The world watched in collective horror as fire raged through Notre Dame last month. We all reacted in our own way, some prayed, some cried, some vowed to rebuild and some were just frozen in disbelief. But builder Rocco Buttliere committed to building this, a spectacular recreation of the beloved architectural masterpiece. It is intentionally set in springtime to represent rebirth, a notion I find irresistibly uplifting. Click through for more pictures and some fascinating history.
I really dig the mini modular scale. The original set is one of my favorite sets of all time, and I still have it together. In fact, you’ll find it in the background of a great many of the animations at BrickNerd Studios, it’s perfect for forced perspective. This mini version of the diner by Swan Dutchman would make a perfect addition to the set too. It’s amazingly accurate to the proportions and colors of the original, including the signage on the front, isn’t that spiffy?
Mickey Mouse is a pretty popular subject for LEGO artists, I myself took a crack at him almost 10 years ago. And I can tell you from first hand experience he’s not easy, especially at small scale. But thanks to some much needed parts, namely the 1x1 round black tile and 1x1 half round white tile, everyone’s favorite mouse has never looked better than this rendition by the great Bruce Lowell.
A word of advice, don’t mess with this man’s dog. Sure he may seem like a bit of a burnout, a loner, but he’s got some skills. And while you may have your particular beef with him, if you try to settle a score you should be prepared for some…push back. But, whatever you do, do not mess with his dog, you have been warned.
Its not always about dashing heroes, sleek spacecraft and armed to the teeth mecha! Sci Fi worlds still need waste disposal, and maintenance craft.
Tim Goddard has captured the industrial look with these fantastic mobile platforms. There is not much in the way of back story for these, but then again, they are just walking platforms so what more do you need?
I love the use of parts on the legs, as the look like they have great articulation, and the little “eyes” just give the platforms that added character
I love a well-executed train scene. It’s likely from growing up at with my dad fairly active in the NMRR, and going to lots of train shows. Allan Corbeil’s “Going West” is an excellent diorama of a 4-6-0 steam engine chugging through the woods. The engine is well executed with a billowing cloud of coal smoke. The choice of using the old 9V powered track gives the rails a metallic shininess. I’d love to go on about the train but the vegetation is equally impressive! The simple cat’s tails in the pond are great, and add to the forest’s undergrowth well. There are 4 different style trees with a variety of greens for the foliage colors which adds to the realism in the build. This excellent build captures the Age of Steam well, I can hear the hiss of steam, the smell of coal smoke, and feel the earth rumble as the train chugs along.
I’m no musician, but I’ve made music, and while I’ve never used a classic metronome, I’ve always been fascinated by them. How the simple change of distance of a weight on a swinging arm could change the tempo, it’s marvelously mechanical. This version by builder moctown not only looks legit, it makes very clever use of the 1x1 white tile with black square.
I can think of no place on this planet, or any other, at any point in history or the potential future that I’d like to run into Congo here by builder luigi1456andrew. Between his sharp teeth, scaly skin, piercing eyes, full armor and deadly weapons he is sort of the physical manifestation of reading the news today.
I really dig this futuristic yet totally retro space taxi by builder ericteo_98, it looks like something right out of a movie. How awesome would it be to see this gliding through the sky against a sci-fi cityscape, dutifully delivering passengers to places we can only dream of. Of course this is the future, so the prices will be crazy too, but maybe the floor wouldn’t be nearly as sticky due to advanced material sciences (who am I kidding, we can’t have nice things).
It’s far too early in the morning and I haven’t had nearly enough tea to have my mind so completely blown by a MOC. I knew what this scene by builder Grantmasters was the moment I saw the thumbnail, but just look at the scale of it! I mean Jabba’s throne room in surprising detail in a package about 10 x 14. I also love that the genesis of this creation was the fact that the hat was reminiscent of Jabba, brilliant.
