I will admit a slight tinge of jealousy to those that got to attend Brickworld Chicago. But don’t cry for me, I was on the Disney Wonder cruising through Alaska while it was going (yeah, boo hoo). Part of that jealousy is because those who attended got to see things like this spectacular creation by builder ‘Ecclesiastes in person, the best way to see LEGO builds in my opinion.
Sometimes it’s the tiniest of builds that make me smile. I don’t know what it is about this dinky little bulldozer by builder ted @ndes, but I’m instantly drawn to it. I like to imagine this is a functioning Power Wheels vehicle, you know, those little Fisher Price 12 volt cars that take up way too much space in the garage. I also like to imagine the instant regret these parents have (or more likely the instant rage against a favorite aunt or uncle).
Talk about a terrifyingly turbulent and terrific technical twist! This building by LegoFjotten is a wonderful marvel of architecture and ingenuity. Not to mention the building it is based on, the Kistefos Museum, is just as fascinating. Now try saying that tongue twister ten times fast. I’ll be waiting.
Everyone loves a good hamburger. I mean how could you not? They are convenient, customizable, and not to mention very tasty! The only thing that can make them better though is when they are served from a snazzy restaurant like this one by Andrea Lattanzio. The beautiful vintage architecture and the millions of details are enough to make me forget my deep craving for a juicy burger for just a moment. Mmmmmm, hamburgers…
The Star Wars franchise knows how to provide cannon fodder for the good guys. Tie fighters and Stromtroopers from the original trilogy and to a degree so far the sequel trilogy. The prequels gave us battle droids, who also attempted to provide a bit of humor. Hachiroku24 has built excellent renditions of the standard battle droid. Best of all video instructions are provided on YouTube! The droid uses mostly common pieces, and has a ton of articulation. My favorite part is the minifig scale battle droid arm as a neck.
Sometimes all you need in life is a little bit of color to brighten up your day. And just by looking at this watchtower, I’m sure Ayrlego can agree with that. It has a perfect combination of interesting techniques and beautiful palettes to make me feel all happy inside and fuel my imagination. Now I can’t help but ask, orange you glad I didn’t make any puns? I just ruined it didn’t I? I guess I’ll see myself out now.
Nothing to see here. Just three classic astronauts going on an adventure. All they have to do is follow this beautiful coral brick road by adde51 to get what their hearts desire. Maybe they are looking for heroic courage, an alien brain, or a magical heart? The possibilities are endless. All I know is that I can hear them cheerfully singing in the distance, something to do with finding a wizard.
You know, there are only two things that scare me in this world. Monsters and dentists. Ok maybe spiders too but that’s besides the point. Fortunately for you and I, bricks.life.idea is here to remind us that the two can exist in harmony with this terrifying yet awesome creature. That smile. Those teeth. Now that’s a face only a mother, or a dentist, could love.
Technology is advancing at an astonishing pace in this day and age, and it is always fascinating to see the great leaps made by some of the technological startups around the world. Boston Dynamics is one of the leading companies working on robotics and the work that they have done over the years is absolutely mind-boggling, from robots that can handle boxes to robots that can do flips! FIDO, the mechanical pet by _CZQ_ is heavily inspired by Boston Dynamics robot SPOT yet retains its own independence with some wonderful little details and greebling. This is truly a man’s, or a robot’s, best friend.
I don’t know about you, but when I think of earthworms I think of dumb and blind little tube-like creatures that do nothing but process organic matter into dirt. Now I’d expect their ancestors to be the same, but according to Tino Poutiainen not only are they dumb and blind, but also very, very, hungry. Let’s just hope that they’d rather make dirt instead of human remains should a Jurassic Park situation arise.
When asked to describe the medieval times, as you do in any normal conversation, it is often difficult to focus on a single aspect of this important historical time period. I mean making the choice between discussing knights in shining armor and the bubonic plague is terribly difficult! Nonetheless, next time i find myself immersed in medieval history I might just want to refer to this castle by Aaron Newman, which depicts a mighty fortress while retaining the perfect color scheme for the hardships of this not-so-fun time to live in.
After being introduced to Lego, I have slowly seen my perception of the world around me evolve over time. I have learned to appreciate the small details in everything and the passion individuals put into their craft. These gilded doors by aukbricks are a perfect link between two worlds, providing a beautifully detailed door through the median we all know and love.
Well this is pretty perfect timing. While I write this we are making final preparation to leave for a Disney cruise, and there’s a pretty good chance we’ll see these two on the boat. It’s that classic duck couple Donald and Daisy, by builder Swan Dutchman.
For a person coming into the LEGO hobby today, chances are they are probably coming into it due to an IP or specific item that caught their attention. Reading posts in various groups, I see an increasing number of posts asking how one goes from building a set with instructions to building their own design. This is a bigger leap today than it was when I got started in the hobby. It can be a daunting challenge as to where or how to start. Going from the LEGO Black Panther Jet to building your own design can be quite rewarding, but how to start?
Looking back at my journey with the hobby, much has changed. When I started in the hobby in the 90’s, there were alternative builds showcased on the boxes. There was more focus on the building system rather then the IPs. The parts library was also much smaller. Going to the front page of Bricklink, it shows at the time of this writing that there are 54,854 parts listed in the catalog. Comparing sample years, in 1995 there is 442 items identified in the parts catalog verses 2018 has 3040 items identified.
Taking these numbers into account, when you consider the number of possible combinations of two 2x4 bricks is 24 different ways. Three 2x4 bricks can be combined in 1,060 ways. Six 2x4 bricks can be combined in more than 915 million possible combinations. The possibilities are truly mind-boggling when you consider all the possible combinations of all the parts in the catalog.
With all this, it is not intended to scare anyone away from trying to create their designs. One of the most common recommendations offered is to jump in and try. This doesn’t really answer the question as to how does one start. The following is not intended to be “The” answer, but rather one of many possibilities that may or may not work for the reader.LEGO is a construction toy, with a building system at its core. With that in mind, it is important to spend time to learn the system. There are many approaches on how to do this and again, I will focus on one method.
Take any three parts and try to put them together. It doesn’t matter what three parts you choose, just choose any three. For example, I chose: a 1x1 Cylinder, 1x2 Plate and a 2x2 Plate
Studying the images located below, you can see that for some of the examples I have repeated a part. The idea is to start with three LEGO Elements and see how they can connect and what shapes you can create with them.
Why not give it a try yourself and see how fun it can be to experiment with various ways of connecting LEGO Bricks together. Cheers from the Construct-a-Venture Crew!
Editor’s note: Many thanks to Megan Rothrock and Jim Foulds for this guest post
And by old school we mean positively prehistoric. This is Crushrock’s Hoverboard, from builder Adam Dodge. I’m assuming this is for the LEGO Ideas Flintstone’s Contest that’s currently running. From the description…
"Take a slow cruise around Bedrock with Crushrock's Hoverboard. Ease your aching toes after peddling around town al day, and let the breeze waft past you while you take in the sights. Ride confidently above the cobblestones at our two safe speeds: slow, and really slow! “
With the blazing heat of summer here to accompany us every step we make, it becomes hard to remember a time without sunburns and a constant desire for air conditioning. Luckily for us, roΙΙi is here to remind us of all the other wonderful seasons of the year in this fantastic series of micro builds. And let me tell you, the summer micro build really floats my boat if you know what I’m saying.
I’ve only seen a few episodes of Father Brown, but enough that I instantly recognized this excellent brick version of the catholic crime solver by builder Eero Okkonen. The face is especially good, the use of the Technic part for the mouth is especially inspired, gives him his trademark scrutinizing stare.
Builder Melan-E is back with another classic bicycle, this time it’s a Schwinn Stingray. Sadly, I’m old enough to remember these from my early childhood. While the real bike from my youth was the Scrambler, there were plenty of these still around when I was younger. In fact the first time (yeah it happened more than once) my brother got his foot caught in some spokes was on the back of one of these. Ah, memories.
Character builder extraordinaire Eero Okkonen is back with a rare diorama. This time it’s a tranquil scene in feudal Japan, a tea ceremony. I could go into some details about this, but they would pale in comparison with the extensive blog post Eero has done, head over there and read up on and see more pictures of this wondrous and beautiful build.
My old buddy Thorsten Bonsch, in honor of the story of Akira, set in the year 2019, has come up with this stunning scene: Off to the Containment Unit. A real pioneer of the genre, Akira was the first widely distributed serious Japanese Anime in Europe and North America, unlike the usual Saturday morning cartoons for kiddies (still love Tranzor Z, though). Click on the images to see all those tasty greebles up close. Awesome!
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