Tag Archives: Turtle

Go swimming without getting a drop on you

Introducing the DSV Hardshell, the latest in undersea exploration by Slick_Brick. This amazing submersible glides silently through the ocean with flipper-style propulsion and steering, allowing you to roam the reefs without frightening away its aquatic inhabitants. The extra wide windscreen allows for unobstructed views in nearly all directions while keeping you safe from electric jellyfish and any sharks who might be lurking nearby.

The DSV Hardshell

Great flying turtles!

It may sound like something Robin would exclaim, but this great flying turtle by Markus Rollbühler is delightfully whimsical instead. Markus notes that the whole LEGO build clocks in at just 96 pieces, though I spy some elements in there that are quite uncommon, like the dinosaur head that’s the turtle’s head….except backwards! All the gear piled haphazardly atop the turtle’s saddle completes the feeling of a wandering magician.

101 Bricks: The Cloud Strider

This turtle is hard on the outside, slightly less hard on the inside

You say LEGO mecha animals, all I hear is Mitsuru Nikaido. Few builders have such a remarkably consistent style across so many builds. Some of my favourites in this series are deep-sea creatures; something about the exoskeletal style just really works for marine life. The venerable sea turtle is latest to be added to the menagerie. The white shell really pops against the dark grey of the turtle’s mechanical innards. Some of Nikaido-san’s creatures feature white heads to draw the attention that way, but in this instance I think the grey is a better choice. It emphasises the difference between the hard shell and the soft tissue underneath. Well, as soft as a mechanical turtle can be, anyway.

LEGO-Mecha-Sea-turtle_11

See the turtle of enormous girth, on his shell he holds the Earth...

Giant turtles appear throughout works of fiction: Discworld, The Dark Tower, and The Neverending Story to name a few. Here, Gino Lohse realises one of these beasts in LEGO form. The castle, itself a great micro build, sits proudly atop the colossal reptile as it makes its way through the forest. The subtle detailing through grill pieces as crenels demonstrates some exceptional part usage here, as do the binocular window and minifigure-hand flags. But its “vehicle” is a great build too! I love how the brown colour of the shell gives way to a grey rocky outcrop ensconcing the fortification. Both the creature and its payload blend so well into the forest that they traverse.

Rock Turtle

The turtle with a small world on her back

Grayson M‘s latest creation reminds me a little of the Discworld books, which is certainly no bad thing! He has created a charming sea turtle with a whole world on her back – a world of coral. The reef on the turtle’s back allows for some inventive parts use; everything from zamor spheres and macaroni tubes to wheels and Bionicle blades is in there. Impressively all this is happening without making it feel too crowded – the variation in parts, textures, and size seems very carefully done to achieve this. But don’t let the bright colours of the reef distract you from the ingenious construction of her head! This uses a Brachiosaurus body from the short-lived Dinosaurs theme from 2001. It’s a perfect complement to the colourful coral and gives a weathered look to this reef mother.

Reef Mother

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.

ARCHELON CASTLE

Continue reading

Spires in the Skies

Markus Rollbühler surprises us with a creation that could be straight from a fairy tale. Inspired Terry Pratchett, Markus created this giant turtle with a settlement on its back. The turtle is a lovely build, using owls for legs and acorn tiles for eyes. The best thing about this creation has to be the use of the ninja neck scarf to create the dome roofs of the settlement and the smalles airship (which is cute as a button). The bigger airship uses a combination of the magnifying glass and the barbell weight. After seeing these I want to build an entire fleet of cute little airships.

101 Bricks: Spires in the Skies

Your doom approaches (slowly)

They say bad news travels fast, but you’re the enemy of this battle turtle by Jayfa, then your bad day might take a while to arrive. This little four-legged LEGO mech is delightfully tank-like, just like its real-life armored inspiration, but unlike fleshy reptiles it’s got a big artillery piece letting it lob shells instead of just hiding in one. The ring of inverted 1×2 slopes (likely attached to a piece of flex tubing) is something we don’t often see on mechs, but gives this cold beast a great organic curvature. And of course, I have to mention the Bionicle shoulder plate for the head, which looks almost made for the purpose.

T-84 155mm Heavy Artillery Unit

More LEGO Friends Summer 2019 sets revealed featuring an ocean of new cute animals, a lighthouse and more [News]

We revealed the first half of the upcoming LEGO Friends Summer 2019 wave yesterday, and today we have four more upcoming Friends sets showcasing an ocean theme packed with new animals like seahorses, baby turtles, fish and even a narwhal. Standouts sets in the Friends Ocean wave include a lighthouse, lifeboat and and a seabed floor full of life.

The sets were revealed by Dutch retailer MisterBricks. As with some of the other recently revealed sets, we don’t have the exact release date for these, but we are able to provide approximate US prices thanks to the Euro prices listed by the retailer.

Don’t miss the rest of the LEGO summer 2019 sets reveals, and be sure to check out the new Toy Story 4Spider-Man, and The LEGO Movie 2 sets that just went sale a few days ago:

LEGO Architecture
LEGO Batman
LEGO City
LEGO City Space
LEGO Creator
LEGO Friends
LEGO Friends Ocean
LEGO Harry Potter
LEGO Jurassic World
LEGO Ninjago
LEGO Star Wars

Click to check out more images of the new Friends ocean-themed sets

This transforming mecha makes the best turtle formation

Continiuing from his recent transforming jellyfish mech, the superstar LEGO mecha builder Moko makes a more defensive, turtle-themed one. Do not let its protective posture fool you — this turtle is armed as heavily as it is armoured!

MFS-022 Archelon

The animal form is great, but the turtle-like elements extend to the mech form as well, with its bulky shape, as well as a beak-like forehead. All the wedges on the back, set at complementing angles, make for a convincing turtle shell that gives an imposing presence to the mech form as well.

MFS-022 Archelon

LEGO Builders on the half shell: a history of helping turtles and tortoises [Feature]

Last month, a story on LEGO bricks being used to help an injured turtle went viral. An Eastern box turtle was found with multiple fractures on its plastron (the name for the underside of a turtle/tortoise shell). Veterinary staff at the Maryland Zoo of Baltimore performed surgery, but they were concerned about allowing the turtle to move freely while healing properly. According to zoo employee Dr. Ellen Bronson, turtles take much longer to recover than mammals and birds due to a slower metabolism.

To help the turtle move without injuring itself again, Garrett Fraess (the Zoo’s veterinarian extern) and his colleagues sketched out some plans for a wheelchair…

Click here to read how people help turtles to recover…