It's Better Down Where It's Wetter

It never fails to amaze me what a simple seed part can inspire. This magical MOC depicting the undersea world of Disney's The Little Mermaid all stems from the black fan you see on Tritan's tail. That's the seed part in this round of the ABS Builder Challenge, and that's all builder Nuju Metro needed to inspire all of this.

The Undersea Kingdom

King Of Hearts

You don't hear much about the King of Hearts. The Queen of Hearts is of course famous from Alice in Wonderland, but the King just doesn't get much attention. Well builder Likus is here to change all that with this well crafted and badass figure. She might be yelling "off with his head" all the time, but the king here looks like he would just take care of that himself.

King of Hearts

My First Computer: Adore Edition

No one brings the nostalgia with a subtle unique style quite like Chris McVeigh. His creations are so cleanly built and beautifully photographed you know they're his as soon as you see them. This is an update of one of his earliest computer builds, and it's awesome. Being an old school Amiga man, I have a soft spot for Commodore, and the 64 is an undisputed legend. You can build your own soon when he publishes a building guide to his website.

Adore Edition v3.0

Deadpool Duck

I don't know why, but every time I see the name Deadpool Duck, I hear that terrible song by Rick Dees, Disco Duck. And as much as that sucks I can't help but think if this character was in a movie, that would be a pretty awesome theme song if it was done right. Meet Deadpool Duck, who recently shot to AFOL cult status and infamy after becoming one of the San Diego Comic Con exclusive figures. Now he's a fully brick-built figure thanks to builder DOGOD Brick Design.

s_DOGOD_Deadpool Duck_07
s_DOGOD_Deadpool Duck_01

Kali Ma!

Not long ago I told the story of camping out for Temple of Doom, and my mixed feelings on the film. This scene, with Mola Ram plucking some poor dude's heart out and dunking him in liquid hot magma, is dark, really dark. But if you use Minifigures to depict anything, it inevitably elevates the cuteness and charm, as evidenced by W. Navarre's excellent diorama here.

Kali Ma! (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)

Gungan Plasma Farm

Although it's widely reviled (and understandably so), I don't outright hate The Phantom Menace. I saw it in theaters when I was 10, so I was just excited to see a new Star Wars movie. Love, hate, or just barely tolerate it, you can't deny it had really nice art direction. This awesome Otoh Gunga Plasma Farm by Inthert, although not seen in the movie, looks like it could be just off screen. There's always a bigger fish...

Star Wars Ring-worlds: Otoh Gunga Plasma Farm

Frybot

Sure, you might think he's just some french fried potatoes in a cardboard sleeve, but you'd be wrong, it's Frybot from builder chubbybots! I have no idea what his primary function is, it might be to save us all from plain food with his twin condiment cannons, but it could also just be to look pretty awesome next to a burger. He could be part of a whole elite fast food fighting force, we just don't know.

frybot04
frybot01

Whitefang

Sometimes when we build a MOC we're not quite satisfied, and that's natural. As an artist I'm never quite satisfied with my work, always thinking it could be better, but you just run out of time, run out of money or run out of steam, happens every time. Occasionally we get the chance to revisit something, we take the time and update it, and that's what this fantastic space dragon is, an update. The original was splendid, but there were certain aspects that always bothered builder BobDeQuatre. Now he's taken some time to correct those, and the results are spectacular. If I had to guess there's still one or two things he'd like to perfect, but that's an artist, never satisfied.

Whitefang Evolved

Technique Tuesday - Bowcasters

One of the best things about the LEGO community is that we can learn from one another.  Here at BrickNerd, we like to share techniques that we see from builders all around the world. . .

I haven't seen any many techniques come across my feeds this week, so I decided to do one other feature of my own techniques. Any Star Wars fan is familiar with Chewbacca's famous bowcaster, but do you remember what LEGO provides as an accessory? That's right, just a silver LEGO crossbow piece, the same used in castle sets. Or, now they have the crossbow stud shooter. Sometimes you just need something else, a weapon of your own design. Did you know that most Wookies craft their own bowcasters? Using simple parts, I created a series of different bowcaster designs. Each is scaled for minifigures, maybe just a bit long in some cases (but not too terrible). I think my favorite design is third from the right. Do you have a favorite design? Obviously the combos can we mixed and matched, which allows a bit of "customization" for your minifigures. You can take a closer look over on my Flickr page, NS LEGO Designs. Thanks for taking a look!

Bowcaster Designs
Comment

Nathaniel Stoner

     My name is Nathaniel Stoner, and I am an very active LEGO builder.  I mostly build in the themes of castle and science-fiction, but I also dabble in other genres and create occasional random MOC's (My Own Creations). 

     When I was younger, I would get and build small LEGO sets for my birthday, but I was never really into them.  When they fell apart, I would become frustrated attempting to put them back together and would throw them in a box in my closet.  I couldn't stand them!

     Then, miraculously, I became addicted to the LEGO brick later in my teen years.  Ever since, I have continued to build up (pun intended) my collection of bricks and to expand my knowledge of techniques and building skills.  LEGO is truly more than a toy, its an art form and a way to express yourself.

     For the most part, I collect LEGO Star Wars (mainly the minifigs), which is probably my favorite LEGO theme.  I have a fairly decent collection, including some of the original 1999 sets, such as the Snowspeeder, X-Wing, and Naboo starfighter.  I also collected LEGO the Lord of the Rings when those sets first came out.  The minifigs are great, and the story remains one of my favorites ever. 

     My hope is to inspire other young (and perhaps even older) LEGO builders to unleash their inner creativity!  You can find me on my Flikr here

Review - 75166 First Order Transport Speeder Battle Pack

Review - 75166 First Order Transport Speeder Battle Pack

We've haven't had much time to review many of the summer 2017 wave of sets. How about we alter that statement by doing a Star Wars battle pack review? Set number 75166 is the First Order Transport Speeder Battle Pack. Coming in to your battlefield with 117 pieces, and the new price point of $14.99 in the U.S., this set is another great way to add to your First Order infantry. Let's take a closer look!

Read More

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.

Green Rock House MOC exterior V
Green Rock House MOC split

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.

ST100 Planetary Express
ST100 Planetary Express

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.

Snapchat Sausage

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.

The Kinslaying at Alqualondë