Meet Oswald, Mickey Mouse’s predecessor. Way back when Walt Disney was making cartoons with this little guy, 27 of them to be exact. But then Walt lost the rights to him and was suddenly without a lead character. Well that was then and this is now and Oswald is proudly back at home with Disney. Builder Alex Kelly brought this little version to life, and he looks ready for some antics.
If you would have asked me as a freshman in high school I might have suggested this would be me about the age I am now (well, perhaps a bit older). I had a wet suit, I had a surfboard, I went to the beach once or twice a week. It took me years to come to terms with the fact that I don’t actually like the beach, but I figured out I can’t surf pretty quickly. I’m from California, I’m supposed to love the beach right? Well, it’s nice to look at, and I’ll enjoy it from the comfort of my Airstream thanks very much. And I’ll leave the surfing to those that can actually do it, like this old shredder by builder vir-a-cocha. Tear it up dude.
If you’ve spent any time downtown in the city of angels, or watched any television or movies in the last 60 years you’ve probably seen this, the iconic Los Angeles City Hall. It’s been the backdrop for many TV shows, including Adam-12, Dragnet and Alias and was destroyed in V. But my personal favorite was standing in for The Daily Planet in the old Superman series. So to see this classic old building in bricks gives me a warm fuzzy, and to see it photographed outside with the hills of Los Angeles in the background at “magic hour” by the great Bruce Lowell made me smile ear to ear. For more information on this build check out Bruce’s website here.
This excellent harbor scene by builder Vaionaut one of those MOCs you can appreciate from the medium resolution image, but must really be seen in person or scrolling around the large image to get the full effect. It’s so effortless in it’s construction and flow that you’ll miss all the clever techniques and color combinations unless you’re drilling down.
Fans of Kung Fu Panda should recognize this master of tiger style, it’s Tigress by builder Block Head. Through use of Mixel joints for poseability, excellent System construction and careful sticker use, she’s no longer confined to the big screen. But as you can see in this pic, she’s lost none of her attitude.
I don’t know where my fascination with art deco came from. There’s a pretty limited sample of the style here in my home town, but I’ve always been drawn to it. So I find this latest build from snaillad totally irresistible. I would love to stay at this hotel, as long as it wasn’t pretentious and weird inside. I’ve stayed at a number of hotels in recent years that celebrate the art deco aesthetic, but only on the outside. On the inside it’s chrome bears, terrible art, pointless doors and friggin’ bean bag furniture. But as you can see, it’s classic 30’s inside this lovely building.
I have to admit, Chinese New Year might be better than any other new year. Sure we stay up til midnight drinking and then make a lot of noise (and spend the whole next day nursing a hangover), but there’s no dragons! And we don’t have an official animal every year, which is pretty neat. Speaking of neat, builder vincentkiew has assembled this excellent collection of the entire Chinese zodiac. While they’re all very cool, the dragon and the monkey are my faves.
There’s a lot to unpack here with Tim Lydy’s first Star Wars build. It started simply enough, with a trench battle featuring the pretty spiffy Mimban Stormtroopers. But it grew in size, and then the Emperor was added, then with the addition of the aurebesh title (for the empire) it has taken on almost a propaganda type feel, and it’s pretty amazing. For a more in depth breakdown of the build, check out this post on EuroBricks.
While I’m not much of a prequel fan I can say this, if you can get through all the silliness of Phantom Menace and get to the end, you’re gonna see a great lightsaber fight. This was the first time the fans saw some serious Jedi-in-their-prime and total-kick-ass-Sith crossing sabers, and it was pretty bad ass. In fact I’m guessing from the title of this post you’ve had John Williams’ score in your head and you’ve been hearing the humming of lightsabers while you’ve been enjoying this MOC by LEGO 7, amiright?
One of my go to films when I’m feeling sick is the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. I don’t know what it is, but they have magical healing properties. So just last weekend I watched Fellowship of the Rings and it made me quite happy to scroll to this amazing rendition of Sauron by builder Aaron Brick Designer. I was already feeling pretty good, but now I’m feeling great!
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