Nerdvember is nearly over!
/Where has the month gone? It's been super busy here at BrickNerd... building, blogging, lighting, shooting, premiering, writing, editing and organizing. Then I look up at the calendar and Nerdvember is 3/4 gone! Yes, there's just over a week left to get your submissions in so you better get building! Learn all about it here!
Gingerbread House
/Would you believe this absolutely stunning gingerbread house was built by someone who's never actually had (a situation that needs to be corrected) a gingerbread house? Builder Swan Dutchman confesses to this fact in his description. As the holidays rapidly approach I know we'll have one of these at my house, but I know for a fact it won't be nearly as amazing as this delicious work of art.
Thanks for the head's up Guy
Who Who Who
/I am irresistibly drawn to the simplicity and form of this image by mihaimariusmihu. As a MOC, it's deceptive in it's complexity, since overall it is mostly silhouetted and doesn't have much surface details. But look at all those converging shapes and angles, this is no small feat. The balance of the image is fantastic too,. While our subject is nearly dead center of frame (a photographic no no) the branches occupy an asymmetric and interesting composition, offering an excellent use of positive and negative space. Also, I'm craving a Tootsie Pop.
Race Ready
/My love for all things Nintendo is well documented, so this collaborate series of MOCs from 6Kyubi6, 74louloute and fujiia instantly caught my eye. I haven't played MarioKart in quite some time, but I still have fond memories of playing with my boys (before they were too cool for Nintendo). Now I have to admit I want to go fire up the Wii!
Miho Nishizumi
/Really how can you go wrong with big eyes, a small mouth, fantastic hair...and a tank! Builder MikeVd is back with another anime inspired MOC that I have no idea about, and this morning is too crazy to fake it with Google. OK, I know a little about it, she's from Girls Und Panzer, which brings together the natural combination of teenage girls and WWII weaponry.
Save 40% Off LEGO Books At No Starch
/If you want LEGOcentric publications, No Starch Press is the place to go. They have produced a great many fantastic titles in recent years, some of which I've reviewed right here on BrickNerd. Well now until Sunday Nov 23 you can save 40% on these awesome books with the code CLUTCH. Get over there and get yours before they're gone!
Batman Vs Superman
/BrickNerd Studios is extremely happy to announce our latest project is online, Batman Vs Superman. This was a ton of work but also a ton of fun. I'd like to thank everyone that helped make this a reality. Please watch and share!
Pirate 100
/Let's face it, City displays can get a little monotonous. Not to take anything away from the dedicated builders out there, but just like in real life, it tends to be box after box after box. But mix something like this graciously curved structure from lisqr among the buildings and wow! According to the minimal description this is called Pirate 100, but the interesting thing is that it's build on curving train track as it's base, that's some seriously out of the box (see what I did there?) thinking. I love the Seqway tour too.
Thanks for the head's up Vince.
Bad Day
/What's that, Starbucks got your coffee wrong this morning? Loads of traffic on your commute? Well, as bad as that might be consider this Necromancer MOC by Dubbadgrim. Yeah it might have taken a little longer for you to get to work today, but at least you didn't release some sort of inter-dimensional being into this world.
Chillin' After A Long Day On Tattooine
/The life of a stormtrooper must be difficult. Can you imagine patrolling all day in that armor with those twin suns beating down on you? This must be a welcome part of the evening, just sitting down with a cool drink and contemplating if maybe those were the droids you were looking for. MacLane is back with another genius addition to his couch potato series.
Episode 7 Stormtrooper
/As a loyal original trilogy man, I have had to take a position of "cautious optimism" for Episode 7. I've heard good things, some first hand from those that have visited the set, so I'm starting to get a good vibe, but after the betrayal of the prequels, my loyalty must be earned. I must say I really dig the new Stormtrooper helmets, and Orion Pax has pretty well done it justice (might be a little flat in the face).
T5 Prospector
/The otherworldly and fantastic shape of this prospecting craft from Vince_Toulouse looks right out of a sci-fi movie or novel. There are so many interesting part usages and combinations that you just don't know where to look next. And all the while it has a functional feel to it, especially with the play features. It seems as much fun to play with as it is to look at.
Heritage
/The forms and construction of this bison and rider from legoalbert are fantastic, giving it a great texture and interesting subtle contrast. To my knowledge native Americans never rode bison (assuming this is an American bison), but this makes for a beautiful and striking image.
Brick The Internet
/Here she is, on the latest cover of PLASTIC Magazine, it's brick-built Kim Kardashian baring all and bricking the internet. No celebrity is safe from the mad building skills of Iain Heath, especially when they go viral or meme. Well played sir, well played.
80's Movies Were Rad
/This MOC by Grantmasters gives me a happy. It depicts the visual effects crew of Aliens doing a motion control shot of the Sulaco. So it's pretty much my one of my favorite movies, one of my favorite ships and one of my favorite aspects of visual effects built out of my favorite toy. So much WIN!
Nerdvember Continues
/I continue to be amazed and delighted by the creativity and ingenuity of builders from all over the planet. We're just about at the half-way point in the contest and it's starting to heat up. What's Nerdvember? Have you been living under a rock? Download the instructions for Nerdly and go nuts, make him a spaceship, or a super hero, or a pop culture icon, whatever! Upload your picture to the official Flickr group and maybe win some awesome prizes from the awesome sponsors. You have until the end of the month, get building!
Review - Brick Flicks
/My love of movies is well known, and you're reading this on a LEGO fan site so my love of the bricks is also pretty obvious. So when something comes along that combines the two you've got my attention.
Enter Brick Films, a book by Warren Elsemore. It promises 60 iconic movie scenes and posters to make from LEGO. Barron's was kind enough to send me a review copy, and I'm happy to share my thoughts about it.
Read MoreHave You Started Your Holiday Shopping Yet?
/Hey readers, the silly season is upon us. Pretty soon you won't be able to escape the holiday music and I'll be watching A Christmas Story over and over.
If you shop online please consider supporting BrickNerd and using the links here on the website. You get the stuff you were going to get anyway, and BrickNerd gets a few cents towards stocking stuffers. Every little bit helps.
Forced Perspective FTW
/This shot tickles my visual effects fancy. Not that it's not a pretty excellent build, but the shot itself is a classic VFX trick of forced perspective, carefully arranging models of varying scale to imply distance (it's Star Wars related too, double trouble). Yes, it's a bit of a spoiler to see how it was done, but that sort of thing has always revved my engine since an early age. Nice shot Brickwielder.