find one to use myself.
Fradel Gonzales:
As Mr. Dark Tan
As usual, Fradel would like us all to “Get to da choppa!” However, I think the best action he has to offer is in this dune buggy. I’m a sucker for a good build and yellow, and the details all seem to click in this one. I need to get my hands on some of those roll cage pieces.
Nick Kappatos:
As Mr. Pink
Nick is a fellow Washingtonian (that’s D.C.) and so I shouldn’t be surprised that it looks like his trike is on its way to a Redskins parade. I love the huge rear wheel, and I hear that the car rolls very well, which is more than can be said for my contribution.
Jon Langrish:
As Mr. Sand Green
Jon’s built quite an SUV for us. It reminds me of a mix of a Hummer and the crazy SUV that Lamborghini briefly built a couple of decades ago. He’s done a great job reversing the studs for the bottom, allowing him to put do a nice job around the wheels.
Andrew Lee:
As Mr. Chrome Silver
What can you say about Andrew Lee, he’s a great builder, and extremely prolific. I’m not sure how he found time to build so many vehicles for this display, because the quality doesn’t seem to suffer in the slightest.
Joe Meno:
As Mr. Maersk Blue
Most of us know Joe Meno as the man behind Brick Journal, the print magazine about LEGO. Apparently he still manages to build once in awhile, though. The forked nose at the front of his trike is cool, and I like how he’s concealed half of the rear tire.
Paul Meissner:
As Mr. Aqua
Paul is another over-achiever who contributed many vehicles to this display. It looks like he’s drawn inspiration from Ferrari and Citroen with great result, but I think the real star of his stuff is the forklift.
Peter L. Morris:
As Mr. Metallic Silver
Peter Morris is one of the better starfighter builders out there. In fact, that’s about the only thing I’ve ever seen him build. You can see that influence in his car, which looks almost ready to fly off into space.
Shannon Sproule:
As Mr. Magenta
Most of us know him as Shannon Ocean, the nickname he uses on flickr and MOCpages. He’s built a pickup truck that I can’t quite wrap my head around. Is the entire front area made of tinted glass? That’s so crazy that it works.
Nathan Proudlove:
As Mr. Trans Neon Green
Nathan has built an impressive hot rod. It must be from the future, because there’s nothing like it around. He did a great job with the flame work, and nothing says “future” like a dome. It looks like this thing goes crazy-fast in a straight line, but probably can’t turn… perfect.
Peter Reid
As Mr. Violet
Pete is the master of tiny parts. You can see that in his cars if you look closely. Check out the front bumpers on these things, they’re packed with tiny details and changes in brick orientation.
Dan Rubin:
As Mr. Tan
My own contribution was News Chopper 3, which may have wound up on the cutting room floor, and a tan car (did you expect some other color from me?). I know it looks like I’m another one of the people to build a one-seater car, but it really can seat two, I promise. If only Keith hadn’t given the driver such a huge hat.
Ryan Rubino:
As Mr. Copper
Michael Rutherford:
As Mr. Dark Green
Ryan and Mike got to share a photo, apparently it’s hard to capture an off-ramp in a single photo. Mike’s train is a cool bit of future if you ask me.
Dave Shaddix:
As Mr. Glitter trans dark-pink
Dave has built a couple of interesting cars. The blue one is your typical sleek futuristic pod car. The white one is… well, I don’t know what it is. The grille work on the front end is really cool, but I can’t help expecting the whole thing to transform into a robot.
Julie Stewart:
As Mr. Yellow
Julie’s car must be rocket powered, it certainly looks like it’s intended to go fast. It’s safe though, as there are indicator lights all over it. There are even lights along the side, so that nobody can miss it.
Shannon Young:
As Mr. Trans Purple
Shannon has built a couple of neat cars. Yellow and dark gray is one of my favorite color combinations. The gray jeep thing is just really cool, it looks ready to head off road at any moment. I’m not sure where it’s going, but a buzz-saw is apparently necessary.
Nannan Zhang:
As Mr. Bley
Nannan’s vehicles really are something else. Of course, we get a taste of a Halo Warthog in civilian colors, but the really interesting vehicle is the one with a ball instead of a front wheel. I think maybe Nannan watched I Robot recently. He’s made great use of stickers throughout, as well.
Trees Provided by Gary McIntire:
Consultants to Mr. Goldman:
Jon Palmer
Ley Ward
Not quite a castle
If I understand correctly, Corfe Castle station is going to be the centre-piece of Carl Greatrix‘s new train layout. If the rest of the layout is even half as good (and I have no doubts it will be) it promises to be one of the best.
In other news, congratulations are in order for Carl for his new position designing models for TT games.
Thanks to Ed Diment and Bill Toenjes for the heads up. This one snuck through my flickr browsing.
The 2048 Tucker Flying Car
Chris Wunz (Wuntztwice) has built a cool little flying car. I love retro-futuristic stuff, and this car captures that aesthetic very well. He’s also built in some cool features, like the rotating hover engines, and a very detailed cockpit.
A little bit of Deutsch
Sold out Big Ben Bricks hand car stars in Peter Edwards’ hilarious ad
There’s something inherently funny about advertising a sold-out product, as Peter Edwards does with a hand car from Big Ben Bricks in this video:
The video features a fantastic Technic bridge long enough to span a LEGO Amazon:
Four of the Best: LEGO Aircraft
In most niches of LEGO there are a handful of builders who have really pushed building. Any list is, of course, going to be quite personal but hopefully can give a good idea of what can be achieved. On The Brothers Brick we tend to focus only on new models but this can neglect some older builders whose influence is still felt. To redress this we hope to intermittently present ‘X of the Best’ posts to showcase the ‘leaders’ in any given niche.
LEGO aircraft design presents some unique challenges. The models are typically based on real prototypes and usually have multi-directional curves which are extremely challenging to represent in LEGO. Here are four builders that I feel have really pushed LEGO aircraft building and that I always find myself going back to when I need inspiration.
Klaus Dobisch (gallery EDIT: now eastpole too): Klaus has been building incredible aircraft for many years now. His attention to detail and, in particular to keeping his designs smooth is particularly impressive.
Mike Psiaki (mpsiaki): With his ability to seamlessly use multiple techniques in a single model Mike offers a wealth of incredible designs, each of which offers many ideas for other builders.
HIEN (HIEN): While not as prolific as Klaus or Mike, Hien packs in a huge amount of accuracy in his tiny models.
Ralph Savelsberg (Mad Physicist): Ralph is, in my opinion, the king of profiles. His effort in getting every angle just right really shows and, particularly in his new models, his windscreens and cockpits are excellent examples of what can be done with a bit of sculpting.
A bigger bite
Ralph Savelsberg (Mad Physicist) has made a wonderful model of the De Havilland Mosquito used by the RAF in World War II. His proportions and clever cockpit designs (as well as the special working features) are what really make Ralph’s planes stand out from the usual offerings.
Attacking LEGO brushfires with my Wildland Ultra XT fire engine
The fire engine I built last year was mainly inspired by other LEGO builders, so I wanted to design something from scratch on my own. Here’s the result:
My brother sent me a link to the S&S Fire Apparatus Co’s awesome Wildland Ultra XT, and I just had to build this amazing vehicle — used by the US Bureau of Land Management and local departments where brushfires are common, such as the San Diego Fire Department.
Check out more photos in my LEGO S&S Wildland Ultra XT photoset on Flickr, plus instructions.
The macabre world of Sir Nadroj
Prolific builder Jordan Schwartz (Sir Nadroj) recently posted two indoor scenes of a rather morbid nature.
In Green Murder, a dastardly deed is done in the arboretum:
No less chilling is this scene featuring Jordan’s collection of LEGO animals — the Taxidermist:
Kovic Utility Truck by J5N
I love the look of orange with…just about any color, and so of course this wonderfully-made truck by Jas Nagra (J5N) caught my eye at once while browsing Flickr. It’s very well-made, I very much like the design of the rear-view mirrors.
Alex micros his own Fregoli Alley
Alex Eylar (Profound Whatever) has recreated his Fregoli Alley diorama in microscale.
Click the pic to check out several more microscale versions of Alex’s creations.