Though not the sort of achievement that makes me proud to be human, the Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 “Drache” (Dragon) was the first helicopter to enter production, though Nazi Germany was only able to manufacture about 20 during World War II. I had no idea it even existed until Aleksander Stein built one from LEGO.
Here’s Aleksander’s Fa 223 in action over southern Bavaria:
Is there a contest going on that I’m not aware of? The recent crop of sky-fi fighters makes it seem as though dieselpulp may be replacing steampunk as the fan-created theme du jour.
Anyway, I couldn’t blog the more recent fighters by other builders and pass up my favorite, the P-79 Stratofighter “Steel Wind” by Jon Hall:
The judicious sticker usage and gorgeous presentation truly enhance what would be an awesome fighter regardless.
This month’s LUGNuts challenge — Kickin’ it Oldschool! — is coming to a close, with many great cars and trucks from the pre-1950 era. Here are just a couple of my favorites.
Nathan Proudlove rolls out a 1940 Ford pickup truck, tricked out to please any skateboarder:
Tim Inman (rabidnovaracer) heads to the beach in his 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster station wagon:
Fredo Houben (Fredoichi) seems to be taking a break from the tiny mecha we love so much to build a series of sky-fi fighters, which we also love.
Check out more of Fredo’s sky-fighters in his photoset on Flickr.
EJ Nichols (Gold_2) has combined the sky-fi aesthetic with the Vic Viper form, and the result is rather awesome.
(Coincidentally, the XP-55 Ascender was a World War II prototype that would fit right in to the fantastic world of sky-fi.)
Patrick (Jason son) has given us an excellent rendition of Mad Max’s car. I’m not certain of how common this car ever was as a police interceptor in Australia, but I like to think that they’re running around all over the place. Remember, two men enter, one man leaves.
In regards to the Technic builder Peer (Mahjqa) Kreuger, I’ve come to expect the unexpected in the functional creations that one can make out of Lego. His latest Stilzkin Bridge Launcher is a vehicle that carries and deploys its own bridge to cross a chasm. Check out this must-see video for the entire action footage.
Lino went nuts with his most recent build, so we get two for the price of one. I love the black rendition of the Lego Red Baron, but the matching T-bucket takes the cake.
I don’t completely know what to make of this Tortoise class racing speeder by Jason Corlett, but I do know that I like the unconventionality, construction of the engine, and the attachment of the cockpit seemingly as an afterthought.
This mecha by Fradel Gonzales (Slice151) is fun and great by any standard. I particularly like the construction of the weapon on its left shoulder, and the way he posed it in a simultaneously brooding and challenging way. And the tan. I like the tan. It looks like it’s ready to take on the world.
It’s named after his childhood dog, Bronte, that he pines for and still loves. That also is a great contrast.
Real life, including spending time with my real life LEGO friends, have been part of why I haven’t been blogging, so I figured I’d transition back into it by blogging a couple locals.
Many years ago Mike Psiaki came onto the online LEGO scene and was impressed by El Caracho‘s Batmobile. Now he’s built his own for a new generation of builders to be impressed by.
I usually make some attempt to come up with my own title but Paul Meissner’s (legosamurai) title describes his simple scene so well I just ran with it. Looking closely you can see that this is an army on the warpath but an idle glance suggests nothing more than a simple convoy traveling across a distant planet.
EDIT: It would appear I got this ever so wrong. The diorama was actually built by RoninLUG which is Andrew Lee (onosendai2600), Fradel Gonzales (Slice151), Brandon Griffiths (icgetaway) and Paul. Many more pictures can be found here.