Green Rock House

There's really no description or details about this gorgeous house from builder betweenbrickwalls, so I'm left to speculate. It's based on a real house built in 1968 from renown architect Mitchell McAlester. Built directly into the cliffs above Santa Fe New Mexico, what isn't as well known is it was built for eccentric artist Buddy Clifton, who was actually a secret agent working for an undisclosed government agency. The house actually serves as a facade to the underground bunker that extends some 300 meters into solid rock. Today it's a popular tourist attraction and exceptionally profitable Airbnb. I made all that up. But seriously, it's a fantastic build and there's plenty more pictures after the jump, including some amazing furnishings inside.

Planetary Express

Who says you need monorail to be futuristic? That being said, bring back the monorail LEGO, if for no other reason to not have to hear about it from the space guys at EVERY CONVENTION, but I digress. Check out this transportation of the future from builder TFDesigns. This baby runs on power functions and sports loads of LED lighting. I also want to point out with a little imagination, even regular train track can take on an excellent appearance.

Reflector

I deal with camera issues all the time as a photographer and videographer. But I've never had to deal with a camera that transforms into three separate characters. This is Reflector, from the Transformers cartoon, built by MortalSwordsman. It transforms into Spyglass, Viewfinder and Spectro seen below. My big question is how are they with hot pixels and flickering with sequential images?

Hot-Digity-Dog

I don't use Snapchat (and I'm not likely to start) so when I started seeing this little hotdog dude all over the place I had no idea what the heck was going on. But if you start seeing something all over social media, you can bet the wheels are turning in Ochre Jelly's head. And sure enough, here he is, a brick-built hot dog dude. Now, there's a bit of Photoshop trickery going on here, but I'm posting it anyway. All torches and pitchforks may be directed to Iain's house.

The Middle Earth "Expanded Universe"

Everyone knows The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but do you know the depths that Tolkien went to develop the history, culture and minutia of Middle Earth? His notes and thoughts were collected for years and after his death his son published these works as The Silmarillion, which Peter Jackson drew heavily on when fleshing out both of his epic trilogies. This beautiful diorama by builder jsnyder002 also drew inspiration from this book, and the results are stunning.

Land Rover Series 1

Pixel Fox continues his great series of LEGO offroad vehicles, this time with focusing on the Land Rover Series 1. Really love the use of sand in this vignette; the desert theme brings to mind the Adventurers theme from the early 2000's (which was one of my favorite themes ever).

The Only Brew for the Brave and True Comes from the Green Dragon!

A very lovely layout by Patrick B. features the Green Dragon, from little old Hobbiton. There are round windows and round doors, the iconic architecture you would expect to see form a Hobbit dwelling. What is the most interesting technique, at least to me, is how the building truly curves around, with roof lines meeting and trying to fill gaps. That is not easy to do, yet Patrick did an excellent job. Perhaps Gandalf helped out a little? Very well done! The scene is then complete with some outside activity on the landscaping that blends very well into the building's layout.

The Epic Star Destroyer Crash

There are no words I can type to express how truly incredible this creation is to me. Simon Liu created something I did not expect to see recreated in LEGO this well, or recreated in general. Why? Well, I'm not quite sure. Apparently, Simon is simply powerful with the Force. A masterful shot featured in the latest Star Wars film, under the direction of Gareth Edwards, was two Imperial Star Destroyers smashing into each other at this interesting angle. Under the command of Admiral Raddus, a Hammerhead corvette pushed a disabled Destroyer into another, which lead to the destruction of the shield over Scarif. This is no doubt a complex scene to have done in LEGO, yet Simon indeed achieved the angles, destruction, and overall appearance so well! This has got to be my favorite model from Simon to date. Incredible!

Forestmen Jewel Heist

Storytelling is a critical part of any build, especially a scene or diorama. And when it's done as well as it is in this brilliant scene from theduggo, it's a pleasure to behold. This jewel heist being pulled off by the classic forestmen it broken down into three scenes, all connected. First is the infiltration of the castle, next is the stealthy approach, and last is the snatch, all perfectly done. This was built for Classical Bricks' Lego Castle Building Techniques Contest.

Westminster

One of the pleasures of my daily commute in London (there weren't many) was the view of Parliament from the train as we passed over the Thames. I never got tired of seeing Big Ben every morning. I was also lucky enough to be present at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. I stood outside Westminster Abbey (with 10k of my closest friends) and watched the carriages come and go, it was an amazing experience. Speaking of amazing, check out this suburb micro scale build of the Westminster Heritage Site by Rocco Buttliere. It is one of the most finely crafted and elaborately detailed builds of this site I've ever seen, on any scale.

The New Shogunate

Eero Okkonen has a long history of building what are effectively elaborate action figures, like these two wonderfully expressive warriors - but everybody knows that action figures are the most fun when they're being played with. His newest scene pits a Samurai against a Shogunate on a serene bridge. The whole model is stunning, from the color scheme to the poses to the small details, like the snakes used as detailing on a sheath.

Imperial Platform On Endor

I remember the moment a saw the AT-AT walking in the forest of Endor when I saw Return of the Jedi the first time. It was a bit jarring at first, since it's only use we had ever seen was on Hoth, but then it occurred to me that the first "AT" stands for "all terrain", which put me strangely in awe. The endless possibilities of where these had been used that we had never and would never see in the Star Wars universe seemed so expansive. Speaking of awe, look at this absolutely stunning landing platform from builder dmaclego. You can practically hear the soundtrack and smell the damp forest air.

Nissan GT-R NISMO

My son and I have been binge-watching BBC's Top Gear, and we recently saw the episode where Jeremy, in a GT-R, races Richard and James in the Japanese bullet train.  So when I saw this newest beast from the workshop of Firas Abu-Jaber, I immediately knew what an accurate model he created.  And like the real race, a LEGO bullet train wouldn't stand a chance.  POWER!

Game Of Death And/Or Bananas

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Bruce Lee was an ape? Yeah, me either, but now that builder vincentkiew has built Master Kong here it just seems so inevitable. It does make me wonder how the showdown with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's character (now a Giraffe I'm guessing) would play out. I would totally watch that movie.

Benny's Homestead

We all know Benny's affection for spaceships, but have you ever wondered where he lives? Builder Casey M has and crafted this sweet little micro build. It's from a series of MOCs exploring alternate uses or modification of Lowell spheres. The bottom half of this is one section of a sphere, giving the impression the dwelling was built on a partially destroyed (or seriously excavated) moon.

Hangar #5

Of course when you have a huge mech you're going to need an even huger hanger to maintain it. Last week we featured Benjamin Cheh's awesome Palawan mech, well here's the jaw-dropping space where it stays in top shape. It features 4 Mechanical arms (2 attached to the walls and 2 on the beam), LTV Formica (Light Transport Vehicle) 2 GP containers, articulating boom lifts, 4 walkways, 4 LED lights, rack of missiles and a walkway platform with 2 hidden robotic arms for minor repairs.

The Household of the Lovegoods

LEGO Harry Potter creations are still on the rise. The latest addition I have come across is this awesome model of the Lovegood house, seen in the 7th movie. I have never seen another model of the complete house, but perhaps that's just me. Brick Surgeon has peaked my interest with this intriguing build! The interior is truly amazing, but even the outside, though it's all black, is really interesting to me. The shaping, angles, and especially those windows are what make this build so pleasing to my eyes. Excellent work here! Make sure to take a closer look at all the interesting pieces used.

Technique Tuesday - Windows for Your Houses

If you're into LEGO architecture, or you enjoy building houses, then you need to check out this window design by James Zhan! With a front and back view of this window style, the pieces come together to create a very unique window design. As we usually try to share here on BrickNerd, James' model also uses common elements that most builders likely have in their collections. Do you think you'll give this a try? Let us know down in the comments! Build on, everyone.

Mine Car Escape

Fun fact: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was the first movie I "camped" for. I actually ditched school for it. Of course the bus got me half way to the theater, so I took it. But then I detoured to the theater and sat there all day with a group of strangers, it was fun. While I had mixed feelings on the movie, the Mine Car chase is still one of my favorite scenes, so this MOC by builder BrickBuilder7622 caught my eye. Click through for a whole collection of excellent little vignettes from Temple of Doom and Raiders.