Beau Donnan is a master of dieselpunk – which is like steampunk but oilier, dirtier, and more 1940s than 1840s. One of his latest creations is this tracked artillery vehicle, and it’s a beast…
This crazy contraption features Beau’s hallmark realistic color scheme and fantastic greebling, but what makes this model really shine is the motorized features. Check out the artillery functions in action in this video.
We here at The Brothers Brick are long-standing fans of Jason Allemann and his beautiful works. Previously, we’ve featured many of his builds: his Mosaic Printer, robotic Cookie Decorator, and, of course, his beautiful Labyrinth ball maze, released as a LEGO Ideas set this year.
One of my favorites, though, is his kinetic sculpture of Sisyphus and his eternal struggle pushing the boulder. Turns out we aren’t the only big fans of this work of art. Adam Savage of Mythbusters and Tested fame saw a video of Jason’s sculpture, and contacted Jason, getting custom instructions and the parts necessary to duplicate the build.
In the video below, watch Adam Savage and Norman Chan build the sculpture, experiencing all the highs and lows and joys of building a large creation (including not being able to find that ONE part!)
Fans of LEGO come from all walks of life, including jewelers—and what happens when a LEGO fan wants to encase a Han Solo minifigure in carbonite? Well, we haven’t yet figured out how carbonite works, so S.E. Needham jewelers teamed up with youtube channel JerryRigEverything to find out if 14k gold will do instead. Han Solo might actually be worth more than Collectible Minifigures Series 10’s Mr. Gold now.
LEGO stop-motion films or ‘brick films‘ are a popular way to bring LEGO to life. Brick films often feature minifigures and depict movie scenes or action moments using LEGO. Andrea, an Italian fan of LEGO, has employed a stop motion method that is certainly unique. His film shows the smooth creation of a build by Massimiliano Marino. The final creation centers around the Farmer minifigure who appears in Collectible Minifigure Series 15 along with his pig.
The creator Andrea plans further stop-motion fan builds on his YouTube channel AnkTales. The great thing about a stop-motion video of a build is that you can remember how to build it long after it has been deconstructed and the bricks used for the next project, not to mention letting other builders take a look at the construction process.
Putting random objects into hydraulic presses just to see what happens is something of a craze online right now, so it was only a matter of time until our beloved bricks met someone brash enough to try to squeeze the life out of them. Here we see what happens when a LEGO minifig, a 2×4 brick, and eventually a full LEGO set are put under tremendous pressure. I think this is how LEGO Iron Builders are made.
If you’re squeamish about seeing LEGO bricks transformed into new shapes, look away now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo1g4oz6I94
It is not often that I associate the word “adorable” with a forklift truck, but mahjqa has built a forklift truck that fits the description perfectly. Bonus points go to the builder for using my favourite Medium Azure colour for the body of this fully functional forklift truck. It’s compact, but packs a lot of power into such a small package.
More importantly than looks, those forks really can lift! Mhajqa demonstrates this perfectly in his compelling video of the little LEGO forklift busy at work.
As an aside, you will see many palletized goods in the video that are fantastic builds in their own right and are worth a closer look.
What if you had the Midas touch, but with LEGO bricks instead of gold? Popular action/VFX YouTube channel CorridorDigital created an entertaining short video to answer that. Watch the effects of this magical power in this short, funny video flexing CorridorDigital’s 3D effect talents. (Mild language warning)
If you want to see a bit of how they created the LEGO effects, check out the behind the scenes video.
Our friends over at Brotherhood Workshop have teamed up with “How it Should Have Ended” to create this hilarious brick-built alternate ending to The Force Awakens. I won’t spoil the funny with commentary — just watch the video.
With the movie coming out on DVD & Blu-ray in a few weeks, plus summer 2016 LEGO Star Wars sets just around the corner, expect the recent lull in LEGO Star Wars creations to end fairly soon…
British builder Andrew Hamilton is on a one-man campaign to relaunch the LEGO M-Tron theme which retired back in 1993. Andrew has updated LEGO set 6989 Mega Core Magnetizer. Actually “updated” is an understatement. Check out the Mega Core Magnetizer 2.0 — a fantastic vehicle with a double-width set of caterpillar tracks and a beautifully shaped hull encompassing a rear hatch, power functions. AND it even utilises magnets (the M in M-Tron was a nod to the use of magnets in this theme).
All the details can be seen on the 360° view of the Mega Core Magnetiser 2.0, but first, we must pause for this short, highly entertaining commercial for the Mega Core Magnetiser 2.0.
The latest product of LEGO Ideas has arrived, and unlike many of the previous Ideas sets, it’s not a pop-culture reference. LEGO Ideas is the company’s crowdsourcing initiative, and this set was originally designed by LEGO fan Jason Allemann. It is a classic two-axis ball maze familiar to kids and frustrated adults everywhere. We highlighted Jason’s original LEGO Ball Maze way back in 2012, and now almost four years later LEGO Ideas 21305 Maze will hit shelves April 1. The Maze contains 769 pieces for $69.99 USD. LEGO has provided us with an early copy to review, so let’s dig in.
Click here to read the full review
The mastermind of LEGO models featuring motion, Jason Allemann has built a working orrery featuring the sun, earth and moon. Although other LEGO orreries exist, Jason’s model is the only one that is over 97% accurate compared to the actual rotation frequencies of these celestial bodies.
Check out the video to see the orrery in motion and learn about its intricate construction.
The 88th Academy Awards will be held this Sunday in Hollywood, and Andrea Toscano created a brickfilm trailer featuring all eight Best Picture nominees, from The Revenant and The Martian to Brooklyn and Room. Which is your favorite LEGO version?