X Marks The Spot

When I first saw this it reminded me of the cool map montage's from the Indiana Jones films. I love the way its been composed, lovely little details whilst still having a practical purpose. I have always had a passion for maps and who doesn't love Pirates?. A build by Kai NRG/Geneva for the Mapped Out category of the MOCathalon, Its gonna take some beating. 

ADDITIONAL. So there I was on the train, feeling good for blogging, when Tommy sent me a message saying that I hadn't mentioned that the MOC was an expanded version of the printed tile of the pirates map. Of course I had seen that (I had not seen that!) I just chosen not to mention it (again, I had not seen that!) So double wow! Its the Pirates printed map tile blown up. Sometimes the obvious escapes me!

Birds From Bricks

One of my friends is into birds, big time! His name is Thomas Poulsom. You might recognise the name from the Lego Ideas set 21301, Birds. Well he has written a book showing how you can build another 15 different birds from all around the world. And I have been lucky enough to have been sent a copy to review. 

I was totally amazed by the original birds Thomas made and so when I heard that there was going to be a book full of bird instructions I was very excited. The book arrived recently and as soon as I opened it up I was blown away by how clear the instructions are laid out. Each bird has a parts list so its easy to get the bits together before you start. The steps are small and the sometimes complicated SNOT techniques are clearly explained. The book is in full colour and there is even a colour key for each bird. 

I thought I would build a bird and see how easy it is to follow the instructions in real life. I chose the Canary (Serinus Canaria), collected up all the parts and built it. It was easy to follow and didn't take too long to finish!. Here is where I found a couple of weak points in the construction. However by adding a couple of plates I was able to strengthen the bird considerably. More an oversight than a fault. Overall the bird looks stunning. The half a stud connections in the wings are delicate but as this is a display model, thats not too important.

I can recommend this book not only if you are into birds but also if you like Creator style builds and are looking for more realism in the finished model. I plan to build a few more birds in the future.  The book is published by Quarry and has a retail price of $24.99/£15.99/$29.99 CAN. Its available at Amazon (use the link on this page!) and is even available as a Kindle download. Nice work Thomas, now where are the instructions to that Hedgehog?

Ella "Tall Tide" Kneebone

The life of a pirate isn't all clashing sword fights and plundering treasure. Sometimes you just need a break from all the piracy and adventure on the high seas and just have a sit down. Like Ella "Tall Tide" Kneebone here, I can't decide if she looks pensive, exhausted or just bored. But judging by that treasure, she's earned a little "down time".

Space Battle Ride

You'd think someone who's as into Disneyland and theme parks in general as I am would also be a huge ride buff, but the truth is I'm decidedly barfy, very prone to motion sickness. So while I totally dig this space battle ride by builder tkel86 I wouldn't go anywhere near it in real life. Check out the video to see this baby in action.

Oops

The first reaction to seeing this fantastic MOC by monstrophonic is likely "whoa, there's a train hanging out of that building" followed shortly by some internal calculations of the plausibility of this scenario. The thing is, this really happened. On October 22, 1895, in an attempt to get back on schedule, the driver of the Granville–Paris Express entered the station too fast and when the brakes failed the train burst through the buffer stop and station wall, coming to rest on the street below.

A Master Class in Mecha

I've been laid up at home with an awful illness for the past week and a half, and to pass the time outside of LEGO I've been working on something I've wanted to try my hand at for a long time - a Mobile Suit Gundam master grade model kit. Thus, it seems serendipitous that Chris Darmawan finishes and posts this beauty during the height of my new obsession.

Inspired by a Mobile Suit named "Tief Strumer," this beast looks positively wicked. There's so many cool details all over this thing, and the expertly sculpted head gives it a wonderfully sinister demeanor.

Thank you, Mr. Darmawan, for adding yet another project to my never ending list of MOCs I want to try my hand at.

Stomping The Cuteness Out Of You

Something magical happens when you combine Fabuland with something slightly less adorable, like a bipedal walking mech! Check out this walking study of contrasts by nobu_tary, it's the perfect combination of "squeee" and "squish". I can just hear the battlefield comentary:

"Viper Den this is Fang Six, we have incoming hostiles...wait, maybe not...aww it's a cute bunny...AHHHHGGHHHH!"

DH-17 Blaster

One of the challenges of play in my youth was the lack of rebel weapons sold as toys. When I was a kid there were two blasters available, the Stormtrooper blaster and Han Solo's blaster (both back then were fairly accurate to the screen too, overlooking the big "Star Wars" sticker, those days are over) But when it was time to recreate the Tantive IV battle, there were no rebel blasters (but plenty of white plastic bowls for our heads). If only we had thought to build one from LEGO like Nick Brick. Of course, I don't think they would have been even remotely as cool as this (and would have fallen apart the moment we got shot and fell down). 

"Bricks Away"

This formidable beast by Horcik Designs looks right out of a big summer sci-fi movie or high-end video game. While the extensive use of stickers might turn off some "purist" builders out there I don't mind it at all. In fact it's the meticulous attention to detail and stickers that make this dropship really pop. This thing needs to be in a brick film, now!

Residence Fit For A King

Baroque architecture is not easy to do. By definition it's bold, ornate and a bit over the top, and so many builders confuse complexity with detail, and end up with something that's just to busy. Not so with this lovely facade by builder Jonas Wide. The use of color, detailing, ornate decoration and architectural balance of this building is just perfect. I highly recommend clicking through and scrolling over the large image, it's whole minutes of eye candy waiting to be had.

Surfing Girls

Who doesn't love the Beach Boys?  I bet these three girls do!  There's nothing more artistic than capturing the female form in any medium, and Miro Dudas certainly has here in LEGO.  The sense of motion and balance created for all three young ladies, and the casual ukulele strumming in the middle I find to be quite mesmerizing... Beautiful! 

Cyclops

Poor cyclops, he gets such a bad rap. Centuries of stories and horrible accounts have left him on the outs with a reputation for aggression and violence. The truth of the matter is with no depth perception he has a bad tendency to bump his head on the ceiling of his cave, which would leave anyone in a continual bad mood. Combine that with the inability to see The Force Awakens in 3D and I just feel sorry for the guy. Another stellar build by LEGO 7.

Factory Frenzy

I knew we could expect some cool custom maze surfaces for the new LEGO Ideas Maze set, but the thought of making a timed game of skill, especially something as cool as this futuristic factory theme from BrickNerd's own Steebles never occurred to me. Watch the video, this thing is pretty awesome. Next step, lights, sounds and triggered actions, somebody get on that.

Steaming Gracefully Through The Clouds

Now this is how you make an entrance! Builder baz is a newcomer to the AFOL scene, and this is quite the way to jump in. This is his first built, and it's 3 feet long, 3 feet high, 2 feet wide, and weights 10 pounds. But size isn't everything (in fact, it's not much in my opinion), this is just some stellar building and lovely steampunkery. Welcome to the fold baz!

Beastly

It takes some out-of-the-box creative thinking to look at a dinghy and think "I'm gonna make that a alien dinosaur head", and thanks to builder Onosendai2600 we now know what that looks like. Combine that with a whole lot of olive green and some mad building chops and you've got this beast. Wouldn't want to run into this on expedition.

My Love Story

Collaborator and friend Kevin Ulrich of Brotherhood Workshop is getting hitched this weekend. To celebrate he put together this absolutely adorkable short telling his love story. Give it a view, it will fill you with warm fuzzies. Congrats Kevin and Celina!

Steamy T

We've seen a number of T-bucket hotrods from builder Norton74 lately, but none with a steampunk vibe. Not so much from a boiler, gears and plumbing standpoint, it even has a classic oversized V8 engine, but the color scheme and deco says "put on your tails, grab your top hat and let's go motoring"

"Open Fire. All Weapons. Dispatch War Rocket Ajax To Bring Back His Body"

"Flash, aaaaaaaaaaaa, Saviour of the Universe" When I emerged from my Dark Ages, one of the first things I discovered was Flickr. What a marvellous place, full of images of wondrous Lego creations. Such joy. Such inspiration. Looking back at some of the first things that I faved, I re-discovered this micro space Flash Gordon ship. I love the film and the camp, comic book imagery and this MOC by halfbeak from August 2012 captures the look perfectly. I had never really considered Micro Scale as a serious medium until this. "Flash, Flash, I love you. But we only have twenty four hours to save the Earth!"

Space Monkey

I only discovered builder LEGO 7 last week when I blogged his marvelous Darth Vader sculpture and scene. I don't think this is old enough to qualify as MOCstalgia being as it's from last January, but I missed it then and it's time to correct that oversight. Meet Space Monkey, an awesome intergalactic chimp. I love the subtle pose-ability and expressive eyebrows of this character build. He seems to be part of a bigger story, a story that I want to know